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Following are brief biographies of some of the artists at Art Find.

Kathleen Lack

Kathleen Lack is an artist living and working in Novato, California, just north of San Francisco. She works in oils, pastels and watercolor, and specializes in portraits.

Her earliest childhood art influences were the photographs of famous paintings on the back cover pages of the Reader's Digest magazine. But her greatest inspirations came from a variety of masters, including John Singer Sargent, Edgar Degas and Vuillard. She became an artist because continuously drawing and painting faces from life, and eventually being able to capture a person's likeness, was of great satisfaction for her. Lack always knew she would eventually become an artist. She loves the creative, explorative nature of art-the never-ending search for color combinations that excite, and compositions that "draw you in".

Says the artist, "My inspiration to paint and draw people is constant. When I observe people, I am seeing a soft golden hue against the face, an expression of emotional involvement when playing the cello, the strong morning sunlight creating magical contours over a child's face - and I am compelled to capture that on canvas. To me, it is the intensity of that moment, the graceful body positions, the light, shadows and color that need to be rendered."

Lack studied Commercial Art at San Jose University and later, after marrying and raising four children, studied under Kent Rupp, Chester Arnold, Bob Gerbracht and Daniel Greene.

Lack's work has been exhibited in group and solo exhibitions, and has won numerous awards. In addition, she has garnered many family portrait commissions with up to eight people in a portrait.

Cathy Lamb

Cathy Lamb was born in Salinas, California, and grew up in San Jose. Her earliest art influences were coloring in color books with her grandma and indulging in paint-by-number kits. She took her first art class as a young teenager, and went on to become a nursing major for three years of college. But art gave her the most excitement and joy, so she went on to pursue her Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design from San Jose State University.

Five years of freelance illustration in the Los Angeles area followed, working for a variety of clients in advertising and publishing. Then, during the years spent at home with young children, Lamb experimented with a number of art endeavors, but ultimately was drawn back to painting. In 1993 she took up her brushes again.

Lamb works from life whenever she can. She tries to paint daily, working best at night when the distractions of the day are put to rest.

"Painting offers new challenges every time I tackle a new work. I paint with the hope that the next painting will be my best painting so far," says Lamb. That one thing that captivates her varies with the individual painting. Often it is the light and shadow. Sometimes it is the simplicity of the subject or its particular composition.

She is drawn to a variety of subjects, such as flowers, fruit, nests, sheep and chickens, to name a few; and she finds beauty in the simple, commonplace things she encounters in her daily life.

Lamb has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions including the Bellevue Art Museum Fair in Bellevue, WA; Howard Mandville Gallery in Kirkland, WA; Richard James Galleries in Charleston, SC; and Germanton Gallery in Germanton, NC.

Lori LaMont

Lori LaMont is a self-taught watercolor artist whose work has been featured in art exhibits throughout the United States. As a young child, LaMont pored over the pictures in storybooks, becoming aware of and interested in the different stages of drawing and painting. At the age of about 11, Post-Impressionism became her first true love. LaMont became an artist because of her absolute love of the arts and her passion for creating art, a combination of pure joy and discipline.

LaMont starts her workday with a "nice long walk" through her neighborhood or along the beach. She then sets to work for a seven or eight hour day, five days a week. She is a self-taught watercolor artist. After graduating high school she moved to New York City for two years, and traveled through Europe on a self-guided tour through every museum and gallery she could find.

LaMont particularly loves art because of the emotional connection the viewer makes with the image, "subconsciously creating for it a history as well as a future." She strives to create work that will communicate a sense of majesty, dignity and grace. LaMont strives to express her animal subjects as unique beings - things that you just don't see in everyday life. Says the artist, "As time goes on the world becomes populated less with animals and more with people, and animals are becoming more precious and rare." It is this specialness that LaMont seeks to convey.

LaMont has shown her work in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout California and Alaska. Works from all of her series have been widely collected by individuals and corporations in Southern California.

Jacques Lamy

The graceful lines and timeless elegance of classical architectural details are preserved for contemporary audiences by internationally renowned French artist Jacques Lamy (1946-). Born in Paris, Lamy pursued his study of art at the Cole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs. As a student, he was awarded the coveted Prix de Rome in 1971.

After spending several years studying the style and technique of Classical and Renaissance fresco painters, Lamy developed his signature style that merges the centuries old technique of buon fresco with modern materials. After spreading a layer of plaster over stretched burlap, the artist paints directly on the damp plaster. The paint combines with the plaster resulting in the elegant, translucent finish that characterizes Classical frescoes. Lamy taught his highly decorative style of painting throughout Europe and Africa prior to settling in the United States in 1985.

In addition to his paintings, Lamy has painted numerous large scale trompe d'oeil and classical murals using his novel fresco technique. The artist frequently exhibits his paintings and his sophisticated renderings have become popular favorites at leading American and European galleries.

Paul Landry

Paul Landry's paintings of the seacoast and refuge of harbor villages are imbued with an air of romance and safety with lights on in windows providing a warm welcome home from the sea, the gardens well-tended in a luxuriant natural light.

The artist knows his subject well. Born in Nova Scotia, the grandson of two sea captains, Landry worked with the fishermen on the Canadian coast and kept both camera and sketchbook close at hand. Working his way through Nova Scotia College of Art as an apprentice photoengraver, his affinity for the sea continued to grow and he eventually settled on the Connecticut shore where he taught for many years at Westport's Famous Artist School and wrote "On Drawing and Painting," a widely used text. "I believe that you have to know your subject to paint it well...spending time on the sea has allowed me to know its many moods."

Landry's paintings of Nova Scotia seas and American towns celebrate a nostalgic spirit, bringing back memories of more serene days. "The sea, the villages that border it, and the people who work it all hold a great fascination for me...the quality of ever-changing stability makes the sea and coast unending sources of inspiration as they beckon my heart and hand."

Lorrie Lane

Just as Lorrie Lane's subject matter changes dramatically from image to image, so has her home base. Born in the snowiest region of up-state New York, she now makes her home in the subtropical climate of Alabama where there is lush foliage and a lot of color for most of the year. She admits to once painting using a very tonal, muted palette, perhaps subliminally influenced by months of snow- covered grounds; but over the years of living in the south, she has added the cadmium reds and yellows and the cobalt blues and greens that she sees in the south. Her images range from pastoral fields filled with sheep, reminiscent to her of a semester spent in North Wales, to heavy construction equipment rendered in vibrant colors, initially painted during her young son's period of fascination with trucks.

Lorrie began her post-college career as a novelist. Even in her writing days, she always drew pictures in the margins of each page; gradually the art work took over the entire page. As a child, she loved the colorful illustrations of Maxfield Parrish and was influenced by the Impressionists. She began working in watercolors and ink but now uses multiple layers of oil paint. Lorrie starts by using a thin layer of oil paint to sketch the idea, and then adds as many as ten layers of thinned paint until the painting is complete. She often leaves a little of the underlying layers showing through to give the finished piece texture and character.

Her studio is located in the old part of downtown Tuscaloosa complete with high ceilings and an enormous skylight. Lorrie also spends countless hours coaxing flowers and other ornamentals from the Alabama red clay of her backyard. She also plays the flute, and has completed one marathon and numerous half marathons. She has been the featured artist in many shows throughout the southeast and exhibits at numerous galleries.

T.L. Lange

Born in Oil City, PA, T L Lange grew up in and around Washington, D.C. He studied fine art at Winthrop College in South Carolina for two years, then moved to Atlanta because he felt that the only real education he would receive would be the one from artists who were living their professions.

Of his work, he says, One painting leads to the next, while all the work relates as a stream of conscious flow. Drawing and painting are both attached to every single piece of work. I start with a sense of space and a glimpse of how an object can occupy that space. I break space until I reach the finest detail. I want the form to grow. I use my symbols, and those borrowed from my surroundings. I use words and text because of their availability and pattern. The words create tension when used to cover other symbols. They also act as confessions, associations, puns and definitions. I have been able to, with a great amount of good fortune, explore my potential. My only intent is to become better at my craft. In doing so, the work will speak with more clarity.

A finely controlled strength expressing itself with a remarkable degree of technical eloquence characterizes Lange's work, which is found in corporate and private collections throughout the United States and around the world.

Derek Langley

Born in 1955, Langley has been passionate about photography since the age of twelve, when he first began printing his own pictures. Growing up in Brighton, England, he would prowl the promenades in search of images, observing the seas in all their moods. Photography was deeply entwined with his personal development, a profoundly private activity. At the time, he felt that a career in photography would be impossible without compromise and loss of integrity, choosing instead to study Theoretical Physics as another way of examining the nature of reality.

After graduating, Langley moved to Cambridge where he worked for many years in computing, with photography only as a hobby, until in 1985 he finally began to offer his photographs for public sale. These proved so successful that he has since devoted himself full-time to his photography, regularly exhibiting his sepia and black and white photographs in Cambridge. Langley's work also appears in his book, "Cambridge Mists", and in an exclusive range of cards and calendars. In addition to those of Cambridge, Langley also has extensive portfolios of London, Oxford and the English Lake District.

Inspired by the teachings of Taoism, Langley regards himself and his camera as an instrument by which the Universe can look back at itself. In becoming absorbed in the process of seeing, he experiences a feeling of communion with the World. This is reflected in a spiritual quality to much of his work, a sense of timeless mystery, of somehow 'seeing beyond.' These ethereal qualities are accentuated by Langley's distinctive use of misty conditions, and of infra-red film.

Langley prints all his own work, relishing the calm of the darkroom. Drawing inspiration from Kahil Gibrain's phrase 'work is love made visible,' he dedicates about eight hours to getting each new photograph as perfect as he can make it.

Derek Langley currently resides in Cambridge, England, with his wife Jenny who manages the publication of his images and books.

Jaume Laporta

Jaume Laporta was born in Barcelona in 1940 to a family with a long artistic tradition. He started painting when he was 14 years old. In 1957 he began studies at the Fine Arts School of the University of Barcelona. There he studied sculpture as well as painting, and ultimately graduated with a degree in painting.

In 1967 Laporta worked as an Assistant Professor of Drawing at the Institute of Seville. Later on he became Professor of Painting at the Barcelona Institute.

In the 1970's Laporta settled down in Costa Brava, attracted by the singularity and beauty of the Mediterranean landscape. While drawing at the beach in 1981, he decided that from that moment he would dedicate his creative skill to capturing the seafaring world with the greatest artistic realism possible. In his oil and pastel paintings, Laporta tries to maintain a realistic feel while playing with his paints and brushstrokes and avoiding an excessive faithfulness to reality. Boats and fishermen's items achieve a leading role in his works, his passion and skill filling them with life and being.

Laporta's work is widely exhibited and collected throughout Spain—in Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Castellón, Gerona—and abroad in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Andorra, and Portugal, among other countries. His paintings are found in numerous public and private collections.

Christian Riese Lassen

Christian Riese Lassen is Hawaii's premier marine artist. Using acrylics, enamels and oils, Lassen's paintings depict a vibrant, idealized vision of the natural world. In his childhood, Lassen's family moved to the Hawaiian island of Maui where he was first captivated by the ocean. Since then it has always been a significant part of his life, inspiring him to become both a world-class surfer and a leading environmental artist of international popularity.

Lassen aims to paint both to elucidate the mysterious splendor of the waters and to expose the risks to marine life that we inflict. His paintings and sculptures are displayed in galleries across the United States and Japan. In 1998, Lassen debuted a traveling exhibition: a collection of over 85 of the artists original works, on loan from owners around the world. Since then, the paintings have toured more than 26 cities in the US and Japan. Lassen broadcasts a weekly television show in Japan, where fans can learn more about his work. He is an extensively licensed artist, with more than 70 licensees worldwide who use his images for an eclectic array of merchandise.

