corajhardin's photostream

Me with my painting "Chicago" at the 2008 Open Art Studios exhibit at the Overture Center in Madison, WI.

Available exclusively through Mill Street Gallery in Lodi, WI. If you would like to know more, message me or go to my website: www.corahardin.com

Chicago is one of my favorite cities. Through its menacing winds and harsh winters, it remains like an old friend – loving, honest and full of facets yet to be discovered.
I have combined elements of the seasons that are contrasting and seem contradictory next to each other, though they occur naturally in the same place. On the left are the hot, gold summers that sweep in along the shore in a gooey, sticky, glorious mess. The bright blue water on the right is happy, but reveals a darker, colder center towards the edge of the painting. In the middle is the silver, almost soulless winter that lies atop the city a hazy film of despair. In the upper right hand corner, hard paint is physically lifted towards the viewer, exemplifying the feeling of goose bumps, but also organic forms such as found in dead leaves.
In the middle of it all, just like in the middle of my memories, are the high rises of the Magnificent Mile. They are prominent enough to reach from the bottom to the top of the painting, passing above and beyond the heat and the cold.

Completed version of the painting. Available for purchase exclusively through the Mill Street Gallery in Lodi, WI. Please ask me for details if interested, or take a look at my website: www.corahardin.com

I grew up in Duesseldorf, Germany, so I have many positive memories. The bright pink and green colors exemplify many things – happiness, uninhibited childhood, the abundance of parks and nature so close to the city. In Germany, zoning codes are very strict, meaning that suburbs do not exist. Cities drop off into a country scene abruptly, which makes for beautiful visual contrast and a balanced life. This is why, in this painting, the bright pink and silver can stand next to the vast green without the need for mixing the colors.
The pink stripes towards the left of the painting embody both the German structure and the streamlined, linear nature of everything from friendship to careers that is so typical of Germans. The material is new – duct tape- but it is barely interrupted by a painted, less perfect line in a similar color, which shows were an older system, whether of the subway or history, integrates with the current day.
The black lines represent what I feel is little environmental impact by cars. Moving around without a car is effortless in Duesseldorf.

please go to www.corahardin.com for more of my work

please go to www.corahardin.com for more of my work

Salzburg for sale exclusively through Mill Street Gallery in Lodi, WI

Salzburg is like no other city I have ever visited. As Mozart’s home, set in the midst of towering mountains and consistent nearly only of narrow, winding cobblestone roads, it carries with it a purely historic and opulent aura.
The mountains are shown in both the structured, dark paint, which on the border to the gold background emulates tiny mountain ranges, and in the somewhat chaotic, layered lower left corner.
I also chose the gold color prominent in this painting due to my association of Mozart with what are called Mozart Kugeln, a delightful, traditional chocolate desert wrapped in gold, black and red foil. The abundance of swirls, circles and lines in their repetition embody structured dance, such as would have been common in earlier days.