ATIM FALL 2016 by ArtTour International Magazine

“Verko 16–2”, Oil On Canvas, 31.5” x 39”

THE ABSTRACT WORLD OF MISA AIHARA Page 56

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A message from the Editor Dear friends, We at ArtTour International Magazine want to thank all our readers for their support. Once again, we're here to share more great news with you! We enjoy reading your emails and feedback and promise to keep bringing to you a very unique art magazine. We want to go beyond the canvas and share with you where inspiration is born. We have lots of great news and articles for you and we invite you to join us each time, as we take you on a voyage through the wonderful world of art. This issue of ATIM is full of articles that focus on celebrities who bring us their art and their stories of success. We feature exclusive articles and interviews with experts in their field. You will enjoy the state-of-the-art design with great content including art news, featured artists, wonderful images of artworks and updates about the latest events. This past summer we visited the island of Capri in Italy. We had a great time and we bring to you a travel article full of vibrant images for your enjoyment. It was a culturally enriching experience. Our next stop? Miami! We're proud to announce our participation at Spectrum Miami. We’re very excited about this adventure and the opportunity of meeting our Florida readers and supporters. If you're in Miami over November 30 to December 4, make sure to stop by and grab a complimentary issue of the ArtTour International Anniversary Issue, which promises to be stunning. On our online broadcasting channel, we have a great selection of video presentations for you to watch, including exclusive interviews, exhibition clips and behind-the-scenes films with artists, exclusively brought to you by ATIM! Log on to our online channel now and enjoy www.youtube.com/user/ArtTourIntMAGAZINE. Subscribers to ArtTour International Magazine have exclusive online access to free content and inside news exclusives, which are for members only. In addition, our subscribers can also engage with our columnists through our members’ blog. We're very excited to share this issue with you and think you will enjoy both our print and our online magazines. Feel free to contact me directly with any suggestions. We're working hard to bring you a magazine you will love and we look forward to your feedback. Thanks for your support,

Viviana Puello Editor-in-Chief ArtTour International Magazine

ArtTour International Magazine is proud to introduce to the public a highly-anticipated and ground-breaking new publication – a testament to our dedication and involvement with some of the most talented and inspiring artists operating in the world today; the ATIM’S Top 60 Masters of Contemporary Art 2016! Featuring 60 incredible artists, this publication brings to light the best of the best in the contemporary art world. Curated by internationally acclaimed art personality Viviana Puello, Editorin-Chief of ArtTour International Magazine, the publication spotlights top talent from a vast array of artistic forms. Published by Arttour International Publications Inc. 45 Rockefeller Plaza Suite 2000, New York, NY 10111 © Copyright 2015 ArtTour International Magazine. All copyrights are reserved by the authors. Reproduction of any published material without the written permission of the magazine's publisher is prohibited by law.

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CONTRIBUTORS

“Virgin” by Katrin Alvarez

CONTENTS FALL 2016 On the cover!

THE ABSTRACT WORLD OF MISA AHIARA

Page 20

KATRIN ALVAREZ

A LIMITLESS EXPLORATION

Lost And Found Office Page 16

The Art of David Whitfield Page 26

Page 56

ART NEWS_________________________________________

Page 40

Venice International Film Festival

Back cover artist! SVETA LONG

Editor’s Picks: “La-La-Land” and “The Woman Who Left”- Page 69

Page 42

CREATE 4 PEACE_________________

TRAVEL_________________ ARCHITECTURAL WONDERS____

Capri “Tyrrhenian Paradise”

Boldt Castle

Page 36

Page 61

FEATURED ARTISTS____________________________

ARTISTS MAKING A DIFFERENCE! On this issue: Jill Love Revolution – Page 10

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DANGUOLE SERSTINSKAJA FRANS FRENGEN KARLY & ANNE V KHACHIK BOZOGHILAN

PAGE 22 PAGE 32 PAGE 34 PAGE 48

STAR TRAUTH LAWRENCE R. ARMSTRONG DOROTHY SLIKKER

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PAGE 51 PAGE 52 PAGE 66

JIL LOVE

A Peacefully Artistic Fight For Human, Animal and Environmental Rights by Jr Buchanan

il Love is an innovative artist who is making waves with her provocative images and creative use of art as activism to raise awareness, motivate society and expand consciousness.

The artist says her “mission is to awaken a force in those who view our images...To raise awareness, ignite ideas and incite people to action. We peacefully and artistically fight for Social Rights, Animal rights and Environmental rights. Born in Tarragona, Spain, to a family who valued education and art, Jordina Jil was introduced to the arts at a young age. Her mother Enriqueta instilled in young Jil a passion for the cinema and sent her off to Barcelona at age 16 to study the craft. Two years later, she was off to Madrid, working as a dancer and public relations manager for a well-known club.

The time she spent working in the club scene of Madrid introduced her to a number of people from the entertainment industry. It didn't take long for her to get noticed by photographers and talent agencies. Soon, she was working on television programs and appearing in several movie productions. After traveling the world, Jil settled down in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she had a spiritual epiphany while working as a nurse in a hospice. The result was that she wrote, produced, directed, and acted in her first—and arguably most provocative—film, Saving Isis. Since that time, she has gone on to produce and direct 4 additional movies, acting in 3 of them. Today, her focus is on what she calls her ARTivist social movement, "Love Revolution Now." The revolution was launched on September 25, 2012 during the meeting of the Spanish Congress, where she stood outside the meeting trapped Cont. Next page

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Revolution

“Make good use of your freedom of expression, don’t let anybody silence you”. Second Anniversary of Love Revolution September 25th, 2014, in Gran Via of Madrid, Spain. People were part of the performance writing words and messages all over my tied up and duck taped body. Because not being free is like being dead alive, or just like a mummy.”

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;Marijuana is quite possibly the finest of intoxicants. It has been scientifically proven, for decades, to be much less harmful to the body than alcohol when used on a regular basisâ&#x20AC;?

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“WE ARE THE VOICE OF THE 43 MURDERED MEXICAN STUDENTS OF AYOTZINAPA.” “On march 4th 2015, on the day I was born, I celebrated Freedom of Expression once again with an homage to the 43 Mexican students of Ayotzinapa, believed to have been kidnapped, killed and burnt by a drug cartel with the implication of their Mexican Government with their accomplice silence. Unfortunately, this happens more than we think. We gave them a voice and presence in this artistic and peaceful protest in front of the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles. The names of the 43 students were written on my body. I cut the Mexican Flag in 43 pieces, which I burnt and stained with innocent blood. I also burnt the papers with the names of the 43 students as a symbolic gesture of what its been done to them. I used the pieces of flag to clean all the blood around me.”

between the protesters and police. In a moment of inspiration and sheer bravery, she removed her clothes, dropped to her knees, and began to pray. Her actions brought a halt to the growing violence between the police and protesters. Photos of her spread around the globe, and she instantly became known for both her boldness and intense beauty. Jil uses her body as a canvas to awaken the consciousness and arouse awareness of key social issues, such as social rights, women's rights, LGBT rights, environmental issues, and animal rights. Twice a year, she travels between the United States and Spain to perform her self-created ARTivism as a peaceful means of protest with the motto “We are the voices of the unheard, we are the images of the unseen.” One of her most striking performances was outside of the Spanish Parliament, where she laid naked with a plastic bag tied

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around her head, her hands and feet bound with a sign around her neck reading, "I am Catalonia." The contrast between her stunning beauty and the horrible image of her bound and nearly unconscious due to asphyxiation made a powerful statement. The image was featured as the Photo of the Day in the Washington Post in 2014. That single image captured the struggle for Catalonian independence in the most striking way possible and was ultimately chosen by The Wall Street Journal as one of their “Year in Photos, 2014. Since then, she's used her art to draw awareness to numerous causes about which she is passionate. Both Nation of Change and True Activism also selected her artivist performance-protests to raise collective Western consciousness about the ongoing Palestinian genocide as number 3 in their lists entitled “18 of the Most CreativelyCont. Next page

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Amazing Protests Ever!”. In addition to these recent achievements, her unique artistic methods of passive resistance have been adopted by fellow activists and artists, inspiring thousands and inciting people to action. Jil Love is been recognized by the city of Los Angeles for her efforts and achievements. In addition, to her Artivism projects, Jil continues to explore film and the stage as means of expressing her creativity and spreading her message. She is also working on a book that documents all her Artivism protests up to date. You can find it in Amazon under WE ARE THE VOICES OF THE UNHEARD. One of her most recent projects called Angel Love Revolution has been used to draw attention to the issues of love and compassion toward our fellow human beings.

jilloverevolution.com

“NOTHING TO SEE HERE.” “429 Candles lighting for the dead Palestinian Children of Gaza, on Hollywood Blvd. Four babies, one for every week of Israel bombing attacks on Gaza during the summer 2014. One candle for every child slaughtered in Gaza. One candle for every little human soul who will never be able to smile, play and enjoy life with us.”

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SUMMER 2016

fter examining a torn fingernail, the official suddenly looked up and regarded me with an expression of utter boredom. "What can I do for you?" It sounded like he was reluctantly having to squeeze out each word through the gaps between his teeth.

The official's expression changed within a split second. Boredom was replaced by blind panic. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Another weirdo. Like the madman who recently walked into the job centre and stabbed the clerk to death." But he knew what to do as quick as a flash. He pulled a standard form out of the draw. "Fine. OK, let's take down the details. So where and when did you lose your life?"

"I'd like to register something that's gone missing," I said. "I've lost my life." 16

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Lost and

Found Office “Borderline”, Colored Pencil On Board, 29” x 40”

by Katrin Alvarez

Leaning right back in his chair, as if he wanted to keep as much distance between us a possible, he looked me up and down, dismissively and suspiciously. "What does it actually look like, this life of yours?" I thought hard. "Well, when I last saw my life it was very dark, rather scared and shy. It was always running away from me as if I was a threat. And it had lost its voice. Grown silent." Cont. Next page

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The civil servant cleared his throat several times. "Right. So, this timid life of yours, where and when did you" – at this point a fleeting grin appeared on his face, but was quickly suppressed as he regained a neutral countenance – "last see it?" "Yesterday evening." I'm quite certain it was mine. I remember the look in my life's eyes as it stared back at me: so weak and utterly despondent, as if it wanted me to ask for forgiveness because it had let me down after such a long time. "Yet my life had once been colorful and bold and loud. A sparkling life that felt good. I used to love waking up in the morning in that life." The official sat up straight. "So what did you do with your life? I mean, nobody who has a great life like that would go and mess it up. You'd be extremely careful to keep hold of it, wouldn't you?!" Animated, almost angry, the man began rubbing his nose. “After all, we only have this one life!” He stood up, planted his hands firmly on the desk and leant forward heavily in my direction. "If a life has got into such a shitty state as yours, who on earth would hand it in to the lost-and-found office? Nobody would

“Virgin”, Oil On Canvas, 41” x 41”

touch the thing anymore! It's probably somewhere under a bridge, coming to a wretched end. You've really messed it up!" He took hold of the form, tore it up and dropped the pieces into a wastepaper bin. Noticing the tears running down my face, he snarled, "Oh, for god's sake! All right, leave your mobile number with me. You never know, someone might hand your life in." Tonight I'll put some signs up on the trees. Just like people do when they've lost their pets. Perhaps my life will forgive me for my indifference, forgive me for those decades I took it for granted. Until then, I'll just have to try to get by without my life.

www.katrin-alvarez.de

“Dies Irae”, Oil On Canvas, 49” x 41”

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“No Hay Nadie!”, Oil On Canvas, 41” x 41”

About The Artist by Viviana Puello atrin Alvarez is a high-profile artist known for her compelling paintings that represent the complexity of human situations. Alvarez started as a journalist, going in-depth into the writing profession, but along the way she taught herself the art of painting, influenced and inspired by Michelangelo and Brueghel.

