Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Caryn Coville has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and she will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Caryn is an award-winning artist based in New York, USA. Caryn was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 19th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified her art to be showcased in this feature.
Caryn’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting her artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Caryn’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Caryn Coville comes from a family of artists: her mother is an oil painter; her brother does woodturning; her uncle was a clothing designer and pastel artist and her grandmothers knitted and did crewel work.
Caryn holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Rochester Institute of Technology. She worked in the corporate world for several years before deciding to stay home to raise her family. She continued to take art classes, experimenting in different mediums.
After moving to London for her husband’s employment, she took various classes and continued working in colored pencils. While there, she had the opportunity to travel. Her passion for travel has influenced her artwork. After moving back to New York, Caryn took classes in colored pencils with Arlene Steinberg, studied botanicals in watercolor with Rose Pelicano and East Asian brush painting with In K Kim, Carolyn Clarke, Sungsook Setton, Sally Feng Fader, Gladys Stewart and Gan Yu.
Her main concentration now is colored pencil and East Asian brush painting. Caryn also enjoys knitting.
Caryn is a five-year 'CPX' Signature Member of the Colored Pencil Society of America and is an Elected Member of the American Artists Professional League and a Juried Member of the National Art League. She is a featured artist in numerous art publications Caryn is a contributing artist in the book Masterful Color: Vibrant Colored Pencil Paintings Layer by Layer by Arlene Steinberg.
Her award-winning work has been shown in solo gallery exhibits and she has participated in numerous national and international juried shows and group exhibitions. Caryn’s work is in corporate and private collections throughout the United States and Canada. Caryn currently resides with her husband on Long Island, NY.
For more information on her publications, exhibitions and collectors, please visit her website, Facebook Page and Instagram.
Artist Statement
Art has always been part of my life. Throughout the years I have studied oils, printmaking, and watercolors but I loved working with colored pencils as soon as I discovered using them as a fine art medium. I work realistically, and I like the smooth texture and fine details that can be achieved with colored pencils. I am particularly attracted to the different effects that can be created and how portable colored pencils are.
My pieces are inspired by my love of nature, travel, and the beauty I find in everyday objects. I work from my own photo references and am always taking pictures as I never know where I’ll find inspiration. I look for subjects with interesting lighting and textures. My paintings start with a line drawing; and using a heated drawing board, I begin the process of applying pigment. Working with a light touch, I slowly build up and blend the color, sometimes adding up to twenty layers. I enjoy the process of watching my painting slowly emerge.
Primarily a colored pencil artist, I have enjoyed extending my artistry into other mediums. For the past several years I have enjoyed East Asian brush painting. I like the contrast between the very slow process of creating a colored pencil painting layer upon layer and the spontaneity of brush painting where I try to convey the essence of a subject by using minimal strokes of ink and watercolor. My latest journey has been into the world of alcohol ink painting.
Caryn’s art can be viewed at www.caryncoville.com.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Livia Doina Stanciu has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and she will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Livia is an award-winning artist based in Bucharest, Romania. She was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 19th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified her art to be showcased in this feature.
Livia’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting her artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Livia’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Romanian-based painter Livia-Doina Stanciu was born and raised in Craiova, Romania, and lives in Bucharest. Livia-Doina has devoted herself to painting since 2013, after a career in education and management. After learning the basics on her own and taking private classes, she studied art at The School of Art in Bucharest (graduated in 2017) and at The National University of Arts in Bucharest (from which she graduated in 2019, majoring in Painting).
For her, painting is primarily a means for exploring and communicating the deeper facets of nature and humanity. Thematically, she has mostly been exploring landscapes, and the natural world. One of her main sources of inspiration are her travels.
Livia-Doina paints in a realistic or quasi-impressionistic style and feels mostly attracted by oil techniques. She had one solo exhibition in Romania (2019, “Roaming the World”, at The National Library of Romania in Bucharest) and took part in few group participations in Romania.
Her artworks can be found in private collections in Romania and abroad (USA, Canada, Italy, and France). She is an awarded and published artist.
Artist Statement
For me, painting is the opportunity to explore the deep self and to communicate. I am fascinated by shapes and colors, the kaleidoscope of the sky and earth, as well as the living world.
One of the main sources of inspiration for me are my travels: places where I've been, thoroughly enjoyed through all my senses, and stored as both memory and emotion. Whenever I think back at these memories, vivid sensations come back, which I then project onto the canvas as a moment in the existence of faraway places and beings. The painting transforms as the memory matures, and ultimately develops a life of its own. The landscapes reveal the inherent beauty of individual places, and they put me into a state of tranquil contemplation and immersion into the natural and the universal.
In this process, medium and technique adapt to sensation and emotion. Whether I use the brush or the painting knife depends on whether the memory is sharp and clear, or hazy and mysterious. While my favorite medium is oil painting, I occasionally revert to watercolor or acrylic, when the subject or viewer perspective demands it.
Nature, and plant life in particular, has always fascinated me: my first works of art - whether my childhood doodles or my first paintings as an art student - were about plants. Flowers, trees, gardens impress me so deeply that I feel compelled to express my emotions on canvas. Beauty, harmony, vitality and tenderness abound. They give that primal sense of joy that fills one's entire being, like a sunset or a child's smile.
I started out by painting close-ups of flowers: a single plant or a small group, which looked so beautiful suspended in time and space that they made the background all but disappear. Afterwards, I became interested in the symbiosis between plant life and the myriad small creatures that dwell within, such as birds and insects. But lately I find myself more drawn to the subtle dynamism of this world: either the pulsating crown of a tree in bloom, or the living energy spreading across a garden or hedge.
