Candy
Sarah Cazz is a self-taught artist based in the Texas Hill Country, raised between Oklahoma and Texas. She began painting during the quiet isolation of 2020, where the act of making became a way to explore observation, restraint, and emotional depth. Since then, her work has evolved into a focused practice centered on symbolism, atmosphere, and the subtle tension between visibility and concealment.
My work explores moments of stillness charged with meaning. Through symbolic imagery, layered texture, punchy color, and controlled use of light and shadow, I hope to create works that invite prolonged observation and deep contemplation. Animals and natural forms often serve as metaphors for inner states, such as vigilance, wisdom, and restraint – reflecting the tension between what is seen and what is withheld. Rather than overt narrative, I prefer suggestion, allowing space for personal interpretation. Rooted in observation and emotional resonance, I hope my work balances strength and quietude, occasionally tempered by moments of levity, offering contemplative images that feel grounded, intentional, and enduring.
Candy Kid
Everest Adlerman is an emerging New York-based artist whose work is a playground for exploring identity, culture, and mental illness. They recently curated and showed in a group show in Metuchen, NJ, and participated in a Pride-themed show in the Lower East Side. When they aren’t painting, Everest often works with children to teach visual storytelling skills.
I try to treat my work as a playground for exploring identity, capitalism, and mental illness. These are complex topics which I believe can be made accessible – without diminishing them – using humor and joy. In this way I explore questions everyone growing up on social media needs to wrangle with: how do you express yourself genuinely without sacrificing your appeal? How do we divorce ourselves, our problems, and our art from the need to have value? How do you play in the dark?
Canna Lilies
Julie England is a Dallas-based oil painter whose work is inspired by the natural world. Born in Wisconsin and also raised in Florida and Texas, she brings a distinctive perspective to contemporary painting—one informed by both analytical questioning and creative exploration.
She is currently represented by Jack Meier Gallery in Houston, TX. Her work has been recognized in notable juried exhibitions, including New Texas Talent XXVII (2020) and the Texas National Art Competition & Exhibition (2018). In 2018, she was awarded the Mary Vernon Painting Prize by the faculty of Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts. England held a recent solo exhibition at Strata Gallery in Santa Fe, NM, in 2022 and completed a residency at the Vermont Studio Center in 2023.
England holds a BFA from Southern Methodist University (2018), an AA from Brookhaven College (2015), and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Texas Tech University. Before dedicating herself full-time to painting, she built a successful career in the semiconductor industry, where she held senior leadership positions. This unique trajectory informs both the discipline and conceptual depth of her art practice.
Julie maintains a daily studio practice in the Dallas Design District, where she focuses primarily on oil painting. Her work often engages themes of transformation, memory, and systems—concepts shaped by observing Nature, her engineering background, and her experience as a woman in leadership. These images reflect a respect and fascination for the Earth’s environment.
My oil paintings explore the intersection of memory, flora, and landscape, where painterly realism merges with abstraction. Drawing from the Earth’s varied environments, I create complex spatial compositions that evoke the energy, mood, and light of specific ecological settings. Each work is an invitation to connect with place—through color, atmosphere, and organic form.
Having grown up in the rural landscapes of Wisconsin, Florida, and Texas, I developed an early sensitivity to regional differences in light, flora, and terrain. This formative exposure to nature’s diversity continues to inform my practice. Whether depicting a vivid floral focal point or an atmospheric field of color, my paintings reflect both the physical environment and a deeper meditative awareness of our shared ecological system.
My background in chemical engineering shapes my approach to process. I employ layered transparencies and a dynamic range of textures—from fluid to structured, from translucent to opaque—to build visual density and rhythm. Sweeping initial marks create energetic undercurrents that harmonize with more detailed botanical forms, echoing the tension between chaos and order in nature.
Color functions as a conduit for vitality, emotion, and connection. My palette and compositional strategies are influenced by artists such as Henri Matisse, Paul Cézanne, Pierre Bonnard, and Robert Kushner—whose work bridges observation and abstraction, structure and spontaneity.
I aim to express reverence for the Earth’s complexity and beauty. These paintings are not only visual studies of the natural world but also reflections on our place within it—as observers, participants, and stewards.