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Alvarez developed a deep relationship with nature and animals starting at a young age -- an experience that has influenced her works of art. She discovered her talent when she found that she could create a colorful and imaginative world of her own by drawing and painting. Her mother was a natural artist who worked as an art teacher and architect. Cont. Next page

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Alvarez's works are the perfect blend of expressionism and surrealism. Her paintings are troubling and provoking yet soothing, intimate and sensitive yet bizarre, upsetting yet blissful. The compelling and transcendent imagery in her art have their own forms of teaching, evoking an array of emotions in the viewer. Her masterful use of color and light and skilled knowledge of the human figure allows for perfectly balanced compositions that expand the perceptions of her audience, creating room for each individual to form varied selfinterpretations of the art. Alvarez produces pieces of unique technical approaches, depending on the subject matter. Her work is based on emotions and entirely influenced by her personal judgments and opinions. Her work is surreal in the sense that she distorts reality, enhancing it with her own personal observations and focusing on what is hidden in human reaction. Her most acknowledged paintings include the “Borderline”, “Different Worlds”, and “Trauma”. Her pieces are illustrations of inner emotion. Alvarez feels inspired by her own reality, which she allows to crash land and connect with her imagination. She

“At The Beginning There Was A Woman”, Oil On Canvas, 37.5” x 49”

says her mind is full of stories, dreams, desires, and fears that trigger her works of art to keep progressing. Addicted to colors and shapes, she puts them to use with the human face -distorting common views with her own perspective. The viewer finds in her narrative the love and compassion that only one who can truly understand is able to offer and present to the world in the form of masterpieces created and delivered from a divine source of inspiration, transcending the barriers of human limitations that the ego imposes on each one of us, and reaching out to the highest and innermost places of one's being. A sense of oneness is evident in Alvarez's works, which leave a lot open to interpretation, evoking emotions and creating for the viewer a unique and unforgettable experience. There are many symbols in Katrin's work, which motivates her to create stories on canvas. More recently, she has blended technology with the old because of the influence of the cyber world on our day-to-day lives. It seems as though Katrin Alvarez's art shows us how to look at the demons that each one of us harbors, so we can transcend any threats and arrive at the realization of self-acceptance and selflove. “The Beauty Of The Loser”, Oil On Canvas, 39” x 63”

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Alvarez is an internationally renowned artist whose works have been exhibited all over the world. She has received many awards for her paintings since 1968, including The First Group show in Cologne in 1968, Art Basel in Switzerland in 1978, and Agora Gallery in New York in 2004, among others. In 2007, her piece Exorcism received the Allan Edwards Award - Painting On the Edge. In 2009, she received the Vivid Arts Network Award at the Museum Castello Estense, and a Leonardo Award for Applied Arts in which she was given first prize in 2013. In 1972, she received an award for her first solo show in Cologne, and in 2012 she came out with yet another celebration in Vienna.

The rare gem that is Alvarez’s art is shown through the paintings she creates with vibrant color, color used to make common objects reveal new and hidden dimensions of the space they occupy in life. She captures the imaginations of people when they observe objects and interweaves these concepts together into one painting, leaving many marveling at her work. This is one of the many reasons for Alvarez’s numerous and loyal following. All who have experienced her work do so with gratitude.

www.katrin-alvarez.de

“Childhood Is An Unprotected Space”, Oil On Canvas, 47” x 39”

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Danguole Serstinskaja “I live in a beautiful country Lithuania. I've been drawing since I was a child. I love to work in a realistic style. I mainly specialize in painting with oil on paper however I also work with charcoal, pastels and pencils. My true passion are animal artworks. Each animal has its own personality and through my work I try to capture their uniqueness, spirit and emotions. Unfortunately I have breast and thyroid cancers. But I rarely think about it as I'm too busy getting on with creating art. I learned to relax and just take myself away from everything and paint. In 2016 July doctors found a big tumor in my brain. 4th of August tumor was removed, but due the side effect I don't see with one eye. Anyway I try to get used to it and paint with one eye! My biggest wish is to survive and transform my creative dreams into reality. That`s why I understand other peoples pain and suffering well, and try to improve their mood at least a little through my art.”

“Poppies”, Pastel On Pastel mat, 12” x 16”

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“Tiger”, Oil On Paper, 17" x 12"

anguole Serstinskaja is a Lithuanian artist who creates masterful visual interpretations of animals. At first glance, these stunning artworks appear to be photographs. Specializing in drawing with charcoal, but also using pencils, pastels, dry oil brushes and a variety of media, Serstinskaja’s realistic paintings are rendered flawlessly, capturing the beauty of her subjects with intrinsic detail and simplicity—the result of long, meticulous observation.

A professional dog breeder, Serstinskaja has surrounded herself with animals for decades, caring for them and understanding their behavior. This experience ignited in her a keen interest in their anatomy and psychology. She turns to art, as a loving form of expression, to showcase her passion. Using a realistic drawing approach, her work captures the astonishing characteristics of the animals she depicts. Being a student of realism, Serstinskaja’s art focuses on conveying the spirit of the animal, as well as its anatomical details. Capturing each expression demands both insight and attention. She is highly admired for her portraits of dogs, capturing their precious essence and delivering the beauty of their being into an art form. Cont. Next page “Cat Ponder”, Oil On Paper, 9" x 13"

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“Arabian”, Oil On Paper, 12" x 17"

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“Bulldog”, Charcoal On Paper, 8" x 12"

Serstinskaja incorporates the use of many artistic techniques— yet all of her approaches capture a sense of realism perfectly. This sense brings art back to its roots, displaying emotion in an anatomical, and universal, form; the cynosure of each piece is the dominant presence of the artist. The viewer feels as she does about each subject. Serstinskaja’s art is a joy to witness, both in person and on screen. This Lithuanian artist’s work is a declaration of man’s connection to animal—an admirable showcase for all to see.

www.petdrawings.net

“Chihuahua”, Oil On Paper, 9" x 13"

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“Untitled”, Painted with Acrylic, 40” x 30”

A Limitless Exploration The Art Of David Whitfield by Viviana Puello

etting into an artist’s head is always interesting, and the best way to do that is by observing their works. With a look, it is possible to find any kind of thought process that defines a person. With artist David Whitfield, the art that he creates brings to mind a sort of organized chaos. Surreal paintings give the viewer an idea that Whitfield sees the world

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through glasses that are far different from their own. A flow of consciousness is brought together on the canvas that represents all of life happening at once. In the artist words, his “main preoccupation of inspiration is the hidden psych of a human being and the behavioral interactions between individuals and groups.

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different cultures. The Bedouin in Saudi Arabia, local villagers in Sudan, Nigeria and Libya. His great insight into the human psyche and behavioral patters derives from his past experience as a psychiatric nurse. After taking early retirement Whitfield moved to the country side of France to a beautiful setting of vineyards and quiet lands. Once in France, his artistic expression turn to writing as well, and he has published a book entitled “Another Eye”. Although one might say, that the artist’s favorite way of self expression is undoubtedly painting.

Artist David Whitfield

What really goes on behind a smiling face, and why do people behave as they do?” David Whitfield was born in the northeast of England and studied at Sunderland College of Art. He has traveled through Europe, Africa and Middle East, exploring and experiencing

With the use of acrylics and watercolors, Whitfield utilizes the freedom of this media to create spontaneous compositions of limitless expression, allowing the water to flow freely on the canvas, giving space for the element to act on its own. There is some inherent order within his works. Whitfield knows exactly what he is doing when he creates a piece, and so every part of the arrangement is orchestrated by the artist. The perfect combination of complete freedom, knowledge, experience and intuition are the main ingredients of his unique works. Surpassing any boundaries, Whitfield creates masterful compositions that provoke wonder to the viewer that tries to interpret what is happening in his paintings. Take his piece “Untitled 25”, which is clearly one of many that lacks a name. Sending a clear message to the viewer that the purpose of his artwork is to give freedom of interpretation for the accurate delivery of the message that the viewer needs to receive. So when one looks at the painting, one needs to Cont. Next page

“Untitled”, Painted with Acrylic, 40” x 30”

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“Untitled”, Painted with Acrylic, 40” x 30”

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embrace that there is no name to go with it, no central idea to focus on, and instead see all of it and pick out what, thematically, the art is telling us. It feels like the viewer is watching a day at the park play out in a single frame of action. As if every moment of interaction has frozen together to create a tableau that reveals more with every second that you look across the canvas. You see a boy pouting, a man walking, a mother worrying, and a dozen other small interactions that have blended together so that it all makes sense. That probably isn’t even what David Whitfield intended for the piece to be associated with, but by giving the audience nothing but the image, he lets them create the narrative. You have to wonder what the intention in this action was, and why there is so much importance in not knowing the name. Imaginations can run wild with just an image and an idea, and they can be constrained when given a name to go with the image. It is clear that every painting is a novel in frozen motion. It is possible to find a story in any one of David Whitfield’s images, and they can all be fascinating without the burden of titles. Just look at his painting, Untitled 26, where again, without a name, the artist creates a story that the viewer is eager to find. What are the images representing? Is it a family portrait in progress? Is it a haircut gone wrong? What has attracted the attention of the little boy in the center of the frame? There are so many questions that go along with every painting that David Cont. Next page “Untitled”, Painted with Acrylic, 40” x 30”

“Untitled”, Painted with Acrylic, 40” x 30”

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“Untitled”, Painted with Acrylic, 40” x 30”

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FALL 2016

“Untitled”, Painted with Acrylic, 40” x 30”

Whitfield makes, and as such there are so many questions that he does not answer.

can understand the course of events that created a project, but Whitfield’s pieces will keep you wonder and invite you to an in depth exploration. You have to look away eventually, and you will never end up with all the answers unless you somehow get the chance to ask him yourself, and that is where the genius of his paintings come in. You are the one that constructs the narrative; he just supplies the art.

It is thus up to the viewer to construct their own answers and figure out where their emotions lead them with each new piece of artistic expression. There is a desperate need in everyone to find the right answer, to solve the puzzles that plague our minds, and by refusing to answer anything Whitfield has created a paradox of thought that continuously feeds into itself. It is like staring down a long corridor created by mirrors, because there is no real end.

davidwwhitfield.com

David Whitfield creates this effect in every painting he makes, be it pencil drawing or watercolor painting. It is a madness that seeps into the brain, a fascination that takes root as you stare at the paintings and forces you to wonder constantly about what it all means. He constructs a puzzle in paint, a labyrinth of impossible imagery that makes you try and deconstruct the space that he has molded into a three-dimensional space so that you can orient yourself in the painting. You have to wonder where it all starts and where it all ends; do you look at the image from the inside out, or do you work your way into the image from the edges? Can you take it all in at once and see the constructions that went into the world, or do you take it one piece at a time so that when you look at art it doesn’t take you into its depths and steal your day away? When exploring Whitfield’s paintings, one must take the proper time for observation and let the composition guide one's eyes through the canvas. Everyone wants a complete narrative so they

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A Child Master Of Her Horse, Fumagine, 35.5” x 27.5”

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FALL 2016

by Yadira M. Roman What happens when a love for quantum physics is depicted artistically? It may sound like a clash of worlds, but the art of Karly and Anne V is a clear demonstration of the oneness and interconnectedness of creation. When Karly, a cognitive psychology expert, and Anne V, a knowledgeable art historian and trained cabinetmaker, came together to collaborate on art pieces, the results were ethereal.

"Androgyne Word", Canvas On Wood Frame Spray Paint And Acrylic

FALL 2016

"Apotheosis", Canvas On Wood Frame Spray Paint,79”x 39” x 34.5”

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Their artwork strongly emphasizes their approach, which is based on three main ideas: cube games, vortex walls, and raised chassis. The cube game is an art piece consisting of various canvas-covered frames of different depths. These are usually depicted as wormholes, or black holes, an indication of their passion for quantum physics and the cosmological form. Vortex walls represent their ideas on politics, showing traces of history, social demands, and urban attributes such as buildings. As for the raised chassis, it is a representation of the restoration of the human habitat.