As for the future, I can only daydream about what the next step in my journey will be, but I am sure that flowers, trees and nature will always be a big part of my life and my art. That is why I chose flowers and nature to represent me as an artist for this competition.
I would be very happy if my paintings offered the viewers a glimpse of the beauty and emotion that inspired me to make them. In addition, I hope my works of art will fulfill a social responsibility purpose by donating them or the sales proceeds to charitable causes (environment and education).
Livia’s art can be viewed at https://liviastanciu.mystrikingly.com/ and www.instagram.com/livia_doina/.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Julien van Middendorp has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and he will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Julien is an award-winning Dutch artist based in Czechia (Czech Republic). Julien was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 19th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified his art to be showcased in this feature.
Julien’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting his artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Julien’s Artist Biography and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Julien van Middendorp is a Dutch painter, renowned for his large-scale oil paintings, in which the colours combine and mingle to form relationships and to create thoughts, fantasies and messages.
Colours, basically, are only labels for different wavelengths of light. In that sense, colours “only” represent degrees of quantity. However, on Middendorp’s paintings colours became essential qualities. A colour, not a line, is the primary constitutive moment of the (ever-changing) structure of the world.
This is a crucial discovery made by Cézanne, van Gogh, Monet and others in the 19th century, and very thoroughly investigated by artists of the 20th century. And this discovery has kept its relevance until now.
Julien van Middendorp has always been aware of and has reflected this challenging journey of liberating colour from shapes and figures and, in fact, dissociating a painting from representation of things. His works are based on a perfectly constructed composition and the use of primary colours. This leads to the engagement of the viewer’s sight, where colours are processed to form the resulting perceptions, emotions, and, possibly, even some kind of behaviour.
To paraphrase Shakespeare, “the painting created by an artist is in the eye of the beholder.” As far as the topic is concerned, Julien is bountifully inspired by the urban life, its movements, flows and changes. The urban universe provides his paintings strong organic dynamics. What is very positive about Julien’s works is its friendliness to those viewers who have not yet made their essential decision to try to step (or rather jump) across the abyss between the concrete and the abstract.
While Julien’s paintings are basically abstract, a viewer, standing in front of them, can mitigate his or her feeling lost or baffled by anchoring in the safe haven of the concrete: figures, landscapes, harmonies and music. But with the bonus of seeing and appreciating abstraction at the same time.
Julien’s style has been influenced by the world-renown artistic movement “Cobra” (1948–1951), with members such as Karel Appel, Pierre Alechinsky and Asger Jorn. Julien uses primary colours as constitutive elements of his artistic architecture. His paintings refer also to the Dutch artistic movement “De Stijl”, which was founded by such renowned artists as Piet Mondrian, Vilmos Huszár and Theo van Doesburg, in 1917.
Since his childhood, Julien van Middendorp has experimented with large-scale drawings and watercolours. Later, he studied at the Nimeto, school of design in Utrecht, Netherlands. He has been living and working in Prague for a couple of years now, finding fresh inspiration in the local culture. This inspiration has led to a new collection of oil paintings, which are now presented to the public.
Julien’s art can be viewed at his website: https://www.galleryvanmiddendorp.com
The Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is pleased to announce the winning artists of the gallery’s recent 19th Solo Art Series Art Competition.
The Solo Art Series competition closed on September 5, 2021. 12 artists were selected as finalists. From that selection, 4 artists were chosen to have individual month-long solo art exhibitions. The remaining 8 artists were awarded Artist Showcase features.
The Solo Art Series took place within an extremely competitive atmosphere. The task of selecting only four artists from the 79 artists who entered was extremely challenging. The high quality of submissions made creating the final rankings extraordinarily difficult.
The competitive process considered not only the quality and depth of the artist’s work but also the overall entry presentation, including the artist’s biography and artist’s statement. The following are the 4 winning Solo Series Artists and the schedule of their solo art exhibitions.
Solo Art Exhibition Schedule
| Keri Fisher | Sept. 15, 2021 to Oct. 14, 2021 | |
| Linda Lewis | Oct. 15, 2021, to Nov. 14, 2021 | |
| Jyl Blackwell | Nov. 15, 2021, to Dec. 14, 2021 | |
| Maureen Ravnik | Dec. 15, 2021, to Jan. 14, 2022 |
As part of the selection process, the other 8 artists who were in the top 12 have been awarded an Artist Showcase feature. The artists who were selected for the Artist Showcase features (with one Artist Showcase being be posted every 2 weeks beginning on September 15th are:
Artist Showcase Artists
| Julien van Middendorp | Sept. 15, 2021 to Sept. 30, 2021 | |
| Livia Doina Stanciu | Oct. 1, 2021 to Oct. 14, 2021 | |
| Caryn Coville | Oct. 15, 2021 to Oct. 31, 2021 | |
| Nathan Cole | Nov. 1, 2021 to Nov. 14, 2021 | |
| Eduin Fraga | Nov. 15, 2021 to Nov. 30, 2021 | |
| Suzie Sullivan | Dec. 1, 2021 to Dec. 14, 2021 | |
| Heidi Dehncke | Dec. 15, 2021 to Dec. 31, 2021 | |
| BeeHoon Lim | Jan. 1, 2022 to Jan. 14, 2022 |
Out of the 79 artists who submitted to this Solo Art Series art competition, 27 were eliminated due to deficiencies in their Biography, Artist’s Statement or with their art. From the 52 artists who were left, 31 artists were then selected as finalists. 12 artists were selected from the 31 final artists and any of the finalists could have been included in the final 12.
