Artists Describing Their Art:

Jay Lusk - Russell Bentley - When creating a new painting I always like to view my canvas as if I were looking out an open door or window and seeing something happen that in real life would only be accessible from a great distance. I hope that when you look at a finished work, you feel as though you could walk right into the picture. I strive for detail and realism although some of my paintings have a touch of surrealism included which gives the finished art a slight "Disney" quality such as "Out on a Limb" and "Sneaking out". But it's always interesting to hear how others view my work so please sign my guest list and let me know how they look through your eyes. Thanks, Russell Bentley ...

D. Brent Miller - First and foremost, I approach photography the same as a writer--as a storyteller. My mission is helping others tell their story. As a photographer, the images must capture more than a pleasing image, it must say something about the person, the event or location. Sometimes, it takes a series of images to tell the story, like a photo essay. I want the viewer, or my customers, to respond to the images with a positive feeling, to smile or laugh a little at what's going on in the photo, to be reminded of fond memories, or to just express great satisfaction. Secondly, photography is a tremendous tool and method to bring people together, to find a common ground of understanding. It is to this end that I have been a life-long student of human behavior, and a documentarian of shared experiences. Thirdly, photography enhances my writing, as writing enhances my photography. To me, both are essential tools to telling complete stories. ...

Sonja Tellison-Foster - More than simple faerie tales, myths can teach, heal, act as morality guides, or beacons of inspiration along a sometimes murky spiritual path. The myths of a culture are it's soul. They are what's left behind when the political border lines have changed and the people themselves are gone. Myth helps us to understand our own nature as well as that of the world around us. Joseph Campbell, noted scholar and one of the foremost authorities on mythology states, "Myth must be kept alive. The people who can (do this) are artists . . . . The function of the artist is the mythologization of the environment and the world." At a time when we, as a society, rely more on science and technology for answers to our various quandries, than a collective, traditional knowledge, refocusing on mythologization is more important then ever. Are you anxious? Here, take a new pill! Are kids more violent? Must be the video games! The adage "There's nothing new under the sun." is itself certainly not a new concept. If we delve deep enough, the answers are already existent, like diamonds in the dark. When we forget the stories of our ancestors, we forget our...

Matthew Hickey - Matthew Hickey is a 38 year old artist originally from Levittown, New York. He graduated with honors from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan in 1995. He lives and works in the northeast of England, and his work is featured in private collections worldwide. Figure paintings as well as portraiture and landscape are the focus of Hickey's career, offering a prevailing and unique insight into the optical nuances of this new century. Commissions and studio visits are always welcome at Hickey Studio. Call or email for inquiries, questions, comments. ...

Giuseppe Saitta - As a writer and a poet, I've known for some time that my words are the wings of my emotions. However, as an artist I know that my abstract images are my emotions made manifest. I also know that art is and always has been the language of the soul. And I believe that it is through art that I can best communicate with my soul and spirit and your soul and spirit, and in so doing transform and grow beyond my limiting beliefs and struggles into absolute freedom. All of the arts can be portals into the deepest and most remote aspects of who we really are. The Realm of art is music, dance, body movement, painting, drawing, design and architecture, sculpture, theater, writing prose or poetry, mythic ritual, and yes all of the highest and most aesthetic aspects of science, philosophy, and mathematics. By risking whatever we must risk to leap through any of the many gateways of art and science, we give ourselves the gift of opportunity to awaken within us the long dormant languages of image and rhythm. These are experiential languages, like the language of touch. Most of these languages are metaphors for expressing ...

David Larkins - I've always been intrigued by the luminosity and transparencies found in watercolor and acrylic mediums. I believe an artist must experience the painting - to absorb the surroundings, the atmosphere, to have a oneness with the subject matter before the first brush stroke is applied. My style is described as "Abstract Realism" and my strength is found in the composition. I'm drawn to diverse subject matter that challenges the viewer to see abstraction in the ordinary - to meld the "real" world with the "abstract". ...

Shmuela Padnos - ARE YA READY TA GET THE BIG LEG BLUES FROM THE GAS MAN AS THE SPECIAL RIDER MAKES YOU MISSISSIPPI MOAN? ARE YA GONNA RIDE THE NEW HAMHOUND CRAVES A BLACK SNAKE MOAN WITH THE LITTLE LEG OUTSIDE WOMAN BLUES? WELL TAKE A LITTLE WALK WITH ME AS i TELL YOU ABOUT THAT CHERRY WOMAN ARTIST SHMUEL A PADNOS. AS THE DEVIL SENT THE RAIN TA N'AWLINS SHMUEL A WAS CONCEIVED DURING MARTI GRAS FUN OF LE BON TON ROULET. 9 MONTHS LATER IN THE FOOT HILLS OF NORTH CAROLINA, LAND OF RATTLE SNAKIN DADDY& STEP IT UP & GO, SHMUEL A WAS BORN. ALTHOUGH EXPOSED TO THE EAST COAST PICKIN OF BLIND BOOY FULLER, BUDDY MOSS& JOSH WHITE BY HER GRANDPARENTS, SHMUELA WAS ALWAYS FOUND WITH A PAINTBRUSH IN HER HAND INSTEAD OF A GUITAR. SHE FOUND THE MOVING OF THE BRUSH CREATED ITS OWN FUNKY SOUND&RHYTHM....

