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Get to Know Our Featured Artist

Michele Hoben

Blue Wins by 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.

Michele Hoben

“My paintings draw upon the decades I’ve spent as an architect."

Michele Hoben

AREA OF EXPERTISE

Baibob by Michele Hoben
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 by Michele Hoben
FIGURINE - 12 x 12 - acrylic on canvas
Two Lagoon by Michele Hoben
TWO LAGOON - (2) 30 x 22 - acrylic and graphite on watercolor paper

IN THE STUDIO

Elements by Michele Hoben
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.
Interior of Torpedo Factory, Alexandria
Michele Hoben in studio

“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 by Michele Hoben
GRIDS AND FENCES - 30 x 22 - acrylic, collage, and graphite on watercolor paper 
Homage to Lawrence by Michele Hoben
HOMAGE TO LAWRENCE - 26 x 40 - acrylic and graphite on Arches watercolor paper
Orange Aid by Michele Hoben
ORANGE AID - 22 x 30 - acrylic and graphite on watercolor paper
Partly Sunny by Michele Hoben
PARTLY SUNNY - 22 x 30 - acrylic and graphite on watercolor paper
ELAN MAGAZINE - March 2013
Michele Hoben in her studio

Michele Hoben

Torpedo Factory Art Center

Studio 31

105 N. Union Street, Alexandria, VA

www.TorpedoFactory.org

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*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

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