Daniel Haartman

I was always interested in art, and perhaps like all artists, drawing made it easier to dream about what I would have preferred to be doing outside of school. At that time, I was more interested in biking, go-karts and building forts. There was some serious competition between a few guys at school, mostly drawing planes and cars, so I ended up becoming pretty good at the time.

My dad spent a lot of time with my sister and I on a variety of projects suited to the dining room table in the winter, drawing, painting, or building model kits of cars and boats. Looking back, I recognize Dad was a real inspiration, he jumped on the opportunity to enroll in a series of life drawing classes at community college. He stayed at it until his employer at the time decided it wasn't in the spirit of their continuing education fund for an industrial mechanic...

I became more serious about art around 2009. It became a means to help me express the impact of my formative experiences, since I had immersed myself in psychotherapy. I find it incredibly powerful to sit and draw myself a picture in ten minutes that brings up repressed emotions of the past, in order to come back to remembering what I'm here for.

I was also introduced to graphic novels around the same time, which has helped me to get more in touch with my emotions, and also recognize the significance of sharing both technically brilliant drawing, as well as more abstract images in order to share an emotional experience.

To this day I often draw with ballpoint pen, or a dull pencil to get things down on paper, just like I did back in school. In the past few years I have made an effort at inking with a marker or brush-pen. I typically use watercolor or pencil crayon for coloring.

I also love practicing these skills with therapy or cultural mentoring clients who feel drawn to exploring through art. We also combine artistic expression in technical drawings, exploded views, or cut-away views of machinery we design and build as a group in the programs I facilitate with Hamilton Cultural Mentoring, which you check out at www.culturalmentoring.ca

With so much going on, I have only made time for one solo show so far. It happened in February 2012, thanks to the suggestion of friend and illustrator Sylvia Nickerson at her James St. North studio; www.sylvianickerson.ca. I also contributed to an Artist Salon at James St. Supercrawl, which was another experience I am grateful for.

I'm interested in commissions for new projects which are a good fit. I enjoy the collaborative process, and bringing a concept to an emotional image that provokes others.

Thanks for taking time to stop by,

Daniel Haartman

daniel.haartman@culturalmentoring.ca

www.culturalmentoring.ca