An accomplished plein air pastelist, Glenna Hartmann began her lifelong passion for nature and painting at an early age. Growing up in New Jersey, she found great pleasure in exploring the hundred acres of protected woodlands bordering her family's home. She received formal art training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts where she was guided and inspired by her mentors there: Arthur De Costa, Will Barnet, Dan Miller and Marshall Glazier. The Academy awarded her a Schiedt Traveling Scholarship which took her to Europe for independent study.
After moving to Southern California in 1975, her focus on figurative work, portraiture and animals gradually shifted to pure landscape. She began painting outdoors with artist friends in Santa Barbara and eventually these friends formed the nucleus of the Oak Group -- a group dedicated to raising funds from their art exhibitions for environmental causes. Today, nationally recognized for their preservation efforts, the Oak Group has donated over $1 million to organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, the Environmental Defense Center, the Marin Agricultural Land Trust and the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County. Even though painting is a solitary experience, she enjoys the camaraderie of painting with other artists. Some of these invitational trips have taken her to the Forbes' Chateau de Balleroy in Normandy, a rafting trip in the Grand Canyon, Yosemite Valley, and with the Plein Air Painters of America, Catalina Island and Lake Tahoe.
Books:
The Oak Group - The First Ten Years 1986-1996
Easton Press, 1996
200 Great Painting Ideas for Artists
Katchen, North Light Books, 1997
Ranchos
published by The Easton Gallery, 1996
Gardens of Santa Barbara
published by The Easton Gallery, 2000
The Santa Clara Valley of Ventura County
published by Easton Gallery
From Sea to Shining Sea
The Haggin Museum, 2004
Pure Color, The Best of Pastel
North Light Books, 2006
Plein Air New Mexico
Jack Richeson, 2006
The Oak Group – Twenty Years 1986-2006
The Oak Group, 2006
Magazines:
The Artist's Magazine, July 1994, "Dream Studio Award Winners" by Bebe Raupe
Southwest Art, June 1996, "The Oak Group - Caring for California" by Kathryn Runbeck
American Artist, October 1988, "Painters as Preservationists", by Thomas Bolt
American Artist, April 1998, "On Tour in Normandy", by Stephen Doherty. "Pastel Page" by Glenna Hartmann
American Artist, December 2000, "Into the Heart of the Grand Canyon", by Kathleen Bryant
Sunset, November 1994, "Painting to Save the Land" by Ben Marks
Santa Barbara Magazine, Spring 1994, "Power of Pristine Places"
Santa Barbara Magazine, Spring 1995, "Wild at Heart" by Hillary Hauser
Santa Barbara Magazine, Winter 2000, " California As It Was", by Michael Smith
Art of the West, Nov/Dec 2000, "The Grand Adventure"
Art of the West, Sept/Oct 2001, " Capturing the Grandeur of Yosemite " by Vicki Stavig
Pastel Journal, July/Aug '99, "Glenna Hartmann - Building Colorful Landscapes from a Tonalist Approach" by Maggie Price
Pastel Journal, Mar/Apr 2001 "Glenna Hartmann" -judge update By Maggie Price
Southwest Art, May 2002, "Painting California" by B.Gangelhoff
Art of the West, Sept/Oct 2002, "A Spiritual Refuge" by Patricia O'Connor
American Artist, Sept 2006, “The Oak Group: Preserving Natural Landscapes” by Edith Zimmerman
Recent Exhibitions:
The Canyon and Other Colors, Northern Arizona University, 1998
Souvenir de Normandie, Forbes Magazine Galleries, NYC, 1998
Contemporary Artists Paint Yosemite, Haggin Museum , Stockton, CA, 2001
Painting Down the Rapids, Forbes Galleries, NYC and Burlingame, CA, 2001
At Home and Abroad, Emmons Collection, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 2003
Sea to Shining Sea, Haggin Museum, Stockton, CA, 2004
Oak Group benefit exhibitions, 1986 - to present
One-Woman and Group Shows, Easton Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA, 1992 -to present
Ranches & Rolling Hills, Marin Agricultural Land Trust benefit, Nicasio, CA, 1998-to present
Awards and Memberships:
First Place, The Artist's Magazine's Dream Studio Award, 1994
Third Place, Mission San Juan Capistrano Painting Competition, 1996 and 1998
Guest Artist of Forbes and American Artist Magazines, Normandy, France, 1997
Top 100, Arts for the Parks Competition, 1997
First Place, Mission San Juan Capistrano Painting Competition, 1997
Artist's Choice Award, Quick Draw, LPAPA, 2003
Southwest Art Magazine Award, LPAPA, 2007
Member, Oak Group, Santa Barbara, CA
Signature Member, California Art Club, Pasadena, CA
Signature Member, Laguna Plein Air Painters Association
Signature Member, Plein Air Painters of America
Selected Collections:
Haggin Museum, Stockton, CA
Smart and Final Corporate Headquarters, City of Industry, CA
Forbes Magazine Collection, NYC
Santa Cruz Island Foundation, Santa Barbara, CA
Searchnet Corporation, San Francisco, CA
Trust Company of the West, Los Angeles, CA
Huntington Memorial Hospital, Pasadena, CA
Mission San Juan Capistrano, CA
Grand Canyon Trust Collection, AZ
Joan Irvine Smith Fine Arts, CA