Mark White, “On the Road to Chama,” Acrylic Gesso on Canvas, 15 x 30 in.
Mark White: My first memory of painting and drawing en plein air was when I was eighteen years old. Now, fifty-five years later, I still prefer the spontaneous interaction with the constantly evolving world around us. For me, this combines the philosophy and science of existence with artistic expression. I strive to fill my work with real and implied movement and my creation process is serendipitous, following a line of experimentation without clinging to a known hypothesis.
Mark White, “Texture on the Trail,” Acrylic Gesso on Canvas, 20 x 20 in.Mark White, “Textures of New Mexico II,” Acrylic Gesso on Canvas plus Oil, 16 x 20 in.
How did you develop your unique style? Heather Arenas: When I was younger, I painted in watercolor and had a very tight, detailed style. When I picked up oils, my plan was to loosen up and get away from painting every hair correctly on the first try. Painting with oils is joyful and fun because I can focus on light and gesture without getting bogged down in details. It’s like I was given a license to lay the luscious paint on thickly and ‘painterly’ so that is what I do.
How do you describe success? Heather Arenas: I consider myself a successful artist because I am able to express myself freely with a brush and I know that there are people who understand what I’m doing and why. There is no better proof of this than when a painting finds a home in someone’s collection.
Heather Arenas, “The In Crowd”, oil on canvas mounted on dibond, 48 x 36 in, 2022Heather Arenas, “Making a Connection”, oil on canvas mounted on dibond, 36 x 48 in, 2022
JuliAnne Jonker’s solo exhibition “Alchemy” is the first solo exhibition at the new DAnthony Gallery in Wausau, Wisconsin. David Hummer, the gallery owner is also the Director of the Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art.
DAnthony Gallery
The exhibition will be showing at DAnthony Gallery through January 14, 2023. “Alchemy” is a collection of Jonker’s works in various media and alternative processes that she has been creating and experimenting with for almost three decades. The collection highlights ancient as well as contemporary methods used for painting, printmaking, and sculpture.
JuliAnne Jonker, “Galatea,” 12 x 16 in., oil on panel
“Encaustic, cold wax painting, gold and silver leaf, bromoil, etchings, image transfers, dark room techniques, and the lost wax method of sculpture are processes used to create my pieces in ‘Alchemy’,” Jonker said. “Using wax lends a sculptural quality, creating depth and texture while providing a soft matte patina. Layer by layer, wax and oil combined, building, then excavating, using an array of tools, I work in a rhythm, creating the history and depth that defines the texture of wax paintings.
JuliAnne Jonker, “Boy with a Silver Earring,” 12 x 18 in., Charcoal on Bristol board
“The chiaroscuro lighting imparts the mystique and intrigue I wish to convey. Combining classical and contemporary styles leads to a nuanced realism describing an obscured memory, leaving space for the viewer’s personal narrative. There is something about our spiritual connection as beings that moves and fascinates me. My intention is for my art to serve as a conduit, a visual language for our ability to see and be seen. I hope to impart into each collector’s art piece a glimpse of the beauty I see in all of creation.”
JuliAnne Jonker, “Season’s End,” 4 x 6 in., oil on ArtboardJuliAnne Jonker, “Even Tide,” 5 x 7 in., oil on Artboard
Jonker’s self-portrait appeared on the cover of Fine Art Connoisseur, November/December 2021:
JuliAnne Jonker (b. 1957), “In My Life” (detail), 2021, charcoal on board, 18 x 24 in., available through the artist
Steve Gerhartz: Sunlight of the Seasons
Lily Pad | West
Milwaukee lilypadgallery.com
December 2–January 15, 2023
Steve Gerhartz (b. 1971), “Birch,” 2019, oil on linen, 36 x 18 in.
Lily Pad | West is set to present an exhibition of recent landscape paintings by the Wisconsin artist Steve Gerhartz, many of them created in plein air. A dedicated observer of nature, he excels at capturing the unique look and mood of a locale at a specific hour, day, and season.
“Painting outside,” Gerhartz explains, “has been a great experience. I am constantly learning from nature and understanding what happens in certain lighting conditions. I paint on location in all sizes… There is nothing quite as emotional for me as working on a large painting outdoors, trying to capture all that form and space.”
Gerhartz’s creative efforts started when he was 14, during a November snow squall that he experienced with his brother, Dan, also a gifted artist. That episode inspired Steve’s first landscape painting, and he went on to study painting at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in Connecticut, a location that enabled him to inspect master landscape paintings up close in the Northeast’s leading museums.
