Man Meets Nature

Growing up in Honolulu, Hawaii, and now living in Los Angeles, Brandon Shim leveraged his love of working with people in his portrait photography.  He is most fascinated by the unlimited aesthetic options in crafting an ideal portrait, and then in selecting the best.  A University of Southern California (BA & MBA) graduate, Brandon has studied and utilized the USC campus in both architectural and portrait photography.

Brandon’s creative photography journey started when he borrowed a family member’s camera, and then he learned from different mentors, including his two nephews:  James and John.  He sharpened his skills by going on organized photo shoots.   In his endeavors, Brandon inspired his portrait photography subjects to increase their confidence and develop their own personal artistic style.

In addition to still photography, Brandon has produced or co-produced several short films including Different Quake, Quad, and God’s Voice.  These films have been screened in Los Angeles, Palm Springs, and London.

As both a photographer and video producer, I enjoy collaborating with highly talented individuals to create innovative art.  To achieve this goal, I take the following three steps.

First, I inspire my portrait subjects to unlock their own personal beauty and unique style.  Second, I experiment and encourage my photo subjects to experiment with different wardrobes, lighting, emotions, postures, and scenic backgrounds.  Finally, as a creative team, both my photo subjects and I endeavor to captivate our audience into entering our magical world.  In short, we create photography to engage people in our distinctive narrative.

Man On Fire

Faith is from Brooklyn, New York, and has been involved in many different types of art her whole life. She’s taught modern dance, worked with ceramics, and produced poetry which has been published in both the US and Canada. She also spent a number of years living outside of the United States where she worked in a mosaic factory, making mosaic dining room walls and plaques for the tourists. When she returned to the US, Faith went back to school and received her Bachelor’s Degree in creative writing. Upon returning to New York a number of years later, she began working for a New York City governmental agency as a writer and editor.

At work and at home she then experimented with Photoshop as well as with painting, namely with acrylics and magic markers which has opened up a new world to her. Faith began answering submission calls and joined the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists’ Coalition as a member and later as a Board member of BWAC. Since then, Faith’s work has been in many solo, juried, and group in-person and digital art shows and fairs all over the world, as well as in a few films and a number of publications. She’s received a number of awards and honorable mentions for her work and has sold a number of pieces over the years.

I have always been involved in the arts. I am a published poet, made mosaic dining room walls, and taught modern dance. Some 20 years ago I taught myself Photoshop and began designing at work. I then decided to try painting. After producing a number of acrylic works, I joined the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC) and have had much of my work exhibited there as well as at other venues.

I have found that especially during these trying times, art keeps me whole; moving forward but If I am too comfortable with that art I find I need to move on. I need to keep pushing my limits, and changing my art so I can grow as a person and as an artist. Without any art I would have no life; the only question for me today is what type of art am I producing.

Mandarin Glide

John was born in Columbus Ohio, graduated from Ohio State, and lived in Southern California for 30 years. Although John learned to draw and paint as a young boy, his degrees are in the computer science field. It wasn’t until 2010 when his wife bought him a large easel and encouraged him to start painting again, that he began to take his art career seriously. Since then John has been selected in over 200 gallery shows and juried contests, including the National Oil & Acrylic Painter’s Society 2014 Best in America show. John’s Carousel Horse #1 was featured in the June 2014 issue of the Artist’s Magazine Competition Spotlight, and he was featured in the ‘Artists to Watch’ section of the Southwest Art March 2016 edition. John’s acrylic paintings have been included in AcrylicWorks Best of Acrylic Painting volumes 1 thru 10 and his paintings have been voted FAV15% in Bold Brush on a number of occasions.

I create realistic impressions of what Nature has already perfected. Using heavy body acrylics with lots of detail and bold colors, I interpret a thing – a car, a forest, a face, a farmhouse – using my own voice with only one rule: don’t lose the magic. I approach each new work with a concept, a learning goal, various reference images, and a color palette. My sketches are brief because I know the painting will change many times before completed. I usually paint from the inside out, starting with the main focal point. For instance, the eyes are the first thing I paint in my portraits. If I get them right the rest will follow.