Lassen is involved with several other creative projects linked to his environmental concern. He has released a debut album 'The Turn of the Tide' which launches a musical approach to his marine life preservation theme. He has also starred in a feature-length film with a strong environmental message, entitled "I Am the Earth." Lassen is published in several pictorial books, including "The Art of Lassen" and has inspired a book for children called "Treasures of the Sea."

He explains his artistic preoccupation: "I have seen the effects of pollution in our waters: the oil spills, the merciless slaughter of endangered species. But I have also seen incredible beauty: the dazzling rainbows of reef fish, the graceful curve of a dolphins tail, the reflection of light on the crests of the waves. The breaching of a whale still takes my breath away."

Marie Laurencin

Born illegitimately in Paris, Marie Laurencin was a unique female painter who, though baptized in the artistic movement that would change the very currents of early twentieth century art, such as Fauvism and cubism, went on to develop her own distinctive aesthetic world. She was introduced to Black, who was a classmate at art school, to a run-down apartment called "le Bateau-Lavoir", which served as a hangout/atelier for poor progressive artists. It was there that she spent a legendary youth with the likes of Picasso and Apollinaire. She went on to adopt the pale colors and clean form that characterize her works, many of which feature female forms, and carve out an important place among the many talents of the Paris school.

Laurencin would go on to spend a life full of ups and downs that spanned two World Wars and included a marriage to a German baron; defection to Spain; divorce; and return to Paris where she became a socialite. She died in Pairs at the age of 73.

One can detect several different stages in Laurencin's work over the years; yet permeating all her work is the sensitivity of an exceptionally perceptive woman and a lyricism tinged with angst. The pastel tones of rose, purple, blue and gray evince a glimmer of unmistakable intelligence and the existence of a cautiously hinted sensuality that create a soft and serene atmosphere, as if the entire scene were covered with a veil of mystery.

In addition to paintings, Laurencin was also very accomplished in the applied arts, creating numerous, primarily printed, illustrated; designing stage sets and costumes for the likes of the Russian Ballet; and becoming involved in interior design. Her representative works include The Fan, The Kiss, and The Three Young Women.

Giuliana Lazzerini

Giuliana Lazzerini was born in Tuscany, Italy. She studied painting at the Academia di Belle Arti di Carrara in Tuscany, after gaining a Master of Arts Diploma in 1968. In 1979, Lazzerini moved to England where she still lives and works.

Lazzerini became inspired by art during her childhood, when much time was spent in her father's mosaic studio in Italy. "The translucency of mosaic images and the way colors can vibrate against each other always fascinated me." The Tuscan landscape and her childhood memories bear a strong influence on Lazzerini's work and her use of color plays an important role in conveying emotion in all her subjects.

Lazzerini has received numerous awards for her painting and has been exhibiting widely for the last thirty years.

Adam Lee

"My father was an artist," says Adam, so it seemed quite natural that he would follow in that profession. "Our house was always filled with art and music."

His father's high regard for the artists Modigliani, Rousseau, Klee and the British cartoonist Ronald Searle accounts for Adam's outlook and style. This is most apparent in the case of Searle, whose influence has imparted a sense of humor into his artwork.
A look through his sketchbooks provides insight into the way Adam can develop a notion into a series of possibilities. Filled with delightful doodles words and phrases the ideas build into well-formed concepts that may find realization in pen and ink, watercolors or oils.

Adam and his wife Cheryl live in a rural farm community in central Ohio where lunch at the J-Ville is as hoppin' as it gets. But for the Lees it is a wonderful place where they enjoy playing the guitar and of course painting.

Cheryl Lee

A few years ago Cheryl Lee decided to follow the advice she has given many others in her career as an holistic therapist: "Think about what you enjoyed doing as a child…and do it!" For Lee, the answer was art.

Lee's husband and father-in-law are both artists, as are many of her close friends. Surrounded by artists, Lee was at first hesitant to start. "My husband bought me an expensive set of pastels, which were so perfect and beautiful, like a brand new set of crayons, that I was afraid to use them. I soon got over it and began to play, creating my first piece, which was an angel."

"I usually start a piece with the intention to play and have fun. My rules are 'there are no rules,' 'don't be attached,' and 'no judgment or criticism allowed.'" Lee uses whatever tools are around: pastels, pencils, gouache, Xacto blades, erasers and paper. "Sometimes I plan my work, sometimes I'm just expressing a mood, and sometimes I'll call an angel in to work with me for fun," says Lee. Many times she stumbles on a technique while playing. Her subject matter includes angels, houses to represent community, nature, animals and plants.

Lee shares a large studio on the third floor of their home with her husband and best friend, Adam. The studio is simple, colorful, warm and filled with plants. This sunny spot reflects Lee's tremendous enthusiasm for life, which she exhibits whether sailing with her dad on the Great Lakes, tending her organic vegetable garden, playing volleyball, skiing, doing yoga, traveling to exotic locales or creating her whimsical art.

Louisa Lee

Louisa Lee was born in Canton, China, and immigrated to the United States with her family in 1985. The Lee family originally settled in Tucson but after one year, the family moved to New York City where she has lived ever since.

As a young student in China, Ms. Lee studied under Gan Chaung, an art professor in her school. Under this mentor's encouragement, she learned the basics - drawing, watercolor, painting and sculpture and held several group shows. In Arizona, she continued to paint and participated in group shows at the Tucson Museum of Art. Ms. Lee won numerous commendations for her outstanding showings there.

New York has been a continual source of artistic inspiration for Ms. Lee. Upon her arrival, Ms. Lee enrolled at the Educational Alliance and Cooper Union to continue her studies. In 1988, she won a much-coveted scholarship to the prestigious Pratt Institute and went on to receive her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree with honors. At Pratt Ms. Lee was involved with many group shows and also held several one-person shows. Ms. Lee also received the Haney Medal from the Art School League of New York City.

Ms. Lee enjoys the fast-paced life that New York offers and the fact that the best of the art world is represented here. The museums and galleries provide infinite ideas and inspiration for her work. Though Ms. Lee cites the Impressionists as being the most directly influential on her work, Lee has evolved to this point only after exploring different genres. Ms. Lee describes her growth through realism into symbolism while she was an art student and then being seduced by the brilliancy of colors used by the Impressionists, the placement and play of light and shadows, and the atmospheric quality present in many Impressionists' work.

Her work truly seeks and, indeed, finds that delicate balance between self-possessed beauty and intriguing work-in-progress. It's as if her pieces withhold that crucial plot twist that turns night into day leaving viewers no recourse but to let their imagination take hold to complete the story. It's a delight to be motivated to make that one step beyond and a testament to the power of this very special artist's work.

Lord Frederick Leighton

Lord Leighton of Stretton was born the son of a respected Yorkshire physician in 1830. He was well educated, and received his formal training with an emphasis on the culture of the ancient Greeks and Romans, an influence that later affected the style of his paintings. His paintings were widely recognized in his time; one famous work of his time was purchased by the Queen of England. Lord Leighton was a meticulous painter, always devoting a great deal of his time to the research and planning of his paintings.

He often began by drawing, and occasionally sculpting, nude figures; he would then follow by creating sketches of several clothed figures, in order to compare the curves of the human body to the way in which the clothes draped. It was this careful preparation that led to the very detailed style of painting for which he is known.

"Flaming June," one of Leighton's most famous works, was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1895, only one year before his death.

Leighton's only major piece of sculpture, ""The Athlete,"" was exhibited in 1878 at the Paris International Exposition and won the gold medal. This sculpture, along with Rodin's body of work, marked the emergence of the first modernist artwork to combine a sense of action and great attention to anatomical detail fused with natural beauty.

Lord Leighton led a colorful life, and held the distinguished position of President of the Royal Academy for eighteen years before his death in 1896.

Marlene Lenker

Marlene Lenker is a diverse, prolific artist, an accomplished painter who also specializes in multi-media collage and constructions. Regardless of the medium, Lenker builds the surface of her work gradually, saying, "I am a devotee of nature and all its magnificence. Layering permits me to express the subtle nuances and depth of the earth's strata as well as the energy of the heavens."

Lenker's watercolor and acrylic paintings project an atmospheric, stormy ambiance. Rich colors and flowing brushstrokes combine to form cloudy skies and reedy marshes. Bordering on abstract, her striking compositions are clearly referenced in landscape. However, by utilizing natural and man-made objects including mosaic tile, feathers, strands of gold fabric, metallic foil, rice papers and stained glass to create intimate environments, Lenker combines natural elements with symbolic structure.

She is a lecturer and artist-in-residence at the National Academy in New York City, as well as a member of the National Association of Women Artists, Artist Equity, the North Coast Collage Society and the Society of Layerists in Multi-Media.

The artist's contribution has been recognized by several notable publications including "Who's Who of American Artists," "Who's Who in International Art," "New York Art Review" and "American Artists - Leading Contemporaries."

Lenker's work has been included in group and one-person shows since 1969 at galleries and museums nationwide. Corporate collections which have selected Lenker's work include prestigious firms as American Airlines, Dean Witter Reynolds, Hoffman LaRoche, Kidder Peabody, Merrill-Lynch, Pepsico, Swissaire/North America and Warner Lambert.

Don Li-Leger

Born and raised in British Columbia, Don Li-Leger has painted since childhood, focusing initially on the birds and animals of his native province. Li-Leger's formal training includes studies at the Vancouver School of Art, Simon Fraser University and the Banff Centre School of Fine Art.

His work has been featured in exhibitions throughout North America, including the prestigious Leigh-Yawkey Woodson traveling exhibit, and is represented in many private collections.

Li-Leger works from the Crescent Beach, British Columbia studio/home he shares with his wife, Cora, also an artist, and their two young children. Li-Leger's original works may be seen at the Petley-Jones Gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Roy Lichtenstein

A New York City native, Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) began his art studies in 1939 at the Art Student's League under urban scene painter Reginald Marsh. The artist continued his studies at Ohio State University where he was introduced to European Modernism and the works of Picasso, Klee and Kandinsky. His studies were interrupted by military service, but, after the war, Lichtenstein returned to Ohio State and completed a Masters in Fine Art degree in 1949.

As a central figure in the Pop Art movement of the 1960s, Lichtenstein sought an anonymous style, removing all personal reference from his work to convey the appearance of mass production. Borrowed imagery from the pages of magazine advertisements and newspaper comic strips became the focus of his compositions. In discussing his work, Lichtenstein once said: "All my art is in some way about other art, even if the other art is cartoons."

Working with stencils, Lichtenstein developed a technique using rows of dots that mimicked the commercial printing patterns used in the production of comic books. This resemblance was further emphasized by Lichtenstein's selection of a palette of bright primary colors that replicated the chromatic range of comic books. In addition, the artist has produced several large scale sculptures commissioned for public places, most notably "Mermaid" in Miami Beach. Lichtenstein's unconventional paintings, regarded by many as beyond the bounds of fine art during the 1960s, are now considered icons of the Pop Art movement and have secured the artist's place in art history.

Lichtenstein has had retrospectives at the Tate Gallery in London, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

M. Louise

Originally from Virginia, Louise spent her life growing up in the South, the middle child of three daughters. She was always drawn to creative endeavors such as modeling play-doh, writing short stories, or drawing. Her younger sister and she would often have drawing contests and have their mother judge, leading to Louise's first taste of competition. Her mother's artistic talent is evident in the realistic landscapes she paints as a pastime. Louise was drawn to painting, but desired to be more creative than rendering a photograph realistically...she longed to show everyone what was inside her mind.

