7-9pm opening Reception December 4th @ thegallery8680
Artists Exhibiting:
Ara Tirado
Vibrant color and movement are essential in all my art. I think both reflect our humanity and of the One who created us. My workflows from a process of deep contemplation and prayer. The outcome is bright, inspired paintings that capture my own encounters with truth and beauty. I aim to explore spirituality from a place of wonder and imagination through a mix of abstract and realistic elements. Every piece I create becomes a part of my visual journal that I hope will encourage others in their own search for deeper meaning and inspiration.
Bev Carlton
I am a self-taught artist working in the Dallas area whose paintings come directly from a love of color and texture. My travels to various parts of the world have broadened my imagination to see life from many different perspectives. My goals include two mandates: first, the painting has to have a certain feeling and evoke a set of emotions – whether it’s passion, whimsy, joy, serenity or just a portrayal of beauty. Second, I want my paintings to have depth and be touchable as well as visual. I want the recipient to feel the texture and the materials that have been used. If the viewer is moved to run hands over the piece then it has made a true connection. Several different styles, techniques and mediums are dear to me. I am currently working on Abstract Figurative paintings that tell a story and I often use the same characters in my pieces in different settings. I work primarily with acrylics and am expanding my use of complimentary gels and mediums to give texture to my work. I love wood, both as a canvas and as content for my work. I have been fortunate to have been a “working artist” for the last 10 years – selling my work locally. We moved to Frisco last year and I’m excited to see that Art in its many forms is valued and presented here.
Cynthia Coldren
My abstract paintings are a blend of deliberate shapes and spontaneous brush marks. Using the fundamental components of color, shape, texture, line, and space, my paintings are intentional contrasts and visualizes the joining of opposites — multiple colors, diverse paper fragments and linear marks come together to express a strong connection among disconnected things. I use acrylic paint on canvas, sometimes on heavy watercolor paper, and add hand-painted paper forms to create visual complexity and interest. I frequently add geometric patterns and script-like marks, painting and smoothing each layer to create a more organic composition. My use of fine cross-hatched lines and paper fragments are hallmarks of my current work, unifying elements that counter or complement the developing painting. By including structural lines and marks within my abstractions, I can weave the familiar with the ambiguous. I feel this “joining of opposites” speaks to the world we live in, and gives the viewer a point of connection with abstract art.
Denise Lion
As an artist who works in a diverse variety of media, I experiment with aleatoric processes to create strong personal moments, masterfully, by means of rules and omissions, acceptance and refusal and by enticing the viewer round and around in circles. I often allow the inventive process to be decided by the hands of fate. With the digital glitch these unexpected visual disruptions are spontaneous and accidental in appearance, caused by digital means. My art is associated with my preoccupation with the acceleration of technology and its multifaceted advances in our lives. In my art, I try to draw my audience to both the negative and positive outcomes associated with our daily uses of technology. My works do not place an identifiable
Gigi Streiger
Welcome to my world full of Happy Colors. It is color that makes my soul sing and, in my world, Happy is a Color. My goal is to have you hear color the way I hear it in my soul – soothing, fulfilling and freeing. My art is expressed in vivid colors using acrylic paint in contemporary abstracts in many mediums. I want you to experience the calm, serene energy, like I feel in my heart. In my process, I use bold and brilliant colors that begin to move peacefully and celestially. I lose myself completely in the rhythmic harmony I create. For me, painting is a spiritual and expressive practice created in my heart and soul. It is wildly freeing and at the same time immerses me completely with an unimaginable creative calm. It is producing stories using colors instead of words, and creating atmospheres filled with overwhelming peace. Many of my paintings capture light’s fleeting magic. I like to think of my creations as a guiding light leading you somewhere into the unknown, but somewhere you yearn to follow.
Kay Hoag
I consider myself an abstract realist. I use a combination of media, including oils, ink and acrylics, often in combination with elements of gold and silver leaf. My favorite subjects are architecture and various flora and fauna, which I use to create a world both fanciful and real.
