Living Artists of Today: Contemporary Art. Vol.1

Read. View. Enjoy. almine, the countess of shannonn cheryl parsons

irina avilova

briggitte lazo

samantha tesi

katherine erwin

jacqui morgan

nicolena nina salandra- palumbo

www.artandbeyondpublications.com

dan olvera

international

gabriel gross

robin antar

ione citrin

reina cottier

jadranka carluccio-grbic

Vol.1

daniel castillo serrano

min ja lah

paul scott malone

ART

sharon sychta

Art & Beyond Studio, Inc.

beti bricelj

contemporary

gregory john

jennifer manning

aaron nutter

living artists of today contemporary ART international Vol.1

natalya borisovna parris

Living Artists of Today. Contemporary Art book is a tribute to those who create to make this world a better, happier and more beautiful place.

living artists of today

christopher o'hoski

andrey zhelkovsky

jason fairchild

semproniu iclozan elinore bucholtz

shannon brunskill

sara swan

valerie lloyd

living artists of today

contemporary

ART

Vol.1

international

Copyright © 2012 by Art & Beyond Studio, Inc. 110108-RYK1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2012903274 ISBN:

Softcover Hardcover

978-1-4691-7108-1 978-1-4691-7109-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

All artists featured in the Living Artists of Today: Contemporary Art book retain Copyright © for each of their individual images. All rights reserved.

Editor: Alina Ryk Lampert Design and Layout: Art & Beyond Studio. Inc. — exclusively designed for Art & Beyond Publications, a part of the Art & Beyond Studio, Inc.: www.art-beyond.com, www.artandbeyondpublications.com. All rights reserved.

To order additional copies of this book, contact: Xlibris Corporation 1-888-795-4274 www.Xlibris.com Orders@Xlibris.com

contents Glass Sculpture Mixed Media Robin Antar Shannon Brunskill Daniel Castillo Serrano Sharon Sychta

Fine Art

4 6 8 10

Irina Avilova Beti Bricelj Elinore Bucholtz Ione Citrin Reina Cottier Jason Fairchild Gabriel Gross Gregory John Semproniu Iclozan Min Ja Lah Briggitte Lazo Valerie Lloyd Paul Scott Malone Jennifer Manning Jacqui Morgan Elle Nicolaï Chris O’Hoski Natalya Parris Cheryl Parsons Nicolena Nina Salandra-Palumbo Sara Swan Samantha Tesi Andrey Zhelkovsky

14 16 18 20 26 28 32 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 54 58 60 62 64 66 68 70

Photography Digital Art

Almine, The Countess of Shannon Jadranka Carluccio Grbic Katherine Erwin Aaron Nutter Dan Olvera

74 76 78 80 82

From the Publisher

glass sculpture mixed media

robin antar “My passion as a sculptor involves a technique I uncovered more than 20 years ago — the precise art of creating “virtual records” of contemporary culture — capturing common, everyday items in stone.

Essentially, I replicate these items on a real life-scale, complete with meticulous detail. I achieve this absolute realism by incorporating parts of the actual object, as well as custom-made stains, paints, plastics and gold leaf. It’s more than art imitating life, it’s art mirroring life.” — Robin Antar

MILANO COOKIES. 2002, bag-marble and oil and acrylic paint, cookies-cast resin and acrylic paint, 3.5”h x 15”w x 8”d, price includes a custom built pedestal with rotating base and a lucite cover case.

Robin Antar works have been exhibited in various shows and galleries, including Sotheby’s, NY; the National Art Club, NY; Nabisco Gallery, NJ; Fine Art Management Enterprises, Miami, FL; the City Museum of St. Louis, Mo.; the Provincetown Art Museum, Provincetown, MA; the MGM Grand Hotel, Las Vegas, NV, and others. Recent commissions include Dr. Marten Boots, England; Skechers Boots USA; California and Chateau Haut-Brion wines, France as well as private collections. She have been featured in newspapers including The New York Post, New York Daily News, Las Vegas Tribune and others, and magazines such as Fashion Manuscript, Art Business News and Sportswear International and NY Home, to name a few. Also she have been awarded The Allied Artist of America (Gold Metal of Honor and asked to become a full member), Match Up (first prize) in sculpture, work selected to be in Best

4 • Living Artists of Today. Contemporary Art. Vol.1

HEINZ KETCHUP. 2009 red travertine. 24”h X 8”w X 8”d.

DIESEL JACKET FRONT VIEW. 2005, limestone and oils 27”h X 23”w X 6”d price includes a custom built pedestal with rotating base.

of America artists and artisans, Best of New York Artists Books (second place) in sculpture, United Creators, (second place), Sculptural Pursuit (4th place in their national annual competition), Broadcasts include Today in New York, Fox News in Las Vegas, NV, HGTV’s “That Clever”, and 1010 Wins radio in NY. Memberships include Pen and Brush, NYC; National Association of Women Artists and the National Sculpture Society. www.robinantar.com • info@rantar.com • 718-375-5156

International

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shannon brunskill A PLACE TO REST. Cast Glass and Found Objects.

22” x 16” x 30”.

Photo by Artist

Shannon Brunskill. Throughout her life there have been times where a situation will impact her, causing a strong emotional response. They are moments that cause time to stand still and they weigh on her mind for days weeks or years. These instances incite an unwavering need to explain or express them to others; my only method for doing so is through a visual vocabulary.

This work is a collection of experiences, beginning with childhood memories, continuing through more recent events. They discuss issues such as child neglect, abandonment and domestic discomfort. In trying to express these situations, the combination of glass, broken

6 • Living Artists of Today. Contemporary Art. Vol.1

VANITY. Cast Glass and Found Objects.

36” x 19” x 48”.

Photo by Artist

glass and actual objects allows Brunskill to discuss that which physically exists, as well as that which is felt but cannot seen. Brunskill employs imagery that speaks of time, specifically romantic notions associated with particular generational objects. These objects are then manipulated to create a tension between the perceived romance, and the actual events.

Although these works begin based on her personal experiences, she attempts to create pieces that communicate emotions that are a part of the human experience. Brunskill hopes that viewers can feel the essence of the pieces, and in turn the moments that they are derived from.

www.shannonbrunskill.com • shannonbrunskill@gmail International

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daniel castillo serrano

FROM MY SOUL. Fused glass Hanging wall piece with metal frame. 36” x 40” x 6”.

Daniel Castillo Serrano was born and raised in Bucaramanga, Colombia, South America. (1960).

His training in stained glass naturally led him to the process with fused glass which can be approached much the same way as a painting or sculpture and he nurtured this interest in kiln-formed glass. He continually strive to grow as an artist and advance his work technically and conceptually to create very new and exciting, contemporary works of art, colourful, geometric and mesmerizing, captured by light. Drawing on his background along with inspiration from sources such as the four seasons and the Canadian landscape Daniel creates beautiful and compelling glass art that ranges from simple functionally shaped pieces to sculptures, wall panels, windows, doors and installations.

Among his achievements the last four years are: to win the international competition to make “The Memorial Wall for the Holocaust for the Jewish Community Centre” in London, Canada with proposals from Israel, Germany, USA and Canada (2008); “The Banting House National Historic Site of Canada Public Sculpture” to commemorate the ninetieth anniversary of the discovery of the insulin (2010) and

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Living Artists of Today. Contemporary Art. Vol.1

THE FIREBOAT. Fused glass and wooden base. 18” x 14” x 4”.

“The Charley Fox memorial Overpass Public Sculpture” in London Canada (2011) plus a nomination to the “Traza Artesanal National Award” by Artesanias de Colombia (2011).

His work is exhibited throughout North and South America, Spain, Italy as part of hundreds of private and public collections and it has been part of some exhibitions in London, Bayfield, Kitchener, Toronto and Montreal.

Daniel has been lecturer for Museum London guides, London Cross Cultural, Glassfax Canada glass collectors, London City Symposium and has received several grants from London Arts Council.

His work has been part of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection Autumn Art sale recognized as one of the most prestigious events to display original work from some of Canada’s most talented painters and sculptors, presented by the McMichael Volunteer Committee.

www.danielcastilloglass.com • daniel@danielcastilloglass.com International

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sharon sychta “As a sculptor, I experience the world in all of its three-dimensional wonder. This vision shapes my thoughts and my work, as I create my own three-dimensional reality by manipulating a variety of media and found objects. I may conjure the illusion of fabric from clay, flesh from paper, a figure from a piece of fallen wood, or an appendage from wire.” — Sharon Sychta

RELAX. Settled and anchored at ready for next move.

Relax: Annealed wire and papyrus. 6” x 10” x 2”.

HANG. A brief moment of immobility unsupported from below forming a graceful curve.

Hang : Annealed wire, cork, and tissue paper.

8” x 25” x 4”.

10 • Living Artists of Today. Contemporary Art. Vol.1

Sharon Sychta expresses her emotions through her art, which is also informed by the natural world, her life experiences and the people around her. For example, she is currently working on a sculpture called “Entwined,” inspired by a sketch of her in-laws. Another piece, “Manual Dexterity,” which recently earned an honorable mention in a juried show, grew from Sharons’ appreciation of the form and function of the human hand.

As part of Sychta’s creative process, she surrounds herself with objects and materials that allow her to fully express her ideas. At times, an object or subject will speak to her and Sharon will begin there, researching

DISCONNECT. Pull the plug and render inoperable. We all need to consider this practice in todays technology driven world.

Disconnect: Wire, paper, acrylic medium, telecommunication wire strands. tie wraps, and electrical connector 12" x 44" x 4".

the concept and then working out the details by incorporating items from her collection of supplies. In one case, years of observing turkey vultures on the lake at Sychtas’ summer home triggered some research. As Sharon learned more about them, she developed a personal connection to these distinctive birds and ultimately told their story through a sculpture of wire, leather and bark, with elements of collage.