Mandevilla

My name is Larr Kelly. I live in Leesburg, VA. I have been shooting photographs and displaying them for nearly 30 years. Flowers (as well as abstracts) have been a constant source of inspiration for me and I have published two books, “Flowers In Wonderland” (2019) and “Flowerworks” (2022), devoted to flowers. My work has been accepted into many local, regional, and national shows, and I have had many one-man shows locally here in Leesburg, as well as in Santa Barbara, CA, and the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond.

I love flowers. I grow them, cut them, and arrange them. They bring a vibration into my space that is hard to describe, but it’s one that will elicit a smile as I walk by. During the pandemic years, flowers provided a particularly happy subject. The isolation also allowed me time to explore the power of Photoshop. As it so happens, the style I developed using Photoshop lends itself beautifully to flower images. I hope you enjoy

Manhattan Beach Sunset

Karen Safer is an international, award-winning California photographic artist, writer, and poet. As a native Angelino, she was given a camera and crayons at 3 and exposed to dominant California motifs: light, palm trees, the ocean, music, and vernacular architecture that helped define and influence her left-handed aesthetic. Fortunate to begin a life of travel as a pre-teen, it shaped her love of the exotic, accidental, and unusual that jiggled the lens/frame of her eye; subsequently, she has traveled and photographed in over 230 countries and territories. She was influenced by her dad who developed black & white photos in their back washroom/turned darkroom and by her mother’s thirst for knowledge and travel. She has a master’s degree in art cum laude, a career in design and architecture, and is principal of ArtFocus International. She’s been in 14 solo shows, exhibited in over 500+ international/national venues, received over 430+ awards, is in private collections, featured in over 100 publications including Who’s Who In Professional Women, and is a self-described “romantic soul” with intellectual cravings living in a digital world.

Influenced by everything, she has been honored with TIFA, Tokyo International Foto Awards 2025PISPA (Paris International Street Photography Awards) 2024, ReFocus and Exposure One B&W Awards, National Photographic Society Awards, Julia Margaret Cameron FotoNostrum Awards, B&W Spider Awards, Botticelli International Prize (Florence), International COLOR awards; featured in Dodho, Docu, LENS, Women United, Spotlight, ArtTour and Artist Talk Magazine, The Holy Art, etc.; and continues exhibiting in Amsterdam, Athens, Budapest, Barcelona, Paris, London, Glasgow, Rome, Berlin, Basel, Dubai, Venice, Sao Paulo, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, etc. from California to New York, member of IAA-USA, LA Art Association, LA Center for Photography, etc.

I’ve always been an artist. 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. 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

Motos: “A photographer has the whole world big or small to capture.” kj safer

And wherever I am in the world, is my favorite place!! kj safer

Manic Marbles

As an Air Force veteran, wife, mother, and grandmother, Dawn brings a rich tapestry of experiences to her artistic journey. She originally hails from South GA but now calls Lansing, NC home. You can often find her cheering on the Carolina Hurricanes at a hockey game.

Dawn’s artistic focus revolves around hand-building sculptural pieces, serving as an exploration of the emotions associated with bipolar disorder. She firmly believes in the expressive power of art to convey feelings and perspectives that words alone cannot capture. Through her creations, which delve into the emotional landscape of living with bipolar disorder, Dawn aims to raise awareness, foster understanding, and forge emotional connections. Moreover, she seeks to challenge the stigma surrounding mental health conditions by humanizing the experiences of individuals navigating them.

I am a functional and sculptural potter, originally from South Georgia, I now reside in Lansing, North Carolina. I have a passion for sculptural work that has become the focal point of my artistic journey. While my roots are in creating functional tableware inspired by the simplicity and elegance of traditional ceramics, my recent transition marks a transformative journey. Moving from a functional potter to incorporating sculptural elements into my practice has enriched my creative expression and strengthened my bond with clay as a medium. This evolution stems from a desire to infuse my work with stories that transcend practicality, opening up new realms of form, texture, and narrative. This shift invites viewers to engage with my art in ways that go beyond the utilitarian, creating a captivating experience that resonates beyond the dining table.