"Androgyne Totem", Canvas On Wood Frame Spray Paint

Karly applies her strong interest in color salience, the subject of her doctorate thesis. Anne V applies her admirable skills in cabinetry by incorporating her knowledge in embossed frame construction. Upon closer review, you will see the strong textures and crevices, the otherworldly shapes and geometric forms, and the love for physics and the cosmos. Their pieces will take viewers away from reality. It makes people stare, dream, and imagine. In every section of their pieces, you will find an interesting mix of colors, shapes, textures, and forms. It may seem like you never run out of something to look at. It is with this great collaboration of science and art, hat Karly, and Anne V are able to capture, and retain, the attention of art enthusiasts.

karly-annev.artisteo.com "Traveling", Canvas On Wood Frame Spray Paint, 94.5â&#x20AC;? x 33.5â&#x20AC;? x 33.5â&#x20AC;?

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FALL 2016

Tyrrhenian Paradise The Stunning Island of Capri

by Â Peter Kenth

he Amalfi Coast in southern Italy is considered one of the most beautiful and cultural areas of the country, as demonstrated by its UNESCO World Heritage site status as a cultural landscape. Staying in one of the many wonderful Amalfi Coast villas puts visitors in the perfect position to enjoy this region and experience all it has to offer. The independence this kind of accommodation affords is an invitation to explore, whether the towns that hug the coastline, the famous ruins of Pompeii, overlooked by the volcano Vesuvius, and the Stunning Island of Capri.

the sunlight reflecting off the white limestone floors shines upwards in a brilliant blue hue. You should also make sure you indulge in the fabulous seafood the island is so well known for - after all, you're on holiday!

Located in the Mediterranean Sea, the stunning Island of Capri is actually situated in the Tyrrhenian Sea, just south of Naples. According to ancient history and geological evidence, Capri was once part of the mainland and has been inhabited since the earliest times. The island is a perfect place for a vacation in Italy, whether you are looking to stay right on the water or up on the picturesque higher parts of the island. The island is famous, mostly for its rugged terrain with a number of upscale hotels and renowned global fashion design centers. On the same island are various natural sites of marvel, from the Blue Grotto, Anacapri, to the botanical gardens of Augustus.

While it is true that Capri is a relatively small island, the places to see and things to do are spread around different parts of the Island of Capri.

Separated into Capri and Anacapri, the amazingly blue waters that surround the island are warm and inviting. While you are on the island, be sure to take a trip around the coastline and into the Blue Grotto, which is one of the iconic symbols of Capri. When you head into the Blue Grotto by boat, it is pitch black, but when the boat turns around inside the cave,

Over the past 20 years working with visitors as guide and planner of tours on Capri, the most common misconception is this: People believe that since Capri is a small island, it must be easy to move around and see everything in a short amount of time. I call this the Capri Visitor Myth.

If you chose to think like this, the likely result is that you will arrive without doing the proper planning. In the end, you will lose precious sightseeing time just trying to move around. The reality is that it is less than straightforward to get from A to B. Multiple transport types are needed to get from place to place on the Island of Capri. Some of the environmental beauties that give this island a spectacular look include the little harbor, Marina Piccola and the high panoramic promenade of Belvedere of Tragara. Other features include the limestone crags projecting above the sea like the ruins of imperial Roman villas. Cont. Next page

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WITH NATURAL SITES BEING THE CENTER OF INTEREST, CAPRI ISLAND HAS ALL THAT IT TAKES TO VISIT ITALY. BEFORE YOU SET YOUR FOOT ON THIS MARVELOUS PART OF THE GLOBE, LET’S TAKE A QUICK OVERVIEW OF ITALY’S MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE, CAPRI ISLAND. Copyright © 2016 ArtTour International Publications Inc. All rights reserved.

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Anacapri Anacapri is located at a slightly higher elevation compared to the Island of Capri, with an approximate height of 150 meters. Within Anacapri is a significant, eye-catching site: the Villa San Michele. Villa San Michele sits on the shelf at the highest point of the Phoenician steps between Capri and Anacapri, at a height of approximately 327 meters above sea level. The villa’s gardens have unique designs, with panoramic views of Capri town and its harbor, Mount Vesuvius, and Sorrentine Peninsula. What makes this garden exceptional are the exemplary works of art and relics dating back to ancient Egypt and selected periods of classical antiquity. The villa has many decorations, too, from the remains of ancient Roman palaces found first on the land. Another attraction in Anacapri is the elevated passenger ropeway — a type of aerial lift running from Seggiovia to Monte Solaro. This chairlift provides a better, picturesque view of the vast south-facing coast. The continuously circulating steel cables connect from one terminal to the other and are usually used for intermediate towers. The concentration of Mediterranean scents, colors and sounds makes Anacapri one of the best towns for a peaceful stay. Tropical plants surround the humble vegetable gardens and a walk around this place is the best adventure you can have. The landscape here is surprisingly wild, with a rocky terrain mostly inhabited by gulls and beautiful goats. Groves of pine, Mediterranean and semitropical brush form the green vegetation constantly swept by local winds. This quiet country village is just an amazing place to be!

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Augustus Gardens If you have some hours to spare on the Island of Capri, you surely cannot miss a visit to the botanical gardens of Augustus. Located near the Charter-house of San Giacomo lies a series of panoramic, well-decorated variety of flowers. A stroll to the Augustus Gardens is simply irresistible, especially if you need that quick taste of the scenic island. A common route to the gardens is through the Piazzetta, along a series of lanes with a scenic view of Marina Bay to the Faraglioni rock formations. From the corners of the gardens are splendid views of the sea and fantastic photographic vistas. The natural beauty and tranquility of the gardens lies on the undulating and picturesque tower of Charter-house, a Carthusian monastery that lies right in the foreground just below the gardens. Faraglioni rocks rise directly from the Tyrrhenian Sea with a narrow, zig-zag road curving down Capri’s cliff to the Marino Piccola harbor. A minute spent here is more of a special retreat into that natural paradise with unforgettable panoramas. Cont. Next page

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Get out and enjoy the precious time you have; you have all that takes to get you started! Blue Grotto The Blue Grotto is a natural cavern measuring 60 meters long and 25 meters wide with a very narrow entrance. This is one of the most popular sights on Capri, and offers a thrilling experience of a lifetime. To get into the cavern, one has to board a small rowboat that holds a maximum of four passengers. After purchasing a ticket into the Blue Grotto cavern, you only have to enjoy the ride and its historical sites. Photo Alan Grimandi Copyright © 2016 ArtTour International Publications Inc. All rights reserved.

The Gardens of Augustus are laid out with a continuous coverage of colorful terraces with an abundance of a mixed variety of flowers found on the island. Each terrace deserves to be seen from a lofty vantage point. This impressive view is one of the few you can’t afford to miss! Within this garden are incredible services offered with a high level of modesty. From flower gardens, vegetable gardens to production gardens, you are constantly able to view beautiful orchards. This guide will definitely give you a better idea of what to expect in Capri Island and a brief overview of must-visit places within the area. All you need to do is make a visit to this beautiful island a priority before planning to tour the place. With all this information, you will have the chance to experience and appreciate the natural beauties we have within our environment.

This sea cave is believed to have been discovered a long time ago in the time of ancient Rome, with a number of statues found dating to that very historic age. The cave has been abandoned and feared for many centuries because of the belief that the legends of spirits inhabit the cavern. Marking the end of such beliefs that blinded society from exploring this natural beauty was the arrival of August Kopisch, a German writer, and his friend Ernst Fries, a painter. The two fully explored the exemplary beauty of the natural landmark in 1826 with the help of a local fisherman. The Blue Grotto is open year-round, except during inclement weather such as heavy rain and rough waters. The midday hours — noon to 2 p.m. — are the best time to visit; there is intense sunlight for intense colors. Overcast days seem to be least preferred due to the less dramatic internal glow.

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SUMMER 2016

Sveta Long

“Burgundy Tapestry”, Hand Made Glass, Acrylic, 14” x 6”

FALL 2016

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“Emerald Garden”, Hand Made Glass, Acrylic, 8.5” x 6” ( Baskets) and 9” x 5.1” (Vase)

SVETA LONG’S ARTISTIC TECHNIQUES ARE A UNIQUE CRAFT IN THEMSELVES. SHE DRAWS INTRICATE LINES, FLOWERS, FACES, AND MERMAIDS THAT CATCH THE LIGHT TO SHIMMER ON VASES, PLATES, FABRICS, AND EGGS. SHE INCORPORATES A VARIETY OF OBJECTS TO DEPICT HER ABSTRACT WORLD.

veta Long takes us into an imaginative world of play and craftsmanship with her elegantly patterned ceramics featuring shimmering tones and bold textures. Using paints and lacquer, Long draws intricate lines, flowers, faces, and mermaids that catch the light on vases, plates, fabrics, and eggs. She also incorporates a variety of objects to depict her abstract world. The artist draws her inspiration from the works of Faberge, Erte, Moser, and Mukha, and the Art Deco movement. Long likes to refer to herself as a “Faberge wannabe” and tries to live up to the legacy left by artists who came before her by combining ancient techniques with a well-defined, innovative visual language. Her passion lies in decorating objects to add an artistic touch, and

the mix of materials and approaches she employs gives her unique pieces an alluring appeal. Brightly colored surfaces contrast with the radiant metallic patterns she incorporates and add new dimension to otherwise ordinary objects. In addition, a level of playfulness makes those combinations thoughtprovoking and engaging. A native of the USSR, Long moved to North Carolina to marry her late husband Tom, whom she met in St. Petersburg . After his passing, she found comfort in her passion for art. Sveta’s inspiring love story starts in St. Petersburg on an August night in 1991. During a break from her work as a flight attendant on the Moscow to St. Petersburg flight, she decided to Cont. Next page

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FALL 2016

go see the ballet “Swan Lake.” A native of the town of Norilsk Sveta, she met Tom Long, a native of Thomasville, N.C., during his cruise from Finland. She describes standing in the line of a coffee shop when she first saw a foreign man smiling and looking straight at her. She initially ignored his flirt and went back to her seat. At the end of the ballet, their paths crossed again. This time, Tom was speaking to someone when he saw Sveta again and could not help but go and speak to her. After a brief conversation, Tom was able to convince her to have dinner with him and a couple from Washington, D.C., who were traveling with him at the time. When dinner was over, they parted ways, but first exchanged contact information. Over the following months, the two communicated through letters and one single phone call, for which Tom had such a huge bill that it took him an entire month’s salary to pay. Back in the days, U.S. citizens were banned from fraternization and marriage with Russian citizens but Tom’s persistence and hard work, and the collaboration of well-connected friends, made their dream a reality. After many trips back and forth to get the right documentation, he was able to secure a visitor’s visa for Sveta. The two were reunited on December 23, 1991, at 44

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Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. Long remembers that her experience arriving in the United States was quite amazing, and she enjoyed the colors and light of the holiday season. It did not take much for Long to adapt to the wonderful climate of Wrightsville Beach and her love story took off, and with it, a whole new life that would lead her eventually to the discovery of her passion for art. Sveta Long’s ceramic creations bring the viewer back in time to the age when Faberge eggs were an extravagant part of Russian life. You can’t help but feel the artist’s desire to take that space and make it her own, re-creating popular Russian crafts and designs that were once reserved for royal eyes only. Clear ancient Greek designs are also evident in her work, bringing to mind ancient pottery and the intricate and carefully constructed images displayed on it. In ancient Greece, pottery told a story, and Long's work does so as well. She doesn’t deal in human figures very often, instead focusing on flowers and lines as her subject matter. This simplifies the tales her art tells, and instead of getting a chapter from a Greek epic, those who peek at her work will get the simple story of flowers blooming and life progressing on a beautiful day of blue skies. The bright, luxurious colors and gold patterns evoke in the viewer the desire Cont. page 46

