Author: frank

MEDIUM     mixed media

FEATURED WORK
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STATEMENT

I dreamt of expressing myself through some form of art since I was a child.
When I was teenager photography was my medium and eventually my works were showcased in exhibits. My love for art steered me toward the history of it and its masters, which I’ve studied and drew inspiration from. Also folk art from different countries and continents appeals to me and inspires me as well. I express myself through abstract art using mixed media, including: water colors, markers, colored pencils, oil pastels, and minimal manipulation in Photoshop. In my works I express happiness and beauty of the Universe using colors and shapes. Art will always supersede speech as a form of expression in my life.

BIO/CV

Barbara Kaminska-Eddy is born out of a host of experiences, which are expressed in her art and the ideas she continues to define.

She was born in post-world war II communist Poland in the small town of Dzierzoniów. As a teenager she studied photography and it became her passion for many years to come. She supported her hobby by taking photographs of people and places and charging a small fee to cover expenses. Upon reflection, she realized that her love for black and white expression stemmed from the inaccessibility of color photography to her.

In 1981 she immigrated to USA, settled in Brooklyn, NY, learned the language, got a job, and learned the history of this beautiful country. Because of her jobs here, she fell in love with science, how things work and spent many years working in the medical field. As a practical result of life’s vicissitudes the dream of being an artist lay dormant within her and in the face of many of life’s exigencies: the years studying her field and the responsibilities of coping with life as a mother and wife in a new country bore new and perhaps clearer aspects of her perspectives on things in general.

While working at Saint Peter’s University Hospital she chose to give herself a chance to see if she could become the artist she aspired to be. With the support of Professor Bernard Buenarotte, the journey to become the artist she intended to be was restarted. Her colleagues and friends alike encouraged and supported her and eventually her works were exhibited for several years at the Breast Cancer Awareness Shows. Many of her creations are part of private collections in the USA and Poland and recently she joined a/the Contemporary Art Group in an attempt to further her art education and start participating in exhibits. Also she is hoping that being around likeminded people will help her grow artistically. Barbara is a self-educated artist and her main goal is to share her art with wider circles of viewers so they could enjoy her creations inspiring happy feelings and joy.

Contemporary Art Group                    All Images Copyright by the Artist ©

MEDIUM     pen & ink

FEATURED WORK
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STATEMENT

My work is created to evoke a feeling, excite the imagination, challenge the spirit, pique one’s curiosity, and bring new prospective to one’s appreciation  and understanding of creativity.

BIO/CV

Mel Holston was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on January 24, 1939. He credits his father for his interest in art, although his father was not an artist, nor did he have any particular interest in art. He had a way of drawing a funny little man that looked nothing like a man. It peeked his interest and he took it from there.

A high school drop-out in his sophomore year. Mel worked at several local factory jobs before enlisting in the United States Air Force, where he served for twelve years. During that time he studied for, and earned his GED diploma, and satisfied the requirements for recognition from the Jersey City Board of Education.

Upon his discharge from the Air Force in March of 1969 he began studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City on a part-time basis at night for three years that same year, while working a full-time day job. With the birth of his fourth child, and due to economic conditions, he was forced to drop out of FIT for a year.

Because of his veteran’s status, and a special program offered at Jersey City State College ( Now New Jersey City University) he was able to resume his studies, graduating in June 1977 with a BA degree in art education.

He became a substitute teacher for several months before being contacted by the Board to teach at the Academic High School, and remained with the Jersey City School System for the next twenty five years.

Even while teaching he began his own body of work and has exhibited in various galleries, museums, outdoor and private shows throughout the continental US, France, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Although he considers himself a multimedia artist and has created representational work as well as colorful abstracts, his signature work has been the elegant pen and ink drawings of African life that is reminiscent of the tribal and ritual scarifications.