For each solo art exhibition, the gallery will distribute, promote and circulate press releases to over 550+ major News Outlets, Premium FOX, CBS, NBC, Affiliated Sites, with guaranteed inclusion on Google News & Bing News, and social media distribution through LST gallery’s broad social media network.
Each of the 8 Artist Showcase feature artists will be promoted to over 350+ News Outlets with guaranteed inclusion on Google News & Bing News.
Winning artists will have their art exhibition results posted and promoted on ArtWeek/ArtJobs. Artweek produces 800,000-page impressions per month, 280,000 website visitors per month and has 30,000 newsletter subscribers.
Winning artists will also have their art exhibition results posted and promoted on Art.Base.co. Art.Base produces 100,000 page views per month, 35,000 monthly unique visitors and has 10,000+ newsletter subscribers.
In addition to the above, the winning solo artists receive a YouTube Video presentation of their Body of Work, Event Postcard and a Press Release for their art portfolio. There will also be links back to the artists’ website as part of this achievement package.
Here is a link to the gallery's Solo Art Series Archives. The gallery’s next Solo Art Series competition will be held in December 2021.
Thank you for everyone's participation and interest in our Solo Art Series.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Shelley Holtzman has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and she will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Shelley is an award-winning artist based in New York, USA. Shelley was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 18th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified her art to be showcased in this feature.
Shelley’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting her artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Shelley’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Shelley Holtzman’s love of art began in childhood when she was drawn to the Pop art of Peter Max. After graduating from the University of Michigan with a BFA, she returned to New York and began her career in advertising as an art director, ultimately becoming group creative director and senior vice president for a division of J. Walter Thompson.
After 13 years, she left the corporate world to pursue her love of fine arts. Over time she has continued her art education at many schools, including Stanford University, The University of London, The Art Students League of New York, The New School and The Nassau County Museum of Art.
Her experience with graphic design is evidenced in her work which emphasize bold compositions. Shelley’s passion for color can be seen in her florals, landscapes, and portraits, as she strives to illuminate the vibrancy of people and the world around us. Whether painting in watercolor or oil she tries to push the boundaries of traditional chroma, intensifying saturation while juxtaposing hues to create an exciting dialogue for the viewer. Recently Shelley’s painting has evolved into the fanciful. Her current work combines her flowers with the animals she photographed on safari, to create unexpected, surreal landscapes.
Since 2011 Shelley has been Co-President of The Art Guild in Manhasset, New York. TAG, a nonprofit organization, has over 300 members and offers classes, workshops, exhibit opportunities and studio space to the greater New York area. She also serves as Preview Co-Chair for the Port Washington Library Art Advisory Council.
Shelley is an award-winning artist who has had four solo shows at various locations in her community. One of the shows, Mid-Winter Summer Solstice, was hung at North Shore LIJ Hospital, New Hyde Park, NY and afterwards, reproductions of her work remained on display in the hospital’s waiting room. She has exhibited at The Art Guild, The Graphic Eye Gallery, Huntington Arts Council, The Atelier at Flowerfield, Suburban Art League, The National Art League of Long Island and the Port Washington Library. Online gallery shows include Light Space and Time, American Watercolor Society, American Women Artists and Gallery Ring.
Artist Statement
My true passion is color…. and lots of it! I’m drawn to the way it’s reflected in light and shadow and I try to intensify this relationship while capturing the spirit of the moment. I enjoy painting in oil, acrylic and watercolor and usually have more than one project going at a time. This helps me be more objective with each piece. Whether working on florals, landscapes or portraits, I strive to illuminate the vibrancy of an image. The bold composition of my work stems from my experience as an art director and graphic designer.
This series all started with a floral arrangement from my husband. I was fascinated by the amazing color and shape of each petal. While photographing up close, I discovered how the slightest movement of the camera created an entirely new composition. I proceeded on a floral journey starting in acrylic and then venturing into watercolor and oil.
Since going on safari, animals have crept into my work. In my “Garden Variety” series I am moving away from simply “copying” an image to a more fanciful reinvention of the world. To achieve this, I create collages as my reference, then continue to move elements around as I paint, composing a new reality.
Shelley’s art can be viewed at ShelleyHoltzman.com. She also designs clothing, accessories and housewares at VIDA, a sustainable socially conscious global company. shopvida.com/collections/shelley-holtzman.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Shawna Hinkel has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and she will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Shawna is an award-winning artist based in Dallas, Texas, USA. Shawna was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 18th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified her art to be showcased in this feature.
Shawna’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting her artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Shawna’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Shawna Hinkel is an award-winning photographer from Dallas, Texas. She received her Certification from Professional Photographers of America (PPA) in 2014 and her Master of Photography degree in 2019. Her work has been accepted in the PPA International Photographic Competition Annual Exhibition every year since 2016, with images published in the annual Showcase Collection and Loan Collection books as well. She was the Dallas Professional Photographers Association Photographer of the Year in 2017 and 2018, and was named as one of the Top 10 photographers in Texas in 2020. She also received the American Society of Photographers’ State Elite Award in 2020. She has won a variety of other awards, and has been featured in multiple art gallery exhibitions.
