Painted Dunes 2
Bryan Bromstrup is a self-taught artist who started oil painting in 2013 after suggestions from family artists going back four generations. He paints what he enjoys in life or whatever excites the artist inside him. Bryan continues to expand his artistic talents in oil painting photography and other digital art concepts. Originally, from Beech Grove, IN he currently resides in Terre Haute IN.
Bryan’s art comes from life experiences. It might be from pop culture or observing exciting things around him, but it definitely comes from music, travel, and his love for the National Parks. “I’ve learned something new from every painting I have ever done. As I get older, I find the artist in me has come to the forefront, expanding the simple things I always did into art pieces. When it comes to being creative, I look beyond the how to do it and enjoy the process of just letting the brush work its magic.” Bryan’s artwork rarely overlaps in representation as all have a distinct style so he likes to call his art style, “Bryanism”. You can find his art regularly on display throughout Indiana and online at galleries across the U.S.
I’ve been told I can bring the color in some of my pieces so Vibrant Visions is my kind of show! This piece represents some of this bright and striking color usage to brighten our turn towards winter. Enjoy!
Paisley
Inspired by her Mexican heritage, Pineda’s pieces incorporate characters that symbolize the way of life of Mexicans throughout the ages. She brings them to life with deep, undulating lines and stylized faces that are extremely expressive.
Everything from the number of lines used to the size of their bodies carries significance in the story each piece tells.
An important feature of Pineda’s pieces is that they are created in the round, with the piece truly operating as a three-dimensional object. These are not straight sculptures, but forms inspired by the traditional use of ceramics: the vessel
Pineda’s shapes come directly from altered forms and manipulation of clay and many of these forms are functioning vessels. This is another example of how the artist brings ancient traditions together.
Pineda was born in Bakersfield, California, and has been extremely active in the California art scene for many years. She has also won several prestigious awards for her work.
My work passionately reflects my Mexican cultural roots. The art forms appear and are created as stories in the round as I transform and mutate a magic fusion of colors, shapes, and a way of life into them. I often use faces joined by zigzag or curved lines. Flower petals characteristically fashion the idea of dealing with one’s aura. Some of the vessel forms I use (the goddess series) are used to symbolically connect the earth to women, a container used for nutrients of survival. My work also speaks of healing. Pieces are created to capture a great depth of emotion, celebration, suffering, and cultural bonding. Slip-cast ceramic forms are often fired to cone 01. Glaze fired to cone 07. Finished with acrylics and oils. Stoneware clay sculptures are typically handbuilt utilizing coil and drape techniques. They are then carved and fired to cone 5. The second firing is at cone 07 using low-fire glazes. The pieces are then finished in acrylics and oils.
Palenqueras
Leonardo Montoya was born in Medellin Colombia in 1972. He entered the Eladio Vélez School of Fine Art in 1985 whit only 12 y/o.
In 1991 he had his first art exhibition in Medellin, Colombia. In 1992 he won his first mural commission at the Cinema Las Américas in Medellin, which is still on exhibit today.
From 1995 to 1996 he taught art at the National Academy of Arts in Medellin and worked as an illustrator of medical books for the University of Antioquia.
He immigrated to the United States in 1998, chasing the American dream.
In 2002, Montoya was awarded the first prize in the Hispanic Heritage poster contest in Tampa, FL, and again in 2007. In 2004 and 2011, he won the second prize in the same competition.
In 2010, he had the opportunity to study classical drawing at the Grand Central Academy in NYC. There he studied with instructors such as Jon de Martin and Scott Waddell.
In 2015 he began a series of exhibitions with his Diva collection, a work that highlights the character of the female figure, full of vibrant colors and three-dimensional effects.
2018 was a great year for his career, he was part of an international exhibition in the UAE at the Ras Al Khaimah fine arts festival where he was awarded the title of Artist of the Year.
In 2020 he won a residency period in RAK, Emirates with the Al Qasimi Foundation, due to the Covid-19 pandemic the residence period took place from Jan- Apr. 2021.
Currently, he’s part of another residence period at Bailey Contemporary Arts in Pompano Beach, FL. He just got awarded a Grant from the Broward County Cultural Division that will help with an upcoming solo art exhibition in 2024.
I believe the universal language of the arts can break through cultural and personal barriers bringing us closer together as human beings.
I was raised by a strong and loving community of women. They have been a big influence throughout my life. Common themes represented in my work are cultural diversity, gender equality, race, and the empowerment of women. I offer my perspective about the characters that I portray that remain close to my heart.