For Sharon, art and life have evolved together. As an elementary and middle school student, Sychta made shadow boxes and ceramics. In high school, she embellished her essays with detailed illustrations. Naturally, Sharon Sychta pursued these interests in college, taking numerous art courses while earning a marketing degree, with an emphasis on fine art, from North Central College in Naperville, Ill. Since then, Sharon has continued to incorporate new techniques in media and sculpture, she has also furthered her education by attending classes taught by professional artists and has also juried several group shows.

Sharon and her husband, Jim have raised their three daughters in Batavia, Ill., where Sharon helped launch the non-for-profit community arts center, Water Street Studios, as one of the founding artists and worked for a time as its marketing director.

In addition to creating her own work, she enjoys teaching children and adults the skills she has acquired over the years. Sharon especially appreciates the opportunity to pass on her passion to the younger generation, whether by teaching a class, volunteering at the local schools or working with her own children.

Sharon has always encouraged her daughters to use their creativity every day, and they have exceeded her expectations. After seeing their talents develop, Sharon has determined to never give up on herself as an artist. Her motto is “a creative mother is a happy mother,” and Sharon hopes this will inspire her girls to incorporate art or whatever brings them joy into their own lives.

sharon@sharonsychta.com • www.sharonsychta.com International

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fine art

irina avilova SOMEWHERE IN EUROPE… Gouache. 16” x 20”.

What does it take to be an artist? Can you be a professional artist if you are self-taught? Are you allowed to use your left, analytical side of the brain as much as you use your creative right side? Can an artist have a full-time job in Finance? And, most importantly, where do you find time to do all that?

Irina Avilova has been asking herself these questions for quite a while. Her versatile and interesting, but not very logical life, has been offering answers. Irina Avilova was born and raised in Moscow, Russia in a family of scientists. Her father is a physicist and her mother is a biologist. Irina came to the United States in 1999 by herself as a very young girl to pursue an MBA in Finance. Currently, she works full-time in International Finance and resides in the Washington, DC area. Irina was also a professional dancer back in Moscow, performing with a very famous Russian modern dance troupe – Todes.

Irina has been painting and drawing all of her life. She did not attend any art colleges or schools. Intuitively and passionately polishing her skills from one painting to the next, she has developed her own style, closest to impressionists, which is still constantly evolving and changing. She loves

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Living Artists of Today. Contemporary Art. Vol.1

DANCER RESTING Oil . 8” x 11”.

exhibiting her work because she believes that art is about people with different experiences and backgrounds deriving their own emotional associations and interpretations from viewing the paintings. Irina values her status of a self-taught artist. She thinks that it means that what you see on her paintings is pure creativity, uninfluenced and unbiased by the fear of what or how is right or wrong to paint. Irina is a true optimist and she believes it is seen in her art through the bright colors, casual beauty and sparkles of light here and there. She believes in the beauty of life, every person and every moment. Her art gives her an opportunity to highlight such beauty in something that strikes and inspires her.

As a self-taught artist, Irina was nervous, when taking her “Moscow at Night” painting to her very first art show in 2006. It was truly worth overcoming the nervousness, as Irina’s work was noticed and her painting became the People’s Choice Award winner. Since that time her artwork has been part of multiple regional, national and international exhibits, including two personal shows.

“My Dream of New York” painting was mentioned in the local newspaper. Irina’s paintings are in private and public art collections, including collections in Austria and Switzerland.

What you see in Irina’s paintings is a reflection of her multi-cultural background. Since leaving Russia in 1999, Irina has been missing her family and her hometown, Moscow, only more and more. Many of her paintings reflect that. In other paintings you will see her travels or the dreams of travels (i.e. places she has never been to). Irina is fascinated with cityscapes, because big cities around the world, like New York and Paris, remind her of Moscow with its dynamics and sleeplessness. Another artistic influence is Irina’s fascination with dance. One of the artist’s plans is to paint more about dance in the future.

Irina currently mostly works with oil. She loves the texture it creates. She enjoys experimenting with oil and finds it the most challenging medium to work with. The challenge is having enough patience to let each layer of the paint dry, which makes completion of an oil painting a lengthy and risky process. The artist also enjoys using gouache, watercolor and making drawings with pencil, charcoal, pen or anything she finds handy.

i_avilova@hotmail.com • www.irinaavilova.com

RED BOAT. Oil & Gouache. 6” x 8”.

International

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beti bricelj

From the cycle “SPACEinFORM”, Acrylic on canvas. 60cm x 120cm. 2010.

Beti Bricelj is distinguished by her uncluttered concept and superlative painting skills, which derive from her committed and intensive work in the field of artistic possibility.

She has convincingly formulated her own style based on an original merging of technical perfection and a sense of exploring the laws of colour and their dynamic values, which stems from both a masterful precision and a feeling for spatial organisation and composition.

This has enabled her to develop, with extraordinary diversity, approaches and possibilities that take the painting from its basic rational, mathematical geometric organisation to surprising, attractive and fascinating fractally organised compositions, which owing to merely apparent harmonisation have a very enlivening effect, since they extend out in ever new planes and their emerging patterns.

Until now the painter has already discovered and tested out the way in which basic straight lines and planes can create varyingly revolving movement, which spreads according to its own algorithm from a specific central point out of the painted canvas into infinite patterns.

The effective properties of colour and the mysteriously well-arranged shapes lend the painting field a special attractiveness, which also directs the gaze inside, to the selected or imagined beginning, the source or illusionist interior or what is called the primary depth of the planar picture surface, where we may observe the basis of the pattern and the convergence of colour-vibrating planes.

The painter’s carefully selected fundamental artistic elements, the considered composition and carefully judged colour combinations for each painting keep indicating in a special way her artistic variation, which in the cycles can be seen as a wealth in an endless diversity of possible invention. The construction of continually new and fresh visual possibilities, which differ in their “key” and rhythm of composition, enable her to develop and shape her own path through exploration of modular principles of altering the selected basis.

We can sense the genuine vitality of the compositions, which is reflected in the dynamic sense of order, a primary principle of fine art and a major distinction of internal insight into the relationships of fine art.

16 • Living Artists of Today. Contemporary Art. Vol.1

From the cycle “SPACEinFORM”, Acrylic on canvas. 60cm x 120cm. 2011.

From the cycle “SPACEinFORM”.

Acrylic on canvas. 60cm x 120cm. 2011.

Beti Bricelj’s paintings now make up a sizeable opus, and we may address it in terms of various emphases aimed at exploring the inspiring and infinite possibilities of altering the well-ordered artistic basis. In this light we may sense how the carefully considered gradation of colour and the contrast create various feelings of undulation, rising and falling, spatial illusions as well as spiral twisting, or various movements on the surface and in the depths. She achieves all of this by merging thoughts and feelings regarding the operation of various rhythmic properties, which she transfers with exceptional imagination and persistence to the primary web of the plane, something we may perceive only if we take into account what kind of insight into the artistic structure the painter has created through her dedicated work and through numerous preparatory sketches and drawings prior to the emergence of the individual work of art.

Art critic by Carmen Tisnikar Beti Bricelj was born in Postojna (Slovenia) in 1974. In 2000 she graduated from Fine Arts on Arthouse - College of Visual Arts in Ljubljana.

Since 2002 Bricelj has been a member of the Union of Slovene Fine Arts Associations. She lives and works in Postojna.

Beti Bricelj participated in numerous independent and joint exhibitions in Slovenia and abroad. As an artist she took up an architectural challenge and designed the front of the Epicenter B2 Trade and Business Center in Postojna using her expertise in art.

beti.bricelj@gmail.com • http://betibricelj.weebly.com International

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elinore bucholtz

FANTASIA 2. Acrylic on canvas. 30" x 40".

“In terms of the historical sweep of art development, my work easily falls under the general rubric of Abstract Expressionism. However, it moves on from that approach to a more lyrical style with an innovative use of very informal strokes, incomplete forms, unusual arrangements, and "accidentals", gestures that seem to fall where they may, to create a more serendipitous experience for the viewer. My use of color, too, is unique to my style by being freely chosen based on visual connections rather than on rules” — Elinore Bucholtz.

Elinore Bucholtz. After her education at UCLA, Adelphi University, and the Art Students League, Bucholtz started an art career that has gathered momentum quickly in the past couple of years with numerous shows through various organizations here in Manhattan: WSAC, Women In the Arts, Metropolitan Artists, Manhattan Arts International (on-line), and American Society of Contemporary Artists; and through solo shows (five this past year here in Manhattan). Her work has also been displayed more recently on various web sites.

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Living Artists of Today. Contemporary Art. Vol.1

FROM MANY, ONE. Acrylic on canvas 48" x 60".

Her artistic development has also moved rapidly from representational to abstract art in a very brief period of time. Her abstract art is loose and free flowing and has been described as "intuitive", " spontaneous", “creating a sense of "limitless space", having "light interact with matter in a way that breaks down the barriers between the physical and the ethereal ", offering "a cosmic, dreamy experience", conveying "the immediate pleasures of paint itself...with sensuous satisfaction and ...autonomous beauty.” "Bucholtz ...boldly carries the torch of Abstract Expressionism into the postmodern era by virtue of her energetic paint handling and unerring sense of form and color."

Her latest review had this to say: “...her work calls to mind the definition ‘color construction’ since she employs broad strokes of the brush and possibly the palette knife to lay down brilliant hues that function as the actual building blocks of her composition.”

Bucholtz has used all drawing and painting media excelling in acrylics and watercolor.

Her work is now in numerous collections both on the east and the west coast as well as in England.

212.777.1279 • e.bucholtz@rcn.com • web.mac.com/elinorebucholtz • elinorebucholtz.com International • 19

ione citrin "I dream, therefore, I am" I create art because I must.

It is a necessary extension of my life.

It identifies and substantiates my existence.

It is my profile and my legacy.

