What is the best thing about being an artist? Cynthia Inson: The best thing about being an artist is the journey of learning, analysis, decision making and discovery that I so enjoy as I create. All these things truly fuel and run my engine.
Painting is much like writing to me. Instead of words I am using paint, color, brushstroke, lines, form to develop the story and create an impression of mood, light, distance, and three-dimensionality on a two-dimensional surface and space.
My goal, as an artist, is to captivate the viewer, to convince them to feel that sense of awe and joy that I felt seeing the sky that I painted or the mountains, roses, water, whatever. The goal is to stop them in their tracks and for them to respond and enjoy the impression the painting evokes.
The added challenge, for me as an artist, is also to create paintings that continue to draw the viewer in, to visually wander, to see parts or the whole of the painting differently over time. This worthy challenge also continues to fuel my growth as an artist.
Cynthia is represented by the Nedra Matteucci Galleries, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 505-982-4631
Brafa, Europe’s longest-running art fair, is celebrating its 70th anniversary. Its halls will feature approximately 130 galleries from across Europe offering works ranging from African art, Old Master paintings, and contemporary to antique and design furniture, metalwork, carpets, books, and jewelry. Free tours will be conducted in English regularly.
Belgium’s Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage will host a space inside the fair where, twice each day, its conservators will demonstrate their scientific techniques and findings during interactive workshops.
“Diana Venatrix, Roman,” 2nd century AD, marble, 40 1/2 x 17 3/4 x 10 1/4 in., Galleria Valerio Turchi (Rome)
Details: Brafa Art Fair
Brussels, Belgium
January 26–February 2, 2025 www.brafa.art/en
TIMOTHY J. CLARK (b. 1951), "Mexican Bicycle," 2018–20, watercolor on paper, 30 x 22 in., available through the artist
Watercolors on View: “Timothy J. Clark: Here & Abroad”
Hilbert Museum of California Art
Orange, California chapman.edu/arts
Through April 17, 2025
Best known for his sparkling watercolors, Timothy J. Clark is the subject of a solo exhibition at Chapman University’s Hilbert Museum of California Art. Titled “Here & Abroad,” it highlights his interiors, urban landscapes, and portraits, created near home and around the world. The project has been co-curated by Hilbert director Mary Platt and independent scholar Marcus B. Burke.
Clark’s is a California success story. Born in Santa Ana and now based 30 miles away in Capistrano Beach, he was hooked on art from his first class. He found teachers who helped him look at art from traditional and modernist perspectives: at 18, he entered Los Angeles’s Art Center College of Design, and later the Chouinard Art Institute shortly before it merged into what is now CalArts. Clark capped his education with an M.F.A. at California State University, Long Beach.
At age 13, working as a delivery boy for a pharmacy, Clark delivered prescriptions by bicycle to culturally diverse neighborhoods — and he loved it. His forays into the barrios have endured, and his respect for Hispanic culture (plus his reasonable skill in speaking Spanish) have opened doors that enabled him to savor their customs.
In 1970, Clark and his mentor in drawing, Jess Rubio, went to Guaymas, Mexico, to experience the Mardi Gras-type celebration Quema de Malhumor (Burn Your Pet Peeves). They wound up getting arrested on a specious charge, but when they created drawings of every jail guard and the police chief, they were freed. “My ability to focus intently on the drawing grew more in those few hours than in years of training,” Clark recalls.
Clark has brought his brush and easel to many places, including Mexico, South America, the Iberian Peninsula and Europe, India, Southeast Asia, and throughout the U.S. Co-curator Marcus Burke notes, “Prominent in these travels are the Hispanic locations, which have reinforced his experience from childhood… Instead of seeking only the exotic and the picturesque, he seeks to affirm a sense of common cultural values. [He is] a traveler artist in total command of an artistic medium made to travel.”
As part of our effort to continue to help artists and art galleries thrive, we’re proud to bring you this week’s “Virtual Gallery Walk.” Browse the artwork below and click the image itself to learn more about it, including how to contact the gallery.
