Artists Describing Their Art:
Paul Orzech - Paul Orzech Sculpture Studio Artist Statement: The heart of my artwork is expressed by the words "Classical form with a modern edge." As an artist, I feel the need to incorporate the classic concepts of the human figure from the Ancient Greek and Italian Renaissance periods, with the more message-oriented elements of today's art. My belief in the beauty and power of the raw human form is exquisitely celebrated in the classical forms of sculpture. The modern themes I treat in my art include feminism; contemporary ideas of spirituality and love; and the all consuming presence time plays in our fast-paced American lives. I feel there is a quiet strength in the combination of established classics and contemporary expression that demonstrates a smooth continuity of social history. ...
Sue Jacobsen - My "artist's eye" seeks both the extraordinary and the ordinarily-overlooked moments in nature, and presents them in a way that allows the viewer to see what I've seen--and loved enough to want to share it. My regional landscapes, painted in oil, capture the rural flavor of the Wood River Valley in Idaho where I've lived and worked for over 30 years. Previously, California coastal areas were my genre. My love of the ocean and its awesome infinity is equaled in the grandeur and peace of the nearby mountains --again, infinite subjects for my paintings. Just as my professional training in graphic design at Art Center School in Los Angeles served me well when I turned my creative skills to easel painting, this then enabled me to move with ease and enthusiasm when sculpture'found me', and I learned to see with new eyes--in 3 dimensions now! My sculptures are figurative, of people or animals, and I seem to have special ability to capture the likeness and personality of my subjects. While I consider myself to be primarily self-taught, I continue to seek out other professional painters and sculptors whose work I admire, with...
Luc Bihan - Luc is an internationally known French sculptor, trained in San Francisco Art Institute. He has directed animation in both France and Canada and has supervised animation in China, North Korea, Poland, and Romania. As an artist, Luc feels art creation is a therapeutic meditative process, reflecting the subconscious and releasing inner thoughts and feelings. 30 years of clay sculpture Luc Bihan's interest is the relationship between the human and the organic world which makes clay his favorite medium for any sculpting project. The natural earthy essence of clay makes it the most ecological medium available and he believes "the language of time talks to me through my fingers tips." While self-expressive, his art is also a form of communication with his audience: the symbolic images he develops are frequently ambiguous and encourage the viewer to consider different layers of meaning. Whether it is his organic figurative sculpture or his whimsical drawings, the work of Luc Bihan is a statement of texture and sensuality. ...
Michael Leyton - In his MIT Press book, Symmetry, Causality, Mind (630pages) and his book in Springer-Verlag, A Generative Theory of Shape (550pages), Michael Leyton has elaborated an extensive theory of why art has such a powerful impact on the human mind. This results in an ability to intensify the content of artworks through an increased understanding of compositional organization, that Leyton has provided in his scientific work, which includes his mathematical foundations for geometry. For example, theorems of his, such as the Symmetry-Curvature Duality Theorem, which are now used in over 40 disciplines including many branches of medicine and engineering, also explain the human perceptual response to art-works. Not only has he demonstrated this in his lengthy published analyses of classical and modern artists, but he has also demonstrated that it is possible to surpass the intensity of these artists. This he has done by using the theory developed in his books in the creation of his own artworks - his paintings, his published architectural designs, and the published scores of his musical compositions. The portfolio at the present site is currently under construction. While this is in progress, the reader can gain an extensive introduction to Leyton's artistic ...
Mavis Mcclure - Mavis McClure Born: 1967 Selected Exhibitions: 2004 Chaco Gallery (w/Nathan Oliveria & Peter Voulkos) 2002 Oakland City Gallery (w/Viola Frey), Oakland, CA 2001 Solo Show, LewAllen Contemporary 2000 "From the Fire", Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA "Contemporary Figure", LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe 1999 Solo Show, Jan Baum, Los Angeles, CA "Enduring Form", LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe SOFA Chicago, Sandy Carson, Denver, CO 1998 Solo Show, Virginia Breier, San Francisco, CA "Pedestals & Stretchers", LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM "30 Ceramics", John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, CA Olive Grove Sculpture Walk, Auberge du Soleil 1997 "Saving Grace", A New Leaf Gallery, Berkeley, CA "30 Ceramics", John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, CA 1996 "Au Plien Air", A New Leaf Gallery, Berkeley, CA Ceramic Sculpture, Virginia Breier, San Francisco, CA Publications: American Craft San Francisco Chronicle Santa Fe Magazine ArtWeek Albuquerque Journal Contra Costa Times San Jose Mercury News Trend Magazine Interior Design New York Times Collections: Doug Ring, Los Angeles, CA American Museum of Ceramic Art Fourth Street Shopping District, Berkeley, CA CB & Dick Watts, Los Altos, CA Howard & Matilda Rubin, Santa Fe, NM Estate of Jerry Garcia, Mill Valley, CA Mary & John Carrington, Newport Coast, CA Anita Roddick, West Sussex, England Robin & Leonard ...
Dieter Picchio-Specht - Art, creativity and imagination have always played an important part in my life, although I have only started to fully concentrate on painting a few years ago. This passion has always been part of me. I have finally given up my work as a general manager in industry - to dedicate all my time to painting. At last I do what I have always wanted to do. It is simply that a dream has finally come true. Even during my years at secondary school my paintings were awarded prizes and I should have enrolled in art classes after I passed my A-levels. In fact, a renowned company manufacturing ceramics offered me a scholarship, which I was unable to accept at the time. I have always kept up with painting as landscapes and images, abstract and impressionist. Since some years now I am able to paint full-time and fill canvas after canvas with my ideas. My new studio is right in the centre of the village of Arcegno, surrounded by wooded hills, near to Ascona, a well-known tourist centre at the Lago Maggiore in the South of Switzerland. I apply the paints directly to the canvas with a spatula. ...