Dusty Just Looked Away…
Michael Angelo was born and raised in NYC. In 1985 Michael Angelo graduated from C. W. Post College of Long Island University with a BFA in painting and sculpture and a MA in Theatrical Design. Although he was heavily influenced by the Neo-Expressionist style, Michael Angelo spent his early career pursuing the creation of art in an impressive range of techniques, styles, and forms. During the same time, Michael Angelo began working as a professional scenic artist and stage craftsperson with off-Broadway productions. In 1989, he moved to Chicago, where he continued working at scenic studios and moved more into stagecraft working as a carpenter, rigger, and later, automation. Michael Angelo started touring the country with Broadway musicals in 1996. Since 2014, Michael Angelo has lived on his tree farm in High Springs, Florida with his wife. Michael Angelo has shown throughout his career in Galleries and Museums in NYC, Brooklyn, Chicago, Tampa, and Miami as well as other cities.
“Art flows like water but burns like fire with passion.”
My artwork tells stories around a character or characters in conflict within an environment rich with symbolic imagery and motifs. For me, the nature of the story determines the medium and technique. I work in both 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional materials, using oil and acrylic paints, and crayons, as well as steel, cement, and stone.
Water and fire, love and hate, pain and joy, life and death, loneliness, and contentment–all these juxtapositions can be found within the characters and environments of my work. The physical nature of my art requires me to use everything I feel: love, hate, anger, pity, and pain. My art becomes real because I fight and dance with it, and it is this dance of creation that brings my characters and stories to
Dynamo
I have been drawing since I could hold a crayon. My work titled “Points Unknown” was awarded the 2021 Mercer County Artist Exhibition Purchase Award by the Mercer County Cultural & Heritage Commission.
My ethereal expressions have been seen in exhibitions throughout New Jersey and parts of Pennsylvania including The Gallery at Mercer County Community College, The New Hope Art Center, Alfa Art Gallery, D&R Greenway Land Trust, Artists of Yardley, The Arts Council of Princeton and a one-man show at Small World Coffee, Princeton, NJ. Coming in September 2023, a group of my works will once again be on display at Alfa Art Gallery, New Brunswick, NJ. I’ve also exhibited on the online portal, exhibizone.com, and currently have a work on view in relation to their current theme of “Time” and a solo exhibit later down the line.
Other venues showing my work include Ceres Gallery in New York City, River Oaks Art Center/Bolton Davis Gallery, Alexandria, LA, bG Gallery, Santa Monica, California • Cape Fear Gallery, Fayetteville, NC, and the Crooked Tree Art Center, MI.
Decades ago, I had a spot illustration in The Village Voice (1993) and various cartoons and comics published in the magazine World War III Illustrated (1992-93). I was a finalist in The Artist’s Magazine All-Media Art Competition in the category of pen and ink in 1994 for my drawing, “The Subway”.
I create imaginary realms in veiled and muted tones. I seek to evoke a sense of vastness and space suggesting other worlds or dimensions with distant formations half seen in the mist–what could they be? I’m inspired by astronomy, sci-fi, ancient monuments, and nature itself. I use pastels to achieve ethereal effects, combined at times with other media, including oil pastel, graphite, china marker, and watercolor… I’m always experimenting. Once upon a time, my sixth-grade teacher assigned me to create an image of our solar system in color chalk across the classroom blackboard, cosmic images in pigmented dust, I continue that way today.
Dystopia
Michelle Nickerson is a multifaceted artist whose life and work reflect a vibrant tapestry of creativity and resilience. Based on Long Island, Michelle’s unique perspective stems from her roots at the Jersey Shore, where the raw beauty of the coastline first ignited her passion for photography. Her work captures the tranquil yet vibrant essence of everyday life and the beauty behind it, which impacts human emotion. Her award-winning works have been showcased in galleries nationwide, and healthcare facilities and featured extensively online.
As a dedicated single mother of two, I have learned to skillfully intertwine my roles as parent and artist, finding inspiration in the everyday moments spent with my children. This blend of personal experience and artistic vision infuses my photography with a unique perspective, capturing the world in a way that is both deeply personal and broadly resonant. Since photography is a profound exploration of emotion through the lens, where every detail can reveal a deeper narrative, as a photographer, I meticulously seek out these subtle elements—the fleeting expressions, the delicate interplay of light and shadow, and the intricate textures that speak to the heart. By focusing on these details, I aim to capture moments that resonate with genuine emotion, transforming ordinary scenes into powerful visual stories that evoke a strong, personal connection.
Eagles Dare
Even at an early age, Marissa has shown an enthusiasm for illustration. She can recall spending hours creating and illustrating stories inspired by the many books her parents shared with her. That inspiration has led her to some of her greatest artistic passions, including children’s book illustration and portraiture.
