Since forever women have been the subject of great art, but rarely were we allowed to create great art. As a female artist living in the 21st Century, I find great inspiration in the female icons of the past. Famous women from Marie Antoinette to Miley Cyrus, have served as profound sources of inspiration for me, due to their distinctive styles and unique spirits. In my art practice, I explore the contrast between the public portrayal of the women I admire and their true selves. My aim is to discover how the images of these influential women, given by pop culture, impact and shape my own artistic impressions of them. Just like the women I paint, I am an unconventional woman in the eyes of my society and with my art practice I want to invite viewers to look past the glittering images and see the depth and complexity of the women I paint, myself included.

Ultimately, my work serves as a reflection and exploration of this complex dynamic. While my intention is to showcase the vibrant and visually captivating image that pop culture has crafted around the women I idolize, I also remain very conscious of the underlying darkness that hides beneath the surface of their seemingly lighthearted images.

As a Finn, I grew up on satire, dark humor, and happy endings and that is well reflected in my work. At first glance, my cartoonish mixed media paintings may depict my subject’s pop culture image perfectly, which is usually colorful, ditzy, and lacking in substance, but I am actually satirizing our perceptions of my female heroines. We are all guilty of prioritizing a person’s image over the narrative. But whether the viewer understands this duality or not, I still want them to have a good time when viewing my artwork.

I choose to work with acrylics, rhinestones, and glitters because their vibrant hues and plastic textures are well suited for creating eye-catching artworks that are unique to me, and perfect for the subject matter.

Photography is painting with light. The foremost ingredients are passion, inspiration, and emotions. To end up with a great image that tells a story, the eye, the heart, and the soul have to be at one, aligned.

My state of mind is quite different depending on what I shoot. For landscape photography I am usually calm, almost in a meditative state, at one with the environment. I call it being in the zone.
When I am shooting in the streets, I am excited, alert, and aware of every movement around me. Aware of the bustling city, the energetic flow, the life of people. I feel the street, it’s vibes. Often, I take a picture before I know it. Thus, my street photographs are almost always candid.

The abstract photographs give me a playground with what I see. I feel like playing with what is around me. Editing and printing are the next steps, and then the aim is to showcase my work to share my vision and my story with the viewer. This is sharing, connecting with others.

Statement for the submitted work
Title: Lovers
I went down to the beach and decided to shoot BnW to give my image a timeless feel and to enhance the contrast. I saw this young couple having the courage to go for a swim in the cold waters. They splashed each other, hugged, and kissed. Then, I stood still, watching the crashing waves and the tide come in. Two beautiful silhouettes.

From my earliest childhood, I knew that I wanted to be an artist.

Painting for me is my life, seeking the truth, as a constant challenge of finding and protecting my truth, the balance in nature.

My first block of paper and colored pencils were given to me by my grandfather to encourage me to start painting. Until today, I have the first painting I did almost seventy years ago. Framed by my grandfather, it hung in their home for decades. Today, it hangs in my studio where it reminds me of the love and encouragement of my grandparents. I was taught by both Israeli and American artists, each of whom inspired me and contributed to my artistic development, all of whom urged me to always seek and build my own language, my unique artistic signature. Be determined, they all said: ‘seek your own path and a direction that fits your artistic needs; develop each concept in all directions; constantly strive to get better and be more daring because this is the only way you will find your individuality as an artist’. They were right. My artwork begins with a photo I have taken, which becomes the central motif, but which ultimately is integrated into the overall painting. As the composition develops, I look at it from every angle, seeking a sense of balance till I achieve the “golden cut,” that moment when I know the painting is complete and I can hear its music play. My goal is to create mixed media artwork that is balanced, that tells stories in color, line, and shape, and that will inspire its viewers.

Jime Wimmer brings stories of kindness to life through illustration, writing, and design. A storyteller at heart, she creates nostalgic art and children’s books that inspire heartfelt moments between generations, sparking connection, wonder, and a sense of adventure through the magic of storytelling. Her emotive, hand-drawn illustrations are rich with warmth and intention, inviting readers into worlds filled with love, imagination, and discovery.

