2016 Artists Intros: 52 Artists in 52 Weeks

ARTISTS

IN

 

WEEKS

Artists Tell Their Stories is Pleased to Introduce thE 52 Artists for 2016:

January

Ivory Haze

Singer/Songwriter

January 13^th

  

 

                                              

Elizabeth St. Hilaire

Mixed Media

January 20^th

                 

Warren Brown

Cake Artisan

January 27th

February

Deb Lombard

Dancer & Teaching Artist

February 3^rd

                                

Catherine Anderson

Photographer

February 10^th

                              

Dwij-David Gittens

Artist, Designer & Videographer

February 17^th

                            

Maria Saracino

Figurative Sculpture

February 24th

March

Ana Cavalcanti

Potter

March 2^nd

                                

Carol Wiebe

Collage

March 9^th

                             

Susan Scheid

Poet

March 16^th

                                                               

Michael Beard

Painter

March 23^rd

                                   

Michael Manthey

Jewelry

March 30th

April

                 

Blair Anderson

 Jewelry

April 6^th

                                   

Kelly Atkins

Dancer

April 13th

                                

Helen Nock

Stone Sculptor

April 20^th

                                     

Heather Schmaedeke

Photographer

April 27th

May

                                        

Margie Boynton

Painter

May 4^th

                                           

Lori Kiplinger Pandy

Ceramic Sculpture

May 11^th

                                                    

Raven Skye McDonough

Collage

May 18^th

                                                                                   

Stephanie Heidemann

Authentic Voice

May 25^th

June

                                   

Haifa Bint-Kadi

Mosaics

June 1^st

                                    

Nancy Curry

Paper & Mixed Media

June 8th

                                      

Mei Mei Chang

Mixed Media

June 15^th

                                                                 

Shiloh Gastello

Pottery

June 22^nd

                                                               

Donna Wallace

Ceramic Jewelry

June 29^th

July

                                        

Krista Bjorn

Woodburning

July 6th

                                        

Noa Baum

Storyteller

July 13^th

                                     

Nancy Rhodes Harper

Painter

July 20th

                                    

Kristin Reese Williams

Mixed Media

July 27^th

August

                                             

Charles Andrade

Lazure & Murals

August 3^rd

                                   

Susan Carlson

Quilter

August 10^th

                                                                     

Dwayne Scheuneman

Dancer

August 17^th

                                         

Kuniko Yamamato

Theatrical Performance

August 24^th

                                                     

Gina Elliot Proulx

Photographer

August 31^st

September

                                      

Ivy Newport
Mixed Media Artist & Teacher

September 7th

                      

                                        

Eileen P. Goldenberg

Encaustics

September 14^th

                                                                   

Walt Bartman

Painter & Teacher

September 21^st

                                          

Robert Lighthouse

Singer/Songwriter

September 28^th

October

                    

Francie Hester

Painter

October 5^th

                                         

Laura-Leigh Palmer

Graphic Designer/Art Professor

October 12^th

                                                     

Judith Black Horn

Photographer

October 19^th

                                   

Silvia Engel-Suarez

Jewelry

October 26^th

November

Karen Arango

Photographer

November 2^nd

                                                        

Kristen Arant

Drummer & Teacher

November 9^th

                                     

Sharon Leon

Mixed Media

November 16th

                          

                             

Kim Downes

Shaman/Aromatherapist

November 23^rd

                    

Marcie Wolf-Hubbard

Mixed Media

November 30^th

December

                

Priscilla Vail

Singer/Songwriter

December 7^th

                                                     

Tom Sawyer

Graphic Designer

December 14^th

                                

Cedric Hameed

Spoken Word

December 21^st

                                

Isidora Paz Lopez

Mosaics

December 28^th

Tim Jaeger, Painter, Tells His Story

I'd like to thank Brenda for all of her energies in putting together 52 Artists in 52 Weeks. As someone who works with multiple artists on a daily basis, I know first-hand that dealing with artists is a little bit like herding cats. This being said, it is with people like Brenda that all artists benefit from this kind of exposure, which in turn provides artists all over the country and beyond to make their voices and work heard and seen. 

CS no. 20, 36 x 48, acrylic and oil on canvas, 2015

Thus far, 2015 was in my top five most productive and successful years. I didn't look or think so much about reinventing my work or myself -- instead I continued to work and elaborate on the subjects I began painting nearly 10 years ago. I've never felt that I need jump from subject to subject, rather I enjoy exploring the different ways I can elaborate on my process -- evolving a little more each time. 

Tim's Studio

I consider each of my works to provide one-liners, rather than stories -- when put together the one-liners become paragraphs and the paragraphs begin to tell my story. However, my ultimate goal is not to tell my story, part of my goal is for each painting to be able to hang by itself -- to be visually consumed by the enthusiast and to hopefully give the enthusiast an understanding and/or greater appreciation. Unlike many in this current industry, I believe in the equality of fine art and ornamentation. 

Oink III, 36 x 48, acrylic and oil on canvas and fabric, 2015

I began using fabric patterns in my paintings this year, reincorporating some of the notations of Fauvism. For me, this is an ongoing quest for purity and authenticity within my work. Pattern and color combined with shape and form, I believe, informs my work with a sort of honesty while allowing unsensored expression. 

CS 17, 36x48, acrylic and oil on canvas and fabric

Another change I made in 2015 was where I display my work. For many years I was under the belief that the only acceptable venue where my work should be displayed was within a gallery or museum -- the 4 white walls. While I was able to accomplish this, I felt as though I missed some of my audience, and I was right. So, I began to focus more on quality restaurants.