Melissa Murphy Stewart
One of the great paradoxes in life is the difference between what is real and what is imagined, because our reality is skewed by our experience and perception. This very complex combination is what inspires my artwork. As a modern-impressionist, I may not be concerned with painting the details of realism but I am turned on by the meaning behind the colors, brushstrokes, and representation of light. I find this allows the imagination to interpret my content. My art is based on observation, life’s recollections and the imagination. This has lent itself well to having two different genres and at times you will see I mix the two. En plein air painting is an attempt to capture what I can see in-the-moment. It is an effort in capturing the light of the day and the essence of the atmosphere. In doing so, this type of impressionistic painting captures more visual reality and recollection. Nonetheless, its light spurs the imagination. This is what makes it so magical. I like to think that when I paint outdoors, I am channeling the work of some of the great Impressionist painters like Monet or Van Gogh. My imaginative pieces are dreamlike, and they take bits of reality and morph into a happier, surreal story. With a twist of my brush or an unexpected color, I am able to take an otherwise realistic painting and make it other-worldly. There are humorous aspects to this process that make these pieces joyous, and each imaginative piece increases the happiness in my life and hopefully the lives of those who witness it. Whether it is one of my studio or outdoor paintings, my artwork will stimulate your imagination. It will allow you to put yourself into a storyline of your own making. The reality of life is only as real as the people who are there to witness it. My artwork, on the other hand, allows for a reality that is drawn from the imagination and includes the emotional aspects of experience that make events larger than life. This is true whether they are meant to be factual or fictional. Rest assured the materials I use are archival and professional-grade. The authentic emotion and commitment I give to each painting to see it to its completion leaves each piece representing a portion of artistic soul. As I continue to grow and change with each passing day, my artwork grows and changes with me. I believe as an artist I should never stop learning and working on my craft.
Tatiana Nikolova-Houston, Ph.D.
I was born in Bulgaria in 1961. My father, a self-taught artist and theatre director, inspired my love of the arts. I studied Landscape Architecture and designed parks, rich in color, flowers, and spaces for recreation and meditation. In 1990, I came to America, married, and received Master’s degrees in Religious Studies and Library and Information Science, studying and preserving South Slavic (Bulgarian) medieval manuscripts. My doctoral study revealed "the secret history" of the Balkans during the Ottoman rule (1393-1878) by studying manuscript marginal notes. After graduation in 2008, I started to re-create and re-interpret Byzantine and South Slavic iconography and manuscript illuminations, and to educate Western audiences about the simple and meaningful illuminations of Slavic scribes by using gold and metallic inks and acrylic paints, embellished by Swarovski crystals. The illuminations reflect the joy of spirituality, emphasizing the themes of the Light within and without and the Tree of Life as major inspiration.
Terry Parshall
As a longtime artist I have learned to trust the impulses and directives received from my unconscious mind. This current series titled, “THE GIRL” has preoccupied my artistic vision for about two years now and I take this path as a gift from my deeper inner self and trust that it will lead me to a more nuanced understanding of myself and of others in these confounding, often difficult, times in which we find ourselves. The subject in this series “The Girl” is on a mission to go somewhere and accomplish something that I as the artist seem to have little control over. She whispers to me subtly in odd moments about where she needs to go next with minor signs and everyday revelations that come to me via music, meditation, while I’m sleeping, reading, or even watching tv. It is then That she tells me where next to send her on canvas or paper. What she is doing there, well, I have no idea. But I suspect that she does and I trust her as she continues her journey. We do not see her face in any of the many works I have done in this series so far. What I know is that she always faces away from us so that she may encounter whatever comes next unflinchingly. She is brave and fearless. She is funny, loving, and possesses an indomitable spirit. Only partly her creator I follow where she leads with brush and pencil in hand awaiting the “event” she wishes me to record to the best of my ability. Some have labeled this path I am on, Magic Surrealism. It is as good a term as any I suppose because I have no idea what to name it. But I know if there is a theme running through The Girl’s adventures it is that of the struggles of all females in a world dominated and poorly handled by men. This is the history of our world; the history of a struggle that begins in childhood and continues to the end of women’s lives. Whatever it is The Girl wants me to see and I understand I hope to grasp eventually. So, I listen for her voice. I paint and draw waiting patiently for answers or until she tells me it’s time for her to move on and leave me behind.
Trish Poupard
A photo-realist watercolor artist. I work in transparent watercolor only, using photos I've taken myself. I am inspired by images I would like to see improved by the watercolor medium. Photorealism is not imitation; it is a chance to start with a photo and then manually paint (interpret) the idea into fine art. I look deeply into the photos I use, choosing a goal, a focal point, figuring out what to blur, what to sharpen, how to interpret the LIGHT. What I see, the camera can never "see", nor can an app do the work of an actual artist. I put my heart and soul into every painting I accomplish, striving to use transparent watercolor in it's purest form: no masking fluid or tape (I only use negative painting) no white paint, multiple washes to achieve darks when necessary. I obtain archival quality with professional pigments and 100% cotton paper.
Zitta Shroff
Art makes me a better person and fills me with gratitude for everything. I am amazed at how the sky is painted every day, different shape, size and shades of blue and gray. Grateful to be in a part of the world where sky is blue, and I can spend time to experience it. Growing up I did not have a tub of crayons to color with, but my love for art thrived with whatever supplies I could get my hands on. I am mostly self-taught, tried a few workshops in my adult life. I have experimented with various mediums and even worked with glass for several years. This year I got into Pouring Paints and Meditation. Both these activities have filled my life with joy that I wish for everyone around me. All my work is inspired by nature, sky, ocean or the awakened beings.