I want to intrigue and entertain.

I want to initiate wonder and questions.

I want to communicate my thoughts, dreams and desires. most of all, I want to be!

ATLANTIS, Acrylic on canvas. 36” x 24”.

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THREE FACES OF EVE. Oil on paper. 16” x 12”.

“MY ART IS MY VOICE” Ione Citrin Ione’s art has shown nationally since 1998 when, after years of world travel, a successful television, radio, theatre and film career in the performing arts, she decided to focus her richly diverse talents on the visual arts. Ione’s artistic expression, creativity, and passion for communication have resulted in numerous awards for her painting, sculpture, mixed media, and assemblage.

International

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STEPS. Bronze sculpture. 17 1/2” h x 9” w x 4” d.

DOMINATRIX. Bronze sculpture. 17 1/2” h x 8” w x 6” d.

Ione is an Avant-garde artist whose artistic expression takes fantastic shape through her diverse oil and watercolor paintings, bronze sculptures, found object collages and mixed media assemblages. Her contemporary paintings and sculptures range from abstract to realistic to impressionistic - all visionary interpretations from her imaginative soul.

Ione uses only one name but a variety of styles to soothe her wild imagination. A native of Chicago, she is a former television star and commercial voice-over artist. Now she wins awards and sells her creativity through her hands instead of through her larynx. Her art is as original as she is - bold, colorful and highly decorative.

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SET FREE. Bronze sculpture, 24 1/2” h x 7” w x 11 1/2” d.

THE ROSE. Bronze sculpture. 23” x 15” w x 13” d.

Ione says about her sculptures: "A strange kind of fire burns within me when I sculpt. It begins somewhere deep within my chest and spreads like a flame throughout my body and my mind. It finds my fingers within seconds. My hands ignite each of my creations, as the vision of what will soon exist ignites within me. I am meticulous, I follow this fire to its "second skin" in the clay. As a sculptor, I make bronze tender, and in return it strengthens and solidifies me.

These sculptures are all created out of my fertile imagination. I begin with a small idea, start working with the clay, get totally carried away and proceed day by day until I'm satisfied with the end result. It takes me a long time to complete a piece. Daily changes, small International • 23

SPECTRUM. Mixed media on paper. 40" x 30".

adjustments, large adjustments, change of direction, etc. But I know when it is finished when there is nothing else I want or need to do and then I utter a final sigh of completion."

Ione's approach to her work is utterly fluid.

"I personally like to fill my canvas (or whatever support) completely. I love "busy" visuals. I work until I achieve this detailed, "filled to saturation" composition. Somehow it seems to work for me. None of my work is "pre-planned". I start with a general idea, usually a visual

24 • Living Artists of Today. Contemporary Art. Vol.1

CONTEMPLATION. Acrylic on canvas. 16” x 20”.

idea in my mind's eye, and then proceed. No layout, no nothing. I hit the support.........running. Needless to say, this process is time consuming and labor intensive, but I am so satisfied with the end result, that I keep doing my art in the same fashion, no matter the medium, (sculpture, collage, assemblage, etc.)"

"Abstraction is the clearest artistic expression of my inner experiences."

"Through my art I can show the world the way I feel it. I love to experiment. I guess I'm a "tinkerer with an artistic eye".

310.556.4382 • http://www.artbyione.com • ICitrin@aol.com International • 25

reina cottier SOLEIL. Acrylic on canvas.

51cm x 61cm x 4cm.

Reina Cottier was born and raised in Aotearoa, New Zealand and and feels blessed to be a part of such a beautiful land.

Creatively Cottier feels her work is very much inspired by her experiences, people that she resonates with, and her favourite places, both here in NZ, and countries she has spent time in, (Australia, Canada, UK & Europe, US, Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pacific Islands). Cottier is deeply influenced by cultural and ethnic beliefs, art & traditions. Her creations come spontaneously from an authentic place inside, aligning with her inner quest for a greater understanding of life. This is expressed with vibrant alive colours and flowing shapes. Everything she creates comes from the heart, most times Cottier has no idea what she is going to paint until it is on the canvas. She paints with feeling rather than thought, her process is one of something she senses or feels and combines that with colours that best align with that feeling.

Cottier studied art right through school, winning awards and gaining University Entrance and a Bursary with her marks. After pondering the pros and cons of a fine arts degree, she decided to go in a completely different direction, and became an award winning hairdresser as an outlet for her creativity. After owning a successful salon and a salon consulting business for 15 years, Cottier had a break from everything and became a mother of two girls. Two years ago, she decided to take up painting again and found her inner artist was alive and kicking!

26 • Living Artists of Today. Contemporary Art. Vol.1

KUNDALINI. Acrylic on canvas. 51cm x 61cm.

DIMENSIONAL PORTAL. Acrylic on canvas. 38cm x 76cm.

Cottier works mainly with acrylic on canvas and has dabbled with collage and mixed media, ink & crayon.

For Cottier, staying inspired on a daily basis involves focusing on living fully in the 'now', being true to herself, evolving, learning, expanding her horizons. She loves life! Cottier tends to see the funny side of everything and loves mixing with all walks of life, she does not judge someone for what they look like or what they believe in. Each to their own. Cottier likes who she is and has no regrets about anything in her life. “What I am today, I may or may not be tomorrow, as each experience in my life re-shapes me every single day. I am a strong free spirit, empowered and proud, and I feel this is expressed in my art,” Cottier states.

reina@cottier.co.nz • www.reinacottier.com International • 27

jason fairchild UNTITLED. Oil on canvas, 40” x 60”.

The Art of Jason Fairchild

By Robert Kameczura

Women are the center of the art of Jason Fairchild: or to be more accurate women and the unique forms of space that surround them.

(Untitled) The women he portrays are not the everyday women we see on the street waiting for buses or shopping in the neighborhood supermarket, they are sexually charged nude or semi-nude figures that seem part lover, part mother, part dream girlfriend, part wife, part earth goddess. They are figures of beauty, pleasure, pain, mysticism and fantasy. (Angel of Destruction) His figures are also involved in differing ways with processes of metamorphosis and transformation. They are attempts to portray the journey’s of the soul through various stages and roles in life but in a way which emphasizes the ambiguity of humanity floating through time and space. His figures seem in the midst of travel in journeys that are infinite; his images frozen moments in endless voyages where the model poses for a second in a fantastic landscape, let’s the artist capture her image, but will soon move on to travel onward to another place and another time and another role in her existence. (Shore’s Left Behind) As such his woman have a slightly ambiguous dream like quality that hints at, but never overtly states, elements of the human condition.

In his art Eros meets encounters the mysteries of nature; swirling seas and skies, as well as vast, usually barren, landscapes are a common motif.

(Rising Sea) As Fairchild states: “Seas, skies and the earth are places where

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MALAKHEI HABBALAH (Angel of Destruction).

Oil on canvas, 30”x40”.

things are constantly changing. The sea is where we came from in the distant past. It is a symbol of our origins and birth. The Earth is where we may return. The sky is a symbol of aspirations, of the future, a place where we might find answers that reflect changes we pass through in life. As I see it, elements of land, sea and sky seem characters in the drama existence, they are the things that cause change, their qualities effect what change can be… just like gravity effects our bodies and the way they grow and age, so the landscape and the place we find ourselves in effects the inner soul of people.”

His work involves several unusual pictorial and painterly devices. Fairchild speaks of an early infatuation with the work of illustrator Patrick Nagel, whose crisp hard edged graphic and seminude figures were the darling of Playboy and Fashion magazines in the 1970’s. This influence is shown in his slightly formalized poses of his models which, for all their eroticism, seem to have a touch of that element of a nude being aware she is posing rather than caught unaware. One feels a element of the formal (full frontal poses are common) in all of Fairchild’s nudes which only seems to make his woman more spellbinding, more iconic figures than real flesh. (Night Owl) One might compare them to Botticelli’s “Venus;” beautiful, sexual, tempting but ultimately cool and in a place midway between the world of dreams and the world of civilization. (The Road) Fairchild, who had a second career as a medical illustrator speaks of learning how to draw through his study of nudes in magazines.

“When I was growing up in Niles, Ohio my mother noticed I had an early interest in drawing the figure. She was an understanding person and used to bring me home Playboy magazines so I could learn how to draw nude figures from the women in the pages. I not only learned how to International • 29

RISING SEAS. Oil on canvas, 46”x50”.

draw the figures from the photographs but I also studied the figure illustrations by artists such as Patrick Nagel. I loved their clarity and sense of design using the body and the lines of clothing as a powerful motif. But I have adopted it to my style and goals, which is more about investigating who we are than just good drawing of chic woman to make a stylish statement in a magazine.”

In his own work Fairchild goes far beyond mere illustration. His initial interest in formal patterns stretched to deeper extremes and his space developed into a space that is stretched and twisted into curious almost gothic arrangements. (Drifting Into the Abstract) The space in his paintings is a distinctive mixture of crystalline and organic, geometric and free flowing, touching on and interacting with the natural world in tenuous half surreal ways. Indeed, ambiguity is one of his principal metaphors. One sometimes has to look carefully to see what is up and down left right, only to discover they are only partially there at all. His space is frequently divided into unusual sectional constructs, like trap doors into skies, or fragmented lattice like frameworks that often resemble stained glass cells. (Factory Green No.2) His lighting can be almost naturalistic in his landscapes, conjuring up sunrises or weirdly gloomy stormy skies. (Self Portrait No.1) In other cases his figures are bathed in curious speckled light which makes the shapes of the figures uncertain and vague, as if they are seen through light that has been fractured

30 • Living Artists of Today. Contemporary Art. Vol.1

SELF-PORTRAIT NO.1.