My creative process is a dialogue with the clay itself as the form emerges. The malleability of clay offers me a unique avenue for self-expression, enabling me to craft forms that are both expressive and evocative. My hands become a conduit for my emotions, translating those ineffable emotions into tangible shapes. Just as we bear the marks of our experiences, so do my sculptures.

My figurative sculpture work is an exploration of the feelings associated with bipolar disorder. I believe in the power of art to convey emotions and perspectives that words alone cannot capture. By creating art that reflects the emotional journey of living with bipolar disorder, I hope to not only raise awareness and promote understanding of this mental health condition, but also to connect with others on an emotional level, and challenge the stigma associated with mental health conditions by humanizing the experiences of those living with them.

Manifest

Magnolia Altamirano is a California-born artist, who spent her childhood in Mexico/Utah and uprooted her life to Alaska in 2020 on military orders. Where she enrolled in the Arts program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and is now pursuing her Bachelor in Art, with an emphasis in painting. Altamirano spent more than a decade in the medical field and after that time she felt burned out and returned to art.

Altamirano uses painting as a therapeutic channel to express her internal turmoils. Bringing awareness to the heavy emotions that are often unspoken; such as depression, and anxiety, but also love, and strength among other strong emotions. Magnolia portrays her subjects in an unconventional manner through the use of mythological stories and pushes her interpretations into an unexpected perspective.

As an artist, I strive to tell a story within my painting. My current artwork features women showcasing heavy emotions within a fantasy scene. I aim to tell stories of positive and negative unspoken truths such as depression, anxiety, betrayal, love, reunion, and peace. Within my pieces, you will find representations of Mythological stories told from my perspective. I like to push myself and think outside the box. I create work that tells the stories we are too afraid to voice out loud and bring them to life.

Many Rivers To Cross But I Cant Seem To Find My Way Over Jimmy Cliff

I am a visual artist, sculptor, author, illustrator and publisher. I was born and raised in Washington, DC, and I currently reside in Hillsborough, NC. I received my BFA in painting from Boston University and my MFA in Painting from the University of Arizona.

My artwork flows from what moves me and from where I find beauty: women, animals, the earth, color, pattern, and light. My art represents the deep connection I feel with these elements. This body of work is cold wax and oil on wood panels. The properties of cold wax fascinate me and keep me curious; how the underlying layers inform and alter the layers applied over them, how incising and scraping and glazing make more changes. I know I am wielding the palette knife and mixing the colors, but what happens on the panel is beyond my control. I’m learning how to be fine with the state of ‘not knowing’.

Maple Leaf

Gabriel holds an MFA from UMass, where she was a University Fellow. She has been featured in ART MARKET MAGAZINE #46, 4/20, and at the Florence Biennale Xll. She has exhibited at the Schneider Museum, Ashland, OR; De Cordova Museum, MA; Oakland Museum, CA; and at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum at Cornell University, NY. A retrospective of her work has been held at the Rogue Gallery in Medford, OR. Gabriel has received numerous awards, including First Award “All California Art Exhibition”; Finalist in Artist’s Magazine; and Juror’s Choice award, at the “Human Form” exhibit, at Newport Visual Art Center, OR. She was awarded a Southern Oregon Haines Foundation Grant. She is a GOLD LIST AWARD artist for Art Market International Magazine. Gabriel is intrigued by experimental portraiture, which explores a unique psychological perspective.

I am a contemporary realist painter. My paintings are infused with my unique sensibility and expressive style. “Maple Leaf” is rendered from a pressed leaf that I had picked up from the sidewalk in the peak of autumn. I was struck by its transitional beauty and bleeding color. The leaf was simultaneously pulsing with the richness of its life and yet lay there, fallen to the ground. Later, when I opened the book, in which I had pressed it, the flattened leaf was the perfect painting waiting to be born..