Contemporary Art Group                    All Images Copyright by the Artist ©

MEDIUM     Acrylic

FEATURED WORK
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WEBSITE     crossculturaltidings.com

STATEMENT 

In December 2015 I underwent brain surgery (Deep Brain Stimulation), a procedure used for treating Parkinson’s which effectively blocks the abnormal nerve signals that cause the symptoms of PD, such as tremors, rigidity, uneven gait. The operation was a success. Not only did it greatly improve my mobility, but it brought me to the realization that my illness and my art are inexorably linked, the limits imposed by the illness offset by the limitless possibilities offered by art.

Three months after the operation, I made the transition from minimalist/figurative painter to producer of abstracts “with an edge,” to borrow a fellow artist’s description of my most recent work. This return to the source-as a young adult I favored Abstract Expressionism-I owe to my mother who, knowing how much I loathed the traditionalists of yesteryear, introduced me to the rule-breaking modernists whose colorful designs, unusual techniques, and disdain for convention appealed to me.

Color will always be what drives me; that has not changed. My paintings are best birthed unfettered by the constraints (logic, language, linearity) of the left side of my brain. To facilitate the free flow of creativity I rely on the “loopiness” of my right hemisphere with Fancy and Whimsy as my traveling companions.

BIO/CV

MONIQUE HENDRICKS was born and raised in Switzerland. An avid traveler, she relocated fourteen times (England, Germany, Belgium, Iceland, New York) before settling in New Jersey, where she put down roots with her Guyanese husband and their two sons.

Monique, who was drawn to other cultures from a young age, studied anthropology as an undergraduate and holds masters in Media & Communications (London School of Economics) and Marriage & Family Therapy (Seton Hall University). For several years she worked as a foreign language editor and translator in the music industry. After her last relocation, she became a cross-cultural consultant, providing cultural adaptation programs for international assignees and their families. She wrote articles on expatriation in British and American magazines and published a book (Leaving Europe: A Cross-Cultural Memoir, 2006). She currently blogs on culture, communication and the arts at www.crossculturaltidings.com.

Ms. Hendricks is a member of the Contemporary Art Group (CAG) in Watchung, NJ, and the Art League of the Chathams (ALC). She exhibits regularly throughout New Jersey.

Contemporary Art Group                    All Images Copyright by the Artist ©

MEDIUM     sculpture-glass & stone

FEATURED WORKS
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STATEMENT

Following a professional scientific career at Exxon Chemical Company, he felt that in his scientific work he lacked balance in his life and decided to work on the more artistic and spiritual side to balance the intellectual side. He was intrigued by the artistic potential of glass as a sculptural medium. Using the knowledge he had acquired from  69 years of glassblowing, he was attracted to the ethereal, spiritual and optical qualities of glass in the artistic form. He interprets shapes from nature, such as floral, animal, marine, mythical and human in traditional and contemporary styles. The use of glass in combination with other media such as stone, wood or metal particularly is his longer range goal. His stone work is both traditional and contemporary, looking at common or unusual  subjects in a different way or with a unique view.

Education

:Much of my glassblowing is self- taught. I also did study at the University of North Carolina under a glassblower, Dana Samson, who was president of the Southern Glassblowers Association. I studied for two years at the Urban Glass Studio [New York Experimental Glass Workshop] working in traditional furnace glass blowing, cold working and neon art. I also have taken four two week courses at Corning, NY at the Corning Glass Museum Glass Studio in advanced flameworking. with Sally Prasch, Emilio Santini, Eric Goldschmidt, Shane Fero and Fred Birkhill. Lately he has studied with Lucio Bubacco of Murano, Italy.
I studied stone sculpture  for seventeen years with Gladys Reimers, a well – known local sculptress with 30 years of experience and over 100 awards and many honors.

Exhibitions

I have exhibited my work at the Eugenie Gallery in Scotch Plains, the Everhart Gallery in Basking Ridge, the Palmer Museum in Springfield [in a two man show with a Japanese painter], The Papermill Playhouse, Maccullough Hall in Morristown, the Somerset Art Association in Pluckemin  the Madison, Mountainside and Basking Ridge Libraries. I have been in  shows with the Millburn Short Hills Art Center, Somerset Art Association, the Les Malemut Gallery,  the Clark Art Association, the Scotch Plains/Fanwood Art Association, the Reeves Reed Arboretum, The New Jersey Visual Arts Center and the Westfield Art Association and the Watchung Art Center. I had two shows at Haverford College in the Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery. I also have given many demonstrations of flameworking to local organizations, churches, temples  and schools.