Portraying the uniqueness and strength of the individual allows me to speak to the sameness of our humanity in parallel to the beauty of our cultural differences. I do this with a deep sense of respect and admiration for the characters I choose to portray.
As a Latino living in the US for half of my life, creating my own identity has become one of the many challenges in my artworks. Things like education, family, money, politics, religion, and sex had a big influence on my life and career. All those topics help to define who I am; but, our nature is complex and should not be a label for the social need to look for acceptance. I think we all are multi-dimensional.
I always admired beauty, but not only in the obvious stereotype. I always find beauty in the oddest of subjects. Color, lines, composition, and style are important things to consider when I chose an image or character to portray.
As years passed by, I found my inner voice. I believed that what makes us equal is that we are all different.
Palos Verdes Moonlight Swim
Joanne Chase-Mattillo was born in the beautiful Midwestern University town of Ann Arbor, Michigan. While the natural surroundings of her childhood were inspiring, the beauty of nature surrounding Los Angeles was the impetus for her entrance into the field of photography. Joanne began vigorously studying photography and other art arenas to hone her skills as a visual artist. In 2000, she graduated from California State University, Los Angeles with a Master of Fine Arts (MFA). She is now a full-time artist.
In addition to color and black and white film, Joanne shoots digitally and employs the techniques of infrared imaging and enjoys creating 3D anaglyphs to be viewed with red/blue lenses. As an extension of photography, she has branched out to do videos and has a YouTube Channel, THE VIDEO ART OF JOANNE CHASE-MATTILLO. Along with nature, Joanne frequently photographs female and male subjects at themed studio shoots. She often uses the photograph of models combined with images of her nature photography to create unique photo montages.
Joanne has exhibited throughout California, nationally, in Korea, France, England, Switzerland, Scotland, Greece, Spain, Germany, Japan, Belgium, Holland, Taiwan, Brazil, Dubai, and Italy.
As a photographer, I am constantly in search of iconic imagery. The craftsmanship and perfection of classic Hollywood cinema have always been an inspiration and a goal I seek to achieve in my photography. While enjoying the technology of the present and how it has enhanced photography, I am very drawn to recreate photographs that reference the best of the past. It is my intent that the viewer of the images I create will be taken out of the everyday present to a magical place where, at any time, they would dream of going. Whether photographing people or nature, I strive to honor the best and the beauty of all that I have an opportunity to capture with my camera.
Summer days are the dream moments of the year that are looked forward to in dreary seasons. The beach, pool, lakes, and oceans draw all to embrace the sun and beat the heat. When we think of summer, we embrace all that the warmth of the sun brings.
Pan Seared
Jamie Starnes was born and raised in Long Island, NY, where she attended Hofstra University for two years, majoring in Fine Art Education. She left school, floated through life, worked as a bartender, lived on the beach for a while, and then moved on to NYC for two years. After many adventures, Jamie followed her mother and sister to Texas, just outside Houston. There, she met her husband, Blake; they have three sons, two dogs, and a bearded dragon. While she dabbled in the arts after leaving school, she rediscovered her need for creating in 2020. Forced to slow down, she realized what had been missing – art. Since then, she earned an associate’s degree, is working toward a bachelor’s degree, works as a commission artist, and has learned more about herself than ever before.
I fell in love with oil painting, particularly focusing on portraiture and the human form, as a teenager when I had the opportunity to attend a Parsons School of Design summer intensive course in New York. I love rendering the subtleties of the flesh and highlighting the beauty of imperfections. After several years of primarily focusing on commission work, I enjoy newfound freedom, prioritizing my vision and aesthetic and experimenting with different techniques and upcycled materials. I have fallen in love with creating all over again, remembering why I began painting in the first place – it simply makes me happy.
Pandemic On Broadway
“I’ve been so many places in my life and time…” and have taken many a photograph.
Each is a captured “slice of time”. Through each “capture,” viewers can see what my lens sees, think about how I feel about what my lens sees, and, more importantly, consider how they feel about each moment recorded by my lens.
Some slices record what nature and humans have created. Others record human drama, where humans are randomly caught in the act of being human.
I want my viewers to appreciate and interpret the emotions brought forth by each image and hopefully become immersed in each slice of time I’ve captured.
When I was 12, I was given a brownie camera and darkroom paraphernalia by my mom’s then boyfriend, a portrait painter and professional photographer. A walk-in clothes closet became a temporary dark room as I first learned I liked photography.
Then, life got in the way. Teaching for 38 years, Marriage, Family.
