About April Hammock
At the age of four, April and her family moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, and she went on to receive her MFA in Painting and Drawing from Louisiana State University. The unique, rich artistic culture of New Orleans along with the beautiful Louisiana landscapes were influential factors that lured her into pursuing a lifelong career as an artist.
April rekindled her connection to nature during her stay at Sedona Art Residency in the summer of 2016. The bright, iridescent colors of the sky and dreamlike, painted desert were stark contrasts to the lush, animated Louisiana swamps where she grew up. Throughout 2016, April did a series of abstractions that echoed her experiences with the fantastical southern Arizona terrain.
A strong advocate for the Visual and Performing Arts in Education, April has taught at Louisiana State University, University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Southeastern Louisiana University. She is an Instructor for The Gifted and Talented Program for exceptionally advanced visual arts students. She lives Baton Rouge, Louisiana with her husband. Her primary choices of media are acrylic and oil painting. Additional works include drawings, watercolors, mixed media and digital prints.
Recent exhibitions include Summer Salon Exhibition at Silvermine Art Galleries in New Canaan, CT, as well as at the Van Der Plas Gallery and The Painting Center in New York City.
“Years ago, I began as a realist landscape painter," April says of her work. "I dabbled with figure painting as well. Over the years, my work became increasingly abstract, and I was improvising from imagery. Now, I work directly from my imagination, sometimes with no idea how I will begin. Non-objective work challenges me, it’s like writing a story, putting the setting and plot together as I go along, arbitrarily exploring how it will end; like swimming in the ocean at night not quite knowing where it will lead.”
April is a member of Baton Rouge Gallery, Silvermine Art Guild in New Canaan, CT, and an Art File Member of the Painting Center in New York City. Her works have been exhibited internationally, nationally and throughout her home state of Louisiana.