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"Scarfs, Scarfs, Scarfs", FALL 45 x 51” Silk2016 Scarfs, Acrylic, 47”

“Lilly Of The Valley”, Hand Made Glass, Acrylic 8” x 5.5”

FALL 2016

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to find beauty in the simple acts of everyday life, even when one is trying to create more unnecessarily intricate narratives. Thanks to her perfectly orchestrated compositions, Long excels at creating work with a great degree of freedom, relying on her exceptional artistic skills. Each of her woks offers an explosion of activity on the surface, full of dynamic figures and a blast of interesting developments that capture your attention. There is no need to deconstruct one of her works to enjoy the layers of depth within it; it is as it is, a simple yet exquisite work of art from a woman who wants you to enjoy something beautiful. It is the kind of art that we can all appreciate. Long resides and works in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. She holds a deep love for the people of her coastal community. Her artistic approach has gained her high regard and a fan base worldwide. Long devotes her time to her art and her two children, Tom (21) and Nina (18) who have enjoyed a cultural diverse upbringing, both of them speak English, Russian. In May 2016, she was honored by ArtTour International Magazine as one of the Top 60 Masters of Contemporary Art.

http://artbysveta.com

"Flora", 11.5"x 9"

"Trough The Golden Lace", Hand Made Glass, Acrylic, 9”

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"Bird Of Paradise", Hand Made Glass, Acrylic, 18” x 7.5”

FALL 2016

Khachik Bozoghilan by Â Jr Buchanan

Khachik Bozoghlian is a multi-disciplined artist best know for his exciting figurative bronze sculptures. Khachik is a true global citizen: born and raised in Tehran, emigrated to London as a young man, he now currently resides in New York City (which is his constant source of inspiration). His work has shown and is collected internationally.

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FALL 2016

rt has been a way of expressing oneself for decades. It dates back very many years ago. In the olden days, art was not done so much as a hobby as it is today. However, one thing remains the same about art then and art today. This is the fact that it is a way of expression. People have different ways of expressing themselves some clear than others. The same case applies to art. There are pieces of art that speak volumes instantly and there are those that require one a bit of time to get the meaning to come through. It takes a lot of talent and passion to get people’s attention with art. Khachik Bozoghlian is a contemporary master sculptor who has been a rising star since he begun. He is best known for his excellent bronze sculptors. Below are some of his most astounding art pieces.

This is a very creative piece from Khachik Bozoghlian that really gets you thinking of how it is at the end of the day where you actually get to think about all that is happening in your life. Flower (Black Rose) is another one of Khachik Bozoghlian’s brilliant works. Again, this sculpture is made with his signature material bronze. The color of the sculpture is black and the texture is smooth. This sculpture was made somewhere between the year of 2005 and 2015. It is one of the best sculptures by this artist. Black roses exist naturally but they are not black in color but deep red. The black rose is in most cases seen in fiction films

This multi-disciplined artist best know for his exciting figurative bronze sculptures. Khachik is a true global citizen: born and raised in Tehran, emigrated to London as a young man, he now currently resides in New York City (which is his constant source of inspiration). His work has shown and is collected internationally. Khachik Bozoghlian’s Sleepless II is a sculpture that he made in 1995. This sculpture represents a woman who is obviously having a sleepless night. The sculpture was made with bronze which is the artist’s signature look. Sleepless II has a smooth texture and has a very clean finis and is 12 inches long. There are several things that come across through this sculpture. First and foremost, from the way the head of the sculpture is positioned you can tell that the woman is not only sleepless but seems to be in deep thought as well. This comes across through how she has her head on the pal of her hands. The positioning of the legs says that the woman is seeking comfort. One of her legs is bent and the other is in a straightened position. This is a common position people stay in when they want to relax and unwind. The fact that the sculpture’s had is not laying on the floor also shows a sign of stress and deep thought which might be behind the reason why the woman depicted in the sculpture is having a sleepless night.

where it represents black magic or death. In such situations it is usually used to mean the end of life or a relationship. These are some of the things that come across when you look at the black rose sculpture. When you think of a rose, normally your mind would go to the red and pink roses that people give their loved ones. The opposite comes in mind when you see this sculpture. The immediate thought is that something horrible would have to have happened for one to receive such a rose. It is a piece of art that definitely makes you think about some of the dark things that most people would not necessarily talk about on a frequent basis such as death. The Leaf is a compound leaf structure that is also made from bronze. The sculpture was also made between the years of 2005 and 2015. The texture of the sculpture appears to be rough in the areas where the leaf veins are positioned and it is green in color. Cont. Next page www.arttourinternational.com

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Like the other sculptures by this artist, you also get a lot from “The Leaf ” sculpture. One thing that comes to mind when one sees a green leaf is great weather. Vegetation tends to flourish when there is enough rain since it is getting all it needs to strive. This comes across from this sculpture. The rich jungle green color says this leaf was maybe made in the spring season when everything in nature appears so beautiful. On the edges of some leaves however, it is evident that there is some browning. This indicates that the season might have been changing thereby leading to the leaf ’s natural color being lost. It is a simple art that really makes you see visions in a very different light. Sometimes we tend to focus on the bad’ seasons of our life that we pay little attention on the good seasons. From this sculpture, one can choose to see the little browning on the ages and ignore all the good in entire sculpture. One of the most challenging art pieces is making a sculpture of someone. This is because one needs to perfect all features in order to make it clear who the person is. This is something that seems to come naturally to Khachik Bozoghlian as he was able to sculpt Geoffrey Fieger’s head. This piece is also made from bronze and was created somewhere between the years of 2005 and 2015. It is an incredible piece of art. One does not have a

hard time telling that this is Geoffrey Fieger’s head and that is the beauty of art. You do not need someone to explain good art to you. It comes across from the minute you have a look at it. Khachik Bozoghlian’s works are promising, educating and most importantly, they continue to enrich our history. He most appreciated by history lovers, art enthusiasts as well as collectors. Bozoghlian is currently based in the US which means you have a chance to see most of his works in exhibitions.

www.bozoghlian.com

FALL 2016

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STAR TRAUTH “I can see that Bright Lights Big City didn't come through as cropped. If they use it please crop a bit of the top right. Sorry, I seem to be having technical difficulties.”

“Bright Lights, Big City”, Fiber Sculpture, 23.5” x 6” x 1.6”

“The Expedition”, Fiber Sculpture, 30.7”, 6”, 3”

“Why cylinders? Why not? I find it such an odd question. I would never think to ask a painter, "You're not thinking of painting on another canvas are you?" Cylinders excite me. They cause the eye to move in an interesting way. I am inspired by the line and curve of the cylinder. The immovable hard under the manipulated soft that comprises the totem. Why would the viewer stop to consider what I'm doing if my work looks like the other guy's work? For me, I'm trying to realize with my hands the story my head is telling, while causing the viewer to respond.” “Inspiration Is Found In The Light And Shadow”, Fiber Sculpture

Star Trauth is a veritable storyteller through her unique fiber art, which fills all sense to the brim all senses, weaving evocative handmade pieces of architecture that deeply reflect her lifelong passion for the immanent tactile nature of fiber as well as the myriad textures and colors of textiles. Trauth’s one-of-a-kind artworks, which she fondly calls "totems," play out vibrantly inspirational narratives. Nostalgic elements, eidetic imagery, powerful chromatics, and tactile sensations are inextricably intertwined, and more importantly, actively engage the audience, expressly creating a meaningful, intimate conversation. The ever-changing, sensory world of contemporary fiber art is often preoccupied with technique and materiality; but it is imperative to emphasize that the greatest works in fiber, like any other medium, have visionary concepts and themes at their core, shaping and infusing the artworks' story, chromatic palette, as well as ideological and cultural import.

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Putting a contemporary spin on traditional materials and techniques used in fiber art, award-winning fiber artist Trauth creates her striking vibrant totems using traditional materials and techniques, with a modern twist uniquely her own. They are brilliantly interwoven with unconventional materials such as bark, paper, insect parts, metals, and more. Starting with her signature cylindrical canvas, Trauth painstakingly crafts a dazzling tapestry incorporating fiber and other materials she finds fascinating, all relevant to the story conveyed and delighting our senses with a visually, tactilely, and emotionally rich world. She combines a balanced approach to composition with a sophisticated sensitivity to the abundance of textures and the dynamics of color.

http://www.wethree.net

FALL 2016

John Wayne Airport presenting a Solo Exhibition by artist

Lawrence R. Armstrong

by Mia Tina n exciting exhibition, the Solo Show of master artist Lawrence R. Armstrong is coming up to the the John Wayne Airport October 14 – November 14, 2016. A great selection of Lawrence R. Armstrong’s work will be exhibited including pieces from his renown Layered Canvas Series, iPhone Sketch Series and Layered Paper Series.

"Wanton", Layered Canvas, Acrylic, Wood, 31" x 71" x 4"

moods. Blends of all of these aforementioned perceptions create even more complex layers. After absorbing these layers, Armstrong allows the concept to gestate before arriving at the exact media he will use to produce the piece. Then the process happens quickly in a series, with many sketches and pieces being produced one after another. Though the process is sequential, they regularly correlate with the first “flash of light” that

The exclusive John Wayne Airport Arts Program, overseen by the five member Airport Arts Commission, presents museumquality exhibitions in the Thomas F. Riley Terminal, provides periodic special programs in conjunction with the exhibitions and sponsors a countywide Annual Student Art Contest/ Exhibition. Award winning artist Lawrence R. Armstrong describes his work in art and architecture as a continuous exploration of the “concept of layers.” The multilayered works of this innovative artist will be presented in a solo exhibition at John Wayne Airport on (date). Lawrence R. Armstrong has been called a “modern Renaissance man,” and for good reason. Not only is Armstrong an exceptional artist and architect in his own right, but as the chief executive officer of the international design firm Ware Malcomb, he has seen the award-winning company through consistent growth, with a notable boost in annual revenue of more than 170 percent between 2010 and 2015. This is a testament to the Renaissance man’s artistry as much as it is to his business acumen and expertise in design and technology. His work speaks for itself, but he describes his art in his own words as having been founded in an awareness and fascination of layers in the natural and built environment, in space and time, in intellect and emotion. He finds inspiration in “flashes of light,” which he notes appear involuntarily to him through his sensory perception via artistic mediums, like music and writing, architecture both built and natural, or events, people, and 52

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Artist Lawrence R. Armstrong

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inspired him. Armstrong says that many of his life’s passions manifest in the same way. In an “Art 2 Heart” interview with Viviana Puello, editor in chief of Art Tour International Magazine, Armstrong speaks about his process: “I notice layers in the natural world and the built environment; I notice physical layers and I notice events that happen in a very planned way and in a very disorderly way. I listen to layers in the atmosphere of sounds: music that is very orderly and other sounds that are random. Atmosphere of different moods, different people that might fill a room. And so, my work is an expression of the very orderly versus the very chaotic and unplanned.” Armstrong has studied and produced art his entire life and, in doing so, has found himself drawn to the tensions naturally formed between contradictory forces, like solids vs. voids, chaos vs. order, random vs. planned, and precision vs. free-form. His artistic and architectural influences include Warhol, Pollack, Arnoldi, Corbusier, Eisenman, and Meier. While attending college, Armstrong studied abroad in Italy for a semester and, after receiving his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Kent State University in 1980, he set out to become LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) with the USGBC (United States Green Building Council) and became a licensed architect in more than forty states.

