Elementor #6673
Maxwell G. Miller Solo Exhibition
Artist Statement
My career began in the theatrical arts. I served as director, artistic designer, and scenic artist at several theaters before pursuing visual art in 2017. I always enjoyed the process of visual problem-solving: How can I take rigid materials and manipulate them to move in a fluid, life-like way? I discovered that by manipulating charcoal and oil paint in this same way, it is uniquely possible to contain the entirety of a complex story in a single image. After refining my technique, I traveled to Scranton to complete an apprenticeship with master artist Anthony Waichulis at the ÀNI Art Academy. After graduating in 2022, I was selected to serve a 2-year international teaching appointment in the Dominican Republic where I’ve worked to cultivate a richer artistic community through art education.
Self Portrait 2020
The Touch of Midas
Portrait of Olive
Spellbound
Strawberry Palette
The Journeyman
The Kiss of Consecration
The Tale of the Curious Oysters
Artist Statement Cont'd
There is a revival of realism happening now that I strive to be a part of and hope to significantly contribute to through a lifelong artistic career. Realism gives me the ability to clearly communicate through recognizable imagery, and art to its core is communication on a fundamental level. When you read an artwork, you discover its themes and ideas for yourself rather than having them told to you. You are influenced by your own voice. This goes a long way in making art so effectively influential in society. I recognize the gravity of this, and the responsibility I have as a visual artist to uplift impactful themes. In past works I have explored topics like mental health, female empowerment, and organized religion. I am very passionate about the influence of realist art and have completely dedicated myself to its revitalization. My sense of theatricality has continued to influence my compositions and has developed into a portfolio of dramatic portraiture and dense still life with a focus on storytelling.
Drew McDonald
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“Obsession”
Drew McDonald
Artist Locale: Texas USA
Subject Matter: Obsession and Identity
Medium: Oil
About “Obsession”:
This piece intricately entwines my artistry, employing the trompe l’oeil technique to narrate the evolution from sketches and scrap paper to the final painting. Within the monochromatic pink and black painting, a romantic scene is portrayed: my dance with Death on a lake beneath a sunset’s embrace. As society drives us to prioritize possessions, such belongings are often viewed as extensions of individuals’ identities. We are what we own, and an excess of anything can prove fatal. Vanitas has always been a prevailing theme throughout my works, as well as the iconic character Hello Kitty. The sticky-note speech bubble describes a letter: “Dear Hello Kitty, Why does everything I own have your face on it? Dreezy XOXO,” serving as an inner thought I often contemplate as I find myself increasingly drawn to anything with her likeness. I have always been enamored by everything cute; however, she represents the epitome of cuteness in my eyes. Here, she embodies the celestial alignment of Aquarius, a nod to both my identification with her character and my own date of birth. In the upper left, clippings of past works serve as a profound reflection, infusing each stroke with the essence of both triumphs and tribulations. This piece serves as a gateway to my psyche, grappling with notions of art, artistic experience, and mortality.
Artist Statement:
McDonald’s works delve into the interplay between obsession and identity. In a society where possessions often define us, her art explores the nuanced relationship between what we own and who we are. Combining themes of identity, mortality, and the pervasive influence of pop culture, each piece tells its own story while encompassing the dichotomy of a hypercute aesthetic and subversive visual elements. This creates a dialogue that resonates with contemporary sensibilities. Drawing inspiration from diverse sources, including iconic figures like Hello Kitty and revered artists such as Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso, McDonald aims to bridge the gap between past and present. Hello Kitty holds a prominent place in her mind, evoking nostalgia and symbolizing femininity. Through her art, McDonald captures the human experience, blending notions of romanticism with elements of obscenity. Ultimately, her paintings serve as reflections of the complexities of growing up in the contemporary world, allowing her to assert her own identity.
Artist Bio
Drew McDonald is an oil painter residing in her hometown of Austin, Texas. She graduated from Texas State University in 2023 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, majoring in Studio Art with a concentration in painting. Since completing her studies, she has enthusiastically participated in numerous exhibitions across Austin, San Antonio, and neighboring regions. McDonald utilizes pink and monochromatic color palettes to express her female perspective through her art. She finds joy in applying her academic background, artistic passion, and personal life experiences to her creative endeavors.
Hollis Richardson
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“Winner”
Hollis Richardson
Artist Locale: Ohio, USA
Subject Matter: Expressive Contemporary
Medium: Mixed Media
About this Piece:
I have long been intrigued with the endless artistic opportunities of portraying women, their style and their relationships. I believe woman should have power and control over their own lives and the right to make choices for themselves. Female bonding and mentoring is an important part of the process for that path to be accelerated.
Winners is one of a series of my recent artworks that explore the many ways this theme can be portrayed in portrait stylized presentations. Juxtaposing these two women almost nose to nose suggests a close encounter and relationship. The bright, happy colors assure us there is something very positive happening between them. I used repetitions and variations of color and shapes to illuminate their moods and personalities and to brighten and balance the overall composition. They have the same colors with different patterns in their hair, but here is a line between them and they are on different colored backgrounds, suggesting they are indeed separate people with their own individuality.