The young Louise excelled in art throughout school, winning poster contests and having her designs chosen for t-shirts, book covers, etc. All this was accomplished without much formal training. She pursued writing and photography, receiving a degree in Fine Arts and Journalism from the University of Georgia in the Spring of '92. But she soon realized her passion didn't lie in these areas and that she must search for her true dream.

After moving to Atlanta in '93 to figure out exactly what to do with her life, cosmically it hit her...she wanted to paint abstract paintings. Taking the place of her writing, painting would soon become more than just a creative outlet. She knew this is what she was searching for. I love the details...the subtle hints that life throws at us...if we paid more attention, it'd all be so easy. At this time she picked up a paintbrush and has remained diligent ever since.

In October 1994 Louise stumbled across a job at Deljou Art Group and began working as an artist assistant under Kamy. The 9 to 5 taught her the basics of painting and the daily discipline it takes to get the work done. After a couple of years she began developing her own style and showing in galleries in Atlanta. I thank the stars that I love painting so...it's hard work. Sometimes I get so involved that I forget to sleep. Then again, maybe that's how I get so much work done, sleeping the least amount possible.

Louise is now a freelance artist selling her abstract figures and landscapes. Her inspirations include Dr. Suess, Picasso, Dali, and all of her creative, talented friends. 'I just know it makes me happy to paint...to hear people say that my paintings make them feel happy is the greatest compliment ever.

Didier Lourenco

Didier Lourenco was born in 1968 in Premia del Mar, Barcelona. At the age of 19 he began to work in his father's print studio, where he learned the art of lithography. He began to paint on paper and canvas, taking over a small corner of the studio.

In 1988 he had his first solo exhibition at Vilassar de Dalt, and printed his first lithographic edition. He dedicated himself solely to painting in the corner of his father's studio, where he had created his own mini-studio. The corner was open to various visiting artists. Not only was the gaze of the artists directed towards Lourenco's works, but Lourenco's gaze was directed at the works of these visiting artists. This would be his education in the world of painting.

Lourenco was awarded Second Prize at the XXXIII Premio de Pintura Joven de la Sala Pares de Barcelona. He also participated in some group shows in Barcelona and Valencia. In 1992 Lourenco won the Premios Talentos of the XXXIV Premio de Pintura Joven de la Sala Pares de Barcelona. He had his first solo show at the Galeria Art Dama de Calafell. He also participated in numerous group shows. In addition, he had solo exhibitions at the Vayreda de Barcelona, Gasto Sala d'Art de Terrassa, Sala Rebull de Reus, Galeria Susany de Vic and at the Minerva Galeria d'Art de Mataro.

In 1995, Lourenco left his corner in his father's studio and moved into his own studio in Premia del Mar, Barcelona. His solo shows continued, and in-between the studio and the shows, he traveled with his friends and painters Moscardo and Praga to the north of Italy.

His days are full of travel and exhibitions. His solo and collective shows continue, and he travels to Paris, Lisbon and New York, where he continually gains inspiration for more of his glorious oil paintings.

Kent Lovelace

Kent Lovelace was born in Washington, D.C. in 1953. He received an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Washington in 1980, and a BFA from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1976.

His work has exhibited at Stone Press Gallery, Seattle, Washington; Pacific States Printmakers, Hawaii; American Contemporary Theatre, Seattle, Washington; Seafirst Corporation, Seattle, Washington; PONCHO, Seattle Art Museum; Northwest Annual Arts Fair, Bellevue, Washington; Henry Art Museum, Seattle, Washington; Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington; University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; Modern Art Pavilion, Seattle, Washington; Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington; and the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado.

His work appears in such collections as the Washington State Supreme Court; Sorensen & Mackie; Lexington Hotel; Washington Physician's Service; Williams Saline Agency; Seafirst Corporation; Safeco Insurance; Standard Oil of Illinois; Seattle Trust; Neiman Marcus; King County Arts Commission & Parks Dept.; Design Factor; Encyclopedia Britannica; and A T & T.

August Macke

Trained in Germany, August Macke (1887-1914) made several trips to Paris, where he came in contact with impressionism and the fauvist and cubist painters. A brilliant colorist, he joined the artists Franz Marc and Kandinsky and exhibited with the Blaue Reiter group. In 1914 he traveled with Paul Klee to Tunisia. There he created watercolors of a fine transparency with subtle prismatic patterns. Macke had barely finished Farewell (Cologne) when he was conscripted. He was killed in World War I.

Dan Mackin

Born and raised in Southern California, Dan Mackin's earliest art impulses were influenced by his travel to Asia in the military in 1969. He sailed a small boat to Central America from 1971 to 1973. During this trek he lost his camera overboard and started recording his travels by drawing and painting scenes.

He has always had a fascination with tropical foliage and water. This, coupled with his great enjoyment creating art that led him into the art profession. He loves seeing a blank canvas transform into a window of paradise that before was only a thought. His aim is to communicate a sense of being in paradise; ...when you see tropical water you feel excited and tranquil at the same time.

Mackin works nearly every day, usually long hours. When he can't sleep, he'll sometimes work from 3:00 AM to dawn, go back to bed for a couple of hours, and then get back to work! His work is collected by various entertainment and sports celebrities, and appears in the collections of the International Herald Tribune, Sheraton Resorts, and the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. He has exhibited at the Tampa Bay Aquarium, Wyland Gallery Shows, and many other art gallery exhibitions throughout the U.S.

Angus Macpherson

Angus Macpherson (1952-) juxtaposes the chaos and absolute serenity of nature in his dramatic landscapes, many of which are derived from the balance of ever-changing skies to earth over his native New Mexico. As in nature, his paintings reveal explosions of color in which the results are not necessarily predictable yet radiate possibilities in all directions, creating breathtaking beauty.

A third generation New Mexican, Macpherson was certain about his commitment to life as an artist from the age of twelve yet struggled for years, a self-described "student of chaos," working whatever jobs would allow him the opportunity to paint. The artist was able to devote his energies to his painting full-time beginning in 1983, living and working in a studio on the top of the home he shares with his wife and two daughters in Albuquerque.

Macpherson's acrylics on canvas embody many of the qualities of the watercolor he first worked with: "The event is unique as wet color mixes with wet color. The results are not predictable. When paint acts on its own, it can be very instructive. The artist will manipulate the paint, but the random behavior of the paint may best represent the random behavior of the world. The painter's job is to learn when to hold back and when to let go." Although he makes no notes or advance sketches as he begins a painting and prefers to work directly from his experience, Macpherson recognizes completion as he begins to paint less and look more.

"In our skies we see the drama in constant production. Patterns and chaos. Colors constantly changing, cloud shapes of very configuration, with light forming lines around them, or forming halos about them, or reflecting off them...patterns of rain that are then disrupted by lightening or sunlight or landscape... Nature is never finished. Everything, every event is unique. Our work is never done."

Barbara Maiser

Barbara Maiser first formally studied art at College Misericordia, Dallas, Pennsylvania where she earned a degree in Biology. Because she has always loved colors and patterns she started working with fabrics and before long she was designing award-winning quilts. This led to classes and a scholarship at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts, Old Lyme, CT.

Today Barbara works mostly in watercolors on paper seeking to weave both control and looseness in to every painting. She is an artist member of the Salmagundi Club in New York City, Connecticut Watercolor Society, Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme, CT and the Mystic Art Association, Mystic, CT.

According to Barbara, "The visual situations which attract my attention as subjects for paintings are those in which I see character, mood, and uniqueness. From there I'm intrigued by how objects occupy space, for example, how a house sits nestled into a hillside, how tree limbs and flower stems seek their own growing area and how the quality of light changes as it washes over objects and their surroundings. From this point of awareness, I love to manipulate patterns and colors into recognizable images."

Alan Majchrowicz

Wilderness photographer Alan Majchrowicz is fortunate to be able to combine his passion for the outdoors with his profession. Born and raised in the Midwest, Alan studied photography and painting at The Art Institute of Chicago. Responding to the call of the wild Pacific Northwest in 1980, he moved to Washington State. Since then he has hiked, backpacked, and driven throughout the region, using a large format camera to photograph spectacular land and seascapes.

While exploring this scenic and expansive territory, Alan takes time to photograph shells and flowers he finds in mountain streams and valleys. His images capture the perfection and fragility of objects found in nature and serve to remind us of our human impact upon the natural environment. "Producing images which inspire and move the viewer" is both Alan's goal and his reward for his life's work.

Alan's photographs have been exhibited throughout the Northwest and are included in private and public collections. He is also represented through stock agencies and corporate art dealers. His images have appeared as posters, greeting cards, in advertising campaigns, calendars, and many national magazines including Backpacker, Country Journal, and US News and World Report.

Edouard Manet

Edouard Manet (1832-1883), a French painter, is considered to be the senior figure among the artists of the Impressionist School. Manet studied the works of Dutch artist Frans Hals in Holland in 1872. Hals taught him to liberate his brushstrokes when creating and to paint with more energy and verve. These techniques provided a basis for Manet to become one of the founders of the Impressionist Movement.

One of Manet's most significant works is "Luncheon on the Grass," which depicts a nude model in the presence of two men. This piece provoked and offended the critics of the time who claimed it was pornographic and immoral. The Salon, one of the most influential galleries in Paris at the time, refused to exhibit the work, but it proved to be one of the pivotal works of art in the Salon des Refuges, a gallery whose specific reason for existence was to display the rejected works of leading artists.

Many of the young Impressionists of the time followed Manet's lead and broke away from the traditional artistic styles of the past. This trend eventually served as the basis for modern art.

Franz Marc

German painter and printmaker, founding member of "The Blue Rider" group, known for the intense nature mysticism of his paintings of animals. Marc's early works were done in a self-consciously academic style, but in 1903 his stolid naturalism was lightened by his exposure to French Impressionist painting and later to the sensuous, curvilinear art of Munich's Jugendstil movement.

In 1909 Marc joined a group of Expressionist artists known as the Neue Künstlervereinigung (New Artists' Association). There he met August Macke, whose idiosyncratic use of broad areas of rich color led Marc to experiment with similar techniques.

In 1910 Marc met Wassily Kandinsky, with whom he edited Der Blaue Reiter, the journal that gave its name to the group of artists, led by Kandinsky, who split from the Neue Künstlervereinigung in the following year. Having long been interested in Eastern philosophies and religions, Marc responded enthusiastically to Kandinsky's almost mystical notion that art should lay bare the spiritual essence of natural forms instead of copying their objective appearance with exact verisimilitude. Under the influence of Kandinsky, Marc came to believe that spiritual essence is best revealed through abstraction. He believed that civilization destroys human awareness of the all-pervading spiritual force of nature. Consequently, he was passionately interested in the art of primitive peoples, children, and the mentally ill. But his own work consisted primarily of animal studies, since he considered nonhuman forms of life to be the most expressive manifestation of the vital natural force.

This philosophy is mirrored in Marc's "Blue Horses" (1911), in which the powerfully simplified and rounded outlines of the horses are echoed in the rhythms of the landscape background, uniting both animals and setting into a vigorous and harmonious organic whole. In this painting as in his other mature works, Marc used a well-defined symbology of color.