"September", Layered Paper, Acrylic, 22" x 28"

His accomplishments continue from there, with publication credits in various media outlets, guest lectures and panel speaking credits for graduate real estate programs and groups. In 2008, perhaps his highest honor, he became an Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award winner and national finalist for his achievements in innovation as a CEO. Armstrong has shown in various international art exhibitions, most notably in Bologna, Florence, Milan, and Vienna. Moreover, his personal art and design awards are extensive and include the Cleveland Award,the Shaker Square Circle at the Square Design Competition, the OC Design Community Art Exhibition,the Terminal Tower Design Competition Award, the ATIM Choice Award and Masters Awards, and the AIA Honor Award. “I love everything that I do,” Armstrong tells Viviana Puello, “and I think that’s a very important part of anyone’s life – you have to love what you do. I love being an architect, I love running my company and helping my clients and our people grow. That really inspires me, so on the weekends and in my downtime, I’m inspired to go to my studio, and I create this work based on those inspirations. For me, it’s an outlet and it’s a way to continue to be creative and to contribute.”

"Eclipse", Layered Canvas, Acrylic, Wood, 20" x 58" x 7"

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Armstrong’s work as an artist blends into his leadership as the CEO of the visionary design company Ware Malcomb. The firm’s chief marketing officer, Ruth Brajevich, speaks to this synthesis, “His work as an architect is enhanced and inspired by his work as an artist, and his corporate clients appreciate this unique sensibility. At the same time, his art is inspired by modern architects and artists, as well as his international travels.” Cont. Next page

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"Immersion", Digital Sketch, Print On Paper, 22" x 29", (Series of 20)

"Marana", Digital Sketch, Print On Paper, 22" x 29", (Series of 20)

The success of both the firm and Armstrong’s personal work are largely owed to technology, according to Armstrong. We may all

have associated him with artistic ingenuity, but it appears this talented artist is not swift to take credit for his splendid masterpiece. Virtual architectural models, constructed through building information modeling, provide an endless virtual vision of coordinated views for various architectural designs and projects, allowing both the designers and the firm’s clients to envision the final outcome through the creative process. This tool also benefits Armstrong’s multilayered sculptures and paintings, with their intersections and interacting layers. Armstrong’s solo exhibition at John Wayne Airport will be far from his first showing. He has already exhibited widely in the US, Canada, and Europe. His works can currently be seen at the Chianti Star Festival in Italy, at Kent State University in the College of Architecture and Environmental Design, and at the Art Blend Gallery in Fort Lauderdale. Nevertheless, this exclusive showing of Armstrong’s work in the Thomas F. Riley Terminal is an honor. Overseen by the fivemember Airport Arts Commission, the exclusive John Wayne Airport Arts Program presents museum-quality exhibitions in the terminal and periodically provides special programs in conjunction with the exhibitions. They also sponsor a countywide annual student art contest and exhibition. Indeed, when it comes to artwork, there is no limit to what can be achieved by Lawrence Armstrong, and we look forward to seeing more of what this mastermind has in store for us.

www.lraart.com "Midnight Cocktail", Digital Sketch, Print On Paper, Acrylic, Aluminum, 22" x 28"

FALL 2016

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CELEBRATING HUMANITY AND THE BEAUTIFUL PLANET WE LIVE IN

The ATIM TOP 20 Photographers Of The Year! Featuring twenty of the most important emerging photographers of present times, this special issue presents an arts and culture documentary celebrating humanity and the beautiful planet we live in. The ATIM Top 20 Photographers will take you to an unimaginable journey around the world’s most exotic locations. In the clouds, the Sahara Desert, Yellowstone National Park, Surreal rivers in India, the Antartica, and much more.

130 pages filled with vivid colorful images include 20 major figures in, fashion, photojournalism and travel photography. Printed in Italy on A4 size top quality glossy paper this handsomely designed issue provides enjoyable reading for inquisitive minds. Curated by international art personality Viviana Puello, Editor-in-Chief of the iconic ArtTour International Magazine, the ATIM’s Top 20 Photographers will be your perfect gift for the next holiday season! For more information email: info@arttourinternational.com or call 1 800 807-1167 Ext 108 WWW.ARTTOURINTERNATIONAL.COM

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P H O T O G R A P H Y 55

THE ABSTRACT WORLD OF MISA AIHARA “I am always open to the things that come to me through my five senses in my daily life. Some are color and form, some of them come through communication by words and sounds, and others come through the atmosphere in the sense of smell, touch, and so on. I always observe my own painting to get inspiration for the next step from the hint of a color either in a small part of the painting, the whole structure of the canvas, or the atmosphere of the image. When I misread the hints, I analyze the reason for my mistake and try to find another step. I always repeat this process to complete a painting”

by Viviana Puello Misa Aihara is a Japanese contemporary artist recognized for her lyrical abstract compositions of vibrant colors and elegant, expressive lines. Aihara applies directly onto her canvas thick layers of paint, employing contrasting forms of light and dark, space and density, with a playful use of color combinations. Aihira’s masterful compositions observe form, space, movement, and color and explore the concepts of density and openness, and

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light and dark. In the artist's words, she aims to create a “performance with non-representational parts of colors, textures, brushstrokes and so on—every component on canvas.” Aihara creates her work using an interplay of patterns, line, color and texture. Her love for color is seen in the juxtaposition of hues adding, depth to her two-dimensional works. Cont. page 58

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“Verko 15–3”, Oil On Canvas, 31.5” x 39”

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Misa Aihara draws her inspiration from many sources. Usually, she says, the image of the complete piece doesn’t come to mind before she begins, but as she starts working on a piece, a small detail of the same can trigger her imagination and influence the end result. Other times, this inspiration comes from the atmosphere or the whole structure of the canvas. Born in the early 1940s in Ibaraki, Japan, Misa Aihara discovered her artistic talent in her childhood. By the age of 14, she already knew she wanted to be an artist. Over the years, she has worked with and created various forms of art, engaging all the five senses. In her words, she is “open to things which impact the five senses, eyesight, hearing, taste, touch and smell." Colors and forms are what inspire her most.

Many of her works have acquired her great popularity and recognition the world over. Just glancing at her works, one may classify them as abstract. On further scrutiny, however, one can begin to recognize an organized and planned spontaneity—the result, order out of chaos, compositions that evoke profound feelings in the viewer as an invitation to explore deeper dimensions of consciousness. Some of the greatest works of Misa are the “Verko” series, "La Mano," “En Cxambro 12” and “En Cxambro 8-7." These appeared in a number of exhibits, which include “Move Without Moving: Quando l’arte colora la solidarieta umana” in September 2015 and the Milan Contemporary, also in 2015. The Verko artwork collection comprises a varied body of works which express different moods through the use of colors and shapes.

“Verko 3–1”, Oil On Canvas, 31.5” x 39”

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“Verko15–4”, Oil On Canvas, 28.5” x 35.5”

“La Mano”, Oil On Canvas, 51” x 64”

Misa Aihara graduated from Joshibi University of Art and Design, and from there, she was unstoppable. Her work has given her accolades from all over the world. She has had her pieces showcased in her homeland of Japan, in the United States of America and very widely in Europe.

avid writer, and has penned a number of books, notably, "Filozofias. "

Ahiahara uses different media as a means of expression, not limiting herself to the use of colors and brushes; she is also an

Due to her excellent work over the years, it comes as no surprise that in 2011, Misa Aihara won the Chianciano International Art

Her first solo exhibition was in 1970, in Tokyo, at Surugadai Gallery. Since then, she has had numerous exhibitions.

Cont. Next page

“Verko 11–7”, Oil On Canvas, 31.5” x 39”

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“Verko 14–3”, Oil On Canvas, 31.5” x 39”

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Award. This award was presented to her in Chianciano, Italy. The winning did not stop there, as in September 2013, Aihara received the “Certificate of Artistic Merit”. In 1977, she appeared in the then-popular Japanese Printmakers show in Germany. Since childhood, Misa Aihara has regarded colors as elements, not just inanimate non-discretional objects. This is why she has used colors to describe feelings, scents and even touch. In her pieces, these colors tell a story and the artist becomes an inspirational vehicle that brings the story to life. Misa Aihara is, without a doubt, one of the best artists who has emerged in the international art arena in recent years. Her works are timeless masterpieces full of depth and meaning. Aihara’s passion, dedication and drive are represented in every piece. She is incredibly accomplished and is striving to discover more in her research into colors and how they influence one's emotions. This unstoppable artist is a great source of inspiration and her career is a testimonial to how far dedication and excellence can take an individual in her journey.

http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~uam53283/

“Parado”, Oil On Canvas, 36” x 46”

Boldt Castle Alster Tower â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Photo CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=240626

by Yadira Roman

Boldt Castle in the 1000 Islands Region of the St. Lawrence River stands as a remembrance of the magnificence of a bygone era... a monument of love on Heart Island built by George C. Boldt for his wife Louise. Cont. Next page

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Power House – Photo CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=240640

Some love stories may suffer sad endings, but tragedy strikes only a few. One such love story is that of George C. Boldt and Louise Kehrer. Located in the 1000 Islands region of the St. Lawrence River, Boldt Castle stands as a remembrance of the magnificence of a bygone era and a monument of love on Heart Island built by George C. Boldt for his wife Louise. George C. Boldt immigrated to the United States at the age of thirteen. His first job was as a busboy in a hotel restaurant. After an unsuccessful attempt at ranching out west, he returned to the East Coast and went into the hotel business. In 1876, Boldt met Louise Kehrer while he was working at the Clover Club in Philadelphia, which her father owned. The two fell in love. With their two hearts beating strong, “love” was too small a word to define their feelings, which had no boundaries. While some stories are blessed, others are destined for immortality.

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They soon married and had two children. Their son George Jr. was born in 1879, and their daughter, Louise Clover, was born in 1885. Boldt became the manager of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City and manager of the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia; he also owned some small hotels. Boldt, who possessed an awe-inspiring level of industry, structural skill, and daring imagination, became one of the most successful hotel tycoons in America. His flourishing success gave him the opportunity to obtain Hart Island, part of the Thousand Islands in northern New York. Boldt had a scenic summerhouse built for his family, where they spent several joyous summers together. In 1900, Boldt launched an ambitious construction campaign to build a huge masonry structure that was to be one of the largest private homes in the United States. He engaged the architectural firm G. W. & W. D. Hewitt and hundreds of workers to build a six-story “castle” as a

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present for his wife. It was to be a Valentine’s Day surprise for Louise and a testament of his love for her. Boldt recognized that his island somewhat resembled the shape of a heart, so he hired hundreds of workmen to change the shape of the island into a heart, thus re-constructing the entire island into an ideal Valentine’s Day gift of love. He renamed it Heart Island. In addition, four other masonry structures on the island are architecturally notable. Equally distinctive is the huge yacht house on a neighboring island, where the Boldts had another summer home and a vast estate incorporating farms, canals, a golf course, tennis courts, stables, and a polo field. Sadly, tragedy struck when Louise died unexpectedly at only 42. Boldt, who was inconsolable, immediately stopped all work on the castle and never returned to the site again. For 73 years the castle sat abandoned, left to the whims of hooligans and northern NY weather. In 1977, the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority acquired Heart Island and the nearby yacht house for

one dollar under the agreement that all revenues obtained from the castle’s operation would be applied towards restoration so the island could be preserved for the enjoyment of future generations. In the two decades after acquiring the property, the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority spent approximately $15 million on restoration and improvements, and the work continues each year. The initial goal of the Heart Island restoration was not to finish what had not been completed but to restore the island to the state it was in when construction was halted. Improvements have gone beyond that stage, however; for example, the stained glass dome, marble floor, and grand staircase woodwork now seen in the main hall were not original to the design but are modern additions. Today, Boldt Castle is accessible by ferry, private boat, or tour boat from Alexandria Bay, New York; Clayton, New York; Gananoque, Ontario; Rockport, Ontario; and Ivy Lea, Ontario. The public can explore most of the grounds and Cont. Next page

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Photo by Photo by Karen Maraj

buildings for a fee.[1] Those who own boats may also dock at Heart Island for free.[1] There is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection office (a wood structure manned by single customs officer [citation needed]) on Heart Island, and visitors coming from Canada must have appropriate identification since visiting the island is considered entering the United States. Most of the rooms on the first floor and many of the rooms on the second floor of Boldt Castle are furnished as of 2011, but they mostly feature modern pieces. The basement is mostly

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unfinished, but it includes a pool, bowling lanes, many compartments, and a long passage to the Power House. Most of the rooms from the second floor to the top floor have been left unfurnished, but there are exhibits in some of these rooms and hallways showing pictures and artifacts from the Thousand Islands region during the time when the Boldts lived there. These rooms have been left unfurnished to give visitors the opportunity to imagine what the castle looked like before the modern improvements were made. At the edge of the island, a monument stone triumphal arch, which Boldt originally

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Photo by Clément Bardot – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25372725

intended to be the entrance way for boats, has been fully restored. The bridge connecting the two sides would have been raised and lowered as required. Two other buildings on the island are the Power House and the Alster Tower; both are open to the public. The Power House was built to hold a generator to supply the island with power. It is now a museum showing how electric power was obtained in the early 1900s, and it provide some information on how tools and equipment were brought to Heart Island during the castle's

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construction. The Alster Tower was purposely constructed with slanting, uneven walls, ceilings, and roofs. Boldt Castle has become one of the most visited tourist sites in the area, and it is a popular site for weddings. Built as a declaration of a man’s unsurpassed love for his wife, it is a timeless monument and a reminder of what man’s mind and heart can conceive of and carry out.

