Here I am…
Jack Hernandez (Jack H. Strange) is a contemporary from Gibraltar with a BA Hons degree in Fine art Painting and Drawing from the University of Northampton. Jack is a lover of nature, all things blue, green, and in between. He has specialised in painting the seas and beaches of his travels throughout his life in an impasto oil paint style to represent the vividness of the landscape and the movement in memory. With a childhood based in Gibraltar and Southern Spain, Jack has always had the beach and seas as his surroundings/muses, and throughout his travels across the world he has seen and loved all the new experiences of nature that while unfamiliar in location remain familiar in feeling. From the south shores of Portugal all the way to the famed paradises of the Hawaiian Islands, Jack has a deep admiration for all the forces of nature that he comes across, seeing them as a new challenge each time in experience. His ideas around the beaches and seas revolve around the thought and fact that not everyone has access to them in areas that take a long time to travel to. When painting the beach and seas he makes sure that the depicted scene outlasts and expands further than the concept of the image and remains truthful to the feeling and experience that the memory holds for him, and that he would deem worthy of expression for those without direct access to the seas.
Jack’s reasoning for sticking to oil paint in his works reflect his experiences across the world, capturing the lively presence and the forces of nature. Jack seeks to capture his travels during either peaceful moments that he experiences, bringing a sense of nostalgia as well as longing, or during moments that he feels would entice people to bring themselves to the best of what nature offers. The seas are in important part of Jack’s upbringing and adult life, depicting the various temperatures and moods of the sea with oils are essential in remaining faithful to the actuality of the sea and his experiences. Through his bachelor’s degree in Northampton, Jack had no direct access to the sea as he had in Gibraltar and had the idea of bringing the sea to Northampton (via paint and canvas), from his second year onto the third year of his course he had managed to make contact with several galleries including Artspace Gallery and Galeria Azur. Jack has taken part in exhibitions in Gibraltar, London, and has finished his course with a degree show, advertising his adventures in impasto paint, with plenty more to come as he embarks on his Master’s course in painting at the Arts University Bournemouth
JHS Fine Art 