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Get to Know Our Featured Artist
Michele Hoben
BLUE WINS (cover image) - 26 x 40 - acrylic and graphite on Fabriano watercolor paper
Painting has been a large part of my life although not professionally until fifteen years ago. As an architect, I had always sketched and painted; often to communicate architectural design until technology did it more effectively.
In moving from watercolor to acrylic paints, my expression changed from representational to abstract. This transition allowed me to expand sources of inspiration from tangible landscapes and people, to ideas and relationships While I had considered myself initially a value painter (terra cotta was bold for me!); during the last ten years, I’ve become increasingly a colorist. As an artist, I’ve had the opportunity to teach, curate, travel take part in exhibits, juried and invitational, and grow in an arts centered community.
“My paintings draw upon the decades I’ve spent as an architect."
Michele Hoben
AREA OF EXPERTISE
BAIBOB - (2) 30 x 22 - acrylic and graphite on Arches watercolor paper
ABSTRACT LINE AND COLOR
My work as an abstract painter is known for its line work and color. There is usually an underlying structure to my paintings, whether direct or implied.
Different lines have different meanings-centerlines, grid lines, contour lines, etc. I use line patterns to indicate different materials, symbols to convey content.
FIGURINE - 12 x 12 - acrylic on canvas
TWO LAGOON - (2) 30 x 22 - acrylic and graphite on watercolor paper
IN THE STUDIO
ELEMENTS - 22 x 30 - acrylic and graphite on Fabriano watercolor paper
My paintings incorporate both collaged images as well as the hand drawn. I work primarily on paper, initially in graphite or charcoal, creating many layers in acrylic paint or collage, scratching through to find the original structure below. This process parallels my love of the ‘bones’ of a building; what is behind the walls, under the flooring to the steel and concrete or wood structural frame.
My studio is in the Torpedo Factory Art Center, a center of 82 artist studios, workshops and galleries in Alexandria Virginia open seven days a week. I enjoy daily interaction with the public as well as being part of a strong artist community. There are challenges; sometimes your creative flow is interrupted by conversation and you anxiously watch paint drying on your palette! However, the interactions have proven invaluable and my colleagues and I have helped in some way to make the arts more accessible.
Michele's studio is located at Studio 31 in the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia.
“I think that my strengths are always in drawing. As an architect, I was scared of colors. I started out as a value painter, but then I became more of a colorist."
Michele Hoben
GRIDS AND FENCES - 30 x 22 - acrylic, collage, and graphite on watercolor paper
HOMAGE TO LAWRENCE - 26 x 40 - acrylic and graphite on Arches watercolor paper
ORANGE AID - 22 x 30 - acrylic and graphite on watercolor paper
PARTLY SUNNY - 22 x 30 - acrylic and graphite on watercolor paper
ELAN MAGAZINE - March 2013
Michele Hoben
*All painting images Copyright 2017 Michele Hoben
CONTACT INFORMATION
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See our previous UP-CLOSE featured artists.
August 2016 - Jill Banks
September 2016 - Linda Hendrickson
October 2016 - Laurie Fields
November 2016 - Mary Champion
January 2017 - Robert Thoren
February 2017 - Susan La Mont
March 2017 - Web Bryant
April 2017 - Michele Hoben
December 2016 - Chica Brunsvold