“I’ve always been captivated by the fluid, organic movement of lines across paper,” Jime says. “As a daydreamer and doodler, I find inspiration in their expressive nature—whether curious, scratchy, implied, delicate, or simply beautiful. I am also heavily inspired by nature. Growing up in rural Northeast Pennsylvania, I often found adventures outdoors in the fresh air. My goal is to create imaginary worlds that invite creative souls to wander and explore.”

Jime earned her MFA in Illustration from the University of Hartford and has gone on to write, illustrate, and art direct multiple children’s books. Her work is newly being recognized, receiving the 2025 Tomie dePaola Mentorship Portfolio Award from SCBWI, multiple gold medals from the Society of Illustrators Los Angeles, along with the American Illustration 43 Chosen Award, and was named a former finalist for the Martha’s Vineyard Drawing Prize.

She shares a collaborative studio with her husband, artist Mike Wimmer, at https://www.wimmerstudios.com/.

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.

Batchelder’s work deals with the underlying issues with sea life. Her work shows the beauty of the underworld in the ocean yet it deals with the imagery of the loss of our underwater sea life. Batchelder does this by using bright colors and swirls to capture the viewers’ imagination It’s about the beauty of struggle. This native Texas Artist does this with large images that flow off the media. The artwork mediums of prints and ceramic sculptures are of a world not everyone gets to see with their own eyes. This makes her work unique.

I build my paintings the way memory forms, layer by layer, fragment by fragment, never in a straight line. This work emerged through accumulation and disruption, where marks, symbols, and gestures coexist like traces of lived experience. I don’t begin with a fixed image; I begin with movement, with instinct, allowing the surface to guide me as much as I guide it.

In this piece, I explore the idea of internal landscapes, spaces that feel both structured and chaotic. Grids appear and dissolve, writing becomes illegible, forms suggest meaning but resist being defined. I am interested in that threshold, where recognition almost happens but slips away. It reflects how we carry thoughts, memories, and emotions: layered, incomplete, and constantly shifting.
Color plays an essential role in this dialogue. The blues evoke depth and fluidity, while the warmer tones interrupt and ground the composition. There is a push and pull between calm and tension, transparency and opacity. I work to create a rhythm that invites the eye to wander, to pause, and to reassemble its own narrative.

There is also an element of risk embedded in the process. I often obscure what feels resolved, pushing the painting into uncertainty. It is in that act of covering, erasing, and rebuilding that something more truthful can surface. I trust that what remains carries more presence than what was planned.

Ultimately, this painting is not meant to be read, but experienced. It offers fragments rather than answers, inviting viewers to enter, to lose themselves, and perhaps to recognize something of their own inner landscape within its layers.

“I am a ‘romantic old soul’ with intellectual cravings now living in a Digital World.”kjs

I’ve always been an artist. My passion for art and photography began early in my teens. I embrace the natural world and man-made as well. I am influenced by everything from the ancients to Cindy Sherman, and while I embrace color, I revere black and white, realistic and abstract. I am a student of the universe, history, art, architecture, music, literature, and all the arts.

I got a camera and some crayons as a kid,
journeyed along a path in life – far from what I’d expected,
moved from youth to middle age,
did some work, had some fun, got high, got low,
and just continue doing it – never tiring of the next visual surprise.
– Life is still a mystery, after all. – kjs

My Motos: “A photographer has the whole world, big or small, to capture.” kjs
“And, wherever I am in the world, it is my favorite place!!” kjs

As a fledgling illustrator in Brooklyn during the 1980s, I took on any project thrown my way. I refer to that time as my “snack or famine days”. Eventually, I zeroed in on editorial work and soon scored assignments at publications like The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, NY Newsday, and The Village Voice (primarily covers).
Since the early 2000s, I’ve concentrated on gallery work with an editorial, satirical slant….. essentially larger oil paintings with conceptual content reminiscent of my illustration years. Lampooning politicians, pundits, or spiritual leaders who specialize in alternative facts, manufactured outrage, false equivalents, convoluted conspiracy theories, and tunnel-visioned tribalism (whew) is my form of protest and provides a satisfying outlet. Of course, visually addressing the daily insanity of politics, punditry, or social upheaval requires an occasional break, which is when I paint relatively non-confrontational pieces.