Oil on canvas, 46” x 50”.

or bent. (Black Rain Hiroshima) His interest in medieval stained glass imagery, and its veils of mysticism, puts some of his work in touch with a tradition of timeless mythology: saints and goddesses, devils and succubus’s. (Loki’s Intro) Stained glass also seems an inspiration for his rich phosphorescent color. Bright reds are prominent, and dominate his palette touched with and intense greens and blues. (Birth of the Blues). Other works are subdue in their coloration; grays, blacks, flesh tones, many of his works in a minor key are almost monochromatic. (Chrome Halo) Much his work features dark black cabochon like outlines as in stained glass to add a flavor of iconic intensity. These compositional structures are at once solid but also fluid, seeming to expand and ultimately hint at more dimensions that the familiar three (left, right, up, down, back and forward) we move in.

One might describe Fairchild’s fluid space as reflecting something of the uncertainties of how modern man sees himself in relation to the universe. One might extend this to say that his art has some kinship to aspects of a theory in contemporary physics called “string theory.” This theory involves a reality of space and time where everything is a form of energy merging to form universes that are separated by membranes that can touch but never entirely merge and where everything, man, the earth, the stars, is in a constant state of transition and uncertainty.

To read a complete article please visit http://www.artandbeyondpublications.com/2012/01/jason-fairchild/ • jasonfairchild.net

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gabriel gross

SERIE AUSCHWITZ. PENSANDO QUE LLEGAMOS TARDE , LA TARDE QUE LLEGAMOS. Oil on canvas. 72” x 60”. Diptych. 2011.

Gabriel Gross and the Perpetual Search

By Marco Antonio Rodríguez

Gabriel Gross (from Quito, Ecuador - 1952) is an extremely perceptive and sensitive man, whose art is the vital epicenter of his life. It is away from art that he withdraws and to which he always returns without delay. Art has been the core of his existential being. As a child, Gabriel, drew in secret (from whom was he hiding? himself? who knows?). His rich and varied intellect is due to his tireless longing for integral training and knowledge, always in the field of the visual arts. His experience as a producer, director, light and sound designer for multiple theatre productions, along with his dynamic personality, has led him to act in short films. Lightness and levity are the signs of Gross’s art.

His visuals do not provoke, rather they ease. They do not invoke anxiety, rather they strengthen. They do not darken; they illuminate. They

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SERIE AUSCHWITZ. EL SIN SENTIDO, EL SENTIDO ABSURDO. Oil on canvas. 72” x 60”. Diptych. 2011. do not distract, rather they seduce. It doesn’t matter if his visuals penetrate one’s inner perplexities or confront themes of the environment.

The artist, unperturbed, gives us a sunny and joyful world impregnated with tenderness. The dreams of his childhood and adolescence are a constant theme in his work. It is in this space that Gross houses his characters. “I dream with an art of equality and serenity, dispose of themes of disquiet or deprivation,” - said Matisse. Gross reaches these high spheres, undoubtedly provided by his intense spirituality.

He is a man searching for the essence of life, the meaning of his existence, its inescapable dialect of joy and sadness, drive and hesitation, isolation and hope. Vocation and creation lived to the fullest with a big heart, the heartbeat of a poet, and the steps of man.

Drawing reveals, as no other form of visual expression, the commitment of always learning. It is the yardstick for measuring how much dignity is in the artist and what this represents. Drawing is the visible line of the poet (and how much poetry is in Gross’s work!) to verify if International • 33

CON.FE.S.O.S (CONFESOS). Oil on canvas. 60” x 72”. Diptych. 2010. something new and profound must be told and is truly worthy of shedding light upon. Gross always finds constant renovations and in them the development of truth, converting the drawing into his external breathing, under beautiful and harmonious forms and shapes; breath that, in essence, emerges from its more hidden meanders and becomes a third life in his work. Gross’s work is haunted by a dim picture, almost unaggravated, clean and precise, shaken by a slight blow (the child who lives in the artist? - walks on tiptoes across the picture).

The cardinal point of art is to indicate some exaltation in being, confirmation of life, and revelation of the human destiny. The rest is just a trivial exercise. This exaltation can be interpreted in two ways: one, through the wrapping of life, accepting the sensual vibration of the colors, the pace of the forms which are all one in nature constantly moving and transfiguring. The other is resolved in the interior labyrinth, accepting instinctive impulses, the findings of the conscience (meditation and introspective attention), and perhaps above all, abiding by the

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LA ULTIMA CENA. Oil on canvas. 48” x108”. Triftych. 1998.

SERIE AUSHWITZ: FRIO O CALOR - SUSTENTO O ALIMENTO Diptich. Oil on canvas. 72” x 60”. 2012

impersonal claims of the unconscious (the last ones are the prototypes, images that come without being desired, but demand to be expressed). In the pictorial work of Gabriel Gross, in a manner unlike many other artists, these two slopes converge: magical glazes vibrate against the light of the colors, composing and recomposing evanescent forms and figures but materialized through the alchemy of his art, art that is at the same time the expression of his inner or intimate voice essential, secret, the one that is planted in his memory. Gross uses strong colors, that are often dark or intense, white and black, and that attract him and his canvases and murals, as well as enliven, strengthen, and encourage. Here there is a Christ, beautiful and vital, to revive faith in life and in others. Or a figure that reluctantly gives us the feeling that he is enjoying the playfulness of life. Or, finally, a row of ghosts that gives us back dreamed up images, or vistas, in our distant childhood.

ggross1952@aol.com • www.gabrielgrossart.com International • 35

gregory john DUST TO DUST. Oil on canvas. 20" x 30".

"If you can draw from your inspiration, happiness, pain, bereavement, life's victories and triumphs, and have the ability to formulate your expressions into something that possesses value to you - be it painting, sculpting, digital imagery, conceptualism, installation, collage or cartoon..." then make no mistake...

You Are An Artist!

- Gregory John

Gregory John has been producing art in one form or another for most of his life.

He would describe his style as realist, whilst the concepts are mostly surreal. John paints mostly for cathartic reasons and feels a powerful sense of psychological progression with every piece of art or sculpture that he creates. John is inspired by the work of Francis Bacon, Escher and Hogarth. Completed DPFE Fine Art and Art History through the London Guildhall University (1993-1995) and also a BSC HONS degree (psychology). For John, the two subjects are intrinsically linked.

www.thegregoryjohngallery.com mobile 07533706017

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RECLAIMED. Oil on canvas. 24" x 32".

International • 37

semproniu iclozan

DALMATIAN NIGHTS. Oil on canvas. 20” x 16”

Semproniu Iclozan is an intentionally known American artist, born in Transilvania, Romania. He received his MFA from Nicolaie Grigorescu Art Academy, Bucharest, Romania. His work has been shown at more than 51 exhibitions in Europe and United States.

Iclozan’s art was published in many European books and catalogs around the world. Iclozan’s work is in the permanent collections at the Chicago History Museum, National Museum of Art in Bucharest, Romania, Museum of Contemporary Art, Poland, Royal Art Collection in Stockholm, Sweden and many others.

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THE SPIRIT OF THE PLACE. Oil on canvas. 59” x 47”

THE MIRAGE OF TIME. Oil on canvas. 29” x 25”.

For almost two decades, Iclozan was exhibited as a solo artist in numerous galleries around the world including; Ambassador Gallery, NY, Portals Gallery and Hansen Gallery, Chicago, Fontanella Borghese Gallery, Rome, Italy, Accademia di Romania, Rome, Italy, Craiova Museum of Art, Romania, Drottinnggatan 100 Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden.

Iclozan has also participated in numerous of Art Expos, including the Vancouver, Chicago and Miami International Exhibitions. Iclozan’s artwork is also in many private art collections in United States, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, The Netherlands, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

semproniu@iclozan.com • http://www.iclozan.com International • 39

min ja lah

FANTASIA #19. Arcrylic/mixed media on wood board. 18” x 20”.

Min Ja Lah is a Chicago area artist working in the medium of prints, woodcuts, oils and acrylics. Her work has taken her around the globe and she actively shows her fine art across the US. Lah was born in Seoul, South Korea, amid the geo-political conflict of the Korean War. Her father, a diplomat, managed to escape with his family to Japan, where Lah spent the better part of her childhood. As an immigrant and outsider from an early age, she learned the need to express herself in a medium other than the confines of language and culture. It is in art she understood how to communicate her most haunted fears and complicated joys.

She graduated from Seoul, South Korea’s prestigious Ewha Women’s University with a bachelor of arts in fine arts. Determined to understand the exciting art world in America, she obtained her master of sciences degree in art at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin. It was at Madison where she began to actively compete in art competitions and began to exhibit throughout the city.

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SELF-REFLECTION. Arcrylic, mixed media on wood board.

20” x 18”.

Shortly after graduation, she traveled through Europe to understand the history of art and incorporate the lessons of the great artists into her own consciousness.

She returned to Korea a wiser soul, gaining national recognition as a budding young artist. She exhibited throughout the city and became a teacher to college students at Sohrabul University.

In the 1970’s, she immigrated with her new husband to America and spent the next decade dedicating her life to her children.

But as she raised two children, she never forgot her art, painting and drawing in the basement of their suburban home. She exhibited her art in several shows as her children were growing up and worked in corporate art, but she returned full-time to exhibiting in the 1990’s.

Min Ja has been featured in numerous oneperson shows throughout the Chicago area.

In 1996, the Foster Bank featured her work in a one-person show, one that drew the attention of Korean television networks.

She has since exhibited dozens of times in one-person shows in a variety of venues, including private facilities and financial institutions, suburban commerce of chamber locations, and public gathering spaces. Min Ja is one of the 66 artists featured in the publication, “The Chicago Art Scene.”.

Min Ja has been an active member of the Northwest Cultural Council Gallery in the Chicago area for the past decade.

She also shows her art in California. The Marin Society of Artists accepted two pieces in their competitive fall show. The Marin group is currently renting her pieces.

