Darcy M Hurtgen was a brilliant artist capable of producing fine arts paintings. She was born in Holland, Michigan in October of 1951. Darcy literally started painting when she was just two years of age, when her mother put a paintbrush in her hand. With the ability to see auras, she worked out her visions in her paintings, which were usually done on a grid.
Her technique developed over the years. She was heavily influenced by a color and field exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art while attending the Cleveland Institute of Arts. This experience is what led to Darcy’s painting on a grid which sets up rules and regulations to her boundless vision. She later obtained a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Hope College in 1979. Darcy distilled religious and archetypal images, and blended psychology and Catholic mysticism within her art. Some images seemed to pop in her head fully formed. Other images took her longer to develop the working out of a flower in a cross in one painting took years.
Darcy also blended sources from nature in a somewhat surreal, Fauvist fashion in her landscapes and biologically-rooted works. When she became swarmed by ideas, she sometimes allowed herself to paint dead-on images from her subconscious overnight. She hoped that her art pleased the eye and felt that she had accomplished her goal if the viewer perceives her work as decorative. Darcy was a firm believer in art functioning on more than one level.
Several of Darcy’s works are part of the Community Mental Health of Oakland County permanent collection. Other works are held privately by collectors in Chicago, western Michigan, and the metro Detroit area. She has exhibited works at Hope College, Birmingham-Bloomfield Art Association, Artist’s Cooperative (ACT), Galliera Beigas, Craig Gallery, and the Swan Gallery. Her work has won first prize at the Michigan State Fair, and she had a one-woman show at the Lavender Moon Cafe.
Darcy M Hurtgen passed on in June of 2005. This site has been developed with the intentions to make it a dedication to her life, and the beautiful art that she produced. Please enjoy her artwork!!!
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