Hollis Richardson grew up in rural Oklahoma, the seventh of eight children. He discovered the joy of drawing in childhood and was awarded recognition for a mural he created for his high school. After serving in the Army in Korea, he used the GI Bill to attend college. He earned a BA in art and an MA in art education from Southeastern State University, Durant, Oklahoma. He taught on the Navajo Reservation, and in Europe with the military dependent schools, where he saw the great masters in European Museums. He was particularly interested in the post impressionists, known for pushing past realism and an emphasis on obtaining an abstract quality to their work. While working as a mental health worker and a teacher for many years in California and Idaho, he consistently devoted
all of his free time to meeting the challenge of developing his artistic skills.
In the early 1970s, he created detailed realistic drawings of people, using radiograph pens, yielding fine lines that ultimately expressed the character of the person portrayed. It was an unforgiving medium. An error in the drawing or leak from the pen could not be erased. The artwork had to started over from the beginning on new paper. Oil paintings were less realistic, more post impressionistic. He participated in juried shows, earning recognition in several states. Every acceptance and award spurred him onward. He continually educated himself about the work of other artists, which influenced him to explore several genres. Upon discovery of Nicolai Fechin, the Russian born artist in Taos, NM, he emulated his techniques, painting in an impressionistic style. At the time he was living in Idaho and Colorado, attending native American Powwows and frequently visiting Taos and Santa Fe, where he trudged through the many art galleries, learning what made a painting good art. During this period of time, he created a body of western work mastering impressionism. He learned that regardless of the genre, the principles of good composition involved the use of contrast, emphasis, proportions, rhythm, movement, variety and unity.
In 1992, Richardson moved to Ohio and devoted himself full time to his artwork. He continued to invest in art books, studying the works of Van Gogh, Egon Schiel, Gustave Klimt, Chaim Soutine and African art. He liberated himself to follow and develop his own unique path. He created abstract oil paintings, and small sculptures in polymer clay and stone work that were figurative and whimsical. As he aged, he was forced to find another two dimensional medium, not involving the use of turpentine. He discovered the rich color and light fastness of Caran D’Arches Luminous colored pencils, similar to the qualities of oil paint that he loved. With the return to drawing, his work is increasingly more stylized with a strong abstract quality, often using distortion to enhance the composition, something he had learned early to appreciate. His art is informed by his experiences with people and cultures and reflect his deep empathy for people, often tinged with a touch of humor. They result from his varied experiences: a child migrant worker in California, a teacher of Navajo Reservation, s soldier in the last days of Korean War, life in Germany and France as a teacher in Army schools, a school teacher in rural Idaho and a mental health worker for many years in California and Colorado. His observations of human nature and his love of oil painting have consistently intermingled over the course of his lifetime.
Hollis continues to devote himself full time to his art, pursuing artistic excellence and expressing his appreciation of people who strive to maintain dignity and positive attitude in a complex world. His goal is to create expressive contemporary art, each artwork a better composition than the last. His distinctive art has achieved national recognition and can be found in homes and offices of discerning collectors throughout the United States.
Kylo-Patrick Hart Virtual Solo Exhibition
Artist Statement
Photography has been my passion since early childhood. My motivation is to discover and capture the beauty, even when it is not always readily self-evident, that surrounds us continuously in all areas of our everyday lives. I believe the finest images are those that are serious yet playful, aesthetically appealing yet a bit quirky. As both an artist and an admirer, my favorite photographs tend to be ones whose contents speak loudly for themselves — even when it is not immediately clear exactly what they are saying. They seek to inspire their viewers to wrestle with their intriguing contents and, as a result, ponder various aspects of our surrounding world in new and unique ways.
Artist Bio
Kylo-Patrick Hart is an award-winning photographer and chair of the Department of Film, Television and Digital Media at Texas Christian University (Fort Worth, Texas, USA). He received his formal training in digital media arts while a student at the University of Michigan and Wayne State University, with additional instruction provided by offerings of the Maine Media Workshops and Santa Fe Workshops. His photographs have been exhibited in numerous cities throughout the United States and in several countries abroad.
Barbara Miner
Barbara Miner Solo Exhibition
Artist Locale: OH, USA
Medium: Digital print, Stencils, Spray Paint, Posca markers
Artist Statement
I live in a 15-acre woodlot in an area of Ohio called the Great Black Swamp. I walk the property every day and I am struck by the clash between the speed of the external digital world, and my sanctuary-bubble where the slow and steady reclamation of human-abandoned fields by the natural world continues on relentlessly. Virginia creeper, ash saplings and thistle repopulate lawns wrenched from the rich black soil. Any tiny space that is left “unimproved” by weed killer or asphalt becomes a complex and layered miniature biome for mosses and insects. Rather than duplicate what I see, I strive to create an impression of what I experience during my time in nature.