In 1912 Marc's admiration for the works of R. Delaunay and for the Italian Futurists made his art increasingly dynamic. He began to use the faceted space and forms of Delaunay's brightly colored Cubistic compositions to express the brutal power and the timorous fragility of various forms of animal life.

Melissa Markell

The artwork of Melissa Markell is the most unique and creative collage work seen in years. Using nostalgic postcards, antique maps, paper ephemera from the 1930's to the present, Markell creates works of art for the hospitality, corporate, restaurant and medical industries, as well as for private collectors, special occasions and more.

Markell's work is thematic and often historical, telling a visual story with beautiful and subtle details. Her collage artwork can be seen in the Internet Café on the Grand Princess Cruise Ship, and over 300 original works of art are on permanent installation at the Merv Griffin's Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Her largest work is a mixed media wall mural commissioned by the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

Markell's expressive collage works also appear in the collections of Toyota Corporation, Honda Corporation, Dean Witter, Samsung and Union Pacific.

Montserrat Masdeu

Montserrat Masdeu was born in Barcelona, Spain in 1947. Throughout her childhood and school age she assisted and apprenticed with painter Victor Esteban Ripaux. She also attended the Barcelona Baixas Academy, where she prepared for her entrance to the School of Fine Arts and Crafts in Barcelona. Subsequently she studied at the prestigious Massana School in Barcelona.

She began exhibiting her works individually in 1974, and since then has participated in countless exhibitions in cities throughout Spain; and abroad in the United States, Mexico, Paraguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, France, UK, Italy, and Russia. In 1983 she established the Art School of Barria in Barcelona.

In May 1988 Masdeu was selected to represent "Paisajes de Cataluña" (Landscapes of Catalonia) in Caja de Madrid, Aranjuez, Madrid. In addition, she was commissioned to complete a collection of works for the University of California in Berkeley.

Masdeu's goal is to pass on to the viewer the feelings evoked by the places and situations in which she lives so intensely. Her landscapes reflect her world; they are the fruit born of many hours of study and reflection. Her passion is evident in her singular paintings of Venice, Paris and London—their façades, gardens, greenhouses and patios. No matter what the setting, Masdeu always manages to instill her particular Mediterranean sensibility into her paintings.

Masdeu has participated in several television programs and interviews concerning the arts, and has been featured in group and solo exhibitions. Her works appear in numerous public and private collections, as well as in museums of Europe, Japan, South and Central America, and the United States.

Lawrence Mathis

Artist Lawrence Mathis lives and works on 30 acres near Chickamauga, Georgia, USA, about 20 miles from his boyhood home. Mathis has drawn and painted since childhood, showing talent and a special interest in art and architecture from an early age. He is self-taught in both areas.

He attended Berry College in Rome, Georgia, graduating with a degree in Philosophy and a minor in Art History. After college, Mathis spent ten years working as an architectural designer in Chattanooga and Atlanta, Georgia. He left the architectural field to pursue fine art full-time in 1992, although he still enjoys designing a house now and then.

Mathis loves to experiment with all types of art media including oils, pastels, watercolor, pen and ink, charcoal and graphite. He works in several 'voices,' ranging from carefully detailed architectural drawings to loosely rendered mythic pictures to abstracted landscapes in oil and pastel with an emphasis on color study. Mathis's work is in many public and private collections across the United States and Europe.

In his spare time Mathis occasionally teaches classes in various media. He also loves gardening and has made a special study of ante-bellum architecture in Georgia.

William Matthews

William Matthews was born in New York City in 1949 and grew up in San Francisco where he studied briefly at the San Francisco Art Institute, living thereafter as a painter, a designer, and a musician in Europe and the United States. While touring in Europe, he explored Britain, Spain, and North Africa using a makeshift device welded to his motorbike as an easel. He rambled for five years, making watercolors of the places and people he encountered. His interest in cowboys developed shortly after he visited the high desert town of Elko in northeastern Nevada, where he encountered the highly skilled and very isolated Nevada buckaroos.

When Matthews talks, he usually looks people straight in the eye, with an engaging glance that makes one respond. Yet his paintings are quite different, with faces portrayed from an obscuring angle or in a shadow. I prefer mystery, he explains. I don't want to tell the whole story or be direct. I want to leave things open. Matthews prefers watercolor because of its unpredictability. The best watercolorists, he maintains, know how to turn accidents to their advantage, to transform a misplaced stroke into a visual discovery.

Today, Matthews lives in Evergreen, Colorado, and shows paintings in his own gallery in Denver as well as in many prominent galleries in the United States and Europe.

Annrika Mccavitt

I grew up surrounded by the beauty and style of man's greatest accomplishments, explains artist Annrika McCavitt, when asked to comment on her upbringing in England by Greek and English parents. My parents actually affected my life tremendously, taking us as children to the great cathedrals, museums and archaeological sites in Europe. McCavitt's mother was born in Egypt and raised in Istanbul, and infused the young Annrika's childhood with a richness of foreign climes and exotic ideas. This legacy of appreciation for classical simplicity and love of the human form is conveyed in the vibrant drawings and figure studies of McCavitt.

McCavitt studied at the William Morris School of Art, and the Central School of Art and Design in London, with a B.A. in Textile Design. She won a travel scholarship awarded by the Royal Society of Arts to study fashion and textile design in Europe. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society during her career in that field.

I enjoy the art of drawing, whether it be an animal, a flower or the human body, the artist expounds. To express the sensual curves and grace of my subject in a way that is tasteful and pleasing to the eye.

Sudi McCollum

Sudi McCollum discovered her calling at age 15 and is proud that she has never deviated from her course. "After I realized my purpose in life was to be an artist, I never wavered. In spite of some opposition, I have continued and expanded. Persistence is good. It's not for wimps!"

Sudi is a graduate of California College of Arts and Crafts. Her fine art degree led her into the design and illustration field where she has enjoyed enormous success.

Working in gouache, watercolor, ink and pencil, Sudi's design style is inspired by Japanese woodblock prints, the Arts and Crafts movement, and American and European artists. Her affinity for plants and animals as well as patterns is often evident in her work.

Sudi works from her home studio overlooking her backyard in a canyon near Los Angeles. The view from her window includes not only majestic oak trees but often deer and bobcats as well - favorite sources of inspiration for this talented artist.

McCoy

Thomas McCoy was born in Montana in 1971, but can trace his ancestry back to Scotland. He has always somehow known, even as a toddler, that art would play a major role in his life. His love of travel, exploration, and the cosmos, together with the passion for art, has been the basis behind his works.

McCoy exemplifies his use of abstract form and gestures as a means of communicating emotion and thought. McCoy strongly believes that meaning is conveyed through gesture and structure. Bold marks and vivid colors personify his style.

After graduating from the University of Colorado-Boulder, Thomas McCoy spent several years out west before pursuing his dreams of traveling throughout Europe. A three-month vacation after college to the Swiss Alps became a four-year stay, before moving back to the states. A self-taught artist, Thomas would like to travel back to Europe and perhaps African and Australia to further his experiences in both his travels and his art.

After a brief stay in New York, McCoy moved to Atlanta. Interestingly enough, he thought that the "hustle and bustle" of New York was a bit uncomfortable. He says, "My soul could not sleep in the big Apple". "I needed a change and the south was a place where I have always wanted to go." Moving to Atlanta nearly a year ago, McCoy has put his full efforts into creating some of his best works. "My paintings have come alive," he says. "I view the world with my eyes wide open". He lives each day wit the philosophy that we are all but a minuet part of the largest picture of all - The Universe.

Brian McGee

Brian McGee was born in Santa Monica, California. His father was a military colonel and his mother a professional sculptor. Early on, Brian learned to explore the artistic pursuits of his mother, while always bringing the strict, productive rigor of his father to his creativity. He began sketching and sculpting at an early age and received great encouragement from his parents and friends.

Brian took only a few art classes in high school, but continued to develop his skill both technically and conceptually under the tutelage of his mother. When Brian was 18, his father retired from the military and the family moved to New Orleans. Brian took work as a street portrait artist which greatly improved his spontaneity and artistic instinct.

During his sophomore year at the University of Mobile, Alabama, Brian began his formal training in art, taking courses in still life and figural painting, where he quickly gained local recognition as a vibrant and prolific painter. Ultimately, the University's most publicized exhibition featured 12 of McGee's pieces, chosen from more than 2,000 submissions
across the country.

Constantly craving new ways to link contemporary expressions to traditional art, McGee hopes to study in Italy, explore his own family history in Ireland, and eventually earn his master's degree in studio arts and teach art. For now, he continues to exhibit his artwork all across the United States.

Peter McGowan

Peter McGowan was born and raised in Yorkshire, England and still makes his home there. He paints from his studio in the county that has inspired many great artists, including Henry Moore and David Hockney.

Light and its effects fascinate McGowan. He works in several media, including oils, acrylics, watercolors and pastels, to translate this interest to paper and canvas.

He has been influenced by the works of French painter Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, by Rembrandt and Vermeer, and to some extent by Willem De Kooning. McGowan's early career was characterized by abstract and semi-abstract paintings. While his style has evolved to the more traditional, to this day his paintings still begin as abstracts.

McGowan began his career as a Textile Designer after finishing his training at Halifax Art School and Bradford Art College in Yorkshire. He eventually became Design Director of a number of companies in the U.K. and was a part-time university lecturer. He traveled to Europe and the United States lecturing and giving demonstrations on C.A.D. and C.A.M. applications for textile design.

McGowan's paintings are found in public and private collections in the United Kingdom, Europe and the U.S.

He and his wife have five children.

Vicki McMurry

As with most artists, Vicki McMurry's work portrays a lifetime of experiences. She grew up in West Texas where she could see the clouds roll in long before they were overhead. The flatness of the land allowed her to see great distances and feel the openness of vast space. Her paintings encompass this sense of distance and space, giving the viewer more depth into the image and a strong sense of freedom.

The mood of each painting is determined by Vicki's mood at the time, as well as the subject of the painting. Her surroundings become the driving force of her art spirit. She strives for color relationships and harmony, which she hopes will make the viewer feel that all is right with the universe.

Years of classical violin training play a major role in Vick's brushwork. She likes music that takes her on a ride from fast and furious to slow and mellow, from happy to sad, and leaves her feeling invigorated in the end. She uses short and long, up and down, wavy and straight, and thin and fat strokes. The variety in her brushwork adds excitement to her work. Vick wants the viewers of her work to feel the same sense of vast spaces that are fresh and experimental with a strong foundation. Ultimately, she wants to take them on the glorious ride of life itself. Mentally, she works through the complexities of life, hoping to find the simplicities at the end.

Lisa Eckhardt McNealus

Lisa Eckhardt McNealus draws with scissors. This collage artist rarely sketches out her subjects before cutting and pasting, preferring to create on the fly with her unique medium – paint chips. "I started using them because they were cheap (i.e., free), readily available in a multitude of colors and bulletproof in terms of working with active children running about." Because the paint chips are so portable, she can work almost anywhere.

Her technique fits her lifestyle, as she is always on the go. In addition to her artwork, Lisa is a high school art teacher, athlete, soccer coach, ski instructor, outdoor enthusiast, equestrian and community volunteer. She does make time to enjoy her flower gardens, a brief respite in a full and varied life.

Lisa's roots are in a jewel of a town in Vermont where she grew up and then returned to as an adult after adventures to foreign countries and work experiences in New York. She now lives in a drafty farmhouse that has been in her family for three generations. "We have fields and mountains to look at, dirt roads to walk and bike and ride horses on, as well as trails to ski and hike and ride horses on." She is lucky enough to share the home with the fourth generation, her creative and energetic children.

