Rebecca Hartley- The Artist
I am a professional freelance artist living and working in the UK. I have always had a passion for animals growing up in the Peak District with so much of nature around me and would often draw or paint to satisfy my interest in the natural world and soon discovered the small miracle of being able to humanely capture part of it within my artwork.
I took joy in drawing the people around me and focussed my studies towards human portraiture, as my skill developed my paintings and drawings quickly became expressionist in nature and in my teens they evolved into a method of mapping the typical confusion I experienced as I learned of the full world around me. My paintings were no longer observational in nature and less likely to earn praise from my teachers and peers, but despite the appeal of expressionism I couldn’t let the challenge of realism go.
After I finished my education I decided to combine my love of realist portraiture and love of nature and created some of my first realist pet portraits for some close friends and family. I entered exhibitions to gain experience of the art world and gathered a client base where my skill in both human and pet portraiture meant I could fill the requests of people who wanted full family portraits with pets included.
Since then I have honed my skill and created portraits for clients all around the world. I established my business ‘Rebecca Hartley Art’ in May 2020 and have been expanding into creating printed works and originals since, as well as continuing to accept and work on commissions in my studio!