Want to see your gallery featured in an upcoming Virtual Gallery Walk? Contact us at [email protected] to advertise today. Don’t delay, as spaces are first come, first served, and availability is limited.
JONATHAN NOON (b. 1985), "Dying of the Light," 2024, oil on ACM, 20 x 30 in.
Visit Scottsdale, Arizona now through March 13 to check out the state’s longest-running art show and an annual juried art show and sale highlighting artworks by top students and alumni.
Celebration of Fine Art
Through March 30, 2025
JONATHAN NOON (b. 1985), “Dying of the Light,” 2024, oil on ACM, 20 x 30 in.
Now entering its 35th year, Celebration of Fine Art is Arizona’s longest-running art show. It brings together 100 artists from across America, all invited to spend 10 weeks creating pieces in front of visitors. Their works range widely in both aesthetics and media, from realist to abstract, Western to modern, and everything in between.
Guests are invited to ask questions as the artists work, and these encounters are complemented by Art Discovery discussions every Friday during which visitors learn about the processes, adventures, and techniques that shape the art. Everyone is welcome to explore the one-acre sculpture garden, which features nearly 100 pieces, and to enjoy meals and wine in the cafe on site.
In 1991, inspired by California’s Laguna Beach Festival of Arts, Tom and Ann Mor-row collaborated with Scottsdale officials and the community to open CFA’s “big white tents” for the first time. Now encompassing 40,000 square feet of covered space, the event is carried on by Tom’s daughter Susan Morrow Potje and her husband, Jake Potje. She notes that, since last year’s show, CFA has moved just 200 yards south of its previous location, though the entrance and layout remain the same. She is particularly excited about a few welcome updates inside and in the sculpture garden.
Scottsdale Artists’ School: “Best & Brightest”
February 8 – March 13, 2025
TAYLOR CORREA (b. 1993), “Descanso Roses,” 2023, oil on linen, 10 x 8 in., Best of Show in the 2024 Best & Brightest
Now in its 41st year, the Scottsdale Artists’ School is set to present “Best & Brightest,” the annual juried art show and sale highlighting artworks created by its top students and alumni living around the world. All artists who have taken a workshop, program, or online class through the school since 2019 were invited to submit their works for consideration.
The official reception and awards announcement ceremony is set for February 13. First and second place awards will be presented in each of six categories: drawing, oil painting, pastel, water media, sculpture, and small work.
The school’s executive director, Trudy Hays, is quick to praise the “professional quality of Scottsdale Artists’ School students” and laughs that she does “not envy the team assembled to jury the pieces, because they have a difficult assignment.”
Frank Eber, "California Rolling Hills," watercolor, 11 x 21 in.
Happening Now: Watercolor Live – Art Auction and Online Conference
For artists, art lovers, and collectors: Watch and interact with world-renowned artists as they demonstrate their skills at Watercolor Live now through Friday. Included is an exclusive faculty art auction (live January 20-26).
On the popular Essential Techniques Day earlier this week, Publisher Eric Rhoads and Editor-in-Chief Kelly Kane welcomed us with encouragement and everything we needed to know to have a great week at Watercolor Live.
Artists from all over the world are together online through January 26th to learn, grow, be inspired, make friends, network, and – dare we say it – have fun!
Tim Oliver, “Jennifer at the Mill Pond,” watercolor, 14 x 10 in.
Watch and interact with watercolor teachers such as Thomas Schaller, Alvaro Castagnet, Bjorn Bernstrom, Xi Guo, David Stickel, Kelly Eddington, Shelley Prior, and many more, hosted by Publisher Eric Rhoads and PleinAir Magazine and American Watercolor Weekly Editor-in-Chief Kelly Kane.
It’s not too late to join us at WatercolorLive.com now, and replays of the event are available. See you there!
Artists: We want to help you grow, become a better artist, learn new ideas and techniques, and give you some world-class painting instruction from master artists — all while introducing you to a community that will support you!
