Artist Statement

“I paint outdoors in a style that is spontaneous and expressive. The motifs are colorist, intimate views of timeless subjects: animals, figures, rustic structures and landscapes.

In my paintings, there is often an idiosyncratic element, unexpected details or perspective – the picture may not be logical but it reads right. The paint surface is both thick and thin; the brushwork and palette knife strokes are deliberately visible and sometimes have a rough or unfinished look. Everything reminds you that this is a painting, a fusion of form, color and texture. My works are an escape from gentrification and technology, a respect for the simple.” - Dana Hooper

Biography

Dana Hooper is one of the Bay Area’s outstanding plein-air artists who exuberant and colorful style represents all the freshness and spontaneity of working outdoors, directly from a subject.

Dana is a strong example of the modern return to plein air painting. Her work is spontaneous and expressive with a striking use of color. She paints intimate views of rural subjects – buildings, animals, landscapes – in a way that portrays their “innocence” and her love of them.

 

EDUCATION

San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California, BA, Biology
University of California, Davis, California, Master of Science, Physiology

Art workshops in Maine and locally with artists Pam Glover, Chester Arnold, Paul Bridenbaugh, Stanley Goldstein, Randel Sexton and Marcia Burtt.

COLLECTIONS

Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
The Di Rosa Preserve, Napa, CA
Mark Barrenechea
Oracle, Redwood Shores, CA
Morgan Flagg Collection, Atherton, CA
Marin General Hospital, Greenbrae, CA
Private collections nationwide and Europe