Dan McShane

Born in Singapore, apparently with a paint brush in his hand, Dan has been creating art for as long as he can remember. Although he attended art college, he is primarily self taught, preferring the rigors of the real world to mentor him: graphic design, printing, corporate logo work, publishing in London, managing a gallery and framing—he has done it all!

Dan paints various subject matter including portraits, wildlife, landscapes and still lifes. His concentration at the moment is creating abstract pieces using bold strokes with large brushes. He works with interior designers to create artwork for hotels, offices and show homes using techniques in paint, photography and digital imagery.

Another passion is photography. Dan takes his camera everywhere to record details that will later appear in his paintings. He has been influenced in this field by the great 20th century photographer Andre Kertesz.

Dan's home is now in the south of England with his wife, two daughters and their German shepherd. Family walks, camping on the coast, summer barbeques and the occasional game of golf complete his schedule when he is not creating art. He describes his studio space as "limited—either the kitchen sink area or in the loft.

Georges Meis

The 3000 bare, rocky outcrops which emerge from the blue Aegean are the raw material for the Greek photographer, Georges Meis. Although he made photos from the age of 14, he only became seriously involved in photography while reluctantly studying to be an electrician. In 1973 Georges' passion to involve his life around photography could no longer be restricted. This led him to Paris, where he widened his views and range of photographic experience.

Having realized his aims, Georges returned to Greece to establish his name in the glamour of fashion photography. Then, at the peak of his success, Georges was still not satisfied, so he gave up the glamour and commercialism of fashion photography to concentrate solely on creating fine art photographic prints.

Cameras in hand, Georges walks the length and breadth of the Greek isles, seeking out the hidden corners, the inconsequential details of everyday life. The warmth of the Greek people speaks through a worn mat, a well-trodden stairway, an open door. As a result of these efforts, Georges has become a renowned photographer worldwide.

Jean Miele

A nationally exhibited, internationally published, outspoken advocate of the digital darkroom, Jean Miele's highly manipulated black-and-white landscape images represent the fusion of classical 20th century landscape photography with 21st century technology.

In addition to creating commercial and fine art photography, Jean Miele teaches Photoshop technique workshops and presents "Digital darkroom" seminars for among others, the International Center for Photography (ICP) where he is a member of the faculty; Apple Computer; Fuji USA; Hasselblad; NancyScans; The Santa Fe Workshops; American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP); Advertising Photographers of America (APA), and The Soho Gallery. He is a member of the Board of Directors of APA NY, and is on the Executive Committee of the Soho Photo Gallery, the oldest cooperative photographic gallery in New York City. He is also the facilitator and moderator of the "Soho Photo Presents" lecture series, and is actively involved in The New York Photographer's Forum, an ongoing salon. Miele has appeared as a guest lecturer on photography at the School of Visual arts (SVA), New York University (NYU), New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), and the Columbia University School of Journalism.

Concurrent with his fine art work and teaching commitments, Miele has been working in commercial photography since 1984, and currently operates an independent studio providing photography for annual reports, corporate communications, advertising, and magazines. His photographs have appeared in thousands of publications.

Miele travels often, continually adding images to several ongoing bodies of work. For the last several years he has been focusing on a new series of black-and-white images entitled "Vestiges of Industry" which celebrates the vanishing beauty of pre-computer age machines and technology. He lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn with his wife, Carol, and stepdaughter, Cally.

Philosophy: Invariably, people ask: "Where was that picture taken?" For Jean Miele, the more important question is "What feelings does that photograph evoke in you?". A successful image connects the viewer to a higher, more conscious part of themselves.

It's tempting to believe the magic of photography is the way it allows the photographer to share a moment in time, or to tell a story about a place he visited. Consider instead the possibility that photography, like life itself, is an interpretive process, and that its greatest power is the ability to create entirely new places: metaphorical landscapes, dreams manifested on paper, which inspire us and reconnect us to a calmer, better part of ourselves.

Technique: Working with a variety of traditional small and medium-format cameras, Miele's images are shot and processed conventionally, as black-and-white transparencies. The resulting film is scanned at high resolution, and a computer is employed for all "darkroom" work, allowing for tremendously powerful tonal manipulation, as well as seamless image combination and alteration.

Miele's pictures are not intended as documentary images of the beauty of the natural world. Rather, the natural landscape provides the inspiration and the raw material to make photographs; sometimes Miele's landscapes are created from a single negative, sometimes from a composite of many negatives.

Ronald Miller

The quintessential blonde surfer, artist Ronald Miller believes that there is a lesson to be learned in every wave and a story in every abstract landscape and conceptual piece he paints. He was born in Del Mar, California. His favorite place is the ocean - ...for whatever reason - surfing, snorkeling, waiting for the next set at sundown.

These complex color studies and haunting vistas seem to solarize the paint palette into vibrantly contrasting colors and give unique dimension to violet shadows and saffron colored skies. His influences are sixties artist Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Tapies, Rauschenberg and Chuck Close.

The artist explains his philosophy of life: It's like when you're out there on your board...you don't think about it. You rely on your instincts to get you through the curl. You either do it or you don't...nothing is half-ass. If you do it, do it well.

Miller makes his home in Phoenix, Arizona, but is perpetually aware that he is precisely four hundred forty one and a half miles from Malibu.

Mindeli

Mindeli was born in 1976 in the town of Tbillisi, a republic of Georgia, Russia. As a child, she first began drawing in the studio of her father, a renowned artist and designer. It was there that she found her skills and her interests in this study flourished. The cultural turmoil of her homeland influenced her greatly and she began to truly understand the meaning of expression through drawing and painting.

In 1992, Mindeli enrolled in the Tbillisi State Academy of Fine Arts where she studied art history and fine art. The presence of other creative minds encouraged her desire to express herself further. The art world had finally embraced her and she yearned for cultural stimulus to liberate her talent. She graduated in 1997 and moved to America to further her horizons.

Her new-found freedom of expression and her love of nature have been melded together to create her intricate floral designs. Mindeli looks forward to exploring her artistic talents and developing new and exciting images. She plans someday to return to her homeland to pay her respects to the environment from whence her gift originated.

Amedeo Modigliani

Italian painter, sculptor and draughtsman, Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) actively began painting in Paris in 1906. He studied the Italian Renaissance painters, and because of the linear similarities of his work, has often been compared to Botticelli.

While in Paris, he was influenced by the Fauves and Cubists, as well as by the sculptor Brancusi, yet Modigliani is most often described as an individualist since his work does not reflect or have any connection with the art movements of his time. Extremely elongated figures of women are common in his art. "La Femme ... 1'ventail" illustrates his use of simplified form and graceful lines. The influence of African art is also apparent in this particular painting. Modigliani was addicted to drugs and alcohol and eventually died from tuberculosis. He was, however, first and foremost, an artist and was extremely devoted to his art in spite of his obsessions.

Piet Mondrian

(1872-1944) Born into a Dutch aristocratic family in Amersfoort, Piet Mondrian began his study of art in 1892 as a student at Amsterdam's Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten. His earliest landscapes are rendered in an Impressionistic style but, possess the marked vertical and horizontal tendencies that foreshadow his mature paintings. Mondrian's work began to show the influences of Cubism in 1910 after an exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam that included works by Picasso and Braque.

In 1912, the artist moved to Paris where he continued to refine his style, continually exploring increasingly sophisticated compositions. In his paintings, Mondrian strove to achieve a universal form of expression by reducing form and color to their simplest components. The artist termed his work "Neo-Plasticism" and believed: "it is the task of art to express a clear vision of reality." Using only primary colors and basing his compositions entirely on rectangles, Mondrian painted increasingly stark, structurally harmonious compositions with an unrivaled chromatic purity.

Mondrian moved to New York in 1940 to escape the disruptions of World War II. Energized by the pace of city life, the artist was extremely productive and completed a large number of paintings. Mondrian's late works, executed during his years in New York, use vacillating color and grid-like patterns to evoke the fast-paced rhythm of city streets. He is regarded by many as founder of abstract art.

Albert Joseph Moore

Albert Moore (1841-1893), a Pre-Raphaelite painter, was born in York, England, in 1841. Moore developed the foundations of painting from the teachings of his father, William Moore, and four of his brothers, who were also painters.

Following the death of his father, Moore moved to London where he enrolled in the Academy School. His paintings at this time tended to reflect the English school of the Pre-Raphaelites, a style that merged modern symbolism with romantic imagery.

After many trips to Rome, the influence of classical sculpture began to dominate Moore's artwork. His paintings of that time depict women in classical dress, giving special attention to draperies, poses and facial expression. The female figures are either painted alone or in groups and have no Biblical or literary references. This is especially apparent in the painting "The Dreamers."

Moore worked with many well-known Pre-Raphaelite painters, including Leighton and Whistler. It was with Whistler that he developed a special relationship; the two worked together in a studio for some time. The exchange of techniques and ideas that he shared with Whistler remained strong up until 1893 when Moore died.

Upon his death, a few of Moore's close friends organized a memorial retrospective of his work, the first exhibition of his paintings.

Berthe Morisot

Berthe Morisot (1841-1895), French painter and printmaker who exhibited regularly with the Impressionists and, despite the protests of friends and family, continued to participate in their struggle for recognition.

The daughter of a high government official (and a granddaughter of the important Rococo painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard), Berthe Morisot decided early to be an artist and pursued her goal with seriousness and dedication. From 1862 to 1868 she worked under the guidance of Camille Corot. She first exhibited paintings at the Salon in 1864. Her work was exhibited there regularly through 1874, when she vowed never to show her paintings in the officially sanctioned forum again. In 1868 she met Édouard Manet, who was to exert a tremendous influence over her work. He did several portraits of her (e.g., "Repose," c. 1870). Manet had a liberating effect on her work, and she in turn aroused his interest in outdoor painting.

Morisot's work never lost its Manet-like quality--an insistence on design--nor did she become as involved in color-optical experimentation as her fellow Impressionists. Her paintings frequently included members of her family, particularly her sister, Edma (e.g., "The Artist's Sister, Mme Pontillon, Seated on the Grass," 1873; and "The Artist's Sister Edma and Their Mother," 1870). Delicate and subtle, exquisite in color--often with a subdued emerald glow--they won her the admiration of her Impressionist colleagues. Like that of the other Impressionists, her work was ridiculed by many critics. Never commercially successful during her lifetime, she nevertheless outsold Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Alfred Sisley. She was a woman of great culture and charm and counted among her close friends Stephan Mallarme, Edgar Degas, Charles Baudelaire, Émile Zola, Emmanuel Chabrier, Renoir, and Monet. She married Édouard Manet's younger brother Eugène.

Jane Mosse

Jane Mosse's life as a designer is beautifully complemented by her love of gardening. Both of these passions mingle in her light and airy studio, built between an orchard and a flower garden in a tiny village in southern England. From its windows are lovely views of the changing seasons and their earthly yield. Just down the road is her own farmhouse and garden. These surroundings serve as a continuous source of inspiration.

Jane's artwork reflects a gentle love of the land. Rose buds, herbaceous borders, pergolas, arches and a soon-to-be-planted formal herb garden find themselves repeated in Jane's patterns and paintings. Trained as a textile designer, Jane began working for a bed linen company in northern England in 1983. Two years later, she moved back to the south to set up the studio she had always wanted. Her first designs were sold to the home furnishings industry.

