The internal canvas The internal canvas (November 18, 2005)

Mv painter Hedda Hope conveys hidden feelings through abstract forms

By Molly Tanenbaum

The works of Mountain View's own Hedda Hope together internal sensations with the experience of the outside world. Only a few of her paintings depict recognizable shapes and forms, but each evokes unique feelings and associations to elements in nature.

Her series of canvases, which will be on display at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts in the lobby outside the main stage through Dec. 18, communicates the depths of emotion that can be sparked by observing the world around us.

One of the most mesmerizing works in the exhibit is "Coral Reef," a triptych of adjoined canvases based on Hope's experience snorkeling during a trip to Belize. The works are meant to convey "this sense of amazing color and energy and just the joy of it all," she said.

"Coral Reef" is one of the few paintings in the exhibit with familiar forms. A bright rainbow of sunbursts and swirls unveils tropical fish, anemones, and other underwater flora and fauna.

Many of Hope's pieces contain objects and feelings of nature, drawn from her travels and her desire to keep the planet healthy for others to appreciate.

"This is the only Earth we have, the only ocean. I believe we have to preserve the Earth, not just for our generation but for others as well," she said.

While Hope may have her own ideas about what each painting means, she wants onlookers to develop their own interpretations.

"They invoke curiosity on the viewer's part," Hope said. "That's what I'm trying to do is to get people to have their own thoughts about things."

Her organic creative process allows her work to reveal itself to her as she goes along. She never knows what the finished work will look like.

"It comes from the inside out," she said. "Sometimes, I'm surprised at what happens. That's what makes painting so much fun -- you always learn something new."

This internal quality is something she admires in artists such as Rembrandt, Goya, Van Gogh, Gaugin, Cezanne and Picasso -- painters who "go inside themselves."

Hope, who has been painting for 30 years, primarily works in oils, employing tools of all kinds, and even her fingers, to create a variety of patterns and textures on the canvas. She never uses black paint.

One of her paintings in the exhibit, entitled "Awaiting Dawn," is particularly complex and stirring, bordering on the supernatural and imparting a gentle sense of anticipation. The canvas depicts the mystery of night being slowly revealed and enveloped by early daylight.

"A friend of mine told me there's always dawn somewhere in the world. It's kind of a positive thought," Hope said.

Hope has loved drawing and painting since she was young. At age 7, she moved with her family to Ventura, in Southern California, from Berlin after World War II when the U.S. government brought her father over to continue his scientific research on radar.

As an undergraduate, she first came to the Bay Area to study art at Stanford University. She went on to obtain an art teaching credential from UCLA but decided to pursue a more practical career route and continued her education at Santa Clara University, earning an MBA. Later, Hope found a job in finance for a company that is now Lockheed Martin and remained in the Bay Area, living a decade in Los Altos and more than two decades in Mountain View.

Even while working and raising her two sons -- who attended high school in Los Altos and now work in film and product design -- she continued to paint in the evenings.

"Some people say, what a great hobby. But it's not. It's a passion," Hope said.

After retiring early from her position as a contract administrator at Lockheed three years ago, she returned to art full-time, securing studio space in Palo Alto which helped her enter the local art community.

"It's really rewarding to be around other people who are artists," Hope said.

A major inspiration for Hope has been her extensive traveling experience. She has seen most of Europe, gone on an African safari, and next she will be headed to Peru to visit Machu Picchu.

"Underwater Beginnings," a series of dark, eerie paintings, also came from the majesty and mystery Hope has observed in nature while exploring the world. While visiting Vancouver, she saw something unforgettable during a nighttime boat ride.

"The whole bay was covered with luminescent moon jellyfish," she said.

Her work has been shown in both solo and group shows around the Bay Area and elsewhere, including a recent exhibition at Medjool, a San Francisco restaurant.

E-mail Molly Tanenbaum at mtanenbaum@mv-voice.com

INFORMATION: What: Paintings by Hedda Hope Where: Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts lobby, 500 Castro Street in downtown Mountain View When: Through Dec. 18. The CPA lobby is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 12 to 1 p.m. and an hour before each show. Admission: Free Info: Visit www.mvcpa.com

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