Min Ja is the proud mother of two adult children, an attorney and a news reporter. She lives in Schaumburg, IL and works on her art every day.

minjalah@gmail.com • 847-310-1672 International • 41

briggitte lazo THE VIOLINIST. Oil on canvas. 28” x 63”.

Briggitte Lazo was born almost by accident in Madrid, Spain as her Cuban immigrant parents just left Cuba a few weeks before her birth. Lazo was then raised for a few years in the US between NY and Florida and finally settled down in Venezuela, where she grew up and was raised in a family with unity, integrity and ethical values that always guided her path.

Lazo’s parents, both Cubans, were forced to leave their country to settle in other lands and find there new horizons. So with a mixture of customs and traditions, we were brought to life in a positive way, so anywhere she goes, Lazo always carries with her a backpack full of love and beautiful memories, which now she has the happiness to share with her husband and three children.

Lazo was thinking that she had reached family fulfillment when they finally settled in the United States seven years ago, as her parents and brothers live there now. Five years later, due to work circumstances, Lazo’s husband had to move to Bogotá, Colombia, for a temporary assignment, to Lazo it meant a new detached family, another uprooting, pain mixed with anger and helplessness, that made it difficult to handle at that time because she was not ready to re-live the experience of coming to an unknown country, without more family than my husband and children, no friends and among people whose customs and way of thinking was different from hers.

However, now after being back into the US, she can say that they were two wonderful years that helped her understand that every culture has its strokes. Colombian human heat kept us from friends who taught her to appreciate the cultural differences and also showed her a colorful and picturesque country that motivated her to turn the lights on her paintings.

Above all Lazo learned that wherever life takes you and every step you take, you slide it into cool memories. Columbia also gave Lazo the opportunity to become a Chef as a way to enjoy the art of cooking, while also expressing her energy in her paintings.

Although Lazo was born in Spain, she feels much more Latin-American than European, and that mix of Cuban and Venezuelan, mainly, is what shaped her as an artist and takes her to use vibrant colors that reflect the Caribbean, the Tropical exuberant nature and their beautiful people.

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SAIL BOAT. Triptych. Oil on canvas.

AURORA BOREALIS. Oil on canvas with fabric for texture. 28” x 40”.

Lazo has always believed in herself as an artist. She strives, studies, learns and never gives up because this is her passion and she knows that there is a world that she still doesn’t visualize, it is quite far, but not unattainable. While Lazo continues working to consolidate he style, her husband and three children, encourage and congratulate her work as if they were of a Monet, a Rembrandt or a Picasso. She would love to be like them. These rewarding experiences in addition to positive comments from some curators who have studied her paintings, and finally, the wonderful day she sold her first painting.

Lazo’s vivid colors reflect her personality that shows the joy of life and her Latin and Caribbean roots; the beauty of her people and the lush landscapes in the countries, their music and way of life. They are always happy and must enjoy every moment.

Most recently, Lazo has exhibited in Bogota, Columbia, Agora Gallery in New York and at the Las Olas Art Festival in Ft Lauderdale. There is also an upcoming exhibition at Agora Gallery in New York in March 2012.

briggittelazo@gmail.com • www.blazo-art.com International • 43

valerie lloyd

A WINDY MORNING. Watercolor. 15” x 22”.

Valerie Lloyd. Born May 14, 1961 in Salt Lake City, as Valerie Rynearson now Valerie Lloyd-Brown, she began drawing and painting at a very young age.

In early 1980, Valerie entered her first art show and after placing first, she began her career as a self-taught fine artist.

Wanting to expand her talent, in 1994, Valerie attended the Art Institute in Philadelphia majoring in multimedia and animation.

Valerie now works for Parsons as a multi-media and animation lead and also runs her studio and gallery that is open to the public.

Her clients include J.M. Huber Chemical Inc, Bank of America, and Dow Chemical Co.

www.valerielloyd.com • 443.417.8269

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THE FLEET IS IN AT DINGLE. Watercolor. 22” x 30”.

GIFT. Color Pencil. 22” x 30”.

A QUIET PLACE. Watercolor. 22” x 30”.

International • 45

paul scott malone JUST DANCE! … #19, Composition 398, Oil on canvas, 40” x 36”. 2005.

Paul Scott Malone is an abstract oil painter and literary writer of poetry and has published three books of fiction. From 1972 to 1974 Malone served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, since then he has worked as a newspaper journalist, literary critic and university professor of contemporary literature and writing at several schools. Paul Scott Malones’ education includes an MFA in creative writing and contemporary literature from The University of Arizona in 1986, and a BA from the University of Houston in journalism and literature in 1978. In 1990 Paul Scott was awarded a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts (U.S.) and has received many other prizes and awards as well.

In visual art, except for a few drawing courses and some tutoring by two wonderful teachers, Paul Scott has been quoted as saying that he is a self-taught artist.

In 2005, shortly after Malone discovered his current painting technique, which is now known as Atmospheric Expressionism. Paul Scott purchased an old house in a small desert town outside Tucson, AZ, near the border of Mexico and transformed the house and its garage

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LACE #2, Composition 496.

Oil on canvas, 54” x 32”, 2009.

CITY HEAT #6, Composition 435, Oil on canvas, 38” x 30”, 2007.

into an excellent studio. For almost five years he lived there with his two dogs as steady companions, and, painting and drawing almost constantly, he created most of his body of work - hundreds of paintings, drawing, pastels, watercolors and acrylics - that he is now offering to the world.

His hometown is Houston, Texas, but then Paul Scott has moved thirty-six times in his life and has lived in numerous parts of the country.

His home is now in Glen Rose, TX. In addition to his painting and writing, he serves as an Adjunct Professor of Contemporary Literature and Writing at nearby Tarleton State University.

paulscottmalone@gmail.com • www.paulscottmalone.com • 1.817.980.6784 International • 47

jennifer manning THE DALY HOUSE. Oil on canvas. 5’ x 5’. 2010.

Jennifer Manning. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in New Jersey, Manning would spend summers with her mother’s family and then visit her father’s family in New York during the winter. Having been creating art as long as she can remember, these polar experiences helped make Duality a major theme her work. Vincent Capraro, Manning’s great-uncle and first mentor, was one of the first people to help inspire and encourage her. During her education at Rutgers University and Mason Gross School of the Arts, many more alliances were made and the art world seemed to blossom out around her. As a developing artist she has often frequented New York City and kept up with its art dialogue, which has only been solidified by her move to the Greater New York City area.

Manning is interested in memories and moments of life captured both in photo and by life’s eye. In a sense photos, like still paintings, are taken with the purpose of being able to recollect a time in one’s life at any given moment. She wants to question the reliability and importance of these photographs and paintings in her work as well as the act of painting itself. Her goal is to question what’s possible, or rather not possible. In response to a past professor’s caveat against the cliché of painting Christmas trees she did just that. Mannings’ resultant piece is one of his favorites. Her paintings have been described as nostalgic, odd, and lonely. One peer once said that her images seem to implant “false memories”; she feels she should have been there, but could not have possibly been. Her

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MOTHER. Oil on canvas. 18” x 24”. 2010.

respected professor, Stephen Westfall, most recently described Manning’s sense of realism as “a dream”.

Many of her influences stem from a broad range of up-and-coming to the well established in their careers. Some of which that have inspired and shaped her work include Lois Dodd - whom she had the wonderful opportunity to meet in New York, Gerhard Richter, Neil Welliver, Mamma Anderson; Catherine Murphy—who she had the privilege of meeting at an artist’s visiting lecture at Rutgers—and other artists from MGSA at Rutgers, such as Caetlynn Booth and Richard Baker; as well as Elizabeth O’Reilly’s landscapes, Jane Frielicher’s cityscapes, Alex Katz portraits, Luc Tuymans’ work from photo; and Bonnard’s still life, landscape, and figures from life.

Manning is concerned with what is tangible in memories and what is falsified in our own minds as we peer into an organic representation of an already manipulated and mechanical reinterpretation of life. The contradiction and controversy behind painting not only what would be considered to be realistically, but also from a photo, fascinates her as much as what is being painted—a view outside the window, a portrait of an old friend, a street corner—these are the scenes that usually go unnoticed, the subtly sublime and ugly, a snapshot of the world taken and put down on canvas so as not to be so readily ignored in its afterlife.

Manning’s oil paintings and recent gouaches are primarily reconstructions taken from photo and memory. Photo is culturally and socially viewed as an objective “tell-all” medium, but in reality photo is just a flattened fragment of still time; an image so manipulated by subject, light, and composition that it really should not be looked upon as an objective source of empirical evidence. Memory is even worse. The image becomes less about subject and more about that act of looking and perceiving such a thing. Even though she tends to work from developed images, the shift to digital and working from life is giving greater perspective and depth to her work, which will continue to grow and develop in her current studio on W 35th Street, New York, NY.

jenniman@eden.rutgers.edu • http://jennimanning.blogspot.com International • 49

jacqui morgan HOMAGE TO SARGENT. Watercolor on Arches.

Jacqui Morgan. When Jacqui Morgan received her BFA from Pratt, she entered a world without any female illustrators. She with Barbara Nessim and Lorraine Fox who passed away very young, were the first and only working female illustrators. During the heyday of the psychedelic, she designed and illustrated the iconic Electric Circus Poster and went on to create more iconic images for the American Optometric Association, Sansui, Scott Printing, Celanese, Exxon, and 7 UP Billboards. Unique covers for American Artist Magazine, Mac Millan Books, Print Magazine and Cosmopolitan along with album covers for RCA, ads for DeBeers diamonds and animated commercials for Burlington Mills and General Mills were among her achievements. She always loved science fiction and illustrated a few anthologies for young readers.

Seeking excitement and change, Morgan began to experiment with painting on found objects such as chairs, sofas, shovels and drawers. At one point her living room looked filled to capacity with beautiful amazons seated and reclining when the room was empty.

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TODDLER PORTRAIT, Watercolor on Arches, 18” x 24”.

