The John Brock Art Alcove featured artist for January – February is Erica Hall, a mixed media artist from Oldsmar. Raised in the Tampa Bay Area, Erica lived an idyllic childhood. Every day was spent outdoors using imagination for each game played with her childhood friends. As she grew, Erica held on to that way of seeing – the ability to see the magic in each gesture or moment or movement. Erica’s work now often echoes the beauty and undercurrents of simple moments in time that might often be overlooked or quickly passed by. Her pieces are created on wood using charcoal, watercolor, and colored pencils.
At the University of South Florida, Erica learned to develop her eye through many forms of art – from photography to sculpture to classes in movement. She also studied American Sign Language where she further began to understand the importance of each tiny gesture or facial expression. During college, Erica received several awards for her art at juried shows at the Centre Gallery and was also asked to guest-teach several classes at local colleges. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in Fine Art with a minor in ASL, Erica went on to other things but always continued drawing, painting, and learning.
According to Erica, “As a youth, I struggled with portraits, never seeming to quite grasp the ability to portray people as I saw them. Through the years, I have focused on developing the ability to paint and draw people, to capture that which is so quickly lost. Memory has never been enough for me; I have always needed tangibles to remember what was felt in a single moment.
My art today is inspired by just those moments. The media used serve to add a feeling of reverie to the people portrayed. I choose to work on wood because it creates a sense of nostalgia. I like to use watercolors to give the portraits a feeling of softness… memories past. The charcoal helps to define the moments depicted in a nostalgic way; not bright and bold as things just experienced, but shadowed and faded as memories often are.”
For more information, please visit her online at www.ericasartanddesign.com. Follow her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ericasartanddesign or reach out to her directly at 813-957-5416 or artworkbyerica@gmail.com
