Alt has the distinction of being the first American artist to be invited to participate in “Le Salon 93" Sociéty des Artistes Francais Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées-Paris, thereby shattering a tradition excluding non-French participation which had held since Louis XIV. Through the years, Alt’s style of painting has gone through a transition – as he explains, his palette has become lighter and he has become interested in the vibrations in the light areas of the painting and the burst of color activity within a dark area.
Sandi Blanda, self-taught folk artist, was inspired in 1983 when she discovered a sailors’ valentine for the first time. These sea shell mosaics in octagonal cherry or mahogany cases were originally intended as souvenirs from whalers during the Victorian Era. Sandi’s intent is to express her romantic compositions in a lacy and sometimes “funky” statement. A love of Americana, nature and especially flowers, coupled with the changing seasons, provide the inspiration continually reflected in her work.
"I am inspired by the formal techniques of the Old Masters, and my work transports the traditional genres of portraiture and the still life into the contemporary realm. My dedication to the understanding of principles of classical painting—composition, simplification of masses, manipulation of value and color—informs my process. Whether working on large-scale portraiture or more intimate still lifes, I strive to create compelling depictions of everyday subjects."
In a fast-paced busy world, Ronalee Crocker’s elegant interpretations of nature convey a sense of serenity, order, and beauty. Her acclaimed still life paintings are inspired by classical Dutch and French painters, though she has reworked this traditional idiom to create a style of her own.
William Davis’ work is firmly rooted in the realist tradition and he credits both the Hudson River School painters (of which he is often considered a descendant) and the Tonalists of the late 19th century as strong influences. “I have a kindred feeling to those painters, the same outlook,” he says. “They wanted to show off the beauty. They would argue whether to put man in or not. I like to put man back in, make the figures really small and insignificant. It makes nature seem huge by showing how small we really are.”
Herb Edwards was born in Brownsville, PA in 1940. He grew up in a home where his father, who had a great appreciation for the arts, encouraged his son’s creativity. He found early inspiration at home, where impressionist reproductions hung on the wall and Stevan Dohanos, a famed Saturday Evening Post illustrator and friend of his parents, was often a guest.
Reading her notes, from an early age Lillia was drawn to art, deciding to be an artist before she even knew such a thing existed. But it was only after an undergraduate minor in art history and a serious study of the Modernist masters - Cezanne, Van Gogh, Matisse and Bonnard - that she fully understood the potential power and freedom that painting, as an art form, might mean to her. Lillia Frantin's paintings are uniquely her own and yet keep within a Modernist tradition that places emotional response at the center of art.
Russell Gordon was born in 1968 in Maryland. He began drawing at an early age. He says “In those days in school you could read or draw as soon as you were finished with an assignment so I learned that the benefit of doing well in class was the privilege of being left alone to draw. I loved drawing and found art to be the best way to record what I saw in nature and to express ideas and emotions.”
Janet Stapinski Greco’s style is impressionistic, creating oil paintings of her passions - flowers, landscapes, seascapes, and most recently, interiors. She began drawing at an early age and has always had a strong desire to create art. Born and raised in Connecticut, she moved to Pennsylvania in her early teens, where she attended the Shadyside Center for the Arts in Pittsburgh.
Curtis Hanson is one of the foremost painters who can truly capture the imagery of New England. His deep love of nature and New England landscapes has led him to create breathtaking artwork. It’s these paintings that are highly sought after by art collectors from around the world.
Kelly was born in 1946 in New Orleans and began his art studies at the University of Nebraska, where in 1973 he obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Drawing, and then a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts and Printmaking from the University of Guanajuato, Mexico in 1975. Soon after, he attended the Arts Students League in New York City and finally traveled to Europe for museums studies at the Louvre and Tate Gallery.
E. J. Paprocki was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1971. He picked up his first paintbrush when he was seven years old. Practice and encouragement filled his childhood, and he drew inspiration from the frequent trips his dad took him on to New York City.
When you examine John Powell's work closely, you discover a unique, self-taught approach which is unlike any other artist. Watching John at his easel, one can see that it is the minutia of detail that is a hallmark of his paintings. His brushstroke catches the light on a bird’s feather, a petal - every leaf is important to the balance and harmony of his composition. Layers of depth give intensity - a losing and finding of edges, a drama unfolds. With John’s ever-increasing popularity, there are many who attempt to imitate his work; however, they are unable to duplicate the energy of the mind that creates these sparkling, decorative conceptions.
Although he lived in Israel for the rest of his life, in his imagination, he returned to the carefree stylish Parisian world that had first inspired him. His works have a relaxed, raffish charm that is indicative of Toulouse-Lautrec.
Mark grew up on the Connecticut coast and studied at the Rhode Island School of Design. In 1983 Shasha was a frequent illustrator for the Boston Phoenix, The Globe and other publications. His first children’s book, Night of the Moonjellies (Simon & Schuster, 1992) won a Marion Vannett Ridgway Honor Award and was welcomed by Smithsonian Magazine as a classic. It continues to appear on bestseller lists.
Timothy Jon Struna is an established painter and printmaker with a professional career approaching five decades. Working with the mediums of watercolor, oil, acrylic and copper plate engraving, Struna has developed his own characteristic style - incorporating subtle abstract qualities into traditional realism. He has a sharp eye for detail and a solid command of draftsmanship. Everything around him influences his palette and brushwork. He is a keen observer of nature and his surroundings. His painterly yet precise style may be accurately divided into three areas: architecture, nature and the still life.
John was born in 1961 and spent his early years growing up in Chester and Mendham, New Jersey. His classical training began at the Delbarton School in Morristown, New Jersey, and afterward he continued his art education at Paier College of Art in New Haven, Connecticut. As a merit scholar, John studied figure painting with Frank Mason at the Art Students League of New York. He concentrated on his understanding of form while studying drawing with Carroll Jones in Stowe, Vermont and then ventured to Florence for a year where he studied sculpture with Brother Jerome Cox.
Attending parochial school in Providence, Rhode Island, did not provide Christie Cardillo Velesig with an opportunity to study art; neither did business courses at the University of Louisville. But she would drive up College Hill to the Rhode Island School of Design to look at the sculpture and would go alone to the museums in Louisville. Later, in her first art class at Cape Cod Community College, it all came together for her. “I sat down and I started to draw. I thought, ‘My God, why didn’t I do this before?’ It came easy.”
Think of a clear day and the colors of Lynn F. Walker’s paintings will vividly come to mind. With bravura brush strokes and the colors of sea and sky, Lynn is able to capture a fleeting moment in one’s life on canvas. Whether it is young children playing, an interior scene, or a luscious bowl of fruit, Lynn gives the viewer a glimpse of a private scene.
Contemporary artist Lori Zummo paints in a style evocative of the American Barbizon School. After receiving the first place award in oil painting from the New York chapter of the National Society of Arts and Letters in 1986, Ms. Zummo was granted a full scholarship to the New York Academy of Art’s Master Class program. The NYAA’s extensive study program, based on the Italian Renaissance and the French Academic training tradition further enhanced her style and technique.
