| PERSIMMONS, OIL, 36 X 96 |
By Devon Jackson
Jill Hackney serendipitously discovered her unique style of painting in 2004. After shaving down some cheap bristle brushes, she noticed the odd way the paint traveled across the canvas. “I’d see these streaks happening, and I thought, ‘What if I did a whole painting like this, with all the brush strokes only going in one direction?’” she recalls.
Born in Dover, OH, in 1968, Hackney was 12 when her family moved to New Orleans. She studied at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts half-time while attending high school, and then went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Louisiana State University. After college, she went into photography and then floral design, which further opened her eyes to space, composition, and color. All the while, her friend and fellow painter, George Marks, urged Hackney to keep painting. Which she did.
Hackney, now married and working out of a 19th-century textile mill in Maryland, says, “Most of what we see is reflected light, not direct light. So when I paint, that’s what I’m trying to show. Over the years it’s evolved into layers and layers of paint—layers of reflected blue light, orange light, red light. It creates a vibration.”
She is represented by Harris Gallery, Houston, TX; Ann Connelly Fine Art, Baton Rouge, LA; Grand Contemporary, Lafayette, LA; Duane Reed Gallery, St. Louis, MO; Blue Gallery, Three Oaks, MI; R. Coury Fine Art Gallery, Savage, MD.
Current & Upcoming shows
Group show at Ann Connelly Fine Art, December 1-31. Group show at Duane Reed Gallery, December 1-31. Solo show at Grand Contemporary, January 10-February 28, 2009. Three-person show at Blue Gallery, March 2-April 3, 2009. Group show at R. Coury Fine Art Gallery, May 1-29, 2009.
Featured in “The Produce Aisle” portfolio in November 2008