NIKI AFTER HER 2ND CHILD, Watercolor, 11” x 15”.

This idea caught the fancy of Playboy Germany to commission a series of illustrations of sofas with celebrities’ seated in conversation such as one with Truman Capote, Jackie Kennedy Onassis and the Duchess of Windsor.

Almost simultaneously, unable to wear high heels any longer, but in love with the sculpture of shoes, she moved to include those otherwise useless shoes. Initially she painted the probable wearer on the innersoles and later added nails and other discomforts to the entire shoe. Ah! what women will go through for beauty. These became part of a travelling exhibition Die Verlassesen Schuhe in Germany and Austria as well as illustrations for album covers and magazines. These were recently seen at Gallery 13’s Beauty School Drop-outs exhibition in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

International

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DANCER FROM TAIWAN. Watercolor on Cotman discontinued watercolor paper. 12” x 12”

HOLLYWOOD PORTRAIT IN INDIGO. Watercolor on Arches. 11” x 15”.

After Morgan received her MA from Hunter College, CUNY, she studied realistic oil painting with Sharon Sprung, a student of Harvey Dinnerstein and then applied these findings to watercolor.

In 1991 she travelled to Japan and Thailand to do a billboard campaign for Dentsu Tokyo on Thai Airlines and Thailand as an ideal vacation destination for the Japanese. This kind of commission is currently rare indeed.

When Jacqui Morgan began to teach at the Fashion Institute of Technology she again felt her excitement over making art was on the wane. So she began to simplify her painting process and make it more exciting by painting the figure from life within a maximum twenty to

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SNOW WHITE. Watercolor on Arches. 12” x 12”.

twenty-five minutes. Her product began to be less real and more exaggerated. More juicy and less rendered. The blurr of motion became as important as the third dimension, the drawing quality, and the exchange of negative and positive space.

After 2005 she produced three books: Jacqui Morgan’s Journey, a retrospective survey of her work also shown at the Society of Illustrators. In 2010 she produced MOSTLY NUDE, Watercolors from Life, and in 2011 ALMOST NUDE, is also is being sold at the Society of Illustrators. www.jacquimorgan.com • 718.275.5482 • jm@jacquimorgan.com International • 53

TREE OF LIFE: TURIYA. Acrylic on canvas. 36” x 24”.

Natural Archetypes – The Art and Soul of Elle NicolaÏ

By Brett Simpson

A heart beat. It is one pattern that we all feel.

Through the heart of each of us love flows both primal and eternal. Touching the sacred space of eternal love leads to wondrous worlds that can be explored, viewed and understood, and as this is done, you will facilitate your own healing, at a deeper subconscious level.

Inside of that space deep, within the universal heart, the love of existence flows. It is a vibration that is timeless and shapeless yet with clear form. It is waiting to be explored, understood and coaxed from the source.

From this deep wellspring of cosmic awareness come natural archetypes. They flow past our mind’s eye and pause. Waiting to be discovered, found and eventually to be painted. Their fulfillment is found in the healing of our spirit, essence, and souls.

Elle NicolaÏ has followed this shaman’s path through an opening in time and space to unveil the most clear and pure images of the elemental origins of our human souls. She paints them with the clarity that allows your soul to recognize the visions of awareness that they explore.

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ONE LOVE, ONE HEART. Acrylic on canvas. 20” X 16”.

MANIFESTATION. Acrylic on canvas. 36” X 24”.

Elle reaches to the far ends of the dream state to harvest these images from within the passing flow of our universal heart. She returns to paint what she finds there and because of that these images are spectacular. They invoke the healing heart that connects us to the spiritual existence of our universe.

The images are pure and simple. Remember that the clearest vision entices the greatest healing. Her images are stark, colorful symbols of mythological understanding that only a pure soul could encounter.

Every human being is aching to know and find the awareness of the essential healing source which flows from the universal heart. We all aspire to reach the perfect healing which can be found in the messages, imagery and essence emanating from the pure dream state of the painted world found in Elle’s artistic works.

International • 55

LIFE III. Acrylic on Paper. 20" x 15".

Looking onto these images, one may find the source within. The flow of time may slow and the world outside (the physical realm) may fade back into its own place as you contemplate her images.

When in a physical space where you can experience her images, symbols and objects in person – you may feel your own heart beating in synchronicity with the universal heartbeat.

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VOYAGE. Acrylic on canvas. 36” X 36”.

TOUCH NOTE – ETERNAL: QUINTESSENCE. Acrylic on canvas. 48” X 36”.

Following your soul, you too may find deep healing, expansion of awareness, and the essence of spiritual awakening in the subtle and pure imagery of Elle Nicolaï’s artwork. Your world may never be the same again.

Elle Nicolaï is an Artist of the Spirit who creates Visionary Art through Dreams and Meditation.

Born in France, she displayed a keen attraction to indigenous, tribal, shamanic cultures, and energy healing from an early age. She lives in California and Central America, where she continues to pursue her interest in Native Indian, Aboriginal, Tibetan, Hindu, and other Asian “ancient” teachings. She studied natural health & nutrition with Sel Ripert, learned Reiki in the Usui Lineage with Joyce Morris, and practices Chi-Kung, applying techniques taught by Master Wang.

Elle Nicolaï’s Transcendental Art encompasses paintings, drawings, photography, mixed media, and 3D object designs. The nature of her Inner Eye visions, captured during hypnagogic states, or dream states, have helped categorize her style in such closely related genres of visual art as spiritual, transpersonal, integral, esoteric, healing, shamanic, symbolic, and also meditative, contemplative, or mandala art.

To experience some of her creations, one can visit ElleNicolai.com • ellenicolai@yahoo.com International • 57

christopher o'hoski

COMPROMISING. Acrylic On Canvas. 24” X 24”.

Christopher O'Hoski. Born in South-Western, Ontario, Canada, Christopher O’Hoski studied art history, painting, drawing, design and arts education at Sheridan College, the Dundas Valley School of Art and the Royal Conservatory.

O’Hoski primary creates his work using Acrylic and Oil, but still finds favour in using Watercolour.

To date, Christopher has exhibited in New York, Washington, Atlanta, Austin, Brooklyn, Portland, Hamilton and Toronto while recently being published in International Contemporary Artists Volumes I & II (textbooks) out of New York and Athens .

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FAITH AGNOSTICA III. Acrylic On Canvas. 24” X 24”

Chris was among the 100 Semi-Finalists for the 2011 Charlatan Ink Prize.

Christopher remains an active and emerging visual artist with affiliations with Artists In Canada, the Society of Canadian Artists and the National Association for Visual Arts (Australia).

He is also an educator and has taught all ages as a drawing, painting and mixed media instructor.

http://www.chrisohoski.com • info@chrisohoski.com International • 59

natalya borisovna parris

THE QUEEN OF THE POND. Acrylic on canvas. 16" x 20". 2009.

Natalya Borisovna Parris was born in Moscow, Russia where she earned basic and advanced degrees in construction engineering from the Moscow State Construction University. After moving to the USA Ms. Parris has been working as a professional artist. She developed her own unique artistic style and is using her scientific and engineering experience to bring new ideas to reality in her work. Ms. Parris expresses herself, her view of the world, through color, color combinations and shapes. When she creates her artworks, she feels completely free. There is no taboo of what colors she can choose or combine, or what technique to use. She applies whatever seems right at the moment or whatever new ideas are coming up in the moment of inspiration. Her “Emotional Counterpoints in Paint – Dots Artworks” have a slightly different story behind them. They are more reflection of her “life achievements” as an experienced construction engineer.

Her floral compositions are expressions of her connection with Nature; its beauty and its nurturing and healing effect on her soul.

Ms. Parris has exhibited her artworks in numerous solo and group shows at the different art galleries and museums. She displayed her artworks at the Museum of the Americas, Doral, Florida "7 Women From 7 Countries" exhibit, May 8 - May 30, 2009 and at the International Artists exhibit in Malmö, Sweden, June 6 - June 27, 2009 at Svenska Konstgalleriet (Gallery). Her artwork was on display at the “International Artists In Florence” exhibit in FYR Gallery, Borgo Albizi 23 – Florence 50122, Italy, September 4 - 30, 2009 and Barcelona Award 2009 Mallorca, 284 - 08037 Barcelona, Spain December 23, 2009 – January 10, 2010. She exhibited at the Latino Art Museum May 5 – June 26, 2010 affiliated with the Ontario Cultural Center and the Pomona Art Colony.

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FLUFFY. Acrylic on canvas. 11" X 14". 2011.

Ms. Parris has received recognition from various competitions. Her mixed media artwork “Leaves Landscape” won First Place (professional category) and a Special Award (Best in Show) at the Maryland State Fair 2007. Acrylic on paper artwork "You Are My Sunshine" won Third Place (professional category) at the Maryland State Fair 2007. Her acrylic on canvas artwork "Daffodils For Mardi Gras" won First Place (professional category) and Viewers Choice Award at the Maryland State Fair 2009. Her mixed media art work “Red Poppies” won First Place (professional category) at the Maryland State Fair 2009. Her acrylic on canvas artwork The Bride won First place (professional category) at the Maryland State Fair 2010 (Timonium). Her artwork “Georgia” won First Place (professional category) at the Maryland State Fair 2011.

Ms. Parris is among featured artists at the “100 Contemporary International Artists”, “Contemporary Artists of the World 2008 – 2009”, and “Contemporary Women Artists 2010”, published by European Communities Artists Library, Barcelona, Spain. Image of her artwork “Patterns in the Sky”, acrylic on canvas, was published in the International Art Expo Las Vegas catalog (September 19-21, 2008). Ms. Parris and two of her artworks were featured among 26 international artists in the 2010 Yearbook of the Latino Art Museum affiliated with the Ontario Cultural Center and the Pomona Art Colony.