As her customer base grew, so did the need to create more designs to sell in Europe and the United States. Now ten different designers are part of the Jane Mosse Studio. The garden studio buzzes with activity as they create a wealth of styles and techniques for a plethora of products. The studio brims with a wide variety of memorabilia collected on world travels. Walls and shelves are alive with color and texture. "Textiles from Thailand, carvings and woodblocks from India, ceramics and tiles from Europe, and always wonderful books - everywhere we travel, our suitcases are stuffed with decorative fabrics and items that inspire new designs," Jane acknowledges.

The Jane Mosse studio is a treasure trove of artwork, as abundant, colorful and fertile as the gardens outside its door.

Elizabeth Mowry

Elizabeth Mowry is a Master Pastelist in the Pastel Society of America and Art du Pastel en France, and a distinguished pastelist in the Pastel Society of the West Coast. Before retiring from teaching in 2002, she was an instuctor for fifteen years at the Woodstock School of Art in Woodstock, New York, on whose board of advisors she continues to serve. She is now frequently invited to jury national and international pastel exhibitions.

Elizabeth has been the recipient of more than thirty-five major landscape awards in national and international exhibitions, including several prestigious painting awards in France, and has exhibited in Italy, Russia and Japan. In 2003, she was invited by Art du Pastel en France to be the American guest of honor at their international exhibition.

Elizabeth is the author of The Pastelist's Year, The Poetic Landscape, and Landscape Meditations published by Eatson-Guptill Publications, and her work appears in more than fifty instructional books and magazines. She lives and works in Colorado.

Alphonse Mucha

Art Nouveau illustrator and painter noted for his posters of idealized female figures. After early education in Brno, Moravia, and work for a theatre scene-painting firm in Vienna, Mucha studied art in Prague, Munich, and Paris in the 1880s. He first became prominent as the principal advertiser of the actress Sarah Bernhardt in Paris. He designed the posters for several theatrical productions featuring that actress, beginning with Gismonda (1894), and he designed sets and costumes for her as well. Mucha designed many other posters and magazine illustrations, becoming one of the foremost designers in the Art Nouveau style. His supple, fluent draftsmanship is used to great effect in his posters of female nudes, whose delicate features are framed by luxuriantly flowing strands of hair. The sensuous bravura of the draftsmanship, particularly the use of twining, whiplash lines, imparts a strange refinement to these nudes.

Between 1903 and 1922 Mucha made four trips to the United States, where he attracted the patronage of Charles Richard Crane, a Chicago industrialist and Slavophile, who subsidized Mucha's series of 20 large historical paintings (1912-30) illustrating the "Epic of the Slavic People." After 1922 Mucha lived in Czechoslovakia, donating his "Slavic Epic" paintings to the city of Prague.

Edvard Munch

Norwegian artist Edvard Munch's (1863-1944) hauntingly introspective works heralded one of the most important artistic movements of the 20th century, Expressionism.

Munch was born in what is now Oslo and, after his mother died of tuberculosis in 1868, was raised by his father. His father's mental illness profoundly affected Munch and the deeply personal statements of his paintings echoed his troubled life: "Sickness, insanity and death were the angels that surrounded my cradle and they have followed me throughout my life."

Munch began his studies in 1881 at the Royal School of Design of Kristiania (later Oslo). In 1885 the artist traveled to Paris where he first encountered the Impressionist and Impressionist works of Manet and Cezanne. While stylistically influenced by the Post- Impressionists, Munch's subject matter is Symbolist in content, depicting a state of mind rather than an external reality. During his career Munch traveled between Norway, Paris and Berlin and was a prominent member of avant-garde circles in each locale.

At the turn of the century, while in Berlin, Munch began experimenting with a variety of new mediums, including photography, color lithography and woodcuts, in many instances re-working his older imagery. During the Nazi era, his works were labeled "degenerate art" and were removed from German museums. A tremendously prolific artist and one of the most influential of the period, Munch's probing controversial psychological imagery continues to captivate modern audiences.

Margaret Murton

Margaret Murton's studio sits in the market town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, England, in the heart of the new National Forest. No setting seems more appropriate for an artist whose paintings of fruits and flowers appear on warm, richly-grained panels of ancient wood. With her husband, Margaret shares a love of textiles and interest in wood restoration. From these two affinities come the inspirations for Margaret's unique style, which allows the wood grain to surface through the textured paint. Rich and subtle colorings enhance the warmth and texture of the panels. They are compositions of balance, harmony, and form.

"My work is a celebration of nature," Margaret says. "I am influenced by gardens, particularly those of the great country houses and parks, and also by the rich textiles and tapestries of the Elizabethan period."

Margaret's many honors include an Artists' Showcase in Nottingham Castle Museum and a commission for Belgrave Hall, received from the Leicester Museum. There is a growing interest in Margaret's art in England and abroad. She exhibits in many British and American galleries, and her paintings are part of many private collections. After a London exhibit in 1987, Margaret was approached to create needlework designs, and completes several each year.

Allan Myndzak

Contemporary Canadian Impressionist Allan Myndzak's extraordinary paintings evoke the serenity and stillness of an enchanted garden retreat. Born in Vernon, British Columbia, Myndzak began painting at the age of eight, under the guidance of noted artist Jessie Topham Brown. His exceptional talent was rewarded with a scholarship to the Alberta College of Art in Calgary where he studied from 1972 to 1976.

Like the French Impressionists, Myndzak continually explores the ever changing character of light in his paintings. Working in his preferred medium of oil on board, the artist renders lush garden landscapes in dappled light, achieving a rich, atmospheric quality. Myndzak's refined technique and palette of soft summer hues complement his selection of traditional Impressionistic themes. The artist's distinctive work has achieved worldwide recognition and is included in numerous corporate and private collections.

Danhui Nai

Danhui Nai was born and raised in mainland China. As the child of a sculptor and a painter, it is a small wonder that she showed an interest in art at a very early age. When she was five years old, she drew a gymnast while watching a competition. Shortly after that, her father secretly gave her a copied art anatomy book, then banned by the Chinese government. He also taught her how to paint on plaster casts of geometric forms.

She attended evening art classes after school, and then spent four years studying interior design at Wu Xi Light Industry College in China. After college, Danhui Nai moved to New York City where she worked as a textile designer. She studied at the Fashion institute of Technology at night and also took a summer course in French costume and interior design in Paris.

Danhui Nai paints with a variety of media including watercolors, gouache, acrylics, oils and tempera. She uses a layering technique to apply color.

Danhui Nai lives in the San Francisco Bay area. She has a flower garden outside her studio and loves to paint in the garden when weather permits. Her antique roses and other flowers are among her favorite subjects.

Craig Nelson

"An artist sees everyday life in a unique way. He notices the light effects, textures and the interplay of figure to environment . . . this is exciting stuff," says Craig Nelson. Craig has been seeing life through an artist's eyes since he first picked up a brush as a toddler and has been painting professionally since 1970.

Craig received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Art Center College in California. His credits include commissions for several corporations including Toyota, MCA, NFL, Fisher Price and Disney. He has received hundreds of awards including several gold medals from the Society of Illustrators in New York and Los Angeles.

Although Craig's rich oils portray a variety of lifestyles and settings drawn from his extensive travels, his passion for the coast is evident. His luminous coastal paintings capture the essential beauty of the shore, the peace and tranquility of the ocean, and its unique relationship to humanity.

Craig lives with his wifeAnna who is also a painter, and their three children, who are often models for his paintings, in California.

Kate Nelson

Kate Nelson's artistic track is varied, ever changing- like the path of the outgoing tide on the Brewster flats. Holding degrees in pre-medicine and art from the University of Massachusetts where she was influenced by Chuck Close and Keith Hollingworth, she has studied printmaking and painting both on Cape Cod and at Haystack Mountain School, Deer Isle, Maine. Formerly a teacher of lithography at Cape Cod Conservatory, and owner of a graphic design agency, she now devotes herself to non-representational painting and printmaking.

Trying to dissolve what she sees in to what she feels, Kate is drawn to and moved by the outdoor life. She pours her feelings about nature into abstractions, attempting to fuse the experience of exterior landscape with "inscape," the inner landscape of psyche and spirit.

"To be concise, to pare down. Past words, past being descriptive, past the left-brain snow-job interpreter. Like jazz, abstract painting is born in passion, nurtured in structure and grown by improvisation.

I hope to see my work become like good jazz music; disciplined yet free, spare yet full, within a rich tradition yet achingly personal".

Nestor

A young Bulgarian artist with Macedonian ancestry, Nestor has shown in solo exhibitions in Bulgaria, and exhibited in New York and Washington DC. His art is hanging in private collections on both sides of the Atlantic. He studied fine art from ages 12 to 22 exclusively in the private studios of a prominent Eastern European artist. After this, he traveled Europe, spending time in both Paris and Venice, though he never learned to speak either French or Italian beyond being able to order food, find the privy, and get a smile from a pretty woman. Currently, Nestor lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Jim Nilsen

Seattle photographer Jim Nilsen spent twenty years commercial fishing and photographing in Alaska. During his fishing years, he obtained a degree in photography from Spokane Falls Community College. His photos of the commercial fishing industry have been widely published on magazine and book covers, calendars, and even a billboard in Canada. Nilsen's earliest creative influence was the photographer, Harold Sund. When asked why he became a photographer, Nilsen's succinct reply was, "What a great way to make a living!".

In 1991, Jim made the decision to jump ship and pursue his real love, photographing colorful scenes in colorful places, most of which happen to be outside of the United States. Foreign locations visited so far include Brazil, Greece, Guatemala, Italy, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Portugal, and Turkey. Domestically, Jim has photographed in New Orleans and the Southwest.

His viewers tell him that his simple compositions and bright, graphically powerful images instill in them a sense of calm and joy.

Nilsen has exhibited his work at Cherry Creek in Denver, CO; Main Street Arts Festival in Ft. Worth, TX; and at the Bellevue Arts & Crafts show in Bellevue, WA.

James Nocito

James Nocito received his BA in Art from Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, and did graduate work at Columbia University, New York City. His paintings have been widely exhibited in the United States and Canada in such formats as Littlejohn-Smith Gallery, Chuck Levitan Gallery (both in New York City), Del Bello Gallery, Toronto, The Society of American Artists, Santa Fe, and the Athenaeum, La Jolla.

His illustrations have appeared in many publications including the Los Angeles Times Book Review, How Magazine and Sand Diego Home/Garden Magazine. The fabric designs he creates have been included in the collections of Donna Karan, Joseph Abboud and Ann Klein, as well as the private label collections of Barneys, Henri Bendel and Bergdorf Goodman.

David Noton

Born in Bedfordshire, England in 1957, David Noton and his family emigrated to Canada in 1965 and, as a young boy, he developed a taste for the great outdoors. Upon returning to England in 1971, Noton continued to spend as much time as possible hiking in wilder areas of the British Isles: Scotland, Cumbria and North Wales. After leaving school he joined the British Merchant Navy and served for three years as a navigating officer on a variety of cargo ships. During this time of constant travel, Noton began to develop an interest in photography. Beginning as an attempt to document his travels, photography soon became an all-consuming passion.

Although he travels throughout the world and each image is the product of long periods of solitary field work, Noton continues returning to his photographic roots in Britain where the variances of the light and proportions of the landscape continue to motivate him. One continuing theme of his images is the quality of the light to be found at dawn and dusk which requires much time spent camped in remote areas waiting for the right conditions. "The endless subtleties of natural light provide me with endless inspiration."

Noton intends to work in all the major environments in the world and recently has focused on the jungles and tropical rainforests. "Any landscape photographer is bound to be 'green,' and I am no exception. Hopefully by creating striking images of the world's most beautiful and fragile landscapes, I can promote subconsciously a greater awareness of nature's wonders."