Artist Statement
It has been said that “the eyes are the windows to the soul,” and I have found this to be true. Not only in people, but also in animals - most especially in the great apes. My series “Almost Human” explores the eyes and expressions of these magnificent creatures, looking for the souls in our most closely related counterparts. Chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans are so much like us that if you spend a little time with them, you can almost tell what they are feeling. Some are young and playful, some are old and wise, and some are shy and do not want to be bothered. They all have very different personalities and spirits. I want to show the heart of these beautiful animals so more people can find a deeper understanding and affection for them, and learn more about the conservation efforts in place to help them. What a better world it would be for man and apes alike.
Shawna’s website is www.wanderlustfineartistry.com.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Sydney Paige Richardson has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and she will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Sydney is an award-winning artist based in Texas, USA. Sydney was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 18th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified her art to be showcased in this feature.
Sydney’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting her artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Sydney’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Sydney Paige Richardson was born in California but grew up in southeast Texas. She spent her childhood exploring the woods on her grandmother’s property, taking pictures with disposable cameras she saved up her allowance for, and making up stories in her head of fairies, magical portals, and other worlds that always appeared in her dreams. Her passion for writing grew, but she wants others to see the worlds she had fashioned.
Always knowing she was a creator at heart, Sydney explored digital photography in 2009 and fell in love. She devoured every online tutorial she could and taught herself how to work her first DSLR and Photoshop. She began exploring nature with friends and family as her models, creating conceptual portraiture to bring her fantastical worlds to life visually.
Sydney has been published in Art Ascent magazine as their Gold Artist and featured on the cover of their Sensuality issue in 2020. Sydney’s work has been exhibited in galleries and online worldwide, including Top 15 Artists, Honorable Mention in Light Space & Time’s Primary Color’s Art Exhibition, Target Gallery, Camelback Gallery, Memento Tea Gallery, and Treat Gallery.
Sydney was recently featured in Round Rock Arts Center’s Modern Masterpieces exhibition, and is an Art Guild Member in Georgetown at Gallery off the Square. Sydney has published three best-selling Young Adult fantasy novels through The Parliament House, and has her conceptual photography featured on the covers.
Sydney lives in the Austin, Texas area with her husband, son, foster-daughter, and three slightly oversized cats.
Artist Statement
Author. Photographer. Storyteller.
At my core, I am a creator, a storyteller. That is what I strive to do with my art. My work focuses on my emotional responses to occurrences in life. Though I am an author, at times I find it difficult to put into words how I am feeling. I turn to photography to express and delve into those moments. My goal is to create work that explores emotions, bends reality, and creates new worlds.
I primarily work with friends or family as my models, occasionally using self-portraiture for a piece, and shoot in my backyard or fields near my house. Using compositing in Photoshop, I move the subject into worlds I create by piecing together other photographs I have taken. It is like building a puzzle that only I know how to finish. I create other realms through this conceptual portraiture and add textures to give each piece a painterly, timeless feel. My work allows others to dive into a story, reflect on beauty in darkness, and discover the magical possibilities of where our mind can take us.
Sydney’s website is www.sydneypaigerichardson.com.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Gabrielle Bill has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and she will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Gabrielle is an award-winning artist who spends her time between Dorset in the South West of England and the French Alps. Gabrielle was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 18th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified her art to be showcased in this feature.
Gabrielle’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting her artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Gabrielle’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Gabrielle spends her time between Dorset in the South West of England and the French Alps. She specializing in oil on canvas, images painted often at large scale including the figure and botanical images. Her love of creating something magical on canvas started at a very early age. Between school and Art College she worked and travelled living in Europe, Hong Kong, and Australia where she carried a sketch book at all times until she had the opportunity to accomplish her dream of going to Art College, once her youngest child was at school.
Since graduating in Fine Art, she hasn’t stopped working and exhibiting. She has had a number of solo shows in Milan, Brussels, Gstaad, and the Alps, as well as in London and other galleries in UK. As well as taking part in on line exhibitions, she has also exhibited many times at the Mall galleries London, as well as with other group shows, articles often written.
Her time establishing and running a local Pop Art Gallery was certainly hard work, especially all the advertising etc. but was so worthwhile. Not only in the selling of her work but also in the social aspect of meeting artistically minded people, and forging good relationships with the wider community. The next showing of her work is at the’ Picture this Art Gallery’ Bournemouth in July 2021. She has also won several awards including 2nd prize in the Nadia Waterfield Gallery exhibition earlier this year.
Gabrielle’s main artistic influences through her career have been the works of Degas, especially for the series Women Bathing, for the way he portrays the figure; the Scottish Colourists in particular FCB Cadell for his use of bold colour; Peter Doig for his mark making and the story he portrays in his work; Georgia O’Keeffe for her dramatic way of depicting flowers and the Spanish still life painters for their dark back grounds and their use of light where it hits the subject.
Gabrielle’s philosophy has always been to keep working no matter what and not to be deterred. Her favourite quotes are from Georgia O’Keeffe –“Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant - there is no such thing, making your unknown known is the important thing” and from Andy Warhol – “Don’t think about making art, just get it done, let everyone else decide if it is good or bad, whether they love it or hate it, while they are deciding, make even more art.”
Her goal and aspirations are to create work that though on the surface uplifts the spirits in this difficult time, also has a narrative for the viewer to interpret as their own. Of course, she also seeks recognition!
Artist Statement
My work is all about working directly from nature whether it be from the figure or a botanical setting or landscape en plein aire, or from detailed drawings from my sketchbook. Exploring where the light falls on the subject and exaggerating this effect brings me great joy. Spending time between the Alps and Dorset UK, painting mainly in oils on canvas, with images depicted often at large scale is what I am about.
