Hospital Bed & Light:Covid-19
I was born and raised in NYC, but mostly in the Bronx. I attended CCNY, where I graduated with a BS in Mathematics and an MA in Mathematics Education. I taught high school mathematics in the Bronx. I have always been interested in the arts and started writing poems and playing guitar at age 19. I studied poetry under Professor Robert O’Clair. I studied guitar at The Guitar Workshop. I studied painting and drawing at SUNY in Purchase. I have had paintings in 8 live group shows at Jones Gallery in Kansas City, Missouri, paintings at 4 live group shows in Arbor Gallery, Carmel, NY, paintings and photos in 5 live group shows at Putnam Arts Council in Mahopac, NY. and 1 painting in a live group show at the Mahopac Public Library. Also, I have exhibited in many online shows. I have exhibited at HMVCGalleryNewYork virtually since its inception for over 2 years. A wonderful state-of-the-art gallery with outstanding artists! My poems have been published in magazines and books, and at HVMOCA. I performed some of my poems in April 2024 at HVMOCA with numerous other artists at Writing The Walls 2024. I self-published a children’s book, ”Mr. Fine Goes to the Eye Doctor”. My principal artistic interest has been abstract painting and drawing for the last 11 years, but I have written many poems as well. I live in Putnam County, NY.
My work in fine arts has principally been in 2 classes of abstract paintings: oils and water-based paints. However, I have completed numerous works in drawing. I focus on color, texture, methodology of delivery, and composition. In composition, I am interested in positive space and negative space as well. I believe the painting/drawing is a manifestation of my emotional state of both conscious and unconscious feelings.
Hot Air Balloons
Cher Pruys was born in Regina. Over the years, she lived in many places, including Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Fort Frances, settling into her present home in Devlin, on the banks of the Rainy River with her husband Mark and pets.
By age three, Cher was seldom found without a drawing tool in hand. She worked in pencil, charcoal, and ink over the years, picking up a paintbrush at the age of 35. Beginning with oil paints, she found her chosen mediums in acrylic, watercolor, and gouache, and her passion for hyperrealism.
Although self-taught, her dedication and talent have seen her work juried into 925 International exhibits. She has won 1411 awards for her work in the International Juried Exhibits.
Her work has graced the covers of 3 books, 42 magazines, including The Best Of Acrylic Fall 2021, cover of the May 2022 Arabella Magazine, #20 Hyperrealism Magazine with “Girls Girls Girls”, & #21 with “The Young Cowboy”, Artists & Illustrators March 2024 Artistonish 2024 July edition, Observica Elite 2024, Art Closeup Magazine#26 Jan. 2025, The back cover of Novum Artis #007, 2025, & Hyperrealism Special Edition “The Amazing World of Cher Pruys”. She has been featured in over 700 International publications. Cher’s works have found a permanent home in private and public collections worldwide.
“To take my inner visions with my hands and create a work of art for you, the viewer …. That is the ultimate in self-expression.”
I am very drawn to shiny surfaces as well as transparent objects, especially when the lighting brings them to life. I look for beauty in everyday objects that most people take for granted or just don’t truly see as they are. The seemingly boring and mundane subjects can truly be like magnets if portrayed in the right light. Shiny metal is one of those materials that can host endless visions. The light hits it, and the reflections are captured on the smooth, sleek surface. Animals, people, living things with character…an artist’s dream!
Hot Pink Spurs
I am a 21-year Brooklyn, NY resident enjoying constant inspiration from my neighbors across the street- The Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. After graduating from The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with a Fine Arts Degree, I have enjoyed a thirty-five-year career in the fields of architecture, interior design, and stage design. However, my passion for the Visual & Fine Arts, most specifically oil painting and drawing, never waned and remains my solace.
For the past twenty-six years, I have continued to nurture my creativity by practicing oil painting in a weekly night class at the 92StY Art Center where I have honed my technical skills and focused my subject matter with my work selected for the institution’s juried Student Art Exhibition each year.
In my oil painting, I create richly colored, small-scale, representational paintings of the natural world that magnify the quiet moments of nature hiding in plain view and often nestled in the urban environment.