Derek's Restaurant

Restaurants are spaces of consumption, leisure and entertainment charged with pleasure and meaning. These establishments cater to the masses, to all classes and genders while providing an environment to intermingle. For the artist, this has the ability to play a crucial role in the visual consumption and social interaction by the viewer of their creation. Since the beginning of Modern Art, the establishment of the café as a cultural and social institution has served as a replacement for the Academy while providing a resource (and influential factor) for the birth and formation of discussions and movements amongst patrons, artists, and writers. Think about it for a minute and ask yourself, "Where is the first place you go after an exhibition opening"?  Art that absolutely HAS to be in a gallery, isn't art. 

Hereford in Dogwoods, 36 x 48, acrylic and oil on canvas and fabric

So there you have it, a little bit about myself. I could write more, but I'm definitely not a writer. However, If you like what you've read and seen and wish to see more or get in touch with me, you can do so my logging onto my site at www.regeaj.com or finding me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/regeajstudio.

Red Jungle, 84 x 36, acrylic and oil on canvas, 2015

Many Thanks, Tim 

This is Week 52 of 52 Artists in 52 Weeks. Thank you for reading and sharing Tim's story today! 

Happy New Year to all and look for our next group of 52 artists coming on January 6th.

Thanks to Each of the 52 Artists Who Told Their Story - You Inspired Us!

This has been the most incredible year! Such an interesting array of artists sharing their personal stories; telling us who they are, what speaks to them and why they do what they do. 

I am as honored and moved by the stories as I am with the stellar talent that was showcased by this first group of 52 artists. Next week, our final artist for 2015, Tim Jaeger, will tell us his story so watch for it on the 30^th.

On January 6th, I will introduce the next group of 52 artists and invite you to soak up their stories as well as feast your eyes and ears on their artwork. I’m expanding the blog to include video and audio as we have spoken word artists, storytellers, musicians and dancers joining us.

In the meantime, enjoy this holiday season and take a look back at the work that graced this blog in 2015. Thank you for reading and sharing the stories. You have helped us quickly grow in to an international blog and we are all grateful for your support.

Click this link to see a collage of this year’s artists:

https://www.pinterest.com/MyPAdotcom/artists-tell-their-stories/

Happy Holidays!

Brenda Smoak

Artists Tell Their Stories

Jane Alexandra Walsh, Artist & Teacher, Tells Her Story

 

I am delighted to have a chance to share my work and my thoughts as an artist with a complicated life as a teacher/artist. What I have gained from teaching for 23 years with the Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, and especially the 16 years at the MCPS Visual Art Center, is that an artist must challenge him/herself to push forward toward a new destination. Teaching “Advanced Placement” students working on creating an AP Concentration series helped me to understand the value of working with a commitment to a theme and to risking change and failure to learn new skills and to discover new talent or at least a sense of creative accomplishment.

I would like to introduce myself through showing a painterly exploration of imagined or invented landscapes. These paintings and collages reveal my experience with the "ephemeral moment of light" in nature; as they use visual conventions of changing weather, seasons and shifting time.

Over the years I have painted and photographed thousands of scenes from the natural and man-made world. What remains is tangible evidence of my “getting lost in the landscape” only to regain my sanity through the joyous act of painting. Examples of my observed and experienced landscapes can be found  on my website.

While I undertook my MFA Studies at MICA during 2002-06 I began a series of experiments and painterly adventures stepping away from the traditional landscape. Using my skills in oils, watercolors and watercolor inks I pushed in size and scale of work created from postcard size to wall size. Things that did not work well were cut up and reassembled and reimagined. Experiments led to intentional series of works that explored a visual idea or an intellectual concept.

Imagined Landscapes are paintings that describe or suggest the natural world but from memory and imagination and not from direct observation of nature.

 

NGS View

    

Shifting Light

The Rectangle Series was initially inspired by the work of Mark Rothko and his use of the color relationships and the rectangle to contain space and eliminate it. His work sparked my own awareness of the power of the rectangle and the horizon line. The Floating Rectangles borrow from the Surrealists, altering time or season by offering the viewer a chance to shift between realities.

Hurricane Force

     

Hurricane Force 2

The Hurricane Series was inspired by the satellite images of many different hurricanes of recent years since Katrina. After creating a series of 7-8 spontaneous, expressive hurricane swirl paintings, I pushed for more complexity by cutting and splice/collaging two or more different paintings into a shifting sense of layered space.

Flicker

                                       

The Tree Series marks the end of a long investigation into seeking and painting the "ephemeral moment of light" in my own backyard. After years of travelling and painting all over the US and Europe with my eyes on the horizon, I sought inspiration and connection with the trees and forests that surround my apartment building.

Beyond the Curtain

                                                            

Through a Lace Curtain

The painterly explorations in the Drip Series were experimental paintings born of the discovery of watercolor inks and a desire to push my knowledge and skills as a watercolorist. Most of the landscape images portrayed in the Drip Series were a response to the gift to me of a set of glass plate negatives made in 1904-07 by my great-grandfather, Hermann Karr’s photographs of rural New Jersey. In undertaking to paint the scenes I chose to add a final layer of active shower of drips to signal looking back in time.

Overgrown Summer

The Collage Series developed from an impulse to cut up less successful landscape paintings and to reassemble them in a new, more complex way. Each collage shows invention or personal choice to "splice" vertical pieces or "stack" horizontal" pieces of paintings and/or photographs to create a shifting landscape view. These collage works allow the viewer's mind to shift between realities or to glimpse extended worlds.

This is Week 49 of 52 Artists in 52 Weeks. Thank you for reading and sharing Jane’s story today.