Affiliations

I am a member of the Somerset Art Association, the Millburn Short Hills Art Center, the New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, The Union County Arts Association, The International Sculpture Center and the Westfield Art Association for 17 years, where I served as Treasurer and President.  I was member and  treasurer of the Contemporary Art Group for seven years. I am a charter member of the International Glass Museum in Tacoma, Washington and a member of the Friends of Wheaton Village in Millville, NJ. and the Corning Glass Museum.

Contemporary Art Group                    All Images Copyright by the Artist ©

MEDIUM     pastel, acrylic & watercolor

FEATURED WORK
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STATEMENT

To have the ability to see and appreciate the beauty in the world around us is a precious gift. To be able to work with your hands to produce something that speaks of you and to you is a blessing.

I began painting in college, primarily doing collage and using acrylics. I continued painting for several years thereafter, until family and a job took up most of my time. After retirement, I went back to art, beginning with the study of pastels.  I am now learning watercolor as I continue with pastels.

My work in pastels is about exploring the medium and what it can do and what I can do with it.  Depicting the light at various times of the day and how it transforms shapes and colors is of particular interest to me. In my exploration of watercolor, the way that the colors mingle on the paper is fascinating – and frustrating! – and I’m enjoying the process.

CV/BIO

Member:
Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Pastel Society of New Jersey, Contemporary Arts Group NJ, Westfield Art Association, Watchung Art Center

Awards:
Pastel Award, Visual Arts Center of NJ Members’ Show, 2009
Third Place, Pastel Society of NJ Show, 2010
Second Place, Union County Senior Art Show, 2011
Second Place, Landscapes, Tewksbury Historical Society Show, 2011
Honorable Mention, Pastel Society Members’ Show, 2011
First Place, Landscapes, Union County Senior Art Show, 2012
Third Place, Landscapes, New Jersey Senior Art Show, 2012
Honorable Mention, Visual Arts Center of NJ Members’ Show, 2014
Honorable Mention, Contemporary Art Group Members’ Show, 2015
Second Place, Contemporary Art Group Members’ Show, 2017
Honorable Mention, Union County Senior Art Show, 2017
First, Second and Third Place awards from other shows

Shows:
Pastel Society of NJ Juried Show, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011-2013, 2015-2017
VACNJ Members’ Shows, 2005-2015
AAUW, Summit College Club Shows at New Providence Library 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014
CAG Shows 2011-2017
Solo Show at Summit Library Gallery 2010
Paper Mill Playhouse Upstairs Gallery, 2009
Bernardsville Library Juried Show, 2009
Mendham Public Library, Brookside, March, 2008
Interweave Art Show, Summit, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2014
Calvary Church Gallery 2010, 2013
Lamington Presbyterian Church Annual Invitational Art Show, 2006
Many group shows with art students
In many private collections

Education:
AB, Art History, Douglass College, Rutgers University
Graduate work, Art, University of North Carolina

Contemporary Art Group                    All Images Copyright by the Artist ©

MEDIUM      oil, pastels & collage

FEATURED WORK
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WEBSITE     maryannficker.com

STATEMENT 

I see painting as a developmental stage; children learn to crawl, walk, talk, paint, read and write.  I am interested in using the language of paint in the same way that poets use words, creating something that washes over the viewer incorporating emotion, rhythm, symbols, archetypes, observations and narrative elements; something to be primarily experienced, rather than analyzed.

BIO/CV

Education:
Fine Art: 2005 – 2006, Somerset Art Association – painting.
1980 – 1981, University of New Mexico, Post-graduate study in
printmaking and painting.
1977 – 1980, SUNY Albany, 27 credits of studio art, printmaking,
painting and drawing.
MA – Computer Science, 1986, CUNY Queens College
BS – Mathematics, 1980, SUNY Albany.