Since graduating in Fine Art, I haven’t stopped working and exhibiting, gathering inspiration from a plethora of experiences of living abroad - in Italy, France and Belgium, and from my many visits to Nepal, as well as India and Sri Lanka. My work in the last year of Covid has included smaller en plein aire pieces, alongside more studio-based larger pieces that I am more known for. The joy of nature and the bringing together of the life form and botanical images, create a magical place of contemplation and meditation., which I feel we all need in this time of uncertainty. When creating a piece, mark making and depth of field is all-important, where the images grow, change and develop on the canvas. Exploring colour and form becomes an exciting new but sometimes exhausting and challenging experience! I find that quite often things from my subconscious reveal themselves in my paintings without me realizing. Worry’s I did not realize I had.
Typically, I work by first sifting through images either sketched or photographed where I have captured a fleeting image that could inspire the start of a new painting. The next stage often includes the life model. Once I have two or three lightly sketched figures on the canvas, my imagination gets working. Typically, I will use a loose acrylic paint to mark in an idea roughly, often taking time to get the right feel before I continue with oil paint, again loosely applied, working into it sometimes with charcoal, slowly but surely tightening up some areas and leaving other areas free and undefined. During the building up of layers, an image starts to appear and takes on an existence and personality of its own. Recently whilst living in the Alps, I re-visited my love of working outside in the fresh air for about 3 hours, 4 days a week. A good exercise and practice, though jolly cold at times. I would have to dress up very warmly as the temperature was often down to minus 10, I like the challenge of creating whilst battling against the elements.
However, looking like a Michelin man in multiple layers was not the most attractive look and painting with rubber gloves over fleece inners was a challenge on its own. After having produced about 15 small paintings on canvas panels, I realized that to frame these was going to be expensive so I am now framing my own small paintings. A tough learning curve but easier than expected, luckily not taking up too much of my painting time - it all fits in rather well!
I have also taken on commissions during the Covid lock-down period; I painted three portraits and some landscapes alongside my usual bigger works, as well as giving some private painting classes when allowed by the restrictions. Taking time to practice by sketching, whether it be with charcoal, paint, pastel or visiting art shows and sculpture parks is an all-important part of my artistic journey. I feel so lucky to have this passion in my life even though it is a sort of compulsive disorder some might argue!
Gabrielle’s website is www.gabriellebill.co.uk.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Matthew Jackson has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and he will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Matthew is an award-winning artist based in Colorado, USA. Matthew was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 18th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified his art to be showcased in this feature.
Matthew’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting his artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Matthew’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Matt’s art is born of depression. Prior to 2009, he was consumed by my job to the exclusion of his family and the truth of who he was meant to be. Matt was extremely successful in what he “accomplished.”
In 2009, as the pressures and excesses mounted, he was toppled and descended into a profound depression. Matt was out of work for two months. When he returned to his job, he was eventually transferred into a less stressful, less prominent position. Some would call it failure.
As Matt recovered, he found solace through Photo Shop. He began making pictures and eventually reclaimed his life through art. The images he creates speak to the person who was hidden for all those years. Matt was liberated from the mundane world he once dominated. Art has set him free!
Now, at age 67, Matt shows his work in Denver and in mountain art fairs throughout Colorado. People are excited by his images, and he considers himself moderately successful having sold over 1600 pictures.
Matt’s art is full of motion and bright with color. All of his finished images are photo based and he uses PS CS6 and Topaz software to create his art. Many of his pictures use multiple photos to achieve the desired outcome; these are called ‘composite’ images. Matt does not claim to follow a particular genre, though he believes a common strain runs through his work. He has many limited editions of 100 or less. Matt believes his work appears best when infused on a sheet of aluminum. This is how he presents much of his work at art shows.
Matt is retired now and actively supported in his artistic endeavors by his spouse of over 40 years and by his children. He doesn’t know what the future has in store for him. But he does know that this journey is not over, and it includes his family and the truth of who he is today.
Artist Statement
My work is photo based. I often use several photos to create one image. These composite works are manipulated with PS CS6 and Topaz software. My art is bright with color and full of motion. I have no formal training and came upon my methods through trial and error. I try to create art that makes people think about their lives and the lives of others. All of my pieces are limited editions. I have won several international awards, including a first place award for CityScapes sponsored by LST.
Matthew’s website is http://matthewjackson.imagekind.com.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Grace Diehl has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and she will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Grace is an award-winning artist based in the Hudson Valley area of New York, USA. Grace was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 18th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified her art to be showcased in this feature.
Grace’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting her artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Grace’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Grace’s art journey started when her father bought her her first artist box and supplies at the age of 11. Since that day, she has always been creating artwork. It wasn’t until after a couple of careers, marriage, and raising a family did she fully immerse into artwork and devote herself as a full time artist.
She propelled her skill through workshops and private lessons. She also completed a two-year drawing program at The Woodstock School of Art. She finds her inspiration and ideas from numerous sources. It could be from fabrics or musical lyrics and poetry. To express these, oil paints are her choice of medium.
Although she has been active in art exhibitions/competitions throughout her career, only lately has she become an immersed participant. In recent years, she has regularly volunteered and held a board position at a local art association. She has been juried into art memberships both national and international. She has exhibited at art galleries and her artwork resides in hundreds of private collections worldwide -- including one of her artworks currently floating around on a major cruise ship.
Grace and her husband currently reside in the southern Hudson Valley area of New York.
Artist Statement
I mainly paint from life. But, I do throw in conceptual pieces to add to my narratives. I enjoy works with a story.
Since I create still life paintings, I set up my props around an idea/concept. Lighting is very important to me. An advantage with studio set-ups is that I can arrange my lighting to fit my subjects.
