My work is a homage to the old Masters; attention to detail and composition, all to create a sense of well being. They are designed to inspire. I have been just granted the permission by The Walt Disney Co. to create artwork based on Disney’s Princesses. “Beauty is essential to the well being of the soul.”
The creation of my acrylic paintings is achieved by the use of airbrush and traditional brush work. The airbrush is an amazing tool, it allows me to get tones and textures which can’t be achieved with a standard paint brush. The work is done on canvas and illustration board which is primed and repeatedly sanded to produce a smooth, tight and realistic subject matter. I like to employ the underlying humor of the surreal and I delight in juxtaposing unexpected objects. By placing real objects in abstract environments I create whimsical worlds; by dissolving, fading, floating and moving real objects in any way I desire I give the familiar a fresh perspective.
Upon close examination, everyday life can be extraordinary. It’s the hidden humor, duality, and mischief in daily life that inspire my sculptural one-of-a-kind jewelry, infusing it with surprise. The unlikely juxtaposition of mundane objects in my work depict an absurd miniature world. Things just seem funnier when they are tiny … I invite you to take a closer look. All of the pieces are fabricated by hand in silver, gold and copper with precious and semi-precious stones.
I discovered metals as a medium while attending the Savannah College of Art and Design. This medium has since become my life’s passion. After graduating I had the privilege to work as a bench jeweler for several years, before taking the plunge into my own business in 2005.
I hand fabricate everything from silver and gold, and draw my inspiration from a combination of architecture and nature. I enjoy balancing strong structures with delicate textures and patterns. In 2010 I began incorporating stingray leather into my work. I treat it like a precious stone by making hollow forms and inlaying the pieces. In 2013, I was honored to receive a Saul Bell Award for my “Stingray Feathers” necklace, which was also featured on the cover of Lark Book’s 500 Art Necklaces.
My pastel drawings are derived from actual as well as created situations in which I try to interpret my response to the events I witness. Whether the subject matter is interior scenes, theater or architecture, each drawing has an exquisite sense of light with a heightened color palette. I work from sketches and slides for reference. This body of work features elaborate still life settings in the Old Master tradition as well as fabricated interiors.___The pastel I use is comprised of pure powdered pigment combined with a small amount of binder. They are not oil. Crumbling the pastel in my left palm, I use my hand as a palette, scooping the pigment with my right thumb to apply it to the pastel paper. This technique gives the work a painterly quality. Because the pigment is airborne due to its crumbling, I wear a respirator while working in the studio. When the drawing is completed I steam it to fix the pastel, rather than spraying it with a fixative.
I attend numerous drawing sessions with live models. Working with a living breathing human being rather than a photograph is essential to capturing pure emotion. As well, my botanical pieces are taken from real still-life arrangements. I often record the life cycle of a bundle of flowers from vibrant life, through to the delicateness of the dry final state. I use wet and dry mediums both additively and subtractively in order to create weathered atmosphere. Once I have captured the essence of the subject I continue working the piece independently of the model using a variety of unconventional techniques. Layers of ink followed by layers of gouache are often rubbed away using a scrubber brush to generate texture. In other cases I will spray my drawings with a vigorous jet of water from the kitchen faucet to create liquid effects.
I work in a variety of styles ranging from abstract to impressionistic to realistic. I also use multiple mediums, oil, acrylic, watercolor and pastel.
I have taught watercolor painting for over 30 years. No matter what the medium I employ my tendency is to start in soft washy tones of color. Many of my paintings utilize thin collage material which I generally try to disguise so that hidden images appear to the viewer over time.
As a retired architect buildings and industrial structures quite often appear in my paintings.
A patron once noted, regarding an abstract, a love of drawing is evident in my paintings. That is the kind of statement that keeps my going.
In each of my sculptures I try to create a presence – a sense of life. I want the art to meet viewer eye to eye, and to present itself as something very unique and real unto itself.