Marissa earned her BFA in Illustration at the Hartford Art School in Connecticut, where she found new inspiration in her professors. While there, she received many distinctions for her work, including the best portfolio in each of her departmental portfolio reviews. She has also had the honor of having her work featured in numerous exhibitions, including the Society of Illustrators Annual Student Scholarship Competition in New York City.
Since graduating from Hartford Art School, Marissa has continued to follow her passion as a freelance illustrator and portrait artist. After completing her first children’s book illustration project, she went on to be featured in numerous publications and television appearances. Her projects have included collaborations with ESPN, as well as creating illustrations for Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s yearly concert production “Tales of Halloween”.
My artwork is very much inspired by visual storytelling. The thing I love most is capturing my subject’s likeness through vitalizing details – both on the surface of the artwork, as well as the narrative behind it. I often use a mixed media approach, combining acrylic and colored pencil. Working this way combines the freedom of laying bold washes with the tight control of drawing. As the piece is built up in many thin layers, I can carefully explore all the details. Quilting these details together as a visual story is where I find my greatest artistic passion.
Early Morning Light
Heidi Dehncke majored in Illustration and also studied both painting and photography at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.
Eventually, Dehncke transformed her art and worked as a video producer, journalist, photographer, and editor. She worked as a producer for “InSport”, About.com, PLUM TV, and more. She also produced, directed, and was the filmmaker for “Dust to Dust: The Health Effects of 9/11,” which premiered on The Sundance Channel in 2006.
Dehncke describes her photography as energizing and dramatic and focuses on captivating imagery affected by light and shadow. This includes the nature images that she finds particularly inspiring to interpret. It is nature that inspires her most and her nature photography influences her painting. Dehncke has been painting for years and is pursuing the medium as her primary creative endeavor. Dehncke works in Acrylics and Oils and paints in a modern impressionist style.
My paintings usually begin with nature exploration – hikes in nature that inspire and provide a form of therapy, renewal, and connection. After I photograph my inspiration, I devise painting my interpretation. I usually work in acrylic or oils and the size of the canvas depends on how I envision the finished art. The process is also about how I feel when I am painting. One influences the other and it is a symbiotic relationship between myself and the artwork. I paint in a modern impressionist style, and I call this work BIOPHILIA as it examines our human need for nature and our powerful connection to the world around us.
Earth Mother
Julia K Burzon is a self-taught artist whose generally representative artworks favor bright colors and circular forms. Her education as a wildlife biologist (B.S., M.S.) was undertaken with the ulterior motive of ensuring basic realism in her art and includes an undergraduate photography minor. Julia’s earliest professional work in art was in general and scientific illustration and photography in the 1990s, resulting in work included in Iowa State University Cooperative Extension publications as well as scholarly journals, a scientific society conference logo, and a commission by an international nonprofit organization.
After a long hiatus as a wildlife biologist and mother, Julia returned to art as a serious pursuit in 2018. In 2020’s COVID isolation, with the acquisition of an iPad Pro, she decided to learn how to paint digitally and spent a year creating daily apple-themed artworks as a structured way of doing so, which resulted in the creation of her art blog (Https:appleaday4u.blogspot.com).
After that year of focus on the digital, Julia shifted back to working primarily with traditional analog media, especially acrylic painting, doing work both in-studio and en plein air. Julia continues to use art to explore her own psychological and emotional landscape and is keenly interested in both the process and products of that pursuit.
Although my original direction was toward illustrating the natural world, I am finding myself now definitively drawn to the practice of fine art instead. In the past 4 years or so, I have discovered a recurring theme in my work, conveniently, given the subject of this exhibition, to be that of “woman.” It just keeps turning up, undoubtedly sparked by the time I have spent on the subject of apples and their association with the biblical fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and on reimagining tarot card imagery.
I am personally fascinated by the experience of being a woman in contemporary western society and all that entails with regard to appearance and behavior across socioeconomic strata, race, and ethnicity, (including the perceptions and experience of transgender women). I am particularly drawn to imagery of female archetypes and of the Divine Feminine in non-Christian belief systems and am invigorated by the challenge of juxtaposing those against the changing roles and experiences of contemporary women, our experiences as mammalian animals, and our impact on the ecology of the planet. Of equal interest are the ageless commonalities of the human experience (regardless of sex, gender, age, race, ethnicity, or religion) such as feelings of connection, expansiveness, and wonder.
Earth Mother Goddess2
I’ve always had a backward glance, probably as a result of my parent’s violent uprooting from their lives in Poland during World War Two. As a young man, I developed an interest in ancient civilizations, cave art, ancient cairns, and Earth Mother Goddess sites. Which all served to reinforce my yearning for a lost past. This mindset is reflected in my choice of medium – the evocative build-up of patina that develops as a result of the oxidation of iron copper and bronze metal effects paint. For the close observer, somber themes of decay and loss can be found in many of my pieces. I had the good fortune to view the Mark Rothko retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York when I was in my early 20s. While contemplating Rothko’s enormous color field paintings, I was enthralled, lost in spiritual reverie. This experience has had an enduring influence on my art – I seek to capture some of that sense of awe that Rothko’s work evokes.