Whether strolling through my beloved borough of Brooklyn, with its brownstone, tree-lined streets, lush and wild Prospect Park, and the serene Botanic Garden, hiking America’s National Parks, or just wandering random avenues in Anytown, my camera is always ready to grab images of nature at work in every season. Once captured, I study these visions of the outdoor world through my own creative lens developing a particular view to transform onto my canvas.
Hot Seat
Babler’s work has been juried into: The Boston Printmakers 2026 North American Print Biennial”; Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts 115th Juried National Exhibition; 91st National Exhibition, Cooperstown NY, “Spatial” MFA juried exhibition; GALEX 59 National Exhibition 2026; 38th September Competition Juried Exhibit at Alexandria Museum of Art; “After Dark 2025” and “Reflecting 2025”– Maryland Federation of Art; 38th Annual McNeese National Works on Paper Exhibition; “In the City” exhibit juror Christina Gomez (Art Institute Chicago); North American Print Biennial juror Elizabeth M. Rudy (Associate Curator of Prints Harvard Art Museums, Boston); Dubuque Museum of Art Biennial juror Pamela Hugdahl (Rochester Art Center); Rockford Art Museum Biennial Juried Exhibit of Contemporary Artists; Amanda C. Burdan (Associate Curator – Brandywine River Museum of Art); Christiane Paul (Curator of New Media Arts at the Whitney Museum of American Art); Felice Frankel (Science photographer/research scientist); Malcolm Daniel (Curator of Photographs – Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC); Kenneth Baker (Art Critic, San Francisco Chronicle); William Lieberman, Director of Zolla/Lieberman Gallery – Chicago; Annette Carlozzi (Sr. Curator Blanton Museum of Art); Dr. Jefferson Harrison (Chief Curator Chrysler Museum of Art); Charlotta Kotik (Curator of Contemporary Art Brooklyn Museum of Art); David Houston (Chief Curator –Ogden Museum of Southern Art); Dr. Russell Panczenko (Museum of Art, Madison Wisconsin); Siri Engberg (Walker Art Center); Stephen Phillips (Phillips Collection – Washington DC); Sam Gilliam; and Ed Paschke.
A Ragdale Residency Fellow, a juried member of the Illinois Arts Council’s Arts-In-Education Roster, and she has exhibited at Northwestern University, Concordia University, Rockford Art Museum, and the Alexandria Museum of Art. She was a fine art consultant for Grumbacher/Prismacolor, along with developing a program for Blick Art. Her artwork is in corporate, university, and private art collections.
Art is an invitation to create, and the theme “Freestyle” provides an opportunity for creativity! The themes of my submissions vary, yet strong colors are the common thread. A beautiful garden with lush greens is an archway for appreciation and reflection. An interior scene with a brightly colored lounge chair and mysterious prints transports the viewer to a magical setting. A close-up of repetitive heads against a strong yet silent background raises the question of thoughts vs. actions. Both color and compositional elements help to create a dialogue with the viewer.
House Afire
Sylvia Bandyke, Royal Oak, MI, USA, is largely a self-taught photographer, having taken studio and art history classes in college. She began her art career by displaying photo collages in ArtPrize, an independent international art competition in Grand Rapids, MI, from 2014 to 2018. Subsequently, she has been juried into more than 100 group exhibitions in 24 states and accepted into numerous online international exhibitions. An awarded artist, she keeps an eye open for interesting views of a subject while looking for hidden beauty every day. Most recently, she was a caregiver to her elderly mother and was able to create some memorable, unique art as a result of this experience.
I prefer using the collage format to integrate associated images into a cohesive unit that is even more compelling because of the embedded story. Having been a playwright and technical writer, I am accustomed to delivering content with a message. So now, as a visual communicator, I continue to provide meaning via the structure of the collage format, wherein the four photos confirm, augment, or even contradict each other if warranted. I enjoy offering the richness that the multiplicity of images provides, along with the impact gained through thoughtful positioning of them. Ultimately, I intend to have my work act as a doorway to the viewer’s own mental and emotional framework regarding the collection of images, perhaps finding their own very personal meaning in them.
How ‘Eye’ Wonder
Buena Johnson is a Los Angeles-based visual artist and art instructor. Most recently, Buena’s work became a part of the permanent collection of the Laguna Art Museum. She has exhibited at the Band of Vices Art Gallery and was a featured artist with the Los Angeles Lakers. Buena’s latest solo exhibitions include TAG Gallery, in 2021, and The Los Angeles Art Association’s GALLERY 825 in 2023. She was also an Artist In Residence in South LA and taught art at UCLA for 8 years. Buena is a graduate of Pratt Institute of Art in NY.