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Dorothy Slikker N by Viviana Puello

evada-based visual artist and teacher Dorothy Slikker has enriched the world of contemporary art with the creation of a vividly evocative realm of beauty. Her work reverently celebrates life in all its forms. Her distinctly uplifting body of work encompasses mostly oil and acrylic paintings on canvas. She uses wood and tile to portray an array of subjects, including landscapes, wildlife, domestic animals, florals, still lifes, and people -- most especially, those close to her heart, who are a continuous source of inspiration for the artist.

"A Mothers Love", (2009), Oil On Canvas, 20" X 16"

A Robert Warren-certified art instructor, Slikker masterfully employs Warren's signature painting method, which involves applying soft orange acrylic paint to the entire canvas using a sponge brush, then creating a study or pattern in black acrylic to map out the perception of depth and set the shadows. In the artist's words, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Doing the black work, and setting your lights and darks make it very easy to create a nice painting." As the artist adds the lights to her compositions, it lets the delicate orange reflect through, giving the colors a warm, distinctive glow that embosoms her canvases in a lyrical embrace. In her paintings, she mixes her own colors to create a distinctively soft chromatic palette that lends a homey warmth and spiritual lift to her works. Dorothy Slikker adheres to a distinctively realistic aesthetic as she translates her vision into vivid pictorial idylls endowed with serenity, felicity, and joyfulness. Slikker's masterly ability to transmit the perception of distance and spatial depth through complex color shading and visual perspective bestows upon the viewer the irresistible feeling to step into her landscapes and walk around their sublime scenery.

"Bountiful Harvest", (2003), Oil On Canvas, 20" X 16"

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"Roper On The Beach", Oil On Canvas, 18" X 20"

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"On Guard" Oil On Canvas, 18" X 20"

In her arresting pet and wildlife paintings, the artist's ability comes to life in the eyes of the animals that capture the viewerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention at first glance. Born in Bakersfield, California, Slikker stays true to her innate generosity of spirit and love for art. She extends her four decades experience and masterly knowledge of landscape and portrait painting techniques to help emerging artists reach their true

"Lying In Wait", (2000), Oil On Canvas, 18" X 20"

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creative potential, by inspiring them to develop their own artistic visions. Slikker currently teaches at the Creative Painting Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, in addition to offering painting courses and workshops at her Pahrump studio, Slikker's Fine Art Studio.

www.slikkersfineart.com

"It's Cold Out Here", (2008), Oil On Canvas, 20" X 16"

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w w w . s l i k k e r s f i n e a r t . c o mwww.arttourinternational.com /

SUMMER 2016

2016 VENICE FILM FESTIVAL EDITOR’S PICK

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SUMMER 2016

Boy meets girl meets the up-ending aspirations of the city of stars – and they all break out of the conventions of everyday life as La La Land takes off on an exuberant song-and-dance journey through a life-changing love affair between a jazz pianist and a hopeful actress. At once an ode to the glamour and emotion of cinema classics, a love letter to the Los Angeles of unabated dreams, and a distinctly modern romance, the film reunites Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, bringing them together with rising writer/director Damien Chazelle (the Oscar®-winning Whiplash.) The film begins as everything begins in L.A.: on the freeway. This is where Sebastian meets Mia, with a disdainful honk in a traffic jam that mirrors all too well the gridlock they’re each navigating in their lives. Both are focused on the kind of nearimpossible hopes that are the lifeblood of the city: Sebastian trying to get people to care about traditional jazz in the 21st Century, Mia aiming to nail just one uninterrupted audition. But neither expects that their fateful encounter will lead them to take leaps they never could alone.

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The leaps they both make, towards each other and, conflictingly, into their grandest artistic dreams, creates its own quintessentially cinematic world of rapture in La La Land – one that with light, color, sound, music and words takes a trip directly into the ecstasies of the happiness we chase... and the heartache of the passions we never get over. Wearing its influences on its sleeve yet taking considerable risks, La La Land allows Chazelle to pay homage to legends of cinema while harnessing its current power to make the most private human terrain – the territory of intimate relationships, personal dreams and the crossroads where decisions set fate into motion – come to life on the screen as a palpably real, yet enchanted, universe. Says Chazelle: “To me, it was important to make a movie about dreamers, about two people who have these giant dreams that drive them, that bring them together, but also tear them apart.” He goes on: “La La Land is a very different movie from Whiplash in many ways. But they both deal with something that's really personal to me: how you balance life and art, how you

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balance reality and dreams and also, specifically, how you balance your relationship to your art with your relationships with other people. With La La Land, I wanted to tell that story using music, song and dance. I think the musical as a genre is a great vehicle for expressing that balancing act between dreams and reality.” The components of the film might be ageless, but producer Marc Platt, a veteran of stage and film musicals, notes the approach is novel. Platt joined up with producers Fred Berger and Jordan Horowitz, who closely developed the project from the start with Chazelle. “Damien has reinvigorated the genre by drawing on classic elements, but bringing them forth in a way that speaks to contemporary life in L.A. He brings the foundation of great old movies into something for a new generation,” Platt observes.

To forge this hybrid of forward-looking ideas married to classic forms, Chazelle worked with a group of collaborators who each brought their imaginations to the table. In addition to Berger, Horowitz and Platt, they include composer, Justin Hurwitz, who takes a creative partnership he began with Chazelle on their previous films Whiplash and Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench into the crafting of an entire musical universe; the the Tony® and Emmy® nominated Broadway lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, dubbed the 21st Century heirs to Rogers and Hammerstein, who put words to the melodies; and choreographer Mandy Moore who has been bringing contemporary dance into the mainstream on So You Think You Can Dance, and gets her first chance to create large-scale, big-screen dance numbers.

storytelling could again bring audiences solace, joy and enduring fairy tales, even in a world where much of cinema is darker and more digitized than ever.

Hurwitz says that he and Chazelle looked for ways to bring a contemporary language – musical, visual and emotional languages – to a genre that runs the risk of nostalgia. “The idea of doing not just a musical, but a musical that is about the realities of love and dreams in today’s L.A., energized me and Damien,” the composer says. “Musicals are so heightened and we adore that about them but we also loved the idea of capturing a real feeling of current life within that heightened world.”

That aesthetic had its roots in Chazelle’s life-long love of movies, but the film’s origins began with a coffee shop meeting between Chazelle and two rising producers -- Fred Berger, who began his career working with Sofia Coppola and produced the award-winning Taking Chance as well as the forthcoming sci-fi thriller The Titan, and Jordan Horowitz, known for the 2010 Oscar®-nominated nontraditional family drama The Kids Are Alright. That was when Chazelle first pitched a musical romance set in Los Angeles. The producers had no idea when or how it would be made at that time, but the sheer aspiration of it intrigued them.

For Moore, La La Land takes its own place, suspended on the border between the current and the timeless. “The film showcases how culturally relevant the beautiful marriage between music, movement, acting, singing, and storytelling can be,” she sums up. Entering The World of La La Land La La Land itself began with a crazy dream. Damien Chazelle wanted to see if he could make a film that channels the magic and energy of the most poignantly romantic French and American musicals of filmmaking’s Golden Age ... into our more complicated and jaded age. For as dizzyingly fast as our world has changed in the last half century, are we any less captive to the whimsies of accidental meetings or missed opportunities, of dreams hitting roadblocks or dreams coming true, of knowing pure, mad love or watching as the demands of the world change our purest connections? Chazelle wondered if song-and-dance

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Says Chazelle: “With La La Land, I wanted to do a love story and I also wanted to create a musical like the musicals that entranced me as a kid, but updated into something very modern. I wanted to explore how you use color, sets, costumes and all these very expressionistic elements of Old School movie making to tell a story that takes place in our times.” Marc Platt notes: “Throughout La La Land, you have a very contemporary aesthetic. There is a fluid camera that lets you feel like you are very much in the moment, while taking you back to the era of Golden Hollywood entertainment.”

“When we met him, Damien blew us away with his understanding of movies, even though he’d only made one small film. As we watched him go from a shy young kid to a filmmaker on the rise and fulfill on that promise we saw at that first coffee, it was really something special,” says Berger. As for his pitch, Berger recalls: “It was so different and so bold. We felt it might never get made in the current landscape, so it was worth it to us to devote years to making sure it did. It makes the romantic musical something fresh and visceral. And given Damien’s encyclopedic knowledge of moviemaking, we felt if there was anyone who could actually pull this movie off, it would be him.” Adds Horowitz: “Damien has such infectious energy and creativity that when he said, ‘This is what I want to do,’ we were Cont. Next page

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ready to go with him on that journey, whatever it took. But our challenge was to figure out the best way to help him tell this story. We really loved his concept but from there it was a long process of developing the script, the characters and the songs.”

“La La Land is absolutely a love letter to the city,” says Platt. “The way the film mixes two people leading very hip, modern lives with all these iconic Hollywood locales is unique. You get a feeling both of the romantic fantasy of the city and its grounding in real lives.”

Horowitz and Berger knew that challenge was huge, but they also knew there was only one way to approach it: all in. “We threw caution to the wind,” Horowitz says. “We were able to follow a more organic process because we really weren’t working towards a specific deadline in the beginning. We simply knew we would figure out how to make this film.”

Chazelle’s concept for La La Land was elaborate, but a largescale musical was not exactly an obvious next move for the still up-and-coming filmmaker. Chazelle is best known for writing and directing the 2014 drama Whiplash, the story of a young jazz drummer and his ruthless teacher that stunned audiences with its hypnotic pace and exploration of abuse, obsession and the pursuit of greatness. The film earned five Academy Award® nominations, including Best Picture, and won three Oscars®.