Since 2005, Ms. Parris has been a member of Art Committee of the Sandy Spring Museum, Sandy Spring, MD, and has been participating in the selection and management of the quarterly art exhibitions at the museum. Since 2007, she has been teaching art classes for children at the Arts Barn, Gaithersburg, MD.

privatenbp@hotmail.com • www.facebook.com/pages/Natalya-B-Parris/111488538880248 International • 61

cheryl parsons Jeff Burton, photographer

FAVORITE COLOR. Oil on Canvas. 40”x30”

Cheryl Parsons. “A painter’s brush consumes his dreams”. John Keats’ statement has been a driving force behind Cheryl Parsons’ passion.

At the age of 8, she purchased her first oil painting set and creating art has been part of her life since that first encounter with a brush.

Trained in the art of realism until college, Cheryl found the college years were a series of experiments in abstract expressionism (the “ism” of the period). Studying many historical styles, her interest of painting representational still life prevailed – especially the styles of the Dutch golden era masters. For twenty years, after college, full time painting was put on hold for a career as owner of a successful advertising/ marketing firm in Miami, Florida.

With this strong background in marketing, Cheryl used her artistic talents to open a decorative arts company. Over a thirteen year period, she painted trompe l’oeil, large scale wall and ceiling murals in many homes and businesses throughout South Florida - including Burger King International Headquarters, Spec’s Music Stores and Sunglass Huts Headquarters to mention a few.

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SPILLED CANDY. Oil on Canvas. 30”x30”

FREE GUMBALLS. Acrylic on Canvas. 30”x40”

Moving to the Metropolitan Washington, DC area offered wonderful opportunities for Cheryl to associate with many fine artist organizations, galleries, studios and world class museums. With a lifetime of exploration in painting, she found new opportunities to develop her style including painting objects that provoked fond memories such as toys, marbles, crayons, and candy.

“I decided to create colorful paintings that make me happy – and in turn may be meaningful to the viewer.” states Cheryl. Her paintings incorporate the Dutch masters’ technique of dark backgrounds with a directed light source to enhance the brilliance of the colors.

“Another relationship I have with Dutch still life is painting fruits and vegetables,” Cheryl continues. “Luscious dark cherries, fabulous apples, grapes, beets - the colors of nature are challenging.”

In 2010, Cheryl was honored with a grant to live and paint for a month in Dinan, a town located in the Brittany area of France; and one of her paintings was chosen and added to the collection of La Grande Vigne in Dinan.

Cheryl’s paintings have been exhibited throughout the Metro DC area with awards including “Best of Show” several times. She is also in juried fine art festivals – including Miami, Boca Raton, Palm Beach, Baltimore and Metro Washington DC areas. Consult her website for exhibit dates.

Currently member at the Touchstone Gallery at 901 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC – www.touchstonegallery.com High quality giclees of the paintings are available – consult the website for more information.

www.cherylparsons.com • cheryl@cherylparsons.com • 202-607-6223 International • 63

nicolena nina salandra-palumbo MY DADDY'S CELLO. Acrylic. 36” x 48".

Nicolena Nina Salandra-Palumbo was born and raised in the historic “Forest Hills” section of Newark, New Jersey. She has been painting and drawing since before grammar school and has spent many of her childhood summers sketching in the gardens located behind the Newark museum. It has been a dream of hers to someday see her paintings hanging in that very museum.

In sixth grade, one Nicolena Nina’s sketches of a horse, was entered in a statewide competition by her art teacher, Ms. Nina Christie.

Award for scketch of horse was for outstanding achievement in art and many other awards have followed. Her first actual art sale were of

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WHIMSICAL AMY. Acrylic. 16” x 20".

the oil painting The Inferno and a Jimmi Hendrix inspired guitar painted with an American flag and the rest as they say it is history.

Nicolena Nina is a self-taught artist and concentrates her work in the medium of acrylics. She has returned many times to resume exhibiting in the tri-state area after recouping from the effects of Multiple Sclerosis and Lyme disease.

After relocating several times from Newark to Belleville, Nutley, Verona located in Essex County then Mendham & Chester in Morris county, she has finally found her place in the beautiful lake Mohawk are in the mountains of Sussex County in New Jersey. Her on-going battle with Multiple Sclerosis has slowly forced her to settle from a roaming gypsy life to one more stable, Nicolena Nina continues to express herself more loudly through her painting and uses the art venue to raise awareness of MS and Adult Stem Cell research. She is a MS and Adult Stem Cell activist, hoping to see adult stem cells used to treat many illnesses.

For the passed few years Nicolena Nina has been actively exhibiting in numerous galleries and art events around the country and has been interviewed by WMBC TV reporter Nicole and by Breaking News USA TV reporter and fellow artist Sara Monica-Maher, www.breakingbarriers.usa.tv. www.nicolenaninaart.com • nicolenaninaart@aol.com International • 65

sara swan DRESS #7.

Pastel on paper. 28” x 38”.

Sara Swan is an artist living and working in Los Angeles. Her education includes fine art at Whitman College, design at UC Davis, and illustration at Art Center College of Design.

Swan’s primary mediums are chalk pastels and alkyd oil colors. Saturated and intense colors, unusual color combinations and textures characterize her work.

Her career began in illustration, where she created pieces for books, magazines and newspapers that were humorous and highly stylized.

Until about five years ago, the art she produced was very derivative of her illustration style.

The Dress Series represents a new direction stylistically, and is a commitment to the human form. The series is based

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DRESS #2 Pastel on paper. 28” x 38”.

on drawings she did in a weekly class. She brought the drawings into her studio and enlarged them by about 160%, making the figures approximately life size. She then redrew the figures on 30" x 40" paper, and constructed a dress over each figure.

In most cases the dresses are sheer, revealing the original figure drawing underneath. This was an important step in the process because she wanted to maintain the integrity of the models' original poses from the class.

The drawings satisfied Swans’ interest in the human figure as well as her love of fashion, but finding the right color scheme for each drawing was surprisingly difficult. The style of dress and the various skin tones dictated what colors she used.

Swan then chose the background colors.

She tried a number of combinations before finding ones that have the right balance of intensity and contrast.

The finished pieces are based on sketches for which the model posed for as little as one minute and as long as twenty minutes.

Swan’s goal was to create something substantial from drawings that were done in a very short amount of time. As the Dress Series suggests, her work is female-centric. Swan is currently working on a new series that will further explore the female form.

www.saraswan.com • sara@saraswan.com

International • 67

samantha tesi

ROZEN MAIDEN DOLL. Pencil. 8” x 10”.

Samantha Tesi is young up and coming artist living in the State of Florida. Interested in art, Tesi began exhibiting her work at a very young age. She works mainly in mixed media and has been fortunate enough to win several awards through her current school. In 2008 her painting Abstract Flowers was recognized by the Palm Beach County District School Board and was displayed at the Norton Museum in conjunction

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MUSICAL HANDS. Pencil, pen and markers 10” x 12”.

with their Georgia O’Keefe exhibit along side another twenty-five students and in 2011 the young artists work Puzzled Pomegranate was submitted to the organization Women in the Digital Arts and Tesi received the Lynn Travis Stender Scholarship Fund Award.

Art & Beyond Publications is proud to support our young artists of today and encourages them to pursue their passion in the arts.

yariset@aol.com

International • 69

andrey zhelkovsky I do believe that art and beauty will save this world. I’m looking for the code…

- Andrey Zhelkovsky

THE COUPLE. Oil on canvas. 100cm x 80cm.

Andrey Zhelkovsky was born in Ukraine (former USSR) and grew up in the midst of the stunning nature of Carpathian Mountains, rivers and forests.

Zhelkovsky has been drawing ever since he can remember. From a young age Zhelkovsky was a very impressionable person. After watching a movie or a new cartoon he liked, he would grab a pencil and start drawing. He would just feel overloaded with feelings and emotions and

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DIALOGUE. Oil on canvas. 80cm x 100cm. had to release these feelings on a sheet of paper. As a result, his works were very expressive and emotional and this remains true today. Since his teens he was fascinated by history and symbolism of ancient signs and writings and often uses these elements in his work.

In 1994 Zhelkovsky immigrated to Israel and lived in Jerusalem. There he had a great opportunity to come in contact with the history of three religions. During the course of his work at the Israel Museum Youth Studio he discovered the arts of Native Americans, Australian Aborigines and African tribes. The pure and bright colors they used impressed him greatly. As a result his works of that period resemble mosaic or woven tapestry.

Zhelkovsky cannot say that he has a certain style or direction that he uses in his art. He is constantly searching for new ways and likes to discover new creative ideas.

Zhelkovsky believes that an artist is a mirror reflecting the reality through the prism of his soul; a kind of channel that links the cosmos with the material world.

andrey.zhelkovsky@gmail.com • www.dikovinki.com International

• 71

photography digital art

almine, the countess of shannon

ROSE PETAL SUNRISE. Digital Art, 16” x 24”.

Almine, the Rt. Hon. The Countess of Shannon F.R.S.A. is generally recognized as the leading mystic and alchemist of the century.

These remarkable abilities are the impetus for the paradigm shifting art she produces.

“My depth of knowledge as a mystic and an alchemist is also the impetus for the desire to transcend existing paradigms through my visual art, and music. My art has been produced primarily for the enjoyment and edification of my global student-base. My exposure to the public at large is therefore, a new venture. My sincere desire is that my art will inspire viewers to live an extraordinary and boundless life.”

“The desire to portray what lies beyond mortal boundaries permeates and inspires my artwork. To express the un-definable, and dance with the contradiction that exists beyond duality, is my passion. The digital medium I have chosen is able to express the inner light of shapes.”

The unique printing process selected to reproduce each image onto board, successfully captures the art’s translucent vibrancy, resembling a smooth oil-painting.

www.paintingsoflight.com • director@paintingsoflight.com

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ETHERIC LIGHT. Digital Art, 16” x 24”.