Gerhartz appreciates equally the benefits art offers his viewers: “Paintings bring life and the beauty of nature into people’s homes, granting them an opportunity to escape into a place they may not normally have the chance to see, allowing for reflection, growth, and understanding.” This concern for viewers may help explain why Gerhartz hand-carves every frame, each of which perfectly complements the picture inside.
Alan Perlstein and Terry Hamann opened Lily Pad | West in 2015, naming it after the much-loved Lily Pad Gallery in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, which they had supported as collectors for more than 20 years.
> Visit EricRhoads.com to learn about more opportunities for artists and art collectors, including retreats, international art trips, art conventions, and more.
> Sign up to receive Fine Art Today, our free weekly e-newsletter
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.
Storybook Oak, Rani Garner oil, 36 x 48 in; Anderson Fine Art GalleryAll About the Grape, Stuart Dunkel, oil on panel, 5 x 7 in., Signed; Rehs ContemporaryCentral Park Bridge, D. Eleinne Basa, oil on canvas, 9 x 12 in., Signed; Rehs ContemporaryHollywood Haze, Nancie King Mertz, pastel, 11.75 x 9.50 in; Nancie King MertzChildren on the Grassland Jove Wang, 16 x 30 in., oil (creating sketch), 2022. LPAPA Gallery ‘Artist in Residence’ Solo Exhibition: Jove Wang The Great American West Nov. 3-28.Brave Wolf and the Medicine Hawk, Greg Overton, oil on canvas, 47 x 67 in; Trailside GalleriesSierra Crest, Jeremy Lipking , oil 6 ½ x 6 ¼ in.; ArtzLineFrizzy, Elizabeth Lewis Scott, Graphite, 9 x 9 in; Elizabeth Lewis ScottQuasar, Rick Reinert, oil and gold leaf on canvas, 48 x 48; Reinert Fine Art
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.
The following is part of a series featuring a leader in the art community who will be joining us on the faculty of Watercolor Live, a virtual art conference taking place January 26-28, 2023, with a Beginner’s Day on January 25.
Shelley Prior is a Canadian artist living in Ontario. She has been a full-time artist and instructor for the past 25+ years, teaching locally and internationally. Shelley has won multiple awards for her watercolors and her original works can be found in private collections around the world. She is an elected member of CSPWC and member of NWS, NFWS and IWS. Although her main focus is on watercolor, she also works in acrylic, oil and pencil.
The effect of light on a subject is the almost always the inspiration for her subjects, whether it’s a portrait, landscape, still life, flora, or fauna. Light is the life of the painting and Shelley creates this through the use of subtle glazes and rich shadows for a highly realistic result.
Watercolor by Shelley PriorWatercolor by Shelley PriorShelley Prior, “Heart of Gold”Shelley Prior, “Sweet Kitten”
Connect with Shelley Prior at Watercolor Live, which includes a faculty art auction!
When a painting showcases softness and light, it brings a wonderful sense of peace and calm to all who see it. This is exactly what artist Shelley Prior teaches in the PaintTube.tv course “Pet Portraits in Watercolor.” [learn more about how to paint with watercolor here]
How did you get started and then develop your career? Nadine Robbins: After growing frustrated with the graphic design business, I returned to my first love, painting portraits. Over two years, I decided to establish myself by creating a solo show of eight 6’x4′ paintings of couples I knew. The main goal was to explore and see if I still loved portraiture afterward. I did. To begin to market my art, I entered the Royal Portrait Society’s annual non-member exhibit and got in. The same happened the following year. I was smitten. Since then, I’ve received invaluable advice from professionals, gallery directors, mentors, and friends. I recently started painting more commissions while I begin work on a new large-scale project.
Nadine Robbins, “Wyatt,” oil on linen, 2021, 24 x 24 in. This is a portrait painting of my son when he realized he knew that microbiology was what his career would be courtesy of a fantastic college professor.Nadine Robbins, “Just Try and Stop Me,” oil on linen, 2022, 24 x 24 in. This is a portrait painting of a woman who was angry when her father wouldn’t financially support her business idea but supported her brother because he was a man.
David Kessler (b. 1950), "Surface Calligraphy," 2005, acrylic on abraded aluminum, 72 x 48 in., collection of Neil Jenney
New Britain Museum of American Art
New Britain, Connecticut nbmaa.org
Through January 1, 2023
In 2018, the New Britain Museum of American Art presented a retrospective devoted to the great realist painter Neil Jenney, who was born in 1945 only 30 miles away in the Connecticut town of Torrington. Now Jenney has returned to guest-curate an intriguing exhibition, “American Realism Today,” that encompasses more than 50 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper by 21 artists.