In terms of his more classic influences, Chazelle was uniquely inspired by the films of Jacques Demy, the French New Wave director who broke the hyper-serious 1960s mold with intoxicating, candy- colored musicals such as The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Young Girls of Rochefort and A Room In Town. “Demy’s probably the single biggest influence not just on this movie but on everything I’ve done or wanted to do. There’s no more formative movie for me than Umbrellas Of Cherbourg. That’s a profound love that I’ve had,” Chazelle says. Chazelle became struck by the idea of fusing some of his favorite elements from musicals of the 40s, 50s and 60s – the continuous musical score, the eye-popping colors, the mood-driven energy – with his favorite city: Los Angeles, which becomes as much a romantic character in La La Land as the film’s two lovers. Los Angeles has been many things on films – a searing noir backdrop, a lush bikini paradise, a city high on the fumes of ambition. But Chazelle set out to explore Los Angeles as Muse, a constantly in-motion canvas of fateful encounters, endless traffic, but also endless striving as everyone chases their own private, unrealized dreams, at times futilely, sometimes transformationally. “La La Land is about a city that is very epic and unto itself – it’s a wide-screen city,” observes Chazelle. So I thought it would be great to shoot it in wide-screen, to make it as a big and spectacular to me as a classic Hollywood musical.” He set the film’s opening music number in a freeway tangle for very clear reasons. “In L.A. you mostly have cars with one or two people in them. It's part of what makes the city feel a bit lonely. But it’s also reflects how L.A is a crazy haven for dreamers. Because when you're in your car, what are you doing? You're playing music, or you dream. Each dreamer has their own dream; each person is living their own song. You're in your own bubble universe, your own living musical. So that is why that moment is the perfect one for two dreamers like Sebastian and Mia to meet. We use the car radios to create a tapestry of music that everyone, one by one, on this freeway joins into at the moment.”

But before that film was even made, Chazelle had already been exploring the sung-through musical. His debut film, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, was a black-and-white romance told through song-and-dance, an edgy re-envisioning of the retro MGM musical made on a shoestring budget as his Harvard senior thesis film in 2009. For Chazelle, it was equally an opportunity to look back into film history – and move forward. “I came to the musical late, at the end of high school, when I started getting into avant-garde films, and I started looking at old ‘Fred and Ginger’ movies as part of that tradition,” Chazelle explains. “The 30s musicals were very experimental and that was exciting.” Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench established Chazelle as an intriguing new talent. But Chazelle still harbored grander Technicolor dreams that were just waiting for the right moment for him to sink his teeth into them. “Guy and Madeline only scratched the surface of what I wanted to do with the genre,” Chazelle says. “So I continued writing scripts to figure out an idea for a much bigger-scale musical that operated by the same principals, a musical about real life but in keeping with the spectacular Cinemascope and Technicolor musicals of the 1950s.” These dreams are what led, though not necessarily in straightforward fashion, towards La La Land. Chazelle first began working on the outline of the story with composer Hurwitz –who first met as students at Harvard – long before the two collaborated on the acclaimed scores for Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench and Whiplash.

Chazelle’s Los Angeles is also a city of unseen yearning – an L.A. of hole-in-the-wall jazz clubs, heart-numbing audition waiting rooms, way-stop apartments, and studio coffee shops where the famous and aspirational collide; as well as an L.A. where parties, planetariums and even parking spots can bust out of the mundane and expected to become a kinetic dreamscape rife with musical mirth. Photo Courtesy ASAC Copyright © 20116

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Hurwitz says he and Chazelle have always talked to each other in rhythm and melody. “Our relationship has always revolved around music – and movies with large musical numbers were always inspirational to both us, whether it was The Umbrellas of Cherbourg or Singing' In The Rain.” Now, Hurwitz was thrilled to see Chazelle create Sebastian and Mia, two modern-day dreamers who echo their own two greatest passions -- music and moviemaking. For Hurwitz, the true-to-life frisson between Sebastian and Mia – so magnetized to one another yet also pushed apart by their individual artistic goals -- is the driving force of every creative element, including his score. “It’s a very romantic movie but there is also a sense of melancholy,” says Hurwitz. “There is the exhilaration of love and there is haunting heartbreak so all those shadings had to be woven into it.” The creative synergy between Chazelle and Hurwitz was catalytic. “Justin has been by my side at every step of the process,” Chazelle notes. “Before I even wrote any dialogue, when we were still figuring out the story, Justin was working out the musical theme of the film. Even while editing, I was working in one room, and he was working across the hall from me.” Says Fred Berger: “Justin was a crucial piece of the film’s family from day one. One of the great joys of this film was that the music was being composed alongside the development of the script – and since Justin and Damien have known each other since they were 18, they work together like brothers in the way they push each other. Justin literally lives and breathes music and he won't sacrifice quality for anything. He would send hundreds of piano demos to Damien, who would whittle it down to twenty, then Jordan and I would listen and whittle it down further, and from these small threads, the songs developed almost the way you develop a screenplay.” As the response to Whiplash cemented Chazelle as a major talent, that breathed new interest into La La Land. Chazelle presented his vision for the film to Lionsgate, who wanted the film to be made exactly as it was conceived. “We were allowed to make exactly the movie that Justin and I had first envisioned it back in 2006,” says Chazelle. “The movie we mad is exactly that movie without any compromise. Realistically, I think we all expected there to be some compromises because, when does real life ever live up to the fantasy? But this was a dream come true in that sense.” As the film grew, Marc Platt, who began his career in theatre and has produced leading movie musicals including Into the Woods and Nine, came aboard to help navigate. Platt says he could not resist working with Chazelle. “I'm a great admirer of musicals – but I'm also an admirer of new filmmakers who have something to say, and a particular way of saying it. I was struck instantly by the way Damien's vision brought the past into the present. He was ready to shoot sequences the way old studio films did it, where you never cut away. He was interested in the rich palette of Demy and the choreography of Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse. But at the same time, what made his script so strong is the emotional realism that comes from two lovely, modern characters.”

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Part of the answer lay in casting in the leads a pair of actors who are a distinctly contemporary coupling. Comments Chazelle: “The idea here was to both embrace the old Hollywoodness of an iconic screen coupling that you’ve seen before. You used to have Fred and Ginger, Bogart and Bacall, Myrna Loy and Dick Powell, these larger-than-life couples who take on different roles but are always these huge personas. It’s an idea I find incredibly romantic, and I felt that Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are the closest that we have today to that today. At the same time, I felt they could also help make this movie feel surprising and to subvert expectations. So the movie also strips away some of the veneer and the gloss that we normally associate with Ryan and Emma when they're together.” For as much as La La Land is a breathless romance it is also a tale of what we give up to pursue our own private dreams. “Ironically, for Sebastian and Mia to achieve their dreams, they also need to separate. I am very moved by the idea that you can meet someone in your life who transforms you and sets you onto a path that is going to finally enable you to be the person you always dreamed of being –but ultimately, you need to go on that path alone,” says Chazelle. “You can have a union that winds up dictating the rest of your life but doesn’t last the rest of your life. I find that incredibly beautiful and heartbreaking and wondrous. At its soul, I wanted this movie to be about that.” The jazz pianist Sebastian has a near-miss with the greatest love of his life. A defiantly retro jazz diehard who doesn’t believe in compromising his convictions for anyone or anything, at first he brushes off Mia as just another person who will never comprehend him or the gravity of his dreams – but that does not go as planned. Taking the role is Academy Award® nominee Ryan Gosling in perhaps his most unexpected departure to date. Ever since his breakout in Half Nelson and through such films as Lars and The Real Girl, The Ides of March, Blue Valentine, Drive and The Big Short, Gosling has been known for a range of volatile emotions. But could he combine that with the soft-shoe charms of a musical’s leading man? The filmmakers were convinced. Producer Marc Platt had previously worked with Gosling on Drive and knew he was capable of more than audiences have seen. “There's something about Ryan,” he muses. “First and foremost, he's a marvelous actor and I think he can do anything in terms of a role, be it drama, comedy, violence, sweetness, charm, singing, piano playing or dancing. But there's a quality to Ryan that is timeless – and that befits this movie and character. The role also demanded an actor with the initiative to devote himself to intensive preparation, and I knew Ryan is that guy.” Producer Fred Berger notes that Gosling seemed to understand what makes his character tick, and in turn what compels Mia. “Ryan portrays Sebastian as a man of real determination,” describes Berger. “That’s what feeds his stubbornness to stay in L.A. and to say I’m going to make it here as the jazz performer that I am on my terms. His is not a stubbornness born out of ego or any abrasive quality. It’s borne out of real conviction and passion, which Ryan infuses into the character so beautifully.” Cont. Next page

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As it turned out, Gosling had his own long-held affection for movie musicals that came into play the minute he came aboard. Says Gosling: “I was really intrigued by the fact that Damien wanted to make a film in the style of that Fred and Ginger and Gene Kelly eras, because those are the musicals that Ryan Gosling/Seb’s Story move me. The fact that he wanted this film to have that kind of aesthetic and spirit of playfulness was fantastic because it was also a secret wish of mine to make a film like that.”

Playing Mia is Academy Award® nominee Emma Stone, whose roles have ranged from Superbad and Easy A to The Help and Birdman. Stone faced a one-of-a-kind challenge with the role – playing a character who has to be at once anchored in very real goals and feelings, while also able to erupt into musical fantasia at a moment’s notice, combining the two seamlessly. It helped that Stone has not only explored the depths of dramatic roles, but also has the skills of a Broadway veteran who recently starred as Sandy Bowles in the revival of Cabaret.

An equal magnet for Gosling was the intrigue of playing a man who worships with his very being an art-form that seems to be dying on the vine of a ruthlessly fast-changing pop culture.

Says Damien Chazelle of what Stone brings: “Just the level of her acting in the song and dance scenes and the way that she expresses such gradations of emotion is amazing. I think she's one of the great actresses of our time and you can create something without any dialogue, purely through her face, her mannerisms and body language. That was the ideal I was chasing – pure storytelling, and building character, through song and dance – and Emma made that happen while creating a very real woman.”

“Sebastian has dedicated his life to being a great jazz pianist, but in his mind the world around him is saying those days are over. His heroes were born 70 years ago, and in this day and age, a great piano player playing real jazz is destined to work in bars where people don’t even stop their conversations to listen to you,” Gosling notes. “So how much do you compromise to be the artist you want to be?” The line between principled dedication and making yourself irrelevant is a fuzzy one, Gosling acknowledges. “I think Sebastian is struggling with the difference between being a purist and being a snob,” he remarks. “Ultimately, he faces a question lots of creative people are faced with at some point in life: do I keep pursuing this work that actually nourishes me or to do I have to accept that this is just a job and I have to pay my bills?” That equation gets flipped in new ways when Sebastian meets Mia. Almost instantly, he sees her fate as more promising – and he wants to support her dreams. Much as Gosling could relate to the character, his work was seriously cut out for him as he prepared to take on the role of a consummate jazz pianist -- body and soul. He dove into months and months of jazz piano lessons, not to mention learning to dance with a modern sense of suave. When Gosling wasn’t practicing piano, he and Emma Stone were kicking and sashaying with choreographer Mandy Moore. Says Moore: “I could tell from the minute we started, Ryan was talented. He’s very coordinated -- but also very hard on himself. From the first day he kept saying, ‘Ahh, I can do it better.’ But from my perspective, his progression was impressive. It was like a slow burn. Ryan really marinates in whatever he’s learning but then you watch as he finesses it in his own way. Once the moves were in his body, he was locked and loaded to do something wonderful.” Stone, who previously paired with Gosling on the hit comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love and appeared with him in Gangster Squad, had no trouble responding organically to the funny, charismatic and torn man Gosling found within Sebastian. Stone summarizes: “Ryan brought so much to this role: he learned to play the piano stunningly well and he’s been a great dance partner. But the thing that I was most surprised by is how funny he is in this role. I mean I've always known that Ryan is funny but he's really, really funny in this movie. He’s kind of got it all going on as Sebastian.”

