(Waiting for) the Onset of Colors

Born in northeastern Vermont in 1977, Hollis Dunlap has been passionate about painting and drawing since childhood, creating imaginary figures and landscapes in various media. By fourteen, he was experimenting with oil paints in still life. His high school art teacher's encouragement led to private lessons in oil painting, figure studies, and on-site landscape painting. During high school, he enhanced his art education with after-school figure drawing programs, delving into the works of old masters and aiming to blend Michelangelo's classical drawing with the color and lighting of Vermeer. After graduating from Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, where he received extensive training in life drawing and landscape painting, Dunlap won several awards, including the Stobart Fellowship. His work, influenced by artists like Velasquez, Edward Hopper, and Diebenkorn, ranges from smooth brushwork to more tactile, thickly applied oil paints, demonstrating a mastery of color harmony and abstract design elements. Dunlap, who has held solo shows in New York and Boston and taught on the East Coast, currently works from his studio in Eastern Connecticut.