Meet artist Molly Hashimoto
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| Vine Maple, Diablo Lake, North Cascades from Nature's Peace 2013 wall calendar © Molly Hashimoto |
Molly Hashimoto creates works of understated beauty, responding to her ventures into nature with paintings and prints that convey those moments when a mountain, a stream, a fawn speak to us. In addition to her own work, published in a calendar and notecards by Pomegranate, Hashimoto teaches art classes at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, the Yellowstone Association Institute, and the North Cascades Institute. We recently asked this thoughtful artist a few questions about her methods and inspiration.
What was your artistic training? How did it connect to your childhood and your education?
I loved playing outdoors when I was a child—it was always hard to be inside, but when the weather prevented me from going out, I liked to read and draw and write. It was hard to decide what field to pursue when I went to college, but I was able to study art and literature. When I was studying literature at the University of Chicago, I used to take the train to the Art Institute of Chicago on Saturdays—I always thought it was like spending a day in the country. Nowadays, I think my favorite things to do to get inspired to make art are to go to wild places outdoors, or visit art museums—maybe that sounds like a bit of a stretch, but to me they are very similar experiences.
How do you translate what you see into a work of art? Do you use any visualization tools, such as binoculars, a sketchbook, a camera?
I use my sketchbook and my camera all the time. If I like a place well enough to sketch it, I often want to do more work and will try a studio painting also once I'm back at home. Even though I'm not a professional photographer, once in a while I take a great photo, with good composition and color—those often translate into good paintings.
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Left to right: First light; Raccoon; Bandelier Cliffs. From Nature's Peace 2013 wall calendar. © Molly Hashimoto
Have you been tempted to follow David Hockney's example and paint on the iPad?
I don't have an iPad, but I do sometimes use my pc, my digital photos, and Photoshop to find interesting vignettes and details from larger photos to paint. I love having my bird photos to work from, as it’s really difficult to sketch moving birds!!
What other forms of culture connect most closely to your experience as an artist? For example, do you get ideas for paintings and prints from poetry, dance, music, movies, conversations with loved ones?
I love music, movies and literature, poetry and novels, nonfiction. I'm always getting ideas through my reading. Movies are a feast for the eye—I just saw Hugo and loved it! Music is a great way to get into the art zone, I think! I love Bach and Beethoven. Conversations with my family are essential for me—they help me critique my own work—I depend upon their opinions for almost everything I paint.
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| Molly Hashimoto at Cascade Pass |
Is there a place or a species you’ve never seen but would love to paint?
I hope to visit all the national parks in the west—there are many I haven’t been to yet. I also dream of seeing the wildlife in Africa someday.
Do your dreams play a role in your paintings?
Sometimes I am so taken with a place I have been to that I dream about it—when that happens I feel compelled to try to paint it—often many different times and many different ways.
To learn more about Molly and her artwork, visit her blog, Molly Hashimoto Artist's Journal.
http://pomegranatecom.blogspot.com/
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