To express my ideas and thoughts, I use oil paints. I find they are the perfect medium. Drawing, as well as painting, are my way of satisfying a deep feeling of expression/mood within myself. I feel it is my way of being heard in a noisy world.
When I am in my studio, I find solace and escape into my own world of whatever I create it to be.
Grace’s website is www.gracediehl.com.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Skottie O’Mahony has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and he will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Skottie is an award-winning artist based in Texas, USA. Skottie was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 18th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified his art to be showcased in this feature.
Skottie’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting his artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Skottie’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Skottie has always loved art, nature, and connecting with people. He has had a long, successful career in design and art direction for the publishing and tech industries. Several years ago, he designed his home and botanical gardens in Austin, Texas, known as Tanglewild Gardens, where he hybridizes daylilies with his husband, and pursues his digital art. He is inspired by texture, color and form — a fallen seed, small creature, or a striking individual may serve as his muse, and he takes photographs of that muse to be used as a base for his artwork.
More recently, Skottie has started to explore AI (Artificial Intelligence) as a way to explore new directions in his work, and currently creates his own muses. He still uses photographs of individuals who do exist, but through AI, he digitally “hybridizes” new people to act as the subjects in his portraiture.
Manipulating those photos digitally, Skottie transforms them into something that evokes a poignant response, awakens the viewer's imagination, or inspires them. His art has qualities, as well as integrated elements, that give a nod to his more traditional art background of painting, encaustic, pastel, etching, etc. Some older works of his are used for textural elements, digitally as filters or for layering, and as a way to add depth to an otherwise two dimensional work. This synergy of techniques makes his work unique, emotional and thought provoking.
Skottie is an emerging artist and has already been recognized in both regional and global art shows. He has also donated work for fundraising art auctions for non-profits and has done commissioned works for collectors. In January of this year, Skottie was recognized as a “Change-Maker” by VoyageAustin Magazine and profiled as one of their “Stories That Inspire”, for his career journey and digital artwork.
He has worked on several collaborative pieces with other emerging artists across the globe, and is often inspired by current events and his sympathetic reaction to xenophobia, bigotry and injustice. Being an out and proud gay man, he has experienced prejudice, bullying, and worse in his life, and tends to bond with the misfits of our world. He has spent a lifetime working with diversity, equity and inclusion-related causes and non-profits, and that exposure to those marginalized in society, is evident is his work. There are complex stories behind many of his portrait subjects, many of whom have been stigmatized, disenfranchised, or suffered great abuse or pain at one time or another, and there are haunting echoes of those hardships perceptible in their portraits.
Artist Statement
I’m inspired by the natural world and drawn to unusual and different textures, colors and forms. I might happen upon a spent blossom, a creepy insect, or a striking person that serves as my muse, but I always find a seed of beauty in whatever it might be. I’m driven to capture what drew my attention in an image and share what others, may have overlooked, but I was privileged to notice.
These images serve as the basis for my work. I push my images digitally to generate something that goes far beyond what initially drew me in, but still retains its essence. More recently I have been exploring artificial intelligence as a way to not only enhance my work, but to create worlds, structures, and people that previously may have only existed in the imagination or dreams.
Through the use of filtering, image layering and digital manipulation, my work transforms a simple image into the unexpected and often lends itself to pareidolia, or the human ability to see shapes or make pictures out of randomness. Think of a Rorschach inkblot, but with color, texture, depth and emotion.
The digital aspect of my work allows me to reproduce the final image on a number of mediums to texturally enhance the work even further, including metal, canvas, wood, archival paper and even glass.
My goal is to create that which has never existed, but with roots in nature; something that evokes a poignant or personal response, makes a statement, that awakens the viewer’s imagination and, if I’m lucky, inspires them.
Skottie’s website is www.skotoart.com.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Irene Sirko has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and she will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Irene is an award-winning artist based in Canada. Irene was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 18th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified her art to be showcased in this feature.
Irene’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting her artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Irene’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Irene’s sculpture plays an especially important part in her life. She always needed to express her artistic feelings. For many years, she had searched to find the right medium for 3-dimensional work. From the very first time she placed her hands on stone to sculpt, she was captivated. The freedom that comes with creating what she feels is enlightening and a perfect outlet for her creativity. Though Irene sculpted exclusively by hand for many years, she now includes the use of power tools. This enables her to expand how she sculpts and thereby create more interesting sculptures. Her art training includes Toronto School of Art, Wilfrid Laurier University, Haliburton School of Arts and private studies. She continuously experiences other media to expand her basis for creativity. Her style is to create sculptures that are simple, diverse and organic in nature.
Artist Statement
Irene’s sculptures are a response to life’s balance between control and freedom. Working with a structurally challenging medium, she utilizes a visceral and intuitive process to work the stone into free forms, constantly testing her own understanding of structure, movement and flow as she perceptively feels for the stone’s ability to accept or reject her applications. Intrinsic to her artistic practice is the sculpture’s simplicity, diversity of shape and organic state. Through constant sensorial reactions, such as touch and sight, Irene curates an immersive experience for her viewers.
Irene’s website is www.irenesirko.com.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Lollie Ortiz has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and she will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Lollie is an award-winning artist based in San Francisco, California, USA. Lollie was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 17th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified her art to be showcased in this feature.