Paul Raphael Meltsner, "R.F.D. 36," oil on canvas. Estimate $4,000 to $6,000.
The current Swann Galleries auction is dedicated to the Artists of the WPA. Works in photography, cartography, printmaking, posters, and painting are all represented in this reflection on how the early twentieth century changed American culture.
More from the organizers:
The economic hardships of the 1930s, as well as the drought across the North American prairie, were of great concern to lawmakers in Washington, DC. The agencies that formed as part of the New Deal, an “alphabet soup” that included the Works Progress Administration, the Farm Security Administration, and the Federal Art Project, put artists to work. These artists expressed empathy for the American farmer, as seen in Thomas Hart Benton’s romanticized vision of farm life in Missouri Farmyard, and Dorothea Lange’s tender documentation of the plight of families experiencing the Dust Bowl era.
Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975), “Missouri Farmyard,” lithograph, 1936, 255×405 mm; 10×16 inches, full margins. Edition of 250. Signed in pencil, lower right. Published by Associated American Artists, New York. Fath 10.
The sale is a timed online auction that will begin closing on Thursday, January 30, 2025 at 12 PM EST. Bidding is available on the Swann Galleries App and on live.swanngalleries.com. Exhibition hours are 12 pm to 5 pm on Saturday, January 25, and Monday, January 27 through Wednesday, January 29.
Paintings and original works are represented by Philip Howard Evergood’s oil-on-panel Great Neck Landscape, circa 1935 ($1,200-1,800); August Mosca’s Portrait of Joseph Stella, oil on canvas, 1944 ($1,000-1,500); Cecil Crosley Bell’s Horse Auction, New York, gouache on paper, 1937 ($1,500-2,500); Doris Emrick Lee’s Early Spring Landscape, oil on canvas ($3,000-5,000); and Paul Raphael Meltsner’s R.F.D. 36, oil on canvas ($4,000-6,000).
Cecil Crosley Bell (1906-1970), “Horse Auction, New York,” Gouache on paper, 1937. 432×560 mm; 17×22 inches. Signed, C. Bell, and dated, 37, lower right.
Prints featured in the sale include Thomas Hart Benton’s Missouri Farmyard, lithograph, 1936 ($2,000-3,000); Louis Schanker’s Jai-Alai, color woodcut, 1939 ($1,000-1,500); Peggy Brook Bacon’s The Artist, (Alexander Brook), charcoal, circa 1925 ($1,000-1,500); and Katherine Milhous’s Visit Pennsylvania / Pre-Revolutionary Costumes, lithograph poster, circa 1936 ($1,000-1,500).
Attention Art Collectors! May 20-22, 2025: Visit the Plein Air Convention & Expo’s robust pop-up art gallery at the Nugget Casino Resort in Reno, Nevada, where hundreds of artists, including our master faculty, will have studio and plein air works on display and ready to purchase. Register for the full event at PleinAirConvention.com now.
The Winter Show in NYC, a benefit for East Side House, announces its highlights, including over 70 exhibitors of rare and exceptional art and antiques, taking place January 24 through February 2, 2025.
Opening night from The Winter Show (2024)
More from the organizers:
With dealers from across the Americas and Europe, the 2025 edition of The Winter Show will once again showcase the finest museum-quality works to an international audience of collectors, connoisseurs, and enthusiasts, alongside an acclaimed program of talks, panels, and events with leading experts in art, antiques, and design.
All ticket proceeds from the fair and its benefit events, including the Opening Night Party on January 23, sponsored by Bank of America, and Young Collectors Night on January 30, directly fund East Side House Settlement. Chubb returns as The Winter Show’s presenting sponsor, celebrating 29 years of partnership and support.
Executive Director Helen Allen said, “With every edition of The Winter Show, we look forward to sharing the world-class works our dealers bring to the fair. This year, we are particularly pleased with the exciting range of works across periods, styles, cultures, and makers. We are proud to uphold our extremely high standards of excellence among our exhibitors, ensuring a selection of truly unique and remarkable works for collectors and fairgoers of every variety. As always, the experience will be enhanced by complementary programming featuring panels and lectures by experts across the fields of art and design.”