Canoeing On A Harvest Moon
My first introduction to art was when I was 12 years old. My professor stepfather (Oregon State U.) had been invited into a UNESCO education position in Athens, Greece, and in the late summer of 1960, the family flew to NYC. While my dad was at the United Nations building getting indoctrinated, we would go to the museums as a pastime. After that, we flew to Paris for another week of indoctrination and more museums. Finally, landing in Athens, I began a 5-year immersion in the ancient world of Greece. At 16, I bought a motorbike and used it, mostly to be cool, but also to make trips all over the mainland visiting the ancient ruins. At this age, I had no idea or interest in doing or being an artist; I was just curious and in saturation mode.
Formal training in fine art began in 1978 at the Cornish Institute, Seattle (BFA), where I worked for the Foster/White Gallery. While there, I was given the opportunity to spend the summer of 1980 living in London, England, trading work for room and board with the family that owned the “Arcade Gallery” as a gallery assistant. Before showing up at the gallery for the 12 o’clock opening, my routine was to go to the Tate and study their collections, as well as visit the Victoria and Albert and the National Gallery. I was also granted access to the Royal Academy’s exhibit floor to create a conceptual work for an exhibit where the viewer would be standing on the floor that I had made a print of using the Japanese wood block printing technique, and realize that what he/she was looking at was what he/she was standing on. I continued with an MFA at City College, NYC, in 1984. While living in my 4th and Bowery studio, I was able to get into the East Village gallery scene, get a critical review, and have two one-man exhibits in the 112 Green Street Gallery, curated by Ms. Mary Lu Knode, a contemporary historian. Additionally, I was given a one-person exhibit in a nonprofit gallery in Chicago, as well as invited to exhibit a work in Montreal, Canada that year. I was also listed in the “New York Art Review” publication. While working for 5 years in NYC, I worked at the Drawing Center, the New Museum, and taught introductory drawing and design at City College’s art department with a teaching fellowship. The “Art Scene” at this time was beginning to emerge from conceptual and minimal ideas, but its influence on intellectual creative thinking was still going on in SOHO bars and hangouts. My approach to the creative process has been greatly influenced by that period. Through those early years, I developed a process that begins with an emphasis on what the intellectual foundation of a series will focus on, and then begins to journal ideas and thoughts around that focus. I have been fortunate to maintain a status as an exhibiting artist starting in NYC, and through the “café art” system, I continue to find opportunities to exhibit visual ideas and keep the creative curiosity moving forward.
The best artistic statements come from experience, which is truthful to both the audience and the artist in equal measure. As a pre-teen, I spent summers herding cattle around the forests of the Cascade mountains in Washington State, living in a tent, storing food in a creek, and making regular visits to the “outhouse”. My living environment was without any of the amenities found in a normal functioning household. What I did experience and developed a deep appreciation for is the complexity of the land, which instilled in me a philosophy that either blended into the rhythms of the land or one manipulated it. This landscape series depicted the land as an organism being stressed by what was being done to it through human manipulation. Thinking about how there is a universal signal humans use to identify extreme stress by raising one’s hands and fingers pointing up into the air, I created landscapes using this signal of stress as a response to what humans were doing to it as an environmental concern. I included small casein paintings on rag of memories from my past, to large-scale canvases.
Cape San Blas Chart 11401
Jane has spent her life on the water, racing, cruising, and as a boat captain. For five decades, she has painted moving water from various perspectives in various media using viscosity and alchemy to elicit the paint to tell her story.
In 2023 Jane participated in Emerge Yourself: Art with Purpose, with Michelle Drummond at the Palm Beach Design Showroom, Lake Worth, FL, the FLAG Annual Symposium exhibit Sensations at the Museum of Arts & Sciences, Daytona Beach, FL, Water at the Cornell Museum in Delray Beach, Florida, and Boundless NAWAFL at the Levis JCC, Judi & Allan Schuman Museum Gallery.