Buena’s art is deeply influenced by the African American experience and reframing black history through positivity and truth. In prior years her work portrayed a visual history of jazz, blues, and gospel music legends. She also produced an inspired Angel and biblical series influenced by her upbringing as a (PK) Preacher’s Kid. Religious and Christian iconography appears often in Buena’s drawings and paintings. Also, her art echoes visual artists such as Kara Walker and Charles White.
She has received widespread recognition for her realism style of fine art. She primarily uses Pencil to create portraits and highly detailed figurative art, drawn from her own photographed sources and imagination.
Buena has worked as a teaching artist for many Southern California libraries and community centers. She had the privilege of instructing unhoused Veterans through UCLA and the Veteran’s Association. Her artworks were shown at the Brand Library and Art Center, the Los Angeles Art Association, Spectrum-RedDot Miami, ArtShareLA, and a solo exhibition at the Museum of African American Art. Also, Buena’s work has been showcased in the History Collection at the Smithsonian, collected by the Getty Collection, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) LA, and the Laguna Art Museum. Her work has been used by set designers in major studio films and on network television.
Buena’s work exists in the private collections of notables and celebrities such as Arianna Huffington, Halle Berry, Dick Van Dyke, Barbara Sinatra, Oprah Winfrey, Queen Latifah, The Los Angeles Dodgers and United Airlines. She has received many prestigious awards.
BUENA JOHNSON is a Los Angeles-based artist and the majority of her work is deeply influenced by the effects of the African Diaspora and the healing related to the Black American experience.
Her work is often symbolic and crosses boundaries between contemporary and historic subjects. Her aim is to evoke positive change.
The artist has received widespread recognition for her realism style of fine art, in which she primarily uses Pencil to create Portraits and highly detailed and meticulous figurative art. She draws from her own sources and living persons and also uses her artistic imagination.
Buena’s work evokes Beauty, Love, Hope, and Personal Well-Being.
Her work has been showcased in the History Collection at the Smithsonian, collected by the Getty Collection and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) LA. Most recently, Buena’s work became a part of the permanent collection of the Laguna Art Museum.
Buena’s work exists in the private collections of notables and celebrities such as Arianna Huffington, Halle Berry, Dick Van Dyke, Barbara Sinatra, Oprah Winfrey and Queen Latifah. She has also received many prestigious awards.
Hubris
Aedan Hanley is an abstract expressionist painter and retired psychologist based in Phoenix, AZ. Influenced by his late mother, an artist, he believes that painting nurtures creative and critical thinking while cultivating positive influence. His minimalist and expressionist paintings explore the interplay of color theory, shape, texture, and emotion, using acrylic and oil mediums layered with inks, pens, and oil sticks. Notably, he upcycles original canvases, aiming to breathe new life and vibrancy into people’s lives through sustainable art.
Hanley’s artwork submissions are a beautiful blend of classic and contemporary abstract expressionism, showcasing a diverse range of mediums and techniques. Each piece involves intricate layering of textured base coat, opaque and transparent acrylics, and occasionally delicate oil paints. The absence of specific subject matter allows for a purely intuitive approach, resulting in a captivating journey as a unique narrative unfolds from the canvas.
Life’s journey is truly remarkable, leading us through unexpected twists and turns. I embarked on my academic path with three years in graphic design and fine arts before transitioning to Psychology, culminating in a PhD, a shift driven by financial considerations. Yet, my passion for art remained undiminished. Since my retirement in 2023, I have been devoted to crafting influential art pieces that challenge the conventions of color field theory. As an artist with a penchant for abstraction and expressionism, I find inspiration in early and mid-century contemporary fine arts pioneers such as Rothko, Stella, Rauschenberg, Mondrian, Matters, E. de Kooning, and W. de Kooning, Sobel, Frankenthaler, Klee, and Kline. My artwork integrates a variety of each artist’s techniques, employing molding paste and Gesso to produce sculptural reliefs in surprising patterns, utilizing everyday tools and household items to layer rich acrylic and ink hues on canvases once deemed unworthy. The outcome is a collection of paintings that are among the most vivid and captivating you will encounter. Remarkably, I have been creating distinctive paintings and drawings since childhood, garnering numerous fine arts accolades during high school and my undergraduate years. It was only in late 2023, following an epiphany in a thrift store, that I began repurposing old or discarded canvases, infusing them with new life as dynamic abstracts.