Kodachrome. They give us those nice bright colors. They give us the greens of summers. Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day. Oh yeah…I got a Minolta camera. I love to take photographs. So, missus, don’t take my Kodachrome away.
— apologies to Paul Simon
Finally, I retired, turned digital, and opened my world up to new ways to photograph. I learned how Ansel Adams would use technology to express himself today, and I started viewing the world differently.
Pandemonium
Tammy Stahl is a practicing artist in Providence, Rhode Island, with her own growing business, titled “Terribly Sublime”. While making fine art on the side, she creates stationery, games, and coloring books for her business. All her work is inspired by themes of social justice, free expression, and the desire to protect life on this planet.
The struggle of every artist worth the time you spend standing, looking at the wall:
There is simply too much I want to convey in my work. My desire for a better, more just world. Infinite curiosity. A childlike wonder sheathed in the veneer of an adult’s sophistication and cynicism. Pure awe at the majesty and science of the Earth and the universe. A restless thirst for adventure. The integral connection between humanity and every other lifeform on this planet.
I wish I could boil down that feeling of fear and awe—that feeling of being so incredibly minuscule in the midst of this vast, unknowable universe. The suffocating, terrifying wonder of a body trying to comprehend the incomprehensible.
I wish I could remind my adult viewers of the reckless, fearless curiosity they once had.
Papa And Me
I accidentally became an artist late in life. After my husband of 35 years passed away in 2004, I found myself in deep despair.
A year passed when I gave myself the assignment to find joy. I had no idea HOW I would do that. Since I had done a lot of drawing and some painting when I was young and had a career as a decorator consultant, I realized I was very fulfilled when seeking a creative endeavor. With that thought, in late 2006, I enrolled in oil painting courses. I thought, at best, it would be a distraction, but it became so much more. I discovered she had talent.
After a few years, I started to submit my artwork to juried art exhibits. I have exhibited my oil paintings in many art shows and galleries throughout Southern California and in international online exhibits and have won some awards. One painting even won FIRST PLACE in the 2017 City of Los Angeles Senior Art Exhibit! (And I am happy to report that I did find joy!).
After my husband passed away in 2004, I found myself in deep despair. A year later, I gave myself the assignment to find joy. I had no idea HOW I would do that. Since I had done a lot of drawing & some painting when I was young and had a career as a decorator, I realized I am very fulfilled when doing something creative. With that thought, in late 2006, I enrolled in oil painting courses. I thought, at best, it would be a distraction, but it became so much more. I discovered I had talent. After a few years, I started to submit my artwork to juried art exhibits. I have shown my paintings in many art shows & galleries throughout Southern California & have won some awards. One painting even won FIRST PLACE in the 2017 City of Los Angeles Senior Art Exhibit!
Retired. Introspective. My artwork is a reflection of my life. It makes me feel grounded and fully present. My paintings are inspired by a celebration of the human spirit and an appreciation of whimsy and beauty.
Paper Bag Poppies
Jeanne Chesterton is an award-winning Bucks County artist known for her realistic still-life paintings. The artist’s paintings largely feature common, everyday objects which bear the marks of age and wear. Tarnished metals, mellowed ceramics, glassware, paper, and dried vegetation make frequent appearances in her paintings. She believes that composition is important. The interaction of the elements should suggest a conversation while manifesting visual harmony.
Ms Chesterton draws on the guidance she received under the tutelage of the prominent Bucks County artist James Feehan in addition to the art exposure she experienced as a docent for 17 years at the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, PA. The artist has shown her work in over 250 shows including The Annual Juried Show at Phillips Mill, The Philadelphia Sketch Club, and the Ellarslie Open at the Trenton City Museum. She is a member of Artsbridge in New Hope, PA, and the New Hope Art League. The Artists of Yardley, PA, and the Arts and Cultural Council of Bucks County. Her still-life paintings are sought by collectors for their classical and realistic style.
I am a still-life artist painting in the realist tradition. My choice of subject may range from the formal and delicate to the ordinary and worn, depending upon the voice within. The beauty marks of age and wear as seen in tarnished metal ware and mellowed ceramic ware remain a constant lure.
Composition is important to me, and the choreography may undergo multiple revisions. I strive to create the best visual environment to showcase the starring objects. The interplay of shapes, lines, colors, and patterns should suggest a dialogue among the principals while manifesting visual harmony. As the artist, I am engaging in and directing this exchange. I like to think that the viewer is also a participant in the conversation, thus breathing “life” into the still-life painting.