Her film Wisdom of the Waves is currently an award winner in:
8 & Halfilm Awards-Rome: Best Documentary Short
New York Movie Awards- NYC: Gold Award: Short Documentary
Sweet Democracy Film Awards- Cannes: Best Art House Film
Swedish International Film Festival – Arvika: Best Documentary Short
World Film Carnival – Singapore(WFCS): Film on Nature / Environment / Wildlife
In 2022, her Chesapeake Bay edition of Oceana Phenomena – Sea Level Stories was in the Annapolis Maritime Museum. The Florida Oceana Phenomena – Sea Level Stories was in the Sanger and Zabar Project Galleries at The Studios of Key West.
In 2021 the Elliott Museum featured: Portfolios – Jane Lawton Baldridge, A Sea Story Girl, curated by Alicia Weber. Other notable exhibits include shows in the Museum of Arts & Sciences, Daytona (2023), Coos Art Museum(2022), ONE ART SPACE(2021), Times Square(2012), The Musée du Louvre(2015), Lincoln Center (2000&2003), the Museum of Computer Art(2001), the Mint Museum(2004), the Cameron Museum of Art, the Fayetteville Museum of Art and the World Festival of Art on Paper (Slovenia2000). She has been published and her “We the People,” 911 Tribute, is in the print archives of the Library of Congress.
She attended the California Institute of the Arts and the Alfred G. Glassel Museum School.
Most of my memories revolve around the coast or the deep ocean blue. Sailing on it, submerged in its lusty turquoise embrace or at the very least staring at it yearning to feel, smell and taste it. Possibly these feelings consume me because we evolved from creatures that crawled out of the ocean and now, I want to go back. Or maybe, the water is the only place I feel at peace, at home, content.
My paintings are stories about my life on the water. Perfect days spent scudding along on the wavelets that reflect diamonds or bashing headlong into waves trying to survive the storm. I am grateful to have an unusual history of waterborne adventures. I want to share my stories and experiences with the audience in hopes of heightening their awareness of its importance, beauty, and fragility.
Inspired by watching my childhood sandcastles fall to the impertinent waves, my Sea Level Chronicles are 3-D “people and animals” meant to bring awareness to the increased flooding of coastal areas as well as the threats of permanent inundation.
First moved by the beautiful images by Jacques Cousteau in contrast to the hideous poisoned waters of Clear Lake and Galveston Bay, I have wanted to clean up the water. Now just staving off the assault is daunting. My video Wisdom of the Waves is meant to push people to do something, even if it is just one thing.
Join me on my journey, reflect in my recap; most importantly learn to breathe deep the salt air.
Car Wash Series 3
Karen Safer, a native Angelino, is an internationally exhibited, award-winning photographic artist and poet with a musical bent. Her passion for art began when given a camera and crayons at age three and immersed in California’s visual language. A lifelong traveler, she has explored over 230+ countries & territories, embracing both the exotic and the unexpected. Influenced by her father’s black-and-white photography and her mother’s insatiable curiosity for knowledge and travel, her inspirations range from ancient Assyria to the conceptual works of Cindy Sherman. She began as a painter before discovering photography in college, earning a master’s degree in art (UCLA & CSULB) and building a career in design and architecture.
With 14 solo exhibitions and participation in over 590 shows, she has received more than 480 awards, including the Julia Margaret Cameron Award, PISPA, TIFA, reFocus, and Exposure One. Her work has been featured in 130+ publications, such as LENS, Dodho, ArtTalk, ArtTour, One Eyeland, and Spotlight. She has exhibited in major cities worldwide, including London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Venice, Florence, Barcelona, Budapest, Dubai, São Paulo, Seoul, Tokyo, Zurich, New York, and Los Angeles. Her work is held in numerous collections, and she is a member of many organizations, including LAAA (825 Gallery) and LACP, etc. A self-described “romantic old soul” with intellectual cravings, she navigates the digital world while remaining deeply connected to art’s timeless essence. She embraces color but venerates black and white, realistic and abstract.
“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
Caramelitos De Verano
She is the daughter of Madrilenian parents and the third of six siblings. From a very young age, she learned to negotiate and set limits. Skills that have helped him in his professional adult life to make a career in the business world.
After a long career in the communications sector, she decided to return to her creative roots and take up painting as an expressive medium, which later led to the need to write, plots that she developed from a point in southern Spain.