I begin with materials – boards, bits of stone or plaster – glass or metal. I include photos and collected found objects. With these I sketch out collages and scenes and start planning how they will be housed in a sculpture. To build a home for these scenes, I use sheets of wet clay which I cut and texture. The outside surfaces try to tell story of what’s inside. The surface also helps establish the mood and give the viewer a hint of what’s going on inside. I am also in love with the bumps and twists, the cut openings and block walls that cover the surface of my wok.
After the clay is joined together, the finished work is kiln fired two to three times. The colors are from oxides and stains fired into the clay. At this point the story materials are added to the almost finished sculpture. As a last step, the final surface is decorated with latex and acrylic paints, industrial dyes and wax.
I attended the San Francisco Art Institute, The University of Wyoming and Colorado Sate University. I live with my wife, Suzy, in Cape Canaveral Florida. I operate a full time studio in Port Canaveral.
The inspiration for my work comes from all things artistic beginning in childhood. My grandmother, Carley Craig, was a fashion designer and lifelong artist working in all media. As I grew up I developed an appreciation of form, color and line. That appreciation deepened into a passion as I was exposed to the art and lifestyle of the Japanese. My five-year stay in Nagasaki, Japan utterly transformed me, compelling me to set aside previous career and life goals. I now pour my energies into creating works that don’t easily fit genre labels, borrowing from both Western and Asian traditions. I use traditional Asian calligraphy brushes and sumi, ink. Watercolor or oil paints are added for touches of color. I work on canvas or watercolor papers, each surface offering different effects.___A cursory glance at one of Julie’s paintings will reveal a simple brushstroke drawing; a second perusal evokes a perception of what has not been drawn, but merely imagined. Herein lies the essence of her achievement. Elegant in its simplicity, subtle in its design, bold in its grace, this art can elicit profound responses. ~ Mary Ruth Curtis
Images are painted on Plexiglas plates with lithography inks, then printed on Arches or BFK rag paper with a Takach etching press.
Plates are first beveled, then the surface is sanded to give “tooth” to hold ink. Plates are coated with solvent then many thin layers of ink are applied, then manipulated with brushes, fingers, stump and rollers. Sometimes multiple plates are used.
The Landscape Series: This series of images is a result of traveling almost constantly in the US and Europe for many years. I sketch daily from sources and from memory and amass an amazing amount of material in sketchbooks, which becomes the basis for new work in the studio.
All images are conceived, executed and printed solely by the artist.
I completed my jewelry education over thirty years ago. The first formal jewelry I created was amber from the Baltic Sea, and I’ve been working with amber ever since. Pieces of amber are selected for their color, clarity, and individuality. I prefer larger forms of jewelry and due to its light weight, amber is ideal for this use. I handcraft the metal individually, matching the amber and the design. My jewelry is known for its high quality and craftsmanship. Each piece is a representation of a unique form of design. All larger pieces contain hollow metal.___While every piece I craft is unique, because of the individuality of the amber that I use, certain themes repeat themselves throughout my work. I use silver and organic material such as leather for settings and necklaces, and I also have pieces made from gold and other precious metals.___I have lived in the U.S. for twenty years and I’ve been doing art shows since 1992. During this time, I’ve received over fifty awards, including “Best of Show”, “Award of Excellence”, “First Place Jewelry” and merit awards. Please stop by my festival booth to see the beauty of my handcrafted work, and to examine the quality of the work for yourself!
Ning Lee is a contemporary realist who paints exquisite still-life paintings as well as landscapes. Concentrating on light and shadow, Ning deftly crafts each painting with careful attention to detail as well as focusing on the more intangible elements such as harmony and serenity. My creation of artwork is inspired by the simple objects that are often seen in our daily life. To create a unique composition, I focus on the set-up and explore various combinations of objects and light and shades. To capture the precise image, I start my painting with outlining the objects in pencil on fine quality linen or panel, followed by thin layers of color. I usually work on several bodies of work concurrently, allowing adequate time for the paintings to dry completely before applying the next layer, which results in elements and thoughts from one painting being utilized in another. Then, I will spend time working on each individual one focusing on the details and variety of colors. It usually takes a long time for a single piece to be completely done. Like many old masters, all my paintings are completed in my studio, from beginning to end, by myself and this whole process gives me great enjoyment and satisfaction.