I work with metal effects paints (iron, copper, bronze) which change color as they oxidize, creating patina in shades of brown, green, and blue. The process yields dramatic yet naturalistic effects which evoke the passage of time and my yearning for a lost past. I often incorporate vintage objects into my work and sometimes painstakingly hand chisel wood planks prior to painting – an ancient technique known as bas relief – which gives the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane and creates a 3D effect. I collect and tumble semi-precious stones which I often use to ornament my paintings and sculptures. The lovely hues of agate, garnet and jasper augment the natural colors of the oxidized metal effects paint and provide even the casual art aficionado a way to approach and appreciate the artwork. For those attuned to the spiritual and metaphysical properties of minerals, the pieces exude positive calming energy.
Easement
I received my BFA and MFA from Rochester Institute of Technology. My thesis was “Kviatkev, the Understanding of Abstraction.” I have been drawing since age 4. My background is a BFA and an MFA in painting with minors in ceramics, design, and printmaking. I began my career from 1976 to 1991 and during the dormant years, from 1991 to 2021 I still painted but did not exhibit. Tumultuous times but healing times. During the isolation of COVID, I began to paint again and found a genuine newness and expression in my work. I follow T. S. Elliot’s Objective Correlative. This is a means of expressing emotion in art by using either a set of objects, a situation, or a chain of events. Through this method, the painting becomes that emotion. My style leans towards abstract painting because it supplies the necessary tools to allow the portrayal of thoughts and emotions in work. In my work, I do not dictate the emotion found in my paintings; but leave it for the viewer’s discovery and interpretation. This work subjective in nature, utilizes color to illustrate feelings, and dreams, and with each piece, there is an underlying core of darkness and a definite area of light. This draws the eye over the piece to the core. The lines keep the eyes moving, while the dots scream, “Look at me”. The work ranges in size from small works on paper to 48×48 inches on canvas. With each piece, there is an underlying core of what could be construed as darkness and a definite area of lightness.” The exchange between colors, lines, and shapes tells my story.
My paintings began to unravel and reveal the silence, the fright, and the tribulations throughout childhood to the end of a destructive marriage. The screams never heard, the tears never seen, the fear not shown, constant fear, the shame of body and mind. My paintings then became the venue for my self-liberation. My art depicts the evolution from childhood terrors to adult recovery and brings light to the darkness. In addition, there is growth in my work, reflecting the joy found in other areas of my life. My art was reclusive and hidden for years. During the isolation of COVID, I began to paint again with zealousness and ease and found a genuine newness and expression to my work that began to sing. I found my voice and soul again in painting. Emergence began and exposure of my art was welcoming.
Echinacea
Belinda Balaski, a native of Southern California, creates colorful watercolor and pastel paintings. She is especially fond of painting horses, and she was influenced by her childhood on the racetrack with her father, the well-known jockey Lester Balaski. Her work focuses on capturing the spirit and unique beauty of living creatures and the natural world. She is motivated by the desire to share a spiritual sense of serenity and peace.
Belinda’s creativity expressed itself at a young age in acting, photography, and art. When not performing in theatre, she was shooting pictures and drawing incessantly. At fourteen, she won a four-year scholarship to the Minnesota Correspondence Art School.
Belinda’s gift for acting took her on a different path. She won many awards and excelled in a 50-year career in Hollywood. These experiences developed her artistic eye for framing, beauty, and editing a myriad of choices. Drawing from a well of diverse talents and life experiences, Belinda uses her gift of capturing a feeling with an instinctual ease of composition.
Belinda lives and works in Southern California but spends several months a year on Kauai, her spiritual home, where many of her inspirational paintings are born.
I am an LA/Kauai-based artist who specializes in watercolor. In this world of turmoil and chaos, I am forever seeking peace and spiritual tranquility to inspire and share in my work.
As a committed watercolorist, I believe in painting every single day. Sometimes I will paint 2-3 paintings at the same time, as they all usually need ‘drying time’. It is ultimately important to keep current and keep my ‘watercolor flow’. I realize if a day goes by without painting, usually a few days will then go by, and soon enough, I begin to doubt my ability to paint. The minute I am flooded with doubt, nothing seems to go right, and starting back up is grueling; as if there is lead in my hands and the flow is gone… Keeping a flow alive is far easier than trying to crank it back up when all feels rusty and unnatural, like trying to run from a complete stop. Best to keep the wheels oiled and turning, while tickling one’s Muse with a constant brush stroke.
There is so much diversity in watercolors that one can only be limited by one’s own imagination. If you are open to listening to the muse, the flow of the water can lead you where your imagination is endlessly open, allowing the kind of awesome creativity that real “Art” is truly made of. The type of Art that takes you out of yourself and frees you of all limitations. This is my goal. To allow your eyes to rest on an image that will open and inspire your imagination beyond your physical world, allowing you to relate, yet freely fly…