Currently, he is completely dedicated to giving free rein to his imagination through painting. Transmitting his emotions and his state of mind in each painting, trying to give a little color and joy to the world around him.
Through canvases I am able to express my deepest thoughts and emotions, trying to capture everything that would be impossible to say with just a few words. That’s why Cuberism, as I like to call the style of my creations, is a freestyle with a wild and indomitable soul, but at the same time a healer where the greatest reward is being able to reach my audience and convey the cluster of such special sensations that each painting contains.
Carnaval
Mark Pol, International Dutch artist. Mark Pol’s interest in drawing and painting started in primary school. Later on, he went to the Photo Academy followed by the Free Academy of Art led by George Lampe, both in The Hague. The work of Mark Pol is in essence inspired by daily human life, without losing its vulnerability and animal unpredictability. Despite the timeframe the painting or drawing might seem to be in, humanity is key in his work.
In the early stage of a painting, Mark Pol draws his thoughts and dreams with a pencil and then continues his vision with a basis of oil – or acrylic
paint on canvas. The expression of Mark Pol is often too much for the two-dimensional canvas and the result is a three-dimensional world, shown in different materials.
He got some recognition i.e.:
USA Press release Upstream People Gallery
Mark Pol receives International recognition with his artwork “Threaded Desire”
USA Press Release Four Points Contemporary
Award of Excellence Mark Pol
Award of Merit Mark Pol
And many others.
I was born in The Hague. Now I live in Amsterdam. I had no artistic influence. I have just my own fantasy. I am a dreamer who never wants to wake up, but I did when I grew up. I received formal training at the Free Academy of Art in the evening in The Hague. On the Photo academy also during the evening. I always worked alone. I was a loner then and I am still now. I work, just work, and try to make my art as my thoughts are telling me. Thoughts about our human existence and our failures as humans. Maybe it comes from my family who were scattered all over Europe. They were beaten and killed in WW II. They flew, but in vain. They were murdered in camps with unthinkable cruelty. So my past and my roots have forced me, maybe formed me to make this kind of art.
Carnivale
Dan Simoneau has been painting professionally for over 45 years. His work has been exhibited in over 150 regional, national, and international exhibitions and he’s received over 70 awards for his work, including several Best in Show awards. Dan’s work has also been published in 20 national and international publications. He’s a signature member of the Allied Artists of America, the American Watercolor Society, the International Guild of Realism, the International Society of Experimental Artists, the International Society of Acrylic Painters (Master Status), the National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic, and the National Watercolor Society. He is also a Fellow of the American Artists Professional League and recognized as an Art Renewal Center Living Artist. His work is in many private, corporate, and museum collections. He’s also juried several local, regional, and national exhibitions. His primary media are acrylic on both paper and canvas as well as watercolor. Dan is considered a contemporary realist.
In my exploration of male figurative art, I immerse myself in the interplay of light and shadow to capture the essence of human connection. Through my work, I aim to evoke a visceral response that transcends the physical form and delves into the emotional and psychological depths of the subjects.
Light and shadow serve as my primary tools of expression, casting nuanced layers of meaning upon the male form. The interplay between illumination and obscurity not only highlights the physicality of the models but also invites contemplation on the complexities of masculinity and vulnerability. Each stroke of light reveals contours and textures, while shadows hint at hidden depths and uncertainties, creating a visual dialogue that speaks to the intricacies of the male experience.
Central to my artistic process is the relationship with my models. Beyond mere subjects, they become collaborators in the creation of narratives that explore themes of intimacy, identity, and human connection. Through trust and mutual understanding, we embark on a journey of exploration, where the vulnerability of the model meets the sensitivity of the artist, resulting in compositions that resonate with authenticity and empathy.
In capturing the male form, I seek to challenge conventional notions of masculinity and beauty, offering a space for introspection and dialogue. By embracing vulnerability and celebrating the human experience in all its facets, my art becomes a testament to the power of connection and the universal quest for meaning and understanding. Through light, shadow, and the shared humanity of the models, I invite viewers to engage in a profound exploration of self and others, transcending boundaries and fostering empathy in a world that often feels divided.