Blue teasel
Closed bottle gentian-blue 23x24
Closed bottle gentian-red
Horsetail grass
Indigo
Russian olive
Sumac
Swimmers
Red Blue
Woods Collection Black
Artist Bio
Barbara Miner holds the position of tenured Professor and Chair in the Department of Art, at the University of Toledo, Toledo, OH. Miner has been a working artist/scholar for 26 years and a full-time, self-employed studio artist producing ceramic tableware for 10 years prior to that time.
Her mixed media sculptures, installation works, paintings and prints, informed by the nexus of human/nature interaction, and the practice of meditative repetition, have been exhibited nationally (Maine to California) and internationally (Sweden and Poland) in over 107 exhibitions.
Most recently, she was a finalist for the Uptown Green Shade Project, Toledo, Ohio, first place award winner for the third international online juried art exhibition of the International Visual Literacy Association, and awarded an Individual Artist’s Grant from the Ohio Arts Council for the 2022-2023 year. She has curated three exhibition events, including a lecture/workshop with the noted Author and Photographer, Rosamond Purcell and the sculptor Dewey Blocksma. Miner has participated in numerous national and international artists’ residencies, from Maine to Poland and Sweden. She has presented at national and international conferences and contributed articles to Ceramics Monthly, Dialogue/Arts in the Midwest, and the journal published for the International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability. Miner has received many internal and external grants in support of her research and art practice, as well as numerous Awards for Excellence/Merit.
Sara Grunblatt Solo Exhibition
Sara Grunblatt Solo Exhibition
Artist Locale: New Jersey, USA
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Artist Statement
Each time I approach my workspace with the intent to create, my mind leads me to a central theme: the city and the juxtaposition of urban life and nature. Growing up, I was always fascinated by the idea of the city. I lived close to New York City: the template for living amongst the like-minded, for chasing your dreams, and to, most importantly, for the “grind-never-stops” mindset. In more recent years, I learned to slow down, to appreciate nature, and to appreciate the Earth. While my fascination with this lifestyle was prevalent when I was a child, it has transitioned to quite the opposite. Because of this, a lot of my work expresses my inner child longing for the lifestyle that the city holds, as well as my current state, longing for a quiet way of living and the realization that urban imperfection results in the destruction of the Earth.
Artist Bio
Hello! My name is Sara Grunblatt and I’m an independent artist from NJ. I have a bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering from the University of Pittsburgh, but I spent four years in college studying something I didn’t truly enjoy. Within the past few months, I made the decision to stray away from engineering and start my own business. It’s been a hard 12 months but looking back, I would not have wanted it to work any other way. I’ve been drawing for most of my life, which expanded to painting, design, and some photography. In recent months I have opened my own LLC, participated in numerous art shows around New Jersey, and started taking graphic design classes online. I continue to learn every day and am so thankful to be able to communicate my ideas through art.
Lori McCoy
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Hey Mister
Lori McCoy
Artist Locale: Nevada, USA
Subject Matter:
Medium:
About Hey Mister:
The Piece “Hey Mister” was a personal journey for me. As a little girl growing up in the desert being tough wasn’t an option, not only did I survive but I thrived, despite the conditions. This painting reflects the wildness and resilient qualities of girlhood. While appearing innocent and naive there is an undercurrent of danger and illusion, challenging the stereotype of what little girls are made of. She is the embodiment of strength, beauty, suffering and tentative altruism. She is the little girl in us all.
Artist Statement:
I am a self taught award winning surrealism artist. I have been painting for over 30 years. My unique art style is Norman Rockwell meets Americana roadside rest-stop. Painting is my obsession and I would say that I paint my subjects from the inside out. Each and every painting is a wild ride filled with symbolism and storytelling.
Artist Bio
Artist Bio
Ekaterina Titova
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Magic City
Ekaterina Titova
Artist Locale: Colorado, USA
Subject Matter: Surreal, Bold, Vivid
Medium: Airbrush, Acrylic
About this Piece:
The painting “Magic City” ( Canvas 40×32 in., airbrush) reflects a dive into the fantastical and surreal. I envisioned a city where the usual laws of physics and social norms do not apply—a place animated by mysterious creatures and unusual architecture.
Artist Statement:
I was born in Leningrad, Russia and spent my childhood surrounded by a rich cultural environment that fostered a deep appreciation for the arts. After completing my education at Saint Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design and later St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, I earned both a specialist and master’s degree, respectively.
While searching for new ways to express myself artistically, I discovered a passion for airbrush style painting, which I found captivating due to its ability to create intricate and realistic designs. I decided to pursue this interest by enrolling in airbrush courses and developing my own unique style that blends traditional techniques with contemporary elements.
As an acrylic painter, I specialize in creating strange and captivating characters that are both surreal and intriguing. My works often feature bold, vivid colors and intricate details that draw the viewer in, encouraging them to explore the complex worlds I’ve created.
In 2017, I moved to the United States, where I continue to create my art and explore new forms of expression. For me, art is a way of expressing myself and connecting with others, and I’m constantly inspired by the world around me.
Whether I’m painting, drawing, or experimenting with other mediums, I’m dedicated to pushing the boundaries of my creativity and sharing my unique vision with the world. I believe that art has the power to move people, and I’m honored to be able to contribute to this tradition in my own way.