Noton has work published in many countries and has had many traveling exhibitions. He currently lives in Bristol in the west of England.

Shirley Novak

Shirley Novak is wild about poppies. She loves to paint them, to grow them and to share them with her fellow gardeners. Poppies and the other beautiful flowers she grows in her extensive gardens provide both inspiration and pleasure. An avid gardener since childhood, she says, "My love of flowers and color are the passions that drove me to become a painter."

Born and raised in California, Shirley feels her inner voice has called to her to paint for as long as she can remember. Her childhood passions were growing, drawing and painting flowers. She majored in art and took many workshops and classes over the years, eventually turning her attention to painting full-time under the tutelage of her mentor, Len Chmiel.

Shirley paints in oils using a wet-on-wet technique. She paints "en plein air" whenever possible either in her garden or on location when she travels. "What I try to do with paint is recreate the joy I experience in my subjects - the flowers I grow and the wildflowers in the mountain meadows", says Shirley. When not out of doors, she paints in her Colorado studio overlooking the San Juan Mountains or in her summer studio, aptly named "Poppy Cottage."

Shirley shares a passion for painting with her husband, landscape and wildlife artist Ralph Oberg. Her works are exhibited at many fine galleries.

James O'Mara

Photographic artist James O'Mara began his career as a sculptor and painter. He received national recognition through several one man and group shows across Canada including the Waddington Galleries of Montreal, The University of Victoria, The University of British Columbia, The Vancouver Art Gallery and The National Gallery of Canada.

Working as travel, fashion and portrait photographer, James's images appear in publications throughout the world including Vogue, Duomo, Billboard, International Wine & Spirits, Mirabella, Elle and The Globe & Mail. International clients in Europe, the United States, Canada and Asia include Levi Strauss & Co., A&M Records, Enoteca Italian, RCA Records, HCL Kaspar Roth, Northwestern Aircraft and Warner Records. He has received many international creative honors including the New York Art Directors Award, Print Annual Advertising Award, the Award of Excellence for Design from Communication Arts and Graphis.

His personal photographic expression, represented through one-man shows, includes "City of Naples and The Region of Campania, Italy Photographic Essays," shown at Buschlen Mowatt Gallery in Vancouver, Canada, June 20 - July 4, 1995 and "Italian Wine Landscapes", shown at the Fortezza Medicea in Siena, Italy, June 10 - July 15, 1994. On June 8th, 1998 James participated in a group exhibition entitled "Montalcino e la Val D'Orcia" at the Guild Hall in London, England. James is represented through his own company, O'Mara & Ryan.

Doug Oliver

The great masters of classical music play a significant role in the paintings of Doug Oliver, a nationally recognized landscape artist. "My parents were classically trained musicians and introduced me to classical music concerts as a child. While sitting in a concert hall at age nine, I'd look up at the darkened dome ceiling and fantasize about the sky and clouds, and about soaring through the heavens. All this of course was accompanied by the music of Brahms, Mozart and Rachmaninoff."

Few artists are better able to appreciate the connection between fine music and the visual arts than Oliver, who would later realize that hearing a grand symphony could actually help him in creating a grand landscape on canvas. And, much as composers write symphonic tone poems in their work, he has endeavored to create the same sort of variations visually so that an observer may find new things in a painting long after seeing it for the first time.

Oliver was born in Ohio in 1942 and moved to California with his family in 1954. He attended the prestigious Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and received his BFA degree there. Afterwards, he began a career in art education, teaching at a local high school and community college. He earned his MA degree from the University of Redlands, California, but he soon left teaching to pursue his dream of devoting all his energies to painting.

With young children at home and the security of a tenured teaching position now gone, Oliver began a mid-life career change with some trepidation. In less than a year, however, he found his artwork for sale in several California fine art galleries. Today, premier art galleries in art centers throughout the country purvey his dramatic landscapes.

Oliver's works can be found in art galleries throughout the West and are distributed worldwide. Corporate and public collections including his landscapes are the Bank of America, Columbia Studios, TRW, Toyota Motors of America, and several municipalities outside of Los Angeles where he continues to maintain his home and studio. He and his wife have two adult sons, and his wife is the owner of a custom framing gallery.

Says Doug Oliver: "I really didn't choose to be an artist, I guess. I think that art chose me. There are a lot of things I can't do, but I can communicate with people visually a lot better than most. And because I believe that talent is God-given, and because I've developed my talent as much as I can through academic and fine art studies, I've committed myself to doing the best I can. I just want people to be able to see the landscape around them and appreciate it every day. We all need to be reminded of beauty sometimes. I guess my role in life is to remind people to really see their environment a little better, not in a political sense, but in the sense of truly appreciating it. I'd like people to be able to 'hear' the color and 'feel' the grandeur of music in my landscape."

Scott Olson

Artist Scott Olson was born in America in 1967. He studied at the Moorhead State University in Minnesota and later at the University of Wisconsin. Olson's work consists of delicate portrayals of flowers and houses, which are made distinctive by lively splashes of reds and blues. He exhibits his work widely, one of his latest exhibitions being at the International Art Fair in Toronto. His work is held in numerous collections in the USA, spanning The Bank of America in Chicago and Art Museums in Washington and Minnesota.

Nancy Pallan

Nancy Pallan began painting and drawing at an early age when her father, a professional photographer and artist, encouraged her abilities. She received private instruction and later earned her degree in art education. Although she practiced numerous techniques and media, it is her detailed, realistic wildlife and botanical watercolors that are so popular.

Nancy finds ample subject matter in her native northwestern Pennsylvania. Nearly 350 species of birds migrate here and numerous wildflowers populate the local creek beds. Each painting begins with a freehand pencil sketch. Then with single hair-like brushstrokes, Nancy creates the detailed textures required for feather vermiculation or leaf and petal veining.

When painting birds, Nancy starts with the eyes and head. If she feels the bird's face does not capture enough character or personality, she does not complete the work. She gives her paintings intensity and depth with layers of light to dark color. Often, her paintings require several hundred hours of work as this intricate technique offers no shortcuts. Nancy's beautiful results make her hard work well worth the effort.

Qiqun Pan

Born in Changzhou, China in 1952, Pan had a natural talent for art. After many years of envisioning himself in a career as a full time artist, he saw his dream realized when he emigrated to the United States in 1982 to study art at the West Los Angeles College. Upon completion of his courses, he continued his studies at the Otis and Parsons Institute of Art and Design.

Pan graduated in 1988 and immediately gained recognition and representation by several reputable galleries in Beverly Hills, California. He has participated in numerous exhibitions throughout the world and his abstract paintings are part of some prestigious private collections, including Bill Gates of Microsoft, NASA, Chase Manhattan, Sears Corporation, and many others. Pan resides in Los Angeles with his family.

Paul Panossian

Paul Arthur Panossian was classically trained in the methods and techniques of the Old Masters. Inspired by the Renaissance period, his artwork is characterized by clarity of form, use of color, subtle detailing and unified schemes of interior design. Raised in Southern California, Paul was recognized to have artistic talent as early as age 5. A family trip to Italy became his earliest art influence; and many years of private instruction and worldwide travel inspired him to carry on the traditions and imagery found in art forms dating back to antiquity. He mentored under professional artists from the age of 5, and later earned a B.A. from California State University Northridge.

Paul spends a significant portion of his day creating art. Says the artist, "Like a musician who regularly practices his instrument, I believe it is vital to continually put paint to canvas." A unique interpretation of classical decorative art, Paul's work has merged adaptations of both Etruscan and Rococo motifs into delicate works of art. His artwork has been painted on canvas, walls, ceilings and custom made panels, textured to have the same surface appearance as Old Italian frescoes.

Paul Panossian's patrons include Caesar's Palace Las Vegas, the Royal family of Saudi Arabia, Nordstrom, Paula Abdul, Alex Trebek and Kathy Ireland. Having been represented by many of the foremost international design firms including Wilson & Associates, Robertson-Walker & Lloyd, and James Northcutt Associates, his artwork is now found in many private and commercial spaces.

Norman Parkinson

Norman Parkinson, the quintessential Englishman, began his career photographing debutantes and their mothers in 1935. During the Second World War he worked for the Ministry of Air providing photographs for leaflets dropped in occupied Europe. Parkinson took his first work with British "Vogue" in 1942, beginning an association which lasted until 1978.

In 1947 he met and married model Wenda Rogerson and made the first of what were to become annual trips to New York, photographing for American "Vogue". Interested in capturing the essence of real life in his fashion images Parkinson was one of the first photographers to shoot on location.

In a long, distinguished career he photographed the most celebrated men and women for the most illustrious fashion and society periodicals with humor and joie de vivre.

John Parrish

J.D. Parrish was born John David Parrish at Lone Pine, California on January 22, 1956. His name was geared specifically to be nicknamed by his initials, and he has been J.D. all his life. Parrish's childhood was nomadic; his family averaging one move a year. At the age of 15 he moved to Western Samoa in the South Pacific where he attended high school. His Samoan school did not have art classes and his first exposure to the art world came in college where he fell in love with the Old Masters and the Classical paintings of the 19th century. Parrish devoted most his studies to the figure and believes that any emotion can be communicated and evoked through the expressions and articulations of the human form.

In 1983, Parrish attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California and majored in Illustration. With the intense training he received there he was able to work with a wide variety of mediums and techniques. The principles of communication and form he practiced and learned at the Art Center have proven invaluable to my work. After graduation in 1986, Parrish went to work as an illustrator in the Los Angeles area until 1988, when he moved to Arizona.

Currently Parrish teaches illustration, drawing and painting at an Arizona college, and continues to paint and work as an artist. Some of his clients include Touchstone; Paramount Pictures; Universal Studios; Warner Brothers; Disney Studios; CBS Television; Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus; Marriott Inns; Red Lion Inns; Double Inns; America West; Honeywell Corporation; and Swensens.

Maxfield Parrish

With his unique luminescent palette, fantastic and romanticized imagery and compositions which fused photorealism, classical references and a system of complete spatial balance, Maxfield Parrish is one of America's most celebrated illustrators.

Born Frederick Parrish in Philadelphia, his father, distinguished American etcher Stephen Parrish, significantly influenced Parrish's work. During an 1883 trip to Europe, the young Parrish caught typhoid and, during his long recuperation, his father taught him to draw. Inspired to become an artist, Parrish was drawn to the meticulous egg tempera technique of the Old Masters and romantic subjects of the Pre- Raphaelites, both of which shaped his vision and technique which eventually combined naturalism, romanticism and pure fantasy.

During study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art and exposure to master illustrator Howard Pyle at the Drexel Institute Parrish expanded his knowledge from intuitive to professional illustrator. Painting historic and romanticized subjects, he often used his wife, Lydia Austin, and later companion Susan Lewin as his costumed models. Using photography to plan his oils on canvas, he employed the precisely measured proportional format of Dynamic Symmetry, a design principle used all his life.

With his first paid commission a mural of Old King Cole in 1894, Parrish was discovered nationally and produced his first magazine cover for Harper's Bazaar in 1895 which led to commissions for more than 25 magazines over the course of the next 40 years including Harper's, Colliers, Scribners, Century magazines and myriad classic book illustrations, culminating in The Knave of Hearts in 1925. Also in demand as an advertising illustrator, Parrish produced many signature images and, between 1918 and 1934, produced annual images for Edison Mazda's calendar which brought him into nearly every American home. Ever the "businessman with the brush," from 1920 through the early 1960s, Parrish's work was widely distributed in millions of prints, calendars and greeting cards.