For more details about The Winter Show benefit for East Side House, please visit www.thewintershow.org.
As part of our effort to continue to help artists and art galleries thrive, we’re proud to bring you this week’s “Virtual Gallery Walk.” Browse the artwork below and click the image itself to learn more about it, including how to contact the gallery.
White & Red Bouquet, Laura Robb, oil, 10 x 12 in; Artzline
The Golden Hour, Albert Handell, oil, 36 x 48 in; Albert Handell
Want to see your gallery featured in an upcoming Virtual Gallery Walk? Contact us at [email protected] to advertise today. Don’t delay, as spaces are first come, first served, and availability is limited.
Stella Sassoon, “Gold Dress,” (c. 1942), Oil on Canvas, 24” X 18”, Courtesy of Tryon Fine Arts Center @tryonfineartscenter
Discover the rich Tryon NC artist colony history at the Earl Scruggs Center’s ‘Masters in the Mountains’ exhibition.
For a half-century before the Second World War, the small town of Tryon, North Carolina was a haven for a community of visual artists. From its founding in the late 1870s its population was cosmopolitan, a “country colony” for Northern intellectuals and creative people, especially for those from Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago.
January 21 through February 1, 2025, the Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby, NC, is hosting “Masters in the Mountains: Early Work from the Tryon Artist Colony.”
Amelia M Watson, “Screven Plantation Near Tryon,” c.1910, Watercolor on Board, 14.5” x 10”, Courtesy of Litchfield Carpenter & Washington Dender
More from the organizers:
When Amelia Watson from Connecticut arrived in Tryon in 1892, at the invitation of renowned actor William Gillette, the small town near Asheville, NC had already established a reputation as a welcoming environment for intellectuals looking for inspiration in nature. Watson would become the first in a long line of many serious artists that continued their craft when moving to the Western North Carolina mountains.
Elliott Daingerfield, “Study for Christ Stilling the Tempest,” (c. 1905), Pastel on Paper, 4.5” X 6”, Courtesy of Blowing Rock Art & History Museum @brmuseum
The community of Tryon was host to an eclectic community of artists, writers, locals, and even celebrities who were famous in the early half of the 20th century and still relevant today. F. Scott Fitzgerald would stay in Tryon when visiting his wife Zelda in the Asheville Sanitorium, leaving his daughter Scottie with famed actor and longtime Tryon resident “Lefty” Flynn. Nina Simone (born Eunice Waymon) studied classical piano for many years with Muriel Mazzanovich, wife of Impressionist painter Lawrence Mazzanovich. British actor David Niven playing a round of golf at the Tryon Country Club where Lady Nancy Astor was also known around the greens.
Gabrielle Clements, “Chestnut Hill,” Oil on Panel, 11” x 7”, (unknown date) Courtesy of Michael McCue
Zachary Dressel, Curator at the Earl Scruggs Center has developed this unique show from private and public collections with the assistance of Michael McCue and Cynthia Davis. Some of the artists included are George Aid, John Sylvan Brown, Stella Sassoon, Gabrielle Clements, Elliott Daingerfield, Alfred C Hockings, Lawrence Mazzanovich, and Amelia Watson.
Josephine Sibley Couper, “A Portrait,” Watercolor on Paper, 20” x 17.5” Courtesy of Litchfield Carpenter and Washington DenderJohn Sylvan Brown, “Tryon Peak,” Watercolor on board, 1944, 9” X 11.5”, courtesy of Cynthia Davis
Attention Art Collectors! May 20-22, 2025: Visit the Plein Air Convention & Expo’s robust pop-up art gallery at the Nugget Casino Resort in Reno, Nevada, where hundreds of artists, including our master faculty, will have studio and plein air works on display and ready to purchase. Register for the full event at PleinAirConvention.com now.
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