Artists Describing Their Art:

Elizabeth Bogard - My art is about life. I Paint Life When Life Is Art, expressing what I see around me aEUR" people, places, moments in time - subjects I connect with on some level aEUR" intellectual, spiritual, or emotional. I find it better to let the subject come to me rather than deliberately seeking it. I believe that an artist must experiment in order to grow. Lately I am creating stylish collages using torn and cut papers from vintage and antique sheet music. As Pablo Picasso said, I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else. When this happens to me, the results are exciting. E. K. Bogard ...

David Mihaly - The first series here represents notable historical and pop culture figures, many with Ohio roots, presented in a contemporary style. Each portrait can be seen as a celebration of the individual depicted as well as a meditation on the difference between the bygone era of actual achievement in the arts versus todays culture of instant celebrity. Also included here is a series of textured jazz musician portraits. Each musician painting was made using a layered acrylic technique, evoking the smoky atmosphere of the clubs where the music was born....

Amycohen Banker - I work in a variety of mediums including oils,acrylics,watercolors,mixed,multimedia on visual,flash,canvas,paper,wood...all sizes...commissions,installations,portraits, theatre etc. inspired by fairytales,poetry,essays,opera,rock,travel etc. I have been resolving styles and finding my voice for over twenty years and have developed something that is part abstract expressionism and part photographic, maybe an eclectic style that coordinates and mediates. I love Matisse, Gris,Picasso,Miro, DeKooning,and modern art like Hesse, Bourgeoise,Gatten....

Elena Mary Siff - In the collages and assemblages I interpret the mystery, the humor and the threat of my dreams. By collecting and juxaposing bits of disparate material, I create my own order. The souvenirs of my travels have been a constant source of inspiration. I am fascinated with very small imagery and a great variety of materials and textures. All of this work is a form of narration, as I consider myself primarily a storyteller. "Everything can be used, but of course one doesn't know it at the time. How does one know what a certain object will tell another/" Joseph Cornell That unpredictable dialogue is the basis of my method and my faith. Elena Mary Siff ...

Michael Pickett - We all have wonderful talents to bring to the World of art as artist. Your unique style and ambitions are greatly respected. We are empowered by the inspiration of our souls, inspired by the beauty of the world around us, and, in our way, changing the world. My goal as an artist is to make a difference in the world of art. I am color-blind and I have dyslexia. Having overcome many obstacles in my life then sharing my findings to those I run across. I am painfully shy when it comes to promoting myself to different galleries and organizations and that's why I've created my own portfolio web site. (www.pickettonline.com) Competition in the world of art is so high that good artist will eventually give up, not knowing that in there own way, they really are making a difference, Maybe not in the world, but in the local community or their family and friends. ...

Michael Pickett - Daniel Johnson - The geological formations of Arizona, and the relationship the local people have with this piece of earth moved me to focus on ceramic stoneware forms that relate human attributes to stone, and earthen aspects to humans. There I began to incorporate hand building with clay, statue restoration trade secrets, metal, and the use of resins to achieve his high-fired stoneware creations, which range in size from small to heights of ten feet or more. My art is heavily figurative and illustrates 'the distorted realism of the human condition'. They transmit human qualities from compassion and understanding, to degradation and despair. Confronting the gambit of human emotional states and physical conditions, I try to relate my observations honestly. Sometimes it is beautiful, sometimes it is not, but life is not always pretty. I look for simple truths to illustrate that may not be seen by all. I continue to be inspired by observing individuals and their interactions with each other, society and the earth. ...

John Jahni Moore - Art is my gypsy woman. Our imagery is an ever-present struggle to unite the finite and the infinite. I am dedicated fully to the intuitive mission of inspiring the imagination as something very much real, possessing the ability to alter circumstances. Art is a vehicle, a wake up call, a morning bell that beckons the true self to come out play in this thing called life. True art is the manifestation of the soul kicking against the machine. By way of creative vision we all may at some point reach for and experience life, not just an existence. We hold this truth to be self evident, that all are created sacred, endowed with an inalienable right to greatness...

Mary V. Williams - With a background in dance and graphic art, I want to capture and transform life with line, light, movement and expression. My favorite subjects are dancers, faces of all kinds, and figurative work. If "one picture is worth a thousand words" I want my paintings and drawings to illuminate, illustrate, and reflect the essence of the subject. I want to discover that nuance, that tiny highlight or line, that brings character and life into a face or form. ...

Jovanka Magana - I believe art should build an awareness within us and create, as much as possible, a collective disposition towards improving ourselves as individuals and, by extension, the world. In my art, I revive and reconcile traditional figurative painting with pop culture in order to produce a work that shows contemporary obsession with the media. I use different brushstrokes and techniques, showing intimate portraits with or without lettering. My work is based on photographs mainly from tabloid, fashion magazines and personal photographs in order to reproduce a work of art defining the celebrity or wannabe's. For example, in my painting of Anna's Final Plea to Britney, one of Ana Nicole's last picture before her death, Anna and her baby were painted in layers of light browns with light pinks and yellows while using large watercolor brushes in order to layer the background. I painted her hair in the lightest pale yellow to show her bleached-out hair against her amazon tan large body, while holding her tiny delicate baby. In this painting, the pale pink color intensifies the expressive maternal pose presenting her baby, looking hopeless while in a state of limbo. The original source came from an ...