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Interview With Artist
​Matt Harline
TNYO: Matt, it is such a pleasure to have the opportunity to speak with you and feature your
wonderful artwork. Firstly we would love to know what your business life and career was like and how long you had
spent in that world. 

Matt Harline:  For much of my life I have been a “high tech” engineer. Most of that career I was engaged in
developing business computer systems. I had a part in developing at least a dozen new computer
systems that were brought to market, and several others that were canceled before completion.
Since 2016 I have had the opportunity to focus on the artistic and creative parts of life.

I have some limits in the amount of creative time I can spend each day as a result of a brain injury, but it is using
my creative talents that sustain me.

TNYO: Is that what you studied in college and is that what you wanted to be?

Matt Harline:  I have always been an artist. My earliest memories have been about creating, drawing, or painting
something. I went to summer school to take art classes (no need for make-up English or Math
classes). In high school I had a wonderful art teacher that inspired me to learn and grow as an artist.
But when I graduated, others urged me to major in a field where I could make a living. Both of my
parents were engineers, and my math and science skills seemed to support that path.

I studied Engineering, and earned a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Electrical
Engineering. During my undergraduate years I did take a few non-art major painting and drawing
classes. After college and while working as an engineer, I took the opportunity to take classes from
various places in drawing and painting, and I would often draw or paint when I had spare time
(or when I was bored in meetings). 41 years after I graduated from high school, I left my engineering job, and started focusing on
painting and drawing. I have found that this is my happy place.

I now wonder if I should have followed my desire to be an artist after high school.
But, that decision is the past, and I now want to
focus on the future. Creating artwork that represents all that is beautiful and resilient in the world is what I want to do.

TNYO: Briefly, I would like to ask about your accident, how you are healing, and how it has affected
your life overall.

Matt Harline:  In February of 2016 I was shopping for a new bicycle. While out on a test ride in an otherwise empty
parking lot, I collided with a pick-up truck. I sustained a moderate traumatic brain injury, and spent
several days in the intensive care unit.

A few weeks after I was released from the hospital, my wife suggested I do some painting to chase
away the boredom of being at home. I started painting wildflowers, then some landscapes. The
company that I was working for was looking for some photos of Northern California lakes to hang in

their conference rooms (named after various lakes in Northern California). I created six paintings for
them, and they became some of my first sales as an artist. More paintings followed.

I am still recovering from my brain injury, and I am still painting. I find that drawing and painting helps
with developing my brain, as well as providing peace and happiness to my soul. The accident and
having my life turned upside down has helped me to realize that I want to focus on the things that I
have and that I can do, instead of being upset about the things that I have lost or cannot do. My
purpose in life is to inspire people to embrace those things that they can do, to celebrate their happy
times and important moments.

TNYO: Your art leads to landscapes in many images of the paintings we have chosen to present to
our audience. Where are these paintings taking place - is it a geographical location, spiritual location, 
or perhaps the choice you have decided was a combination of all these things?

Matt Harline: My wife and I had a second home in Butte County of Northern California that I used for brain injury
recovery and an art studio. The trees there inspired me as living things that could survive cold
winters, drought, and even fire. In November of 2018, a wildfire burned down that house, along with
much of the city of Paradise, CA (about 10 miles west of Concow where my home was). The idea of
survival after a traumatic experience really struck me as important.

The destruction of my art studio by fire inspired me to collect some of the charred wood, and to learn how to make paint from it. I
have found the black watercolor paint made from those ashes, and adding pigment from those
charred remains to acrylic paint does some remarkable things to my paintings. Truly, there has been
a lot of good that has come out of the fire.

In 2019 I saw a picture of a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine tree. These are some of the oldest known
living trees, and there is a forest of these trees relatively close to my home in California. A two-day
road trip to the Ancient Bristle Cone Pine Forest near Bishop, CA led to many photos, and a series
of paintings that celebrate their resilience in the face of harsh conditions. This species of trees have
adapted to their environment.

In 2021 I went to visit a grove of Coast Redwoods in Muir Woods National Monument near Mill
Valley, CA. There, again, I sat and painting and drew, and took photographs of these magnificent
trees and the plants that they share the land with. The height, the strength, and the beauty inspire me.

Trees are alive, they are strong, they recover from the wind and the snow and fire. I want to be as
strong as these trees are. I want to inspire others to thrive like the trees around us.

In 2020 I painted a portrait of two children, one of which has a rare disorder called Wolf-Hirschhorn
Syndrome. That painting has led me to create more paintings of children with rare disorders
(including a painting of my oldest sister, and two of my granddaughters). Representing these
children, teenagers, and adults in what they are able to do helps to reinforce in them, their families,
and in me that it is more important to focus on what we can do, instead of what we cannot do.

This series of paintings has inspired me and touched my heart as I hear their stories and tell those stories
to others. The strength of these children, adults, their families, and caregivers is truly inspiring.

TNYO: If you were to attach a style or a category to your artwork what would it be?

Matt Harline: I didn’t go to art school, and other than just a little bit in high school, I didn’t study art history. I’m not
sure I have the vocabulary to say what my “style” or “category” might be. I don’t do hyper realism. I
don’t do abstract. It isn’t impressionistic, but maybe a little. I try to represent the world around us with
some level of realism, but with some interpretation of what I think or (for my commissions) what my
customers desires their world to be.

TNYO: Where are you from originally, Matt?

Matt Harline: I was born and raised in Northern California’s San Francisco Bay Area. My wife and I moved to the
Sacramento area in 1988. We have also lived in Indiana for several years (Graduate School, and
then working for several years in Indianapolis), and in Singapore for just over two years as an R & D
product development manager. But most of my life has been in Northern California.
TNYO: And where are you now spiritually?

Matt Harline: I was raised in a large religious family (I’m the fifth of nine siblings). I feel that background has given
me a world outlook of ethical behavior, treating others with love and kindness, and seeking to be of
service to others. My parents instilled me with a desire to put the needs of others above my own,
and I continue to have that outlook today.

Throughout my life I have been exposed to many different beliefs, religions, and ways of life. I
respect the beliefs of others and hope to be able to encourage all to seek out their own truth and to
treat everyone that they meet with respect and kindness.

TNYO: Do you think painting relates to your previous career and how long have you been painting?

Matt Harline: Developing business computer systems is quite different from painting or drawing flowers, trees,
landscapes, and people. As an engineer, I found that drawing and painting was a way for me to
exercise my creativity, to escape the pressures and demands of product development, and to
connect with nature and myself. Now, as a full-time artist, I look back on my years as an engineer
and manager as some good “business training”, and now I get to be who I have always wanted to
be, a creative person that adds unique value to my paintings.

TNYO: Matt one last question do you listen to music when your painting and if so what is your favorite song?

Matt Harline: I listen to anything classical. A couple of my favorite albums are Yo  - Yo Ma plays Ennio Morricone and Vivaldi. The Four Seasons

https://huesoftheworld.com


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