ANGEL OF DISSOLVING LINEAR TIME. Digital Art, 16” x 24”.

International • 75

jadranka carluccio-grbic

MIRACLE GATEWAY. Fine art digital painting. 150cm x 100cm.

SAILING AWAY. Fine art digital painting. 120cm x 120cm.

Jadranka Carluccio-Grbic Croatian born, naturalized Italian, Medical Doctor by profession and assiduous traveler, Jadranka has received a huge cultural heritage enriching her artistic soul that emerged from childhood. All means were good to express her vision of the world; painting the image of her kitten on the broken piece of glass with leftovers of old varnish at the age of three, constructing her own toys out of wood and clay and so on. Not to be underestimated, her other talent is music. Jadranka expressed herself by playing piano, singing opera and dancing ballet for years with various youth theatres. Those theaters were organized yearly by International Exhibitions, reinforcing Jadrankas love to travel, meet people and learn their languages and culture. She evolved in her deeper knowledge of several languages and emphatic ability to communicate them. Continuing to paint always and everywhere, studying in several artist studios she learned various painting techniques.

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ANOTHER PERFECT DAY. Fine art digital painting. 150cm x95 cm.

After using various means of so called traditional forms of artistic expression, Jadranka opted for a digital medium, easy to carry with her wherever she goes. About ten years ago she discovered the free hand digital painting technique, appreciating its versatility, expressiveness and projection into the future. Jadranka’s rich cultural heritage and the love for art, together with interest in new technologies, create her unique contemporary artist’s profile.

Digital painting is comparable to oil on canvas or pencil on paper, because the artist doesn’t use a computer to generate images automatically. The painting is created on the blank page with no references whatsoever.

Drawing, perspective and colors are all up to the artist. The only real VENEZIA. Fine art digital painting. 100 cm x 160cm. difference between digital and traditional way of painting is in the tool; mouse or digital pen on a digital mean or a brush or pencil for canvas or paper.

Digital medium also allows to work with multiple layers and to correct errors easier than on canvas. On the other hand, often painting digitally requires more time than traditional painting, especially when creating a color palette with all its shades and nuances for each painting separately. In addition, working on large paintings, dimensions does not allow an overview of the image on a display. Consequently, there is a need of good visual memory and continuous monitoring of nuances and sizes. The only difficulty, as for every new approach is just in the beginning, when educating your hand to use a mouse instead of a brush.

“One of Jadranka’s Italian gallery directors wrote: “Introspection from North to South by Jadranka.... seconds of light and shadow of moments made human” …

One impression, one emotion or a memory of a special moment, inspire her to paint. Anytime and anywhere. No matter what techniques or by what means. Accordingly with a situation and a site can be the pencil on a paper, oil on canvas or “fine art digital painting”. What matters is to capture and express with shapes and colors emotions nestled in her globetrotter soul.

www.jcgart.com • www.jcg-fineartdigitalpainting.com • jcg.art@gmail.com • info@jcgart.com • +39 348 8050267 International • 77

katherine erwin

NYMPHS OF THE CITY. Black and White Photography. 13'' X 19''.

Katherine Erwin - “The expression, “Art Saves” is the only way I can explain how my journey as a photographer began. I sought growth, learning, expression, and a new beginning from photography at a very dark time in my life; and I now confidently call myself an artist.

I am a born and raised Houstonian and a graduate of School of the Woods Montessori High School.”

Erwin likes to introduce herself as digital photographer in a digital era. She has traveled to the United Kingdom, France, The Netherlands, Guatemala, Chile, Belize, Panama, The Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, and the Grand Cayman Islands. Art is a very personal experience for Katherine. “Seeing another world through a lens;” that’s the best way to describe her art. In every shot she takes, she is able to infuse her own truth, feelings, opinions, philosophies, and expressions.

When an artist steps forth to take that leap from creating art to creating it and showing/selling it - that’s when you’re making a difference.

Artists make a difference by letting our expressions be experienced by the world and allowing them to inspire others.

http://web.me.com/evanescence89/KatherineErwinPhotography.com/Home.html • evanescence89@mac.com

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LIGHT READING. Black and White Photography.

13'' X 19''.

International • 79

aaron nutter HOPE. Pigment print. 11” x 14”.

COAL PLANT. Pigment print. 11” x 14”.

Heartland

by Aaron Nutter In 2008, President Barack Obama attempted to explain the perceived resentment from small towns in Pennsylvania. He said: “. . . it’s not surprising when they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them. . .” I have found that these small towns are bitter, not only because of their failing industries but because they are afraid of change.

These communites protect themselves with a tight-knit community and structured beliefs. As I photographed in the small towns of central Pennsylvania, I found this atmosphere that the president spoke of condensed by the depopulation brought on by hard times. This area includes the rural communities located between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the northern part of the

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SHOTGUN. Pigment print 11” x 14”.

FEAR. Pigment print. 11” x 14”.

state. Since my mother’s family is from a small coal mining town in Western Pennsylvania, this subject has always interested me. My grandmother always talking about growing up in a poor, blue collar town and how hard it was to make a living, inspired me to document how these communities continue to struggle today. In my travels, I discovered yards and homes filled with flags, banners and signs supporting faith and their country.

I spoke to people who expressed fear and mistrust of the world outside of their community. I am interested in what has been ignored, and what has been left behind as well as the loss of hope and the struggle to survive. To those not familiar with small towns, the people who live there seem foreign and outcasts from society. The large gaps between cities, rural communities and coal mining towns not only intrigue me but challenge me to photograph and represent such conditions.

http://aaronnutter.com • aaron@aaronnutter.com • 717-940-2675

International • 81

dan olvera

ELEVEN ELEVEN. Photography. 13” x 19”.

Dan Olvera was born and raised in Chicago, particularly in the Lincoln Park area. The neighborhood where Olvera grew up was not the same as it is now. It had its fair share of danger and crime. Not to say that every day was fraught with peril. There were many, many happy days. Strong friendships developed during these years and Olvera and his friends had a lot of good days together, playing sports or just hanging out. His passion for all things artistic was what kept him on a straight and narrow path. Olvera attended St. Clement Catholic Elementary School where the nuns instilled in him many disciplines that he still holds to this day. Many of the Sisters there, at that time, told him that he had an artistic gift and that he should keep refining it. Gordon Technical High School was the next step in Olvera’s education. During his high school years Olvera particularly enjoyed studying fine art and architectural drafting. The Brothers (priests) at Gordon Tech were very supportive and encouraged him to continue studying art and design in some form or another. After graduating high school Olvera went on to study at the University of Illinois at Chicago and earned a Bachelors Degree in Design, which included study in fine art, graphic design and photography.

While at UIC Olvera bought his first 35mm SLR camera, which afforded him an opportunity to further express himself as an artist. After many years of shooting film he made the transition to digital photography and enjoys the creative and practical freedom it provides.

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PHOTOSYNTHESIS. Photography. 13” x 19”.

Much of the work Olvera creates today is in the realm of ‘abstract art’ which allows him a tremendous amount of freedom to express himself. As a small child he remembers looking at objects and breaking them down visually. He was able to see shapes and patterns created by mundane things such as sunlight filtering through window blinds on a floor. Some people have commented on how colorful Olvera’s pieces are and he can only attribute that to his ethnicity. Olvera’s mother is Mexican and together with his brothers and sisters they have traveled to Mexico many times to visit family. To this day Olvera is influenced

by Mexican culture and its colorful history.

For many years, creating art was lost to raising a family and working a full-time job, and as it turns out, his children have inherited an artistic ability. His wife’s encouragement and his children’s interest and enthusiasm for art, along with other unforeseen circumstances have spurred Olvera to create once more. “When one door closes another door opens. All of my work today is photography-based, which is neither fine art nor photography, but somewhere in between,” Olvera states.

www.danolveraphotography.com • dan@danolveraphotography.com International • 83

from the publisher Living Artists of Today. Contemporary Art is a resource for art professionals – gallery owners, art collectors, art publishers, museums and other art institutions around the world.

This book takes the viewer through a visual journey of discovery and enjoyment of artwork by artists who live and work both next door to us and around the world.

Living through and sharing similar experiences and moments in history, technological breakthroughs, economic hardships, tragedy and happiness of today’s fast paced world.

Throughout history artists have been known to both face and overcome obstacles the profession can bring. Trying to express oneself creatively, make an impact on the world while at the same time trying to make a living can be challenging.

This book is a tribute to the artists who never give up their dreams, passions, ability to feel, live, and experience joy.

They create an extraordinary collection of art, capturing our life and displaying it through their prism of artistic vision to share with the rest of the world.

Living Artists of Today is a great example of the recognition of the artist. We are immensely proud and honored to publish these works and help bring to the world awareness of these talented artists.

Each artist published in this book has an Online Gallery on the Art & Beyond Publications website with a biography and direct contact information to the artists at www.artandbyondpublications.com.

Read. View. Enjoy.

Read. View. Enjoy. almine, the countess of shannonn cheryl parsons

irina avilova

briggitte lazo

samantha tesi

katherine erwin

jacqui morgan

nicolena nina salandra- palumbo

www.artandbeyondpublications.com

dan olvera

international

gabriel gross

robin antar

ione citrin

reina cottier

jadranka carluccio-grbic

Vol.1

daniel castillo serrano

min ja lah

paul scott malone

ART

sharon sychta

Art & Beyond Studio, Inc.

beti bricelj

contemporary

gregory john

jennifer manning

aaron nutter

living artists of today contemporary ART international Vol.1

natalya borisovna parris

Living Artists of Today. Contemporary Art book is a tribute to those who create to make this world a better, happier and more beautiful place.

living artists of today

christopher o'hoski

andrey zhelkovsky

jason fairchild

semproniu iclozan elinore bucholtz

shannon brunskill

sara swan

valerie lloyd