My work is a planned juxtaposition of rocks and metal, textures and patinas. Fabricated from reticulated silver, 18K gold, bronze and gemstones. Traditional metalsmith techniques such as lapidary, fusing, soldering, stone setting, etching, stamping, and the reticulation of metals are used to create each piece.
My most recent works tend to be the most involved and difficult of my career. I kinda thought the older I got, the wiser I’d be and find simple, easier ways to express myself with clay. However, I’m doing the most challenging forms and techniques I’ve ever done. They are wheel thrown, I then alter the most sculpted additions. As well as needle etching and other surface design techniques, I use some found object materials for designs along with hand-carved clay stamps.
The surface treatment and appearance is inspired by long flowing aquatic vegetation in shallow moving waters. Small meandering streams in the Rocky Mountains and the Everglades were the first to catch my eye, and watching autumn leaves falling in a gentle wind to the ground or into a stream.
Don has been a full-time artist since 1973. He received his BA in Studio Art from the University of West Georgia in 1975 with a concentration in ceramics.
The eldest son of a South Dakota historian, award-winning photographer Jim Parker has always been fascinated by the architectural detritus and geologic history of the West. As an explorer, he uses his lens and camera to examine interesting manmade and natural subjects. As an artist, he’s interested in the effects of the passage of time on a human scale. His recent work, “Stories Told in Things Left Behind,” focuses on interior spaces and prairie landscapes.
Quirky juxtapositions and peaceful grasslands highlight his images. Whether photographing patterns of wind and water in a desert canyon, or focusing on the textures of a faded ranch, his visual commentary echoes the politics, history and cultures that collided in America’s Westward expansion. Parker uses small format cameras and handles his own edition printing in sepia-tones and color on fine art papers.
I am lucky to have an enriching career that allows me to explore my creative side, meet and connect with wonderful clients, and expose more people to art daily. For me, this last statement is the key to where I would like to see my love for art leading to.
I want to be a part of placing art in as many public venues as possible. I take pleasure in creating work that inspires the public to think about the world differently. I truly believe adding sculpture to the public landscape forever enhances communities and the art serves as a reflection of the quality of the community.
My true love for art lies with abstract geometrics and much of my body of work encompasses the clean, simple properties of that style. Over the years I have also incorporated iconic and whimsical shapes into my sculptures that help viewers connect with my pieces on an emotional level. I want to create thought-provoking work that is sophisticated, easily recognized and serves as a mental postcard.
My goal is to create life in whatever I make. In the ordinary, I see the extraordinary.___ The glass is a glimpse of something beyond the moment, a vision frozen forever. Like relics that evoke some ancient time, these glass assemblages are shards of what I have seen: unnamed emotions, visions, memories. They are excuses to imagine other worlds, prods to a future we have half forgotten. Maybe these pieces are only hardened sand. What you see is what you put there to see.
My first interest in making jewelry came about as an escape from final biology exams. The interest in jewelry grew, interest in microbes waned, and in 1971 I left graduate studies at the University of Illinois, escaping permanently from academia into the world of metalsmithing.
I have always enjoyed working with my hands, learning new techniques, trying new materials. At this time, I’m working primarily in gold and gemstones.
Using a vocabulary of simple shapes, I create pieces both figurative and architectural in form.
The layered metal technique mokume gane has satisfied my search for a complex surface to enclose within these forms constructed as pendants, bracelets and rings. Gemstones are also a fascination. I now cut gemstones adding them to my stone collection of 40 years. These I set in rings and pendants.
My wife, Carolyn, joined me in this endeavor in 1977. Together, we seek to make pieces of lasting craftsmanship and enduring aesthetics. We would love for these pieces to be passed from one generation to the next.