Lollie’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting her artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Lollie’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Lollie Ortiz, an imaginative, award-winning artist, has a love of laughter and curiosity that emanates from everything she touches. Her artistic path began in grade school where she enjoyed working with anything colorful and messy. "Free expression" soon gave way to pursing an art degree at the City College of San Francisco. The Los Angeles School of Design offered additional exploration of creative expression in its purest form. Embracing a professional career, Miss Ortiz advanced from freelance assignments to taking on the role of creative director for her own advertising-film production company. Her clients included working with entertainment entities such as ABC, CBS, NBC, The Travel Channel, HBO, Disney (Consumer Products), Max Factor Cosmetics, U.S. Olympics (Promo Campaigns) as well as San Francisco marketing internet creative agency MediaBook, Inc.
As a graphic designer and photo artist, Miss Ortiz's licensed print works have appeared in various Marriott and Hilton Hotel Art Collections. She was also represented by the San Francisco Stars Talent Agency as "Senior Talent" for web and television campaigns. As much as she enjoyed being in front of the camera, her desire to be a "hands-on sculptural artist" beckoned with fierce "heart and soul" determination and mission. Creating works of art that could bring together an exciting sense of purpose, sensuality and fun in the 3D world.
This path began in 2018 with initial research on materials, how to's and lots of experimental samples of assembling acrylic plastic as stand-alone shapes or with recycled metals and wood materials. Confident in the process of structure and visual presentation, Miss Ortiz started transferring her "notebook sketches and mock-ups into computer "laser-cut" files. These production laser cuts were then turned into separate plastic shapes and forms. The final "building block" phase consisted of shaping all elements into desired final designs and themes. These included elegant and bold abstract collections with rainbow colors added as symbols of "cultural diversity and spiritual empowerment." Inspired by artist like Andy Warhol, this enticing sculptural and mix-media direction also allows Miss Ortiz to tap into her "whimsical side" by creating fun and entertaining statements, which to her delight have received several exhibits and awards of recognition.
New works continue to lead the way towards a direction she eagerly awaits with "love of life and artistic vision."
Artist Statement
Sculptural art captured my heart early in 2018 and after over thirty years as a professional art director and graphic designer for the corporate and entertainment industries, I relished in the idea of creating art I could mode from several angels and perspectives. Concerned with environmental issues, I also wanted to include elements of recycled materials in this vision. Beginning with rough ideas, I started transforming my sketches into mock-ups thus entering the complexities of sculptural dimension with eager anticipation. As a beginner in 3D art, I also encountered many twists and turns during the early stages of creating stand-alone designs. This process included learning the language of "tracing computer files" for transition laser-cut production. This required working with skilled technicians who also helped educate me with "tips and short-cuts" towards final visual production. This intense "learning curve" also included working with various glues, wires, cutters, wood treatments and sanding as well as repairing unexpected mistakes. All in all the process of working in 3D layers was "eye opening" but worth trying to master each step, I encountered. Moving forward I envision creating a path that is based upon of two basic themes of abstract collections and "whimsical" statements. Marketing my work is also an important part of my sculptural direction. This consists with taking classes and networking with gallery professionals along with entry into select exhibits and competitions.
Today, my body of work continues to center on the impressions of abstraction and pop culture. Integrating aspects of graphic design with maximized expressivity is part of future themes I look forward to pursuing. An exploration that embodies a compositional mystery I hope captures the true essence of my creative spirit.
Lollie’s website is www.lollieortizartgallery.com.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that M. Lisa Ford has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and she will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Lisa is an award-winning artist based in Pennsylvania, USA. Lisa was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 17th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified her art to be showcased in this feature.
Lisa’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting her artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Lisa’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
M. Lisa Ford was born, raised and resides in the United States. Soon after receiving her BS in Art Education from Pennsylvania State University, Lisa began her 31 year teaching career in a Philadelphia suburb top-ranked school district in Pennsylvania. During this time she earned an MA in Art Education at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, an MA in Theatre at Villanova University, and studied painting extensively at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Lisa performs and studies, ballet, flamenco and tango in various schools, theaters and studios. Now devoting most of her time to painting and travel, her interdisciplinary approach to life is evident in her work.
Ms. Ford’s paintings capture the beauty and essence of persons, places and things. Sometimes this plays out as more representational, other times more abstract. A blending of abstraction and realism, Lisa’s paintings elicit a “vibe,” an emotional response to the atmosphere of her subject. For the past few years M. Lisa Ford has been visiting, painting and exhibiting in France. In December/January 2020 she exhibited in the “Petite Formats” exhibition at Art et Miss In Paris. Ford’s painting ”Curtain Call” was recently excepted to the 2020 Salon d’Automne International Exposition in Paris for October which went virtual January 5, 2021.
Artist Statement
When I paint, my intention is to capture the beauty and essence of a person, place or thing. A blending of abstraction and realism, I respond emotionally to space, color, shape, line and light. On-site works in watercolor sometimes serve as inspiration in the studio for larger more conceptual pieces. The small scale watercolors capture the essence on site spontaneously. Using all my senses I respond to the light, sound, feel, and smell. I approach plein air oils in the same manner where an abstract quality of color, shape, and line create the space. An interdisciplinary merging of various art forms and cultures is present in my painting. The plein air landscapes capture the atmosphere, season and time of day using a painterly technique. These paintings may also serve for larger studio works where sometimes separate and different views or atmospheres are hard-edgily merged as one, creating a blend of painterly representation and abstraction. My approach to other subject matter is interdisciplinary and multicultural, using various art disciplines and cultures as inspiration in evoking their essence and spirit.
Lisa’s website is www.lisafordartist.com.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Diana Arus has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and she will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Diana is an award-winning artist based in Russia. Diana was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 17th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified her art to be showcased in this feature.
