Hope Burger is an intuitive artist whose work is on display at The Arts Garage through June 28. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

BY SHERI TRUSTY

PORT CLINTON – It is almost as if Hope Burger’s art creates itself. Burger is an intuitive mixed media painter who approaches her blank canvas with a blank mind. She has neither plans nor preconceptions. Instead, she makes marks, adds color, steps back, and lets the painting tell her what it is.

Burger is featured in “The Art of Storytelling” exhibit which runs through June 28 at The Arts Garage (TAG). The Greater Port Clinton Area Arts Council (GPCAAC) hosted an opening reception for the exhibit on June 6.

Burger describes her style as “an abstract process.”

“I do all intuitive work. It comes from within,” Burger said. “I don’t plan my paintings at all. I start with mark-making and adding color, and then I look for images.”

“Bee Sting” by Hope Burger is part of “The Art of Storytelling” exhibit. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

The TAG exhibit features 51 original Burger paintings that are making their public debut.

“They’re all being shown for the first time here,” Burger said.

The paintings are brightly colored works of evocative faces.

“There are a lot of bright colors. That sometimes surprises me,” Burger said. “I don’t go in intending to use bright colors, but they draw me in and they are the ones I grab.”

Burger chose to incorporate an imaginative element of fictional storytelling into the exhibit. Each painting is accompanied by a brief story of context. Her “Bee Sting” painting of a young woman with full, red lips talks about the woman’s fortuitous encounter with a bee and her revelation to forego lip filler services and raise bees instead.

The Greater Port Clinton Area Arts Council hosted an opening reception for “The Art of Storytelling,” an exhibit featuring the work of Hope Burger. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

“Every painting has a paragraph, as if a page was plucked from a book,” Burger said.

Burger walked into the opening reception to find a room full of people who were already fans. Burger won the annual Battle of the Artists competition, which is held during GPCAAC’s annual fundraiser, four times. During the competition, artists create onsite and win by popular vote.

This summer, Burger will share the secrets of her unique creative process when she teaches her very first class at TAG. Burger will offer the “Finding Faces” class on Aug. 21.

For more information on the arts council, TAG, and upcoming classes and events, visit www.gpcaac.org.