Recent Awards:
2012 Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts Residency, Nebraska City, NE
Monmouth Museum 33rd Annual Juried Art Exhibition – Honorable Mention 2010:
Watchung Arts Center Member’s Juried Show – First Place
Somerset Art Association, Members Juried Show – Honorable Mention
2009: Watchung Education Foundation Art in the Park – First Place

Recent Exhibitions:
2013: Watchung Arts Center Member’s Juried Show, Watchung, NJ
2012: Contemporary Art Group, The Artist Framer, Cranford, NJ
Art on the Ridge, Basking Ridge, NJ
Arts on Division Street, Somerville, NJ
Patterns in Nature, Watchung Arts Center, Watchung, NJ
Siclare, Ficker, Lam, and Verdun, Farmstead Art Center,Basking Ridge,NJ
Recent Works, Mayo Center for the Performing Arts, Morristown, NJ
33rd Annual Juried Art Exhibition, Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, NJ
2011: Personal Realities, Watchung Arts Center, Watchung, NJ (Solo)
After School Special, University Art Museum, Albany, NY
Salem Roadhouse Café, Union, NJ (Solo)
The Allbrook School, Basking Ridge, NJ (Solo)
The Center for Contemporary Art Member’s Juried Show, Bedminster, NJ
Landscapes: Interior and Exterior, Watchung Arts Center, Watchung, NJ
The Artist Framer, Cranford, NJ
Bernardsville Public Library 11th Annual Juried Art Show, Bernardsville, NJ
2010: Watchung Arts Center Member’s Juried Show, Watchung, NJ
Art Way Gallery at Princeton Alliance Church, Plainsboro, NJ
Contemporary Art Group, Artist Framer, Cranford, NJ
Mountain Art Show, Bernardsville, NJ
Transformergence, Watchung Arts Ctr, Watchung, NJ
Somerset Art Association Member’s Juried Show, Bedminster, NJ
Joy! First Unitarian Society of Plainfield, Plainfield, NJ
Garden Gallery at the Reeves Reed Arboretum, Summit, NJ
Somerset Cultural and Heritage Commission, Somerville, NJ
2009: Raid the Attic, Watchung Arts Ctr, Watchung, NJ
Member’s Juried Show, Somerset Art Association, Bedminster, NJ
Member’s Juried Show, Watchung Arts Center, Watchung, NJ
Contemporary Art Group, Overlook Hospital, Summit, NJ
Watchung Education Foundation Art in the Park, Watchung, NJ
Contemporary Art Group, Children’s Specialized Hospital, Summit, NJ
The Wednesday Group, First Unitarian Society of Plainfield, Plainfield, NJ
Contemporary Art Group, Les Malamut Gallery, Union, NJ
Somerset Cultural and Heritage Commission, Somerville, NJ

MEDIUM    oil, oil and cold wax, mixed media

FEATURED WORK
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WEBSITE    brushandquilldesigns.com

STATEMENT

Taking inspiration from nature, my artwork focuses on contemporizing a traditional subject though style and/or composition.

As a painter I experiment with paints, mediums, painting surfaces and implements to develop diversity in my overall work. Acrylic collage paintings incorporate hand printed papers that start out as book pages or a child’s handwritten page. Oil paintings incorporate wax medium, resulting in a matte surface and layered texture. Utilizing printmaking tools mixes up traditional oil painting methods, and sometimes a brush does not touch the painting’s surface. Oil sticks and wax pencils aid in highlighting hues and adding sketchy lines.

BIO/CV

Alicia Flynn Cotter is an artist and calligrapher living in Mountainside, NJ. She is a graduate of Boston College and studied studio arts at Kean University, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Her paintings explore themes in nature.

Alicia participates in group shows at local venues including the Artist Framer Gallery in Cranford, Gallery U in Westfield, and South Avenue Arts in Garwood. She will have a solo show at the Pearl Street Gallery in Elizabeth, NJ in the spring of 2018. She is a member of the Contemporary Art Group, Watchung Arts Center, Westfield Art Association, and Society of Scribes.