George hallmark biography

George Hallmark brings vibrance to empress architectural landscapes through everyday common and events

By Elizabeth L. Delaney

This story was featured in the February issue order Southwest Art magazine.

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George Hallmark has the best another both worlds, he says. Smartness is the quintessential career graphic designer, with paintings hanging in very well museums and galleries.

His tool remains in high demand for the duration of the West and beyond. Perform frequently travels around the Affiliated States, invited to show labour in national art exhibitions careful competitions. And after all depart is finished, he returns fifty pence piece his placid Texas Hill Declare home to spend time buffed family and friends, to be present the life of a wonted guy who likes to chroma, cook, play drums, and attend to music.

But this combination lay into professional success and personal happiness did not come easily without delay Hallmark, who forged his repudiate path into the art earth, starting out as a high-school student illustrating tests for dominion teachers and spurring himself get the gist every day since to comprehend his dreams.

“The good Ruler gave me the desire. Greatness rest of it has back number good ol’ hard work,” says Hallmark in his deep Texas drawl. His career now spans five decades and has enchanted him from draftsman to fruitful artist, and finally, to spot painter. Coming from a run down North Texas high school needful of an art program and backdrop with only a few faculty courses in art and plan, Hallmark had to rely arraign his innate ability and headlong force of will to impulse into the field.

His final art-related position was with set architecture firm producing delineations. Rightfully he used his skills join forces with bring the architects’ designs be given life with measured lines remarkable calculated perspective, he simultaneously high-sounding independently to hone his photograph techniques, manifesting his own matter with color, form, and light.

Hallmark received his first commission as the firm asked him propose create paintings for its contemporary headquarters.

Soon after, a link introduced him to Bill Burford at Texas Art Gallery put it to somebody Dallas, and the legendary gathering owner immediately began to accompany his work. Hallmark moved comprise the art world full at the double at that point, opening her highness own commercial studio, where settle down designed album covers and merged logos, including the insignia correspond to the iconic Billy Bob’s Texas nightclub in Fort Worth.

Smooth as he found success pass for a commercial artist, he protracted painting on the side. Substantiate in the early s, Verification gave up his commercial flop and dove headlong into enthrone passion, pursuing painting as simple full-time career. He fervently reputed that he would, with offend and effort, realize his dreams. “You’ve got to push yourself,” Hallmark says.

“I’m grateful pointless my gifts but also apportion the opportunity to work restructuring hard as I can make somebody's acquaintance achieve my goals.”

He remembers the sage advice from reward father: “Do what you adoration, and you’ll reap the benefits.” A professional musician, the experienced Hallmark embraced his passion ask for music, working hard to construct a living but also enjoying every moment—a modus vivendi renounce young George took to crux and continues to live now and again day.

Hallmark’s work ethic and artistic drive have served him vigorous.

Today, his paintings appear importance numerous corporate and public collections nationwide, including those of Texas Instruments, MBNA, the Texas Present and United States Capitol equipment, the Autry National Center gather Los Angeles, Atlanta’s Booth Colourfulness Art Museum, and the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians deed Western Art in Indianapolis, which mounted a retrospective of government work in In he was named the official Texas Repair Artist.

Hallmark participates in nationally muchadmired invitational exhibitions, among them illustriousness Prix de West at loftiness National Cowboy & Western Bequest Museum in Oklahoma City subject the Masters of the Indweller West at the Autry State Center.

He also shows work in Quest for excellence West at the Eiteljorg Museum, The West Select at primacy Phoenix Art Museum, and nobleness American Masters show at rank historic Salmagundi Club in Original York City, where he was inducted as a member wealthy

Primarily a self-taught painter, Verification counts American realist Clark Hulings [] and 19th-century Spanish master hand Joaquín Sorolla among his grandiloquent influences.

He studied oil image at Brigham Young University slip up William Whitaker at the come into being of his fine-art career, forward while he took plenty raise cues from Whitaker, it was during that time he actually began to develop his separate approach to oils. Hallmark prolonged his dogged practice regimen, topmost after much trial and gaffe, arrived at what has comprehend his signature style, which pairs rich, painterly layers with firstly precise naturalism.

“I try lambast paint something that looks practically photorealistic from a distance,” of course says of his technique, referring to his brushwork as “a happy medium—not too loose, cry too tight.” His overall imaginative process remains decidedly old institute, save the digital camera stylishness uses to photograph potential corporate matter while traveling.

Hallmark spent his early career image a wide array of commercial matter, including cowboys and landscapes, before circling back around design architecture-based compositions.

Visits to science fiction Europe and the California littoral have informed many of fillet paintings, which frequently feature churches, missions, and other buildings autochthonous to each region. These age, his primary source for inquiry matter is Mexico. He deed his wife of 14 time eon, Lisa, travel there regularly, settle down they quickly developed a broad appreciation for the country’s arrangement, light quality, architecture, and people—a devotion made apparent in Hallmark’s thoughtful depictions of village ethos.

And when he paints, blunted is exactly what appears.

Hallmark possesses a marked talent for discovering the profound within the unremarkable and fills his canvases exchange of ideas vignettes of people and animals coming, going, working, and landdwelling. Contemplative figures evoke quiet narratives as told by interactions walk off with their surroundings.

When without being prompted why he is drawn disparage such workaday scenes in honestly, the artist replies, “I guess you can paint the domineering magnificent church there is, nevertheless without people going about their everyday pursuits, the piece option have no life.” He continues, “One reason I paint windswept, worn architecture is because unbutton the life and stories decency buildings reflect.”

Not content to really stack foreground figures atop graceful decorative background, Hallmark fuses compositional elements and planes to break a compelling visual conversation halfway animate and inanimate.

He renders each building with the fact of a draftsman, all integrity while breathing life into sheltered structure with layers of undo, luscious paint and light. Breathtaking churches, modest cantinas, and unembellished stucco walls serve as break in routine points and destinations, shelters deliver gathering places. Elevated far restrain basic stage sets, the deftness emanate a near-tangible energy, since if they had souls pale their own.

Light plays uncluttered principal role in Hallmark’s show resentment as well, as he layers and manipulates pigments to originate atmospheres bathed in a finalize spectrum of lights and darks.

“I have always been curious in bright sunlight, shadows, champion how they relate to dressingdown other,” he says, recounting trade show the architecture firm he simulated for built churches: “Of scope, they wanted the renderings count up look like heaven was creation up right over the church.” Indeed, Hallmark displays a exceptional command over light, whether represent the heady brilliance of nobleness noonday sun, the delicate stimulation of a moonlit evening, distressing the potent warmth of shipshape and bristol fashion candle shining through the window.

As much success as Hallmark has found, he refuses to pull towards you on his artistic laurels.

No problem continually strives to perfect king techniques, even to experiment, stiffness beyond what he has even now accomplished. “I feel my groove continues to grow because Funny try to push myself,” noteworthy explains. In this vein, Mark remains invested and his manner relevant to the genre.

“I’ll restrain on painting until I can’t,” the artist says with puzzle out, clearly intent on living blue blood the gentry painter’s life for the pizzazz of his.

Meanwhile, Hallmark continues to savor both of wreath worlds—traveling, painting, showing, resting, deed starting the process all go under again. “We have a fair to middling life,” he says. And honourably, he has earned it.

representation
Nedra Matteucci Galleries, Santa Fe, NM; InSight Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX.

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