“As a retired psychologist, I believe that art offers refuge during stressful times. I often say that ‘art enables us to perceive, not just replicate.’ I embrace the idea that ‘mistakes’ can become deliberate, breathtaking creations in my artistic process. I hope my paintings inspire others to see the world more optimistically and pursue their own creativity.”
Hug
Stefania Andreev creates intimate and contemplative works expressing her personal life and spirit in a range of mediums. At a young age, her parents noticed her interest in art and began taking her to weekend classes at the Rhode Island School of Design. As Stefania matured, so did her passion for art and painting. She continued her education at RISD and is now a senior graduating in June 2025. At RISD, she is exploring and refining her practice under the guidance of experienced professors and talented classmates experimenting with multiple mediums and styles.
Stefania works in oil, acrylic, watercolor, printmaking, charcoal, and more. Using acrylic paint and canvas primed with gesso and sand she creates melancholic and surreal landscapes infused with figures or objects. The textured ground allows her to use acrylic paint like watercolor building up thin watery layers that create depth and meaning. In her most recent work, Stefania has been exploring oil paint and monotype prints. Stefania works quickly and confidently to create works born of pure feeling and expression. Using oil paint on plexiglass she smears, wipes, and brushes paint on freely. Working with her intuition she generates bold images based on memory, emotion, and relationships. Hands and eyes reoccur often in these monotypes as for Stefania touch and sight are the primary senses for understanding the world around her.
Stefania’s creativity has been noted on multiple occasions. At her high school, Rocky Hill Country Day School, in 2018 she won the Alex and Ani charm design competition for her design “Citizen”. In 2019 she was accepted into the Newport Annual Juried Exhibition with her unique and colorful portrait of Paul Macartney. In 2021 Stefania received multiple awards from the Scholastic Art and Writing competition including gold and silver keys for art portfolio, silver medal for art portfolio, Gold medal, and American Visions medal in mixed media.
My current work acts as a visual diary as I explore personal moments, memories, and feelings through the language of painting and printmaking. Themes of love and intimacy also occur in my work. Mindfulness has been an important practice in life that has now influenced my work. Moments in which I am grounded and present inspire my work as I sketch or write about my thoughts in my notebook. I then create paintings and monotypes based on my imagination, sketches, and writing. The motif of eyes comes up often in my work and it is based on a specific kind of feeling I experience. This feeling is when something beautiful catches my attention and makes me pause, then my mind catches up to my eyes and I have a moment of gratefulness and appreciation for life. Thus the eyes become a symbol of recognizing and being grateful for the small, mundane, and beautiful moments in life. In my work, I am trying to capture the spirit and transcendence of a specific feeling, emotion, moment, person, or situation rather than creating a portrait or image. Through trying to capture the spirit of a given moment I hope the viewer can enter into my work and have their own similar experience.
Huntress
Crissia Vaughn is a photo-realist oil painter, born and raised on the island of Oahu, and a rare hunter in a society where the majority of resources needed for survival are mediated through capitalism. While pursuing her BFA at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, she began to develop a series of self-portraits derived from photographs captured on her spearfishing dives. Through her work, she strives to celebrate and share the experience of the sustainable harvest in an effort to reconnect her audience with the source of our local resources.
As a hunter, I am aware that the majority of societal resources needed for survival are mediated through capitalism. While pursuing my BFA at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, I developed a series of self-portraits derived from photographs captured on my spearfishing dives. Driven by the understanding that nature is as brutal as it is beautiful and that hunting is an essential process at every level of the natural food chain, I use large-scale photorealism and vivid colors in an effort to reconnect my audience with the hunt and transfix them within the intricate evolutional details of the animals that we eat. I take inspiration from the awareness that some of the earliest documented forms of painting were Paleolithic cave paintings which revered the hunt and the animals on which the painters depended. My work is thus a contemporary continuation of this prehistoric painting ritual, honoring the intrinsic relationship between human and animal, hunter and prey.