By EMILY KLESARIS
NORTH READING — July’s featured Artist of the Month at Flint Memorial Library is Don Hammontree. Originally from central Illinois, Hammontree is now based locally out of Salem.
With a draftsman and tool designer as a father, Hammontree was constantly exposed to technical building plans and drawings of architecture from a young age. Don had plans of becoming an architect himself until he realized how much more he enjoyed the visual and artistic process of the drawings than the mechanical side (and, he admitted, the amount of math involved).
A COLORFUL Dallas, Texas sign is included in the collection of Don Hammontree’s artwork at the library this month. (Courtesy Photo)
Hammontree recalled that learning how to apply one and two-point perspectives in cityscapes became fundamental in his art, as evident throughout this exhibit.
Much of Hammontree’s art is inspired by his time living in various cities from Chicago, Illinois to Fall River, Mass. The title of each piece features the location of the cityscape depicted. Some of his paintings are based on his own original photographs, while for others, he made use of Google Earth as reference material, pulling inspiration from different countries where the architecture varies vastly from that of the United States.
His paintings are on display for the month of July and are for sale. Prices can be found at the Circulation Desk upon request. To view more of his original pieces and prints visit etsy.com/shop/blackmorefreak.
CLOSER TO HOME, this cityscape by Don Hammontree is located in Fall River. (Courtesy Photo)
