Today we’d like to introduce you to Hadley Rampton.
Hi Hadley, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve been drawing or creating visual art for longer than my memory allows. Seeing my natural interest in drawing, my mother enrolled me in visual art classes through the Visual Art Institute located in Salt Lake City, UT at the age of 9. By the time I turned 12, I was figure drawing and painting in oil. From that point on, I knew that I wanted to pursue visual art as a profession.
I entered the BFA program at the University of Utah in 1995. As I continued on in my studies, as wonderful as they were, I felt that I wanted to adventure beyond the world I knew (Utah) and gain exposure to knowledge and influence elsewhere. I decided to send myself to Florence, Italy. I spent spring semester of 1998 studying there, soaking in all that I could, in and outside of the classroom. By the time I returned home, my mind and concept of myself as an artist had grown and strengthened and I was ready to finish my senior year.
I received my BFA with honors in 1999. From there, I was off to the races, so to speak. I had been hired on as a Fine Art Consultant at Phillips Gallery in Salt Lake City, working about 30 hours per week. In the hours not working there, I painted.
I have always had a great love for the outdoors. While I was in school my primary subject matter was the figure and still life. Then, a plein air painting class I took through the visual art workshops one of my professors, David Dornan, created in Helper, UT ignited a fire within me that continues today. For the past 25 years I have been working in the gorgeous outdoor environment of Utah and its surrounding area. During that time my work has developed rather organically, meaning I have not intentionally driven it in any direction. Rather, it has grown and taken new turns on its own based on my reaction to what I’m painting and new ways I may have of seeing and applying the paint. I can see my skills, understanding and focus continuing to grow in this manner.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I don’t know that anyone pursuing a field in the arts experiences a smooth road. Throughout my career I have seen rejections and seeming roadblocks followed by happy acceptance and success, but when the latter comes is never a foregone conclusion. In this business, I believe the best advice is to just keep at it and persevere.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a painter working in oil and watercolor. The subject matter of my oil pieces is primarily landscape (aspen scenes and red rock) painted en plein air (outside, onsite). I work with a palette knife, breaking down the scene before me into fragmented shapes of color and value. My seemingly chaotic palette knife strokes ultimately unify to portray a painterly version of the scene before me. I prefer to work en plein air so that I may sense the landscape surrounding me, informing the feeling I convey through my work.
Equal to my love of the outdoors is my passion for travel and discovery. I have been fortunate to travel overseas every year to two years for the past 25 years. As I explore, I carry a journal and my watercolor paints so that I may record my experiences. Upon my return, I compile my writings and paintings in an exhibit so that I may share all that I have seen and learned with others.
How do you define success?
To me, success hinges on whether or not I am feeling I am living my life to its fullest potential. We all have our individual talents. I believe that by making the most of those talents we are giving to ourselves and to others our greatest gift. That is when we are living life to its fullest potential.
Pricing:
- The retail value of my work is dependent upon the medium and the size, but generally my work ranges in price from $600 to about $7000.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hadleyrampton.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hadleyrampton/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hadley.rampton/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hadleyrampton3226?app=desktop