Although for 65 years was one of the best known and successful artists of his time, Parrish's romantic images seemed passé with the Depression of the 30s. The artist turned exclusively to landscape painting at that time, living and working at "The Oaks" in the artistic and intellectual community of Cornish, New Hampshire, moving there in 1898 and where he passed away 10 days after a major retrospective of his work in 1966.

Chris Paschke

Chris Paschke is an accomplished artist and calligraphic designer. Having grown up in California, she currently resides in Connecticut, en route to another destination and adventure yet unknown. "Art has always been my passion since I was old enough to color, and it has been joined by my endurance Arabian horse and, for the past 21 years, my son."

Her fascination for calligraphy and pen-written letterforms began in college and has been a lifelong study. At first intrigued by western lettering and historic alphabets, her work was Oset free' when she studied with European masters from Germany, Austria, Russia, and Asia, and was Ogiven permission' to stretch the rules surrounding conventional calligraphic approaches. Her comfort with the Sumi brush inspired her to study with additional Asian masters. Calligraphy has brought her "lovingly into the world of passive, peaceful Zen concepts, and the minimalist simplicity of an Asian artist."

Chris hopes to embark on the next level of artistic introspection and understanding when she tours and studies with calligraphy masters in China during August and September 2000. Her original works, often called Asian abstract expressionism, are collages of color, texture, and Zen thought. The beautiful and delicate minimalism of her art will only benefit from this new adventure and study.

"I have spent my entire life drawing, sketching, painting, lettering, and framing. I've trained to make paper, grind ink, build brushes, cut quills, and frame finished products. I have created logos, designed certificates, and created large original abstract paintings for corporate collections. However, my heart lies with brush in hand, the essence of Zen thought in mind, and the depth of my imagination to put it all together."

Dale Payson

A long-time New Yorker, Dale Payson attended the School of Visual Arts over a ten year span in the 1960's. She returned as an instructor in the early 1980's before moving on to freelance work in display design and book illustration; her work is found in more than twenty-five children's books. Ms. Payson's paintings have been exhibited in a number of galleries, from the 1980's to the present day. Corporate collectors include Nabisco and the University of Minnesota. Her images are delicate in color and composition, with a softness that reflects their natural subject matter.

Bessie Pease

Bessie Pease was born on April 8, 1876 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She showed artistic promise at an early age, and began formal training at the prestigious Philadelphia School of Design for Women, now known as the Moore College of Art. By 1896, Pease was among the first students of the New York School of Art and worked with American Impressionist William Merritt Chase. His influence affected her mastering effects of light and shadow that highlight much of her art.

Pease enrolled in the famous Art Students League of New York, which was loosely patterned after European counterparts in Paris. Emerging from school with her own recognizable style, Bessie Pease joined the ranks of commercial free-lance artists during what was known as the "Golden Age of Illustration." Advancements in the printing processes of the era, such as halftone reproduction and four-color printing, meant the demand for work was great.

As a reflection of America's Industrial Revolution and westward expansion, demand for "traditional" family values- home, motherhood, family, became popular in periodicals and publications of the day to counterbalance fears of radical social change. However, her work had universal appeal and was sold in Europe, Japan, and Africa in formats of books, magazines, calendars, and postcards. Having no reservations about doing commercial artwork, she did feel that "there's no reason why a picture print or a drawing or a painting for an advertisement shouldn't be as beautiful and artistic as a bit of art 'for art's sake.'"

Bessie Pease is best known for luminescent figural work with emphasis on the subject- infant, child, bride, cherub set against a muted and simple background. Experiments with watercolor over charcoal create a three-dimensional sculptural feel as well as warmth and "flesh and blood" quality to her subjects that enable the viewer to relate. Widespread appeal to her work transcends time, gender, and lifestyle, and her work continues to be reproduced and cherished.

Christina Perez

As the descendent of an artist, teacher, and founder of an art school (her great-grandfather), Christina Perez comes by her gifts quite naturally. She considers herself to be a reflexive and intuitive artist more at ease on the canvas than with language. Drawn to the vitality of colors and the transformative nature of art, Perez views her work as an exploration of the nature of relationships.

She was born in Rubi, Barcelona, Spain.

Katie Pertiet

"Taking old art and making it new and fresh again is very rewarding," says Baltimore artist Katie Pertiet.

Katie found the imagery and inspiration for her first vintage collages on the pages of antique books given to her by her father. Since then she has added to her library and enjoys scouring the bookshelves of antique stores wherever she goes.

Born in New York City, Katie now resides in Baltimore with her husband and daughter. Her home studio is a mix of old and new, just like her art. Her vintage book library and paints and brushes occupy the same space as her prized Macintosh computer. Using both digital and traditional art techniques, Katie blends patterns, colors, textures and antique engravings to create something new. "The style of 19th century artists speaks to me because it is classic and traditional," she says.

For over 20 years Katie has worked as a professional graphic designer. She creates products for scrapbooking companies and is a sought-after consultant for a variety of digital and design businesses. All of these endeavors complement and influence the artwork she makes.

Celeste Peters

Celeste Peters was born in February 1970 in Conyers, Georgia, and was raised in the South where she began painting at a very early age. After earning her Bachelors Degree in Fine Art, Photography and Art History from the University of Georgia, her lifelong dream of travel throughout Europe was realized. Two years after her departure for Europe, Celeste returned to Atlanta to begin her painting career.

Artistically, I was greatly influenced by my post college travels, which required a great deal of hard work, planning and saving. As much as I enjoyed this 'hiatus' from the responsibilities awaiting me at home, I was excited about returning to the States to begin a career that I knew would be soulfully rewarding.

The artist's work evokes decorative elegance and style. The resulting image is a stunning fusion of texture or color. Peters' unique blending techniques result in a soft image that carries the viewer's eye along colorful fruits, and simple but elegant floral arrangements.

Ron Peters

Raised in Arcadia, California, Ron Peters remembers drawing to be the most important thing to him during his early childhood. From first grade through sixth grade, he would spend his time drawing and not paying attention to the teachers. The thing Peters loves most about art is the freedom of expression that it allows. He has always been an artist, but it wasn't until the age of 40 that he took on the challenge of actually marketing his work.

Peters works best in the morning and evening, and sometimes when it's overcast and rainy and the sun is not beckoning him outdoors instead. He does not burden his work with any complex analysis or high-flown commentary; he simply feels that his work communicates a sense of peace and relaxation to the viewer.

Peters received a B.S. from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California; and an M.A. from California State, Long Beach. His work has been exhibited at the Los Angeles Art Expo and the La Quinta Art Festival.

Peter Pettegrew

"My paintings are drawn from the ordinary landscapes we all pass by every day...scenes from the busy highways and roads that carry us to our destinations...beauty we seldom take the time to notice or appreciate. Painting is more than just creative expression for me. It fulfills a spiritual need in a way that nothing else can. Through painting I share my love of nature with others and hopefully help to preserve her beauty as well too."

Peter moved from the Midwest to Monterey Bay at the age of eight, where he became an avid surfer and ocean enthusiast. A passion for surfing, the beauty of the ocean and the freedom of the waves were the catalyst that motivated Peter to paint. Classroom doodles symbolized the sights and sensations of ocean landscapes that soon gave way to serious efforts to recreate his love through painting. The means became an end in itself. The spiritual threads of beauty and freedom were the unifying link.

Peter's formal art training began when he qualified for admission to Harbor Senior High in Santa Cruz, California, a progressive school dedicated to advancing the development of artistic skills and creative freedom. This is where he first experienced graphic art techniques and was introduced to serigraphy. At the age of sixteen, Peter relocated with his family to Florida. He discovered diverse new panoramas that inspired the refinement of his painting and brought a seasoned maturity to his work. He then attended the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, where he perfected his graphic art techniques that he now employs in producing hand-pulled serigraphs and originals. He recently produced a suite of four hand-drawn, hand-pulled stone lithographs.

Peter has a national clientele of private, corporate and gallery collections that actively acquire his paintings. In 1990, He was commissioned by the Orlando Chamber of Commerce to create the official watercolor representation of Downtown Orlando. His painting of Lake Eola and the surrounding area was made into a limited edition print. Peter is equally accomplished in watercolor, oil and alkyd. He allows the unique qualities of each charcoal landscape to determine the medium. He is strongly influenced by the plein-air painters of the last century.

Today, Peter is creating paintings from his travels and explorations. In January 1996, he was commissioned to produce a large canvas for Florida River Wilderness. He spent two days roaming the backwaters with a guide photographing and sketching for the ideal combination of scenes. In 1995 he spent two weeks in Montana hiking and canoeing through the mountains and lakes to gain access for his paintings. In 1999 he traveled to France, gleaning images for his luminescent landscapes. He often works directly on location, filling his canvases with intense, accurate lighting of joyful grace. Peter lives in this world driven by the light and mood of sunrise and sunset. Indeed, his paintings almost implore he be known as a naturalist plein-air painter; yet his pure impressionist influence from childhood shapes the essence of his paintings. He allows the unique experience of each landscape to determine the expression of the painting. This comes from his frequent travels into the wilderness. On these expeditions, Peter becomes intertwined with his subject. Nothing is contrived. "The earth shows me her beauty and I continue her expression."

Marcus Pfister

Marcus Pfister was born in Berne, Switzerland where he trained as a graphic artist and designer. He began his career working for an advertising agency in Zurich. After traveling around Canada and Mexico, he returned to Switzerland and worked as a freelance graphic artist. Much of his writing is done in his spare time, but he has still managed to write and illustrate a number of award-winning children's books featuring his much loved creations Penguin Pete and his family, Hopper the rabbit, Dazzle the dinosaur and the Rainbow Fish. Pfister is also an accomplished sculptor and photographer.

Camille Pissarro

Camille Pissarro was born in the Dutch West Indies to a Jewish father and a Creole mother. Despite the insistence of his father, Pissarro refused to make his career in commerce and left for Paris in 1855 where he entered the Academy Suisse. Initially, he was trained in a conservative style, but by the early 1870s, rejected this training and joined the Impressionist painters.

Of all the Impressionists, Pissarro was unique in his avoidance of river and seascapes, choosing instead to re-create the beauty of the land and cityscape, both structure and activity. He had the ability, like Monet, to capture a specific scene at a particular moment.

In 1885, Pissarro joined the Divisionists, adopting a loosely pointillist technique. He soon abandoned this technique, however, and returned to Impressionistic ideas.

Kiku Poch

Kiku Poch was born in Barcelona on September 18th, 1963 as the son of two painters; Poch Romeu, a landscape artist of international fame, and still life artist, Josefina Ripoll.

With two artists for parents, Kiku Poch grew up surrounded by art. His own interest in fine art was manifested at a very early age, when he would draw with colored pencils, wax and crayons. At age 16, Kiku's father (who before becoming a painter was a publicist), taught him the trade of graphic artist and instilled in him the knowledge of drawing, perspective, color, airbrush, watercolor, etc.

Later on, Kiku formed part of a team of artists at a prestigious advertising agency in Barcelona, where for a period of eight years, he worked as a graphic designer. Thanks to his creativity and skilled technique, his work was highly regarded in the advertising sector.

In 1993, when the agency where Kiku worked closed due to a general crisis of the times, K. Poch began painting with oils, which are according to him, the most "noble" medium of painting. Until this time, Kiku had never dared to work with oils, but now he had the time needed to experiment, and experiment he did.

Kiku sold the third painting that he ever did and thus