by Doug Hickerson
Sarah often does a charcoal rendering of her subject before painting it in oil. In this photo you see both the charcoal drawing and the finished oil painting of her daughter reclining in a chair, reading. Photographs by Dianne Hickerson.Artist Sarah Hart has had a fascinating life journey, starting with her childhood in Brockport, followed by college, and then years in Europe studying the paintings of the Old Masters. While away, bundles of letters were exchanged with her childhood sweetheart still in Brockport, until she returned home to marry him. Talking with Sarah in her art studio above A Different Path Gallery on Market Street, her story includes a great passion to teach the unique painting techniques of the Old Masters, a love of Brockport where she is settled with her family, and continuing world travel with her husband in their biking adventure company.
Roots in Brockport and returning “home”
Sarah was born in Brockport, as were her older siblings Rich and Karen and her younger sister Marsha. Her parents are Richard and Sally Booth. She went to the Brockport schools where in fifth grade she first met Benton Hart, who would become her husband. After graduation in 1986, she attended Meredith College in North Carolina, planning to teach art. “The romance with Benton was on and off through college and my post-graduate years in Italy, but he was my best friend and I had all these things I wanted to do,” Sarah said. “So, we always corresponded with letters, always. We both have bundles of the letters.” She studied a semester in Paris with renowned fresco painter Ben Long, spending mornings in his studio and afternoons at the Louvre sketching paintings of the masters. After receiving her BA in 1991, she spent four years of post-graduate studies at the Charles Cecil Studios in Florence, Italy, living in the small town of Impruneta. “I was planning to stay there the rest of my life,” Sarah said. The letter exchange continued with Benton. Then, she began to realize, “I would always be the foreigner on the outside looking in. I wanted to come home where I knew everybody and belonged.” In 1995, her brother flew her home for the Christmas break. “I saw Benton and realized I could not live without him,” Sarah said. “He was the one.” While she remained in Impruneta, the two families planned the wedding set in June, 1996. “Benton did the Herculean task of moving me home from Italy.” The move to Brockport was completed just two weeks before the wedding.
Resurrecting the Old Masters’ painting method
In addition to painting in oils, Sarah Hart also works in charcoal. She specializes in portraiture, painting from live models. This charcoal drawing is of her daughter, Jasmine. Photograph by Dianne Hickerson.“I like to paint the way the eye really sees,” Sarah said, referring to the method used by the Old Masters, such as Rembrandt and Leonardo da Vinci, whom she studied for years. “Our brains are wired to see lines, but in Leonardo DaVinci’s time, artists figured out that the eye actually sees cast shadows.” She often draws a figure in charcoal first, revealing the light and shadows that create form, then she reproduces it using oil paint (see photo with her daughter’s image).
She teaches the “Atelier” method (French for “studio”), “which means you can be re-creative in a classroom, passing on from one artist to another,” she says. “The best way I can teach you is to have you where I work and show you what I do.”
Sarah’s main outlet for teaching the classic painting technique is at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester. In 2008, Sarah had the distinct honor of copying the MAG’s Rembrandt painting “Portrait of a Young Man in an Armchair.” Visitors to MAG observed the creative process over several weeks. Sarah currently teaches three courses at the MAG: beginning drawing, portraiture, beginning oil painting, and drawing in galleries, learning to copy the Old Masters’ paintings.
Sarah Hart spends many hours each week painting in her studio in Brockport. One of her passions is copying paintings of the Old Masters. Behind her is her copy of “Portrait of a Man” by Velazquez. Photograph by Dianne Hickerson.In her Brockport studio one of Sarah’s select students is Judy Czerenda who owns a home in Brockport and in Florida. “Judy is very talented. I see what she wants to do as an oil painter and I know I can help her,” Sarah said. Judy has a doctorate in nursing and ran a consulting company for health care organizations until two years ago. She then started art classes in Florida, but found many of them to be for “hobbyists” which did not suit her deeper interest in art. She was referred to Sarah Hart. “Sarah was exactly what I was looking for, trained in the Atelier method,” Judy said. “She really set me on the right course. I think she is a treasure to have in our community.”
Lori Skoog agrees. For ten years Lori has run the Skoog Farm Workshop south of Brockport, teaching local artists. She referred Judy to Sarah as a suitable mentor, knowing the work of both women. “Sarah is a classically trained fine artist,” Lori said. “Her studies in Italy have made a huge impact; she is unique in the way she teaches.”
At home and out in the world
Sarah and Benton live in a Victorian home on Adams Street, her “dream house” because of its historic architecture and proximity to the Brockport schools. They have three children: Jasmine, 15; Madeleine, 13; and Van, 10 years old. With her studio in her home, “It was hard to get work done with the demands of running a household,” Sarah said. “I feel in a way that I had been sitting on my hands for 15 years (prior to moving into her new studio last May), except for my teaching at the MAG since 2007.”
Sarah remains a world traveler. She and Benton own Classic Adventures, a bike tour business which he manages. They own bike shops in Beaune, France, and in ancient Corinth in Greece. They run tours primarily in France, Greece, and Germany. The newest tours are in Austria and Switzerland. For the travel season, art has to wait while they are on the road. “It’s a nice combination when the two of us run a trip together,” she said. “It’s a husband-wife thing.” Aiding their travels, they both speak Greek; she also speaks Italian, and he speaks French.
Having studied in Europe and now biking various countries, “I love the world travel, but I need my hometown, too,” Sarah said. “I am definitely where I want to be – back in Brockport. I would never leave here.”
Sarah Hart Exhibit January 13
Sarah Hart will exhibit her works at A Different Path Gallery, 27 Market St., in Brockport.
The opening reception will be Friday, January 13, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. The exhibit will be on display during regular hours from January 6 through January 31.
The exhibit will include her most recent paintings and drawings, as well as older works. The collection consists of portraits in oil, pen and ink, and charcoal. The artist’s subjects include local Brockport residents, her children, and various copies and interpretations from the Old Master painters.
Other artists exhibiting their work at the gallery in January: Diane Elmslie and Jolene Beckman. For information phone (585) 637-5494.
