Karen Kistler

karen.kistler@salisburypost.com

 

CHINA GROVE — With each brush stroke, artist John Hartley was creating a new piece of artwork.

And visitors attending the D-Day Remembrance Ceremony could take this opportunity to watch him at work as they walked the hallways at the Price of Freedom Museum in China Grove. Working on the sky first, he said the plan was for the painting to include mountains and trees. 

Following the ceremony, which was held June 7, Hartley sat before his easel and demonstrated his painting, something he said he had been doing for close to 50 years.

His mother, Ann Hartley, was an artist, he said, and so he was brought up seeing this and started painting as a kid.

She didn’t do as many paintings as he has done, but he said she was “better than me,” adding that “she was really good, and that’s why I do this. I saw that growing up as a kid and I said, ‘I want to do that too.’”

Hartley said he has done several hundred paintings with 100 of them hanging in the museum, these based on the military. They can be seen throughout the museum in the hallway and classrooms.

And while he has done all sorts of paintings, once he got started doing the military-themed ones, Hartley said, “I was hooked. As you can see,” pointing to the walls in the museum, “I spent years.”

His paintings tell all sorts of stories and cover every war and every military branch, he said, even the Civil War. 

When asked what inspires him to do what he does, Hartley said, “it’s mainly World War II because of my dad.”

His dad, Robert Hartley, served in the 11th Airborne Division during World War II, adding that he “was in the execution detail of Tojo,” which he said hit home to him as he said his dad helped with the “execution of the man we fought all these years.” 

Hartley was able to capture his dad on canvas in his Army paratrooper gear, which he has at his home.

And while he himself didn’t serve in the military, his paintings are keeping those stories alive.

“I’m serving right here,” he said.

Painting at his home, Hartley said people can purchase his work, but he doesn’t push his art to try to make money, but occasionally people will ask him to paint something and he charges them for that.

Inspired by his mom to paint, he carries on her love of art, and it’s the military scenes he paints that helps to carry on the legacy for his dad. These works can be seen at the Price of Freedom Museum, 2420 Weaver Road, China Grove. They are open from 3-5 p.m. on Sundays and by appointment. Call 980-825-0404 for details.