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Ryan Gosling found Stone to be almost surreal casting. “There’s no one else like Emma. She’s one-of-a-kind, and brings that same quality to Mia. You feel for Mia as someone who has been working in L.A, trying to catch a break, because you can see just how special and unique she is. But you also see that Mia’s a bit different and not necessarily what these people in the entertainment world are looking for -- where they often want people who are interchangeable with one another. She’s just not that.” Emma Stone/Mia’s Aim Gosling adds: “She’s also an amazing dancer and I was really leaning on her a lot of the time, literally.” The producers saw Stone bringing a nuanced, Everywoman relatability to a character who lives in what might seem a rarified world. Jordan Horowitz says: “Emma brings a groundedness – it can be an overused word but with her performance in this film it makes sense. She simultaneously brings the quality of an enormous movie star yet she feels so human and authentic. It’s very easy to fall in love with her, and also to see inside her emotions, and because of what Mia goes through, that was of utmost importance.” Adds Marc Platt: “Not everyone has the dream of being an actress but the way Emma plays Mia transcends that. You feel Mia’s dreams could be anybody's dream, whatever you want in life, and she's particularly effective at that.” The way Stone was able to twine her character’s complex inner world into light-as-air dancing also won over the filmmakers. “Emma’s dancing is just effortless and natural, even though you know she did a lot of work to get there. She made everything about the character feel like it had been tailored to her,” says Horowitz. Choreographer Moore witnessed the depth of Stone’s commitment to every gradation of the role: “Emma is full of spirit that you can feel not only in her words but her movements. She is one of those people who dives into a project with intensity and as we rehearsed, she kept getting better and better. It was an amazing process to watch her become a real dancer.” Though she has had more experience with musical theatre, like Gosling, Stone spent months preparing – and thriving on the process. “We did lots of preparation with Mandy Moore and for

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make,” says Legend. “It presents Sebastian with the quandary of how ‘pop’ he’s willing to get, and how far he’s willing to go from the music that he feels moved to play.” The song was revelatory for Gosling. “For John to bring in his contemporary take was a really hard thing to do. Sonically and energetically it could have really clashed with the kind of music the movie is celebrating,” he points out. “Instead, what John brought was so good that it just it makes my character’s dilemma that much more complicated.” Photo Courtesy ASAC Copyright © 20116

two months, we rehearsed every day,” she explains. “It was so much fun, because I’ve taken some dance in the past, but this was learning tap and jazz and ballroom dance – whole new languages of dance.” Stone also points out that perfection wasn’t the goal when it came to the dance moves. “Our characters are struggling artists, so we were never asked to be incredibly brilliant dancers and singers. Actually, Damien wanted our relationship to feel alive and raw in a certain way, even though we’re part of these incredibly cinematic dance numbers. So little flaws and natural flubs were welcomed with open arms,” she explains. For Chazelle, the coupling of Stone and Gosling was alchemical. He summarizes: “There’s a shorthand between Ryan and Emma, not just in person, but on screen. They do a very difficult thing in this movie, which is to ground the most ungrounded of genres. It takes actors like Ryan and Emma to establish this story inside real lives and make it human. There are very few people who can be as in the moment while still feeling like big, movie stars in the way this film needed.” John Legend’s First Major Screen Role Joining the cast of La La Land in his first major film role is tentime GRAMMY® winner and Academy Award® winning singersongwriter John Legend who portrays Keith, the musician who enlists Sebastian to join his rapidly rising band, The Messengers, and takes him far away from Mia. Legend also co-wrote the song “Start A Fire,” which rockets the Messengers to fame in the film. Fred Berger says at first casting Legend was sheer fantasy. “This film always kind of existed in a dream world, so we dreamed of who we could get for the role, but then it happened,” the producer muses. “Even from an availability standpoint, with John's commitments it was hard to imagine he’d be able to do it. But he did and he entered into the mix with incredible excitement and passion. He fit so well into the ethos of the film because he’s the nicest, most hardworking guy, and very down to earth.” Legend jumped at the chance to explore something new. “I thought this would be a great opportunity to transition into doing more acting in a role that feels pretty familiar to what I already do for a living, which is make music,” Legend says. “I was drawn to the idea of playing a musician in a film directed by such a talented director and with such great co-stars.”

At the heart of La La Land are the film’s original songs which flow through the story just as monologues, dialogues and ensemble conversations would. To forge the lyrics to go with Hurwitz’s music, Chazelle and Hurwitz worked leading theatrical composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, whose productions include Dear Evan Hansen, A Christmas Story, Dogfight, James and the Giant Peach and Edge. This would be their first chance to create a full-scale lyrical book for the screen. After meeting over pizza during a trip to LA, Pasek and Paul were ready to jump. “We were really drawn to Damien and Justin’s energy and their desire to pay tribute to the classical movie musical, while creating something relevant to us right now,” says Paul. The look of La La Land began with the great musicals of yesteryear with their wide screen, anamorphic Cinemascope and lush, almost tastable colors. But then the real fun began, as that concept was transformed via 21st Century sensibilities and equipment. Damien Chazelle had the look in his mind, but he knew it would take people by surprise. “Whiplash was all about punctuated editing, reflecting the tempo and rhythm of the drumming. La La Land is the polar opposite. Whiplash is a movie about right angles. La La Land is all about curves,” Chazelle explains. “The model I had in mind was Max Ophuls, the master of camera movement in the history of cinema. We all wish we could move our camera like Ophuls, and of course Ophuls did it before Steadicam, but the idea is to have a camera that, in itself, feels melodic, feels like a dancer, that never gets in the way of the dancing on screen but becomes part of the choreography, nonetheless.” “La La Land is a cinematic experience unto itself. It is sweeping but also intimate. It is large but also romantic. It is happy and melancholy. It dances and sings. And it paints a portrait of love and Los Angeles that you've never seen before. Ultimately, it may transport you into a different kind of feeling than you’re used to having at the movies,” Platt concludes. Chazelle hopes one of the feelings the film evokes is passion, since that was the root if its intricate creation. “I do think La La Land is about passion -- it's about passion for art and passion for love and hopefully the passion with which we approached the movie, with which we wrote it, with which we composed the music for it and with which we present it is something you feel.”

Writing “Start A Fire” furthered Legend’s understanding of the characters. “What’s fun is that we get to see the song morph as Sebastian and Keith figure out what kind of music they want to

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GOLDEN LION AWARD - BEST FILM: THE WOMAN WHO LEFT

“Ang Babaeng Humayo"

Director’s Statement “What shapes us as human beings? The inspiration of the story is Tolstoy's God Sees the Truth but Waits. I've read the story a long, long time ago. I only remember the premise now. I already forgot the story and the names of the characters. I remember that what really struck me when I read it was that neither of us really understands life. We don't really know. This is one of the most essential truths of existence. Or, some of us can at least feel a continuum, that things that we do can be consequential. And more often, we abide and succumb to life's randomness”.

Lav Diaz 76

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At the Venice Film Festival the Golden Lion for Best film goes to “Ang Babaeng Humayo” (The Woman Who Left) among 20 films presented during the festival. “The Woman Who Left,” is a 2016 Filipino drama directed by the very talented Lav Diaz. Cont. Next page

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Director Lav Diaz (C) poses with actress Charo Santos-Concio (L) and actor John Lloyd Cruz (R) as they attend the photo call for the movie – Venice September 2016. Photo Courtesy of Hazel Orencio Copyright © 2016

The 73rd Venice International Film Festival, organized by La Biennale di Venezia, ran at Venice Lido from August 31st to September 10th, 2016, directed by Alberto Barbera. It is the oldest film festival in the world, and it is also one of the world's three largest festivals. Initially, the Venice International Film Festival was a part of the Venice Biennale, which was founded in 1895 and was later split up to form other large festivals. The aim of the Festival is to raise awareness and promote the various aspects of international cinema in all its forms: as art, entertainment and as an industry, in a spirit of freedom and dialogue. The Festival also organizes retrospectives and tributes to major figures as a contribution towards a better understanding of the history of cinema. The Venezia 73 Jury, chaired by Sam Mendes and comprised of Laurie Anderson, Gemma Arterton, Giancarlo De Cataldo, Nina Hoss, Chiara Mastroianni, Joshua Oppenheimer, Lorenzo Vigas and Zhao Wei presented the Golden Lion for Best film to “Ang Babaeng Humayo” (The Woman Who Left) among 20 films presented during the festival. "Ang Babaeng Humayo," translated as “The Woman Who Left,” is a 2016 Filipino drama that was directed by the very talented Lav Diaz. GOLDEN LION for Best Film “Ang Babaeng Humayo” (Thew Woman Who Left) by Lav Diaz (Philippines) This 2016 Filipino film was written and directed by Lav Diaz. He is an independent filmmaker who is of Filipino decent and

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was born December 30, 1958. He began making Filipino films in the early 1990s but was only recognized by the world after his 2013 film "Norte, the End of History." Since that film, he has never looked back, and in 2016, he won the Golden Lion Award for the best drama film in the Venice Film Festival. "Ang Babaeng Humayo" was first released on September 9, 2016, and has a running time of 226 minutes. The film features Charo Santos-Concio, who had only just returned to acting after she stepped down from being president of the ABS-CBN Corporation. This was definitely a big win for her. According to the film’s producer, Lav Diaz, the film was initially not produced to be in a film festival. It was intended to run for four hours, and hence by June 2016, the film editing process was underway. Diaz said that what inspired the film was a short Filipino story: “God Sees the Truth, But Waits." The writer of this inspirational short story was Leo Tolstoy, who wrote it in the late 1800s. "Ang Babaeng Humayo" Cast and Release This great film was screened on September 9, 2016, in Venice. Since the drama initially had no film connotation to it, Diaz was open to the idea that it could be screened at festivals. This obviously proved to be a great idea, because in the end, the film won the coveted Golden Lion Award. This is believed to be a greater achievement than what was anticipated before its production and release.

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After about 30 years of being in prison for a murder that she did not commit, Horacia finally resigns herself to her fate. Just as she gets comfortable in jail, she gets the good news that she has been released. It turns out that her best friend, Petra, played by Sharmaine Buencamino, had framed her, and after 30 years of jail time, had decided to confess.

The film has an extraordinary cast, which stars the amazing Charo Santos-Concio, who is a successful media executive, a film producer, and an occasional actor. Other people who feature in the film include Michael de Mesa, Nonie Buencomino, John Lloyd Cruz, and the talented Sharmaine Centenero-Buencomino. The cast is large, but it is effective. “The Woman Who Left” Plot The story of this film revolves around a schoolteacher who was wrongfully sent to prison. This teacher, played by Charo Santos-Concio, as Horacia, struggles after her release with giving genuine forgiveness to the perpetrators and with revenge and fury. Being that "The Woman Who Left” was based upon the short story "God Sees the Truth But Waits," it follows that the film’s storyline was inspired by the short story. In this story, we see revenge take a mysterious cruel twist, and that no matter how long it takes, it happens.

When Horacia goes back to her home, she finds that many things have changed. This is unsurprising, because she had been in jail for 30 years. Her husband had died, her daughter had moved to another city, and her son had moved to Manila. Having missed out on life and on her family, Horacia becomes enraged and wants to seek revenge for the atrocities committed against her. Her former boyfriend, Rodrigo, is the one who had paid her friend Petra to frame her for murder. These factors contribute to the tragic twist of this story: murders are committed, and eventually, somehow, revenge is attained. This is an inspirational black-and-white film that strives for both quality and quantity in good measure. Viewers have characterized "Ang Babaeng Humayo" as a classic Lav film, which brings out both despair and hope. The film is playing in two languages so far, English and Tagalog, and will not disappoint. Lav Diaz outdid himself with this film and truly deserves to win this prestigious award. He dedicated the piece to the daily struggle of humanity and the Filipino people. The film is in a 1990s setting, and Horacio is released in the late 1990s. Without a doubt, this is one of his best achievements, which have put the actor in the limelight. In its early days, the Venice Film Festival awarded mostly Western films, but recently has been giving thought to other regions. The fact that a Filipino film won this great award shows that the world is coming to a great place where everyone is being considered for their great talent. There were other good films aiming for this award, but none could beat "Ang Babaeng Humayo" -- “The Woman Who Left.”

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FALL 2016

“Untitled”, Painted with Acrylic, 40” x 30”