Diana’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting her artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Diana’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Diana Arus is a Russian/Syrian artist who was born in Tartous, Syria in 1992. She found her love for drawing when her older sisters used to draw in front of her. By the age of 10, she had a small exhibition in her home city as a guest with the professional artists, portraying her collection of Disney paintings.
At the age of 17, she moved to Damascus and started studying at the Damascus University, earning her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, Graphic Design, in 2015. Her graduation project was an animated short film, describing feelings of oppression and judgment by the society. That same year, she moved to Moscow, Russia to escape the war and further her education.
She earned a Master’s degree in Saint Petersburg Faculty of Culture and Arts. After 4 years of having the wrong type of job in designing content for political purpose for a news channel, she moved on and is currently working as a Freelance Animator, Illustrator and Graphic Designer.
Diana's main passion is animation and all that goes with it from environments, illustrations, character design and production. She uses her experience in animation to portray certain emotions and moods with a hint of surrealism. Her equipment includes one laptop, with Photoshop, Adobe Animate and After Effects as the main software.
Artist Statement
Real life excites me. The portrayal of this life as perceived by other people and artists has always been big inspiration for me. It pushes me to show my version of how I see the metro station, the bench on the side of the street, or that woman sitting across me and what she is thinking.
I draw inspiration from everyday life, from the mundane things I do and the places I pass by every day. Soft light surrealism is an important factor in my work. It is how I can describe that emotion, whether it was how I feel or how I wish it would be.
Diana’s work can be seen in her social media by the handle Dianimations, as well as her website https://www.dianimations.com/.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Cherie Lee has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and she will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Cherie is an award-winning artist based in New Jersey, USA. Cherie was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 17th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified her art to be showcased in this feature.
Cherie’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting her artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Cherie’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Cherie Lee is a self-taught Philadelphia-born artist who utilizes high-speed rotary equipment to reduce genuine ostrich eggshells to small-scale sculptures appreciating, and testing, the limits of faculty and frailty. Whether her subject matter be ecological, sociological or anthropological, she unites substance and subject, gingerly evoking one basic concept: what you have is fragile, no matter its strength.
Having grown up suburban-poor, her earliest materials were found objects in nature and readily available household items, predominantly paper. These early works resulted most often in two distinct styles: elaborate dimensional paper sculptures that are white-on-white plays of light and shadow, or detailed, flat black paper-cuts. Both styles notable for what they lack, or what's been taken away; a concept she hopes might foster a more solid appreciation for what *is* there.
Shortly after recognizing the humble chicken egg as the ideal 4-dimensional 'canvas' by dint of accident and ignorance, she stumbled upon where those styles merged. This intersection created a new path, and eggshells became her primary medium of choice, with the common household Dremel® as her sole, yet very limiting, tool.
With the advent of the internet, her practice expanded and deepened beyond her own expectations, and soon emu, rhea and ostrich eggs became the predominant objective. Immediately upon learning of dental drills as a carving tool, she saw the direction she wanted to go, and never quite lost sight of it.
What promised to be an auspicious career-start instead signaled her career's end. Even as one of her earliest pieces was being accepted to the United States White House Permanent Collection, a tragic death close-at-hand was triggering an emotional breakdown in the family, ultimately resulting in the artist sustaining a debilitating injury, further contributing to the household's dissolution. Thus evolved a permanently disabled single mother of two young boys, for whom 25 years would pass before she ever laid hands or eyes on that recently discovered dental drill.
The creative suspension was broken by the next significant life-disruption, marked by a tumultuous upending of hearth and home. This forced re-formation spurred the full-fledged return to her craft, with a compelling intent to master her medium. By October of 2018, she obtained her long-desired dental drill, and set to work with diligence. She is only now recognizing her own under-estimation of the medium, as well as her own skills, and is looking forward to seeing just how far she can push them.
Her interest and investigations into disability, poverty and homelessness come from a personal place, and her current path explores how much can be taken away from something, be it natural, man-made or conceptual, without it breaking.
“However,” she cautions, “if the strength of an eggshell allows me to push it to its furthest limits, its fragility reminds me not to.”
Eggshell sculptor Cherie Lee is looking at what falls between the cracks, and finding beauty and courage there.
Artist Statement
It's a whole new life.
Throughout mankind's history, times of great socio-economic upheaval have heralded exponential leaps in creative and scientific advancement. Not within man's written history has such upheaval occurred on nearly a global scale, en masse. And yet, hovering here on the brink of one of humankind's most transformative eras, we are tasked with re-assessing our values, our beliefs, and even our own capabilities, while protecting and shaping the lives of our future.
As we collectively endure this painful rebirth, we naturally feel battered and bruised, scrambling for safety while trying to hold it all together; or worse: frightened, futile, maybe even defeated. With only a single cell of life itself, please allow me to demonstrate the infinite wonders of possibility. You may even recognize our own vast capacities within.
However ordinary, please don't see anything as mundane.
Wherever the unusual arises, approach it with curiosity.
What you consider to be strong, revere its frailty.
When you see something fragile, appreciate its strength.
For millennia, the small but mighty egg has been a powerful symbol of birth, life and rebirth. Using high-speed rotary equipment, I reduce genuine ostrich eggshells to small, spherical sculptures, which invite you to question what you believed, and find renewed respect for what you believe possible.
Each piece is no larger than 11 inches diameter, and is, itself, a quiet little meditation on our basic assumptions and perceptions.
Cherie’s website is https://eggscapes.wixsite.com/cherielee.