Among those represented are Leonard Dufresne, Kathleen Gilje, Susan Grayson, Tim Hoffman, Larry Kagan, David Kessler, Victor Leger, Robert Lobe, Joseph McNamara, James Prosek, Faith Ringgold, Sally Ross, Donald Sultan, Ky-young Sung, Alison Elizabeth Taylor, and Mercer Tullis — as well as Jenney himself.
In his introduction to the project, Jenney is quick to highlight the enormous impact on 20th-century realism made by Ivan Karp (1926–2012). After serving as the first art critic at The Village Voice and then as the Manhattan dealer Leo Castelli’s top lieutenant, in 1969 Karp founded his own influential gallery (O.K. Harris).
> Visit EricRhoads.com to learn about more opportunities for artists and art collectors, including retreats, international art trips, art conventions, and more.
> Sign up to receive Fine Art Today, our free weekly e-newsletter
Luis Azon, “Late Afternoon in Spain,” 52 x 52 in., oil
We’d like to congratulate Luis Azon for winning Overall First Place in the September 2022 PleinAir Salon, judged by William A. Suys.
“This painting allows me to be quietly lost in a space while I hear activity all around,” William said of ‘Late Afternoon in Spain.’ “I’m able to separate from viewing a surface to sensing a feeling of atmosphere while mentally passing in and among groups of people engaged in their individual worlds as they become part of a unified environment.”
“For those who are considering entering your work and would like a broader explanation of my basis for judging,” Bill added, “I’ll leave you with an excerpt of a little essay I added to an early self-portrait, entitled ‘Self-Thoughtrait’. Though basic, I believe the concept holds true:
“When a viewer encounters ‘craft’, you may view and appreciate the surface and shape, but the relationship goes no further. When you meet with ‘ART’ you break beyond the surface and become personally involved. Outstanding work—whether subjective or abstract, painting or sculpture—takes on a life and spirit of its own. The artist may have developed the piece based upon something seen every day or upon something purely abstract and esoteric, but because of profound concept and execution, the finished piece goes beyond its components of shape, color, and finish. The most successful work has the ability to compel the viewer into its environment and to touch their thought or emotions in a unique and timeless way, and the best work will stay fresh and compelling forever.
“But…because ‘ART’ is a two-part connection, success varies with each pair of participants. One viewer might feel transported by a romantic Fragonard, and wonder why Rothko wasted a perfectly good canvas, while another is moved by ‘Guernica’, but scoffs at ‘Gassed’.”
In the spirit of the French Salon created by the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, this annual online art competition, with 11 monthly cycles, leading to the annual Salon Grand Prize winners, is designed to stimulate artistic growth through competition. The competition rewards artists with over $33,000 in cash prizes and exposure of their work, with the winning painting featured on the cover of PleinAir Magazine.
Winners in each monthly competition may receive recognition and exposure through PleinAir Magazine’s print magazine, e-newsletters, websites, and social media. Winners of each competition will also be entered into the annual competition. The 12th Annual Awards will be presented live at the Plein Air Convention & Expo in May 2023.
The next round of the PleinAir Salon has begun so hurry, as this competition ends on the last day of the month. Enter your best art in the PleinAir Salon here.
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.
Ongaku, Joan Konkel, mixed medium, 36 x 60 x 2 in; Anderson Fine Art GalleryAuguries of Innocence III, Josh Tiessen, oil on birch, 8 x 8 in., framed dimensions: 12 x 12 in., Signed; Rehs ContemporaryBrass Pot with Mandarins, Todd M. Casey (Born 1979), oil on panel, 8 x 10 in., Signed; Rehs ContemporaryTable for Two, Nancie King Mertz, pastel, 17 x 13 in; Nancie King MertzCatalina Bisons in Spring, Jove Wang, oil, 26 x 38 in; LPAPA Gallery ‘Artist in Residence’ Solo Exhibition: Jove Wang The Great American West Nov. 3-28.Canyon Grandstand, Margaret Larlham, pastel, 18 x 24 in; Grand Canyon Conservancy Celeberation of Art; 2022 Best of Show award presented by Fine Art ConnoisseurReclining Nude, Robert Lemler, oil, 8 x 17 in.; ArtzLineOld California Back Country, Mark Fehlman, oil, 18 x 24 in; Mark Fehlman Fine ArtManu, Nanette Fluhr, oil on linen, 30 x 24 in; Nanette Fluhr Fine ArtKing & Horlbeck Alley, Rick Reinert, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 in; Reinert Fine Art
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.
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