Artists Describing Their Art:
Patrick Lynch - Inspired by the English Pre-Raphaelites and the writings of late Victorian Kentucky poets Madison J. Cawein and Robert Burns Wilson, my paintings are of the eternal human quest for love set in a lost Gothic world inhabited primarily by women who are caught in the contradictions of their dreams and how they have found their world to actually be. Many of the inhabitants are haunted, but not by supernatural forces. When ghosts appear, they are not always the spirits of lost loved ones, more often, they are the ghosts of an idea or dream-for example, the idea that one can find a lifelong and true love or of that one person who simply cannot be forgotten. The women who spread their wings are not angels in the expected sense; their wings are a manifestation of the forces that shape their lives. Men are sometimes present in my images, often in an embrace of acceptance and partnership as they share the immutable longing for love. At other times, men are found at that pivotal moment of undesired separation or are reaching out to comfort those in pain. But not every moment is one of tragic endings. There are moments ...
Sylva Zalmanson - Before I became a painter, before I even thought I could, I would look for long hours at the pictures painted by beloved artists and feel their deep pain. I felt that I was not the only one in this world that had a desperate need to make everyone cognizant of this sorrow. Can anything be more important than irresistible art luring and hypnotizing down through the generations with its mysterious riddle and its genius magic touch....
Kees Van Eyck - My works of art express a metarealistic perception of our world, traditional in the history of Dutch painting. However, the source of my inspiration can also be found in European surrealism as well in American hyper-, and photo realism. In my collection Portraits of Icons of the post-war period of the 20th century I introduced the iconography of our era. These images of celebrities characterise movie-stars, media personalities plus inspirational individuals from the field of music, art, politics and philosophy. With these portraits I pay tribute to famous people with extraordinary gifts and talents, who influenced the development of mankind and left their mark on various fields during the 20th century. My perception of life on Earth is often depicted in a surrealistic manner. My attitude towards our environment is charged with criticism as well as hope for a better future. My paintings aspire to evoke the sense of beauty and to raise awareness of burning issues in todays world....
Lia Chechelashvili - My works can be divided into three main categories: 1) White lines on dark background (executed mostly with gouache on cardboard): "Party", "Illusion", "Cube" are examples of this body of work. Human forms, their interaction, linear transformations of the objects, rhythmic play of construction - these are the main features of my work. In those compositions I used line as a minimalistic mean for delivering my thoughts and vision. 2) Oil paintings (oil on canvas/cardboard): "Red flowers", "Cup of decadence", "Green construction" are examples of my oil paintings, which are also based on human forms. Other works are abstract or semi-abstract; the examples are "Composition 6", "Composition 7", "Composition 14". In these works I try to deliver light, space and color. 3) Digitally embellished drawings (mixed media): This body of work is a natural continuation of my line-works. In 2000's, I began applying digital effects to my drawings. The idea was to enrich simple line and make it look more complex, thus through that complexity create a new kind of form. The examples of this body of work are "Radiant tango", "Lovers", "Autumn lovers". ...
Dariya Afanaseva - All my works are dedicated to the themes of relationship and sensation translated on a language of painting. For example, relationship between people. Relationships human about him/her self and to outward things. And some of my works are about memories and thoughts. And also it is interesting for me to reproduce an eluding moment, an impression in a matter of seconds, fragments of life. Just because everything depends on nuance. Three main styles I work in are abstractionism, expressionism and a bit of pop-art. But these styles are not just as they are, it`s always a combination of them. Some of my Abstract works represent things that aren't visual, such an emotion, mood, feeling, sound and so on. These works are very association. My figurative abstractions are simplifications of reality, where detail is eliminated from recognisable objects leaving only the essence or some degree of recognizable form. Some works are expressive. I just let my intuition guide me. Not to thinking, not to be doubt of anything. It is about trusting the process and setting free the instincts. And also I like decorativeness and beauty of coloring. My choice of medium are acrylic and mixed media ...
Dariya Afanaseva -
Leif Peterson - Artist Statement In making artwork a part of myself, and in making that art reflect who I am, I have gone through many questions about what my senses of art and self are and should be. What makes me who I am? What do I value? What is my complexion? What drives me as a human being? These are the essential questions which I answer for myself through art. My artwork describes desire, beauty, love restrained by fear, anger, anxiety, aggression. These are the dominant forces that inhabit my psyche. As man I find beauty in the female figure. But along with desire, it invokes an uncertainty, a foreignness that brings fear and all of its inherent reactions. These conflicting emotions are who I am. And they are manifest in my work. I've struggled with the seemingly single-mindedness of my work, but I can't get away from the fact that these are the thoughts and feelings that drive me through a life which seems to lack purpose. Through my artwork, I am able to give meaning to the basic instinctual processes that course through the passages in my body and mind. My artwork is a reflection of ...
Colin Baxter - Colin's paintings do not try to compete with modern sophisticated images that aim to manipulate, they are meant to stimulate your imagination with a sense of mystery. His paintings encompass a wide range of subject matter and different approaches in both oil and water-colour. Their originality stems from combining many influences so that figurative work, landscapes and abstracts often overlap. Colin says of his work, "You need to dream and let things come from deep inside, then, over the years, you look for links. My paintings do not try to compete with modern sophisticated images that aim to manipulate, they are meant to stimulate your imagination with a sense of mystery." His artistic vision is continually evolving, influenced by art he has seen and studied, and inspired by a sense of life's wonder and mystery. The one constant in his work is respect for the painting process itself and the mysterious journey of life and painting. A quotation that Colin once read from an old American Indian, "To see the world you must look twice, once at the detail in front of you, then again at the very edge of visibility where dim visions pass in the ...