Brenda Bruckner - I strive with my art to record the contemporary American Cowboy, Cowgirl, their horses and way of life in detail and authenticity. My favorite subject is the hard working, versatile ranch horse (typically the American Quarter Horse). My favorite medium is colored pencil which lends itself perfectly to my detailed and realistic style. I live the life I portray with my husband, raising cattle and horses on a South Dakota ranch where I find a wealth of subject matter and new ideas....

Lou Posner - After you reach the main or first Posner portfolio page, please click on an image to enlarge it and bring up further details about the piece of art, including THE PRICE and a description or story of it. Once you have done this, you may also click on zoom-in, a function which may or may not work. At the bottom of Posners main portfolio page Page No.1 you will see instructions for navigating to the rest of my art. There are presently a total of about 237 pieces of art to be viewed. Most are oil paintings, and the rest are charcoal and pencil drawings, watercolors, prints, etc. The first set of images will tell you if the piece is NFS Not For Sale or SOLD. I include these on the website to give viewers a sense of the scope of my work. Prices for each piece USED TO BE SHOWN next to the initial encounter with the image. NOW...all my prices are gone from the intial images, and the words REQUEST PRICE appear for all pieces that are still for sale. NOTE YOU DO NOT HAVE TO CONTACT ME TO REQUEST ANY PRICES. IF YOU CLICK ...

Richard Montemurro - The artist is self taught and began his artistic journey with abstract oil painting. He later became interested in photography and has since integrated the use of the computer in his creative artistic endeavors. He uses his digital cameras and his digital paintings of abstracts in his creations, combining them, when appropriate, to create unusual works of art. His desire is to create images that are unique and interesting to look at. They are seldom created to make statements about the human condition or to express displeasure with society. The artist feels that there is room in life to create images for the sake of creating them as individual expressions of one's imagination....

Jerry Di Falco - Photography inspires my hand-pulled etchings and also serves as a key element in my art. My imagery originates from my own photographs and those of other artists. I research my subjects in the archives of universities, historical societies, libraries, museums, and foundations. I attempt to balance visual gravity with the narrations within everyday scenes . . . I hope to create a convergence between the metaphysical and physical aspects of space, time, and reflection. My examination of the familiar strives to unveil the splendors of life that are masked by our assumptions My stories emerge from beneath the surfaces of that which we overlook as a result of our neglected perceptions . . . of that which is frequently visible but overlooked. Ironically enough, I blame this inability to see reality . . . or what I call, the phenomenology of connectedness . . . on todays infatuation with and addiction to the new technologies of communication. I see my artworks as windows through which people can see the undiscovered mysteries of human consciousness. In fact, my use of multiple etching plates to create one etched design helps to reinforce the illusion of looking at a scene through a window. Each individual area created in my multiple-plate etchings becomes a ...

Jack Earley - After writing for two decades, I was developing an idea that I knew could be better expressed as a painting. So in the mid-eighties I took up full-time a life-time passion: painting. My work is about inner energy; about, first of all, my own energy and internal balance, reinforced through the practice of yoga and tai chi. I sign the inner energy of the subject matter onto the canvas. I work with acrylics on canvas and sumi-e inks on rice paper. I also sculpt using wood, copper and leather. Along with focusing on the inner energy of my subject matter, I am constantly working with an awareness that humans have an ancient need to see form, be it in clouds or in chipped paint on a wall or in waving leaves. The ability to decipher forms is part of our oldest survival skills. Imagine the advantage of being able to quickly spot the approaching bear among the shifting shadows of trees. Imagine the advantage and the thrill. On many canvases, I create forms so the viewer "discovers" them in an uplifting act. Often, I give the paint its head in creating forms, like freeing a captured ...

A. Paul Cartier - Vernacular culture surrounds us but is little noted. When it is noted, it is not placed on the same level as i?1/2highi?1/2 culture. Perhaps its ephemeral nature confines its importance. But, despite this, it has more impact on our daily lives. Photographers were among the first to recognize the importance of vernacular culture: it is the source of their best work. The camera made it possible to record the vernacular in exquisite detail. And the detail is the message. Many of the photos in this portfolio are now available through Gallery 1044, 1044 Larkin St., in San Francisco....