3rd Annual Colors Art Exhibition Monthly Winners

Best in Show (Traditional)
Rebecca Thomas

I paint to breathe, love, mourn, remember. Painting is a way to train myself that there are no rules. I can do anything I want and it is correct. I strive to implement this lesson into all other parts of my life. Sometimes the paint tells me exactly what it wants me to do; I follow its commands and let the inspiration flow through my body. The tangible quality of paint is a pigmented metaphor for my too-visceral emotions. Creativity is a heart-wrenching quality that often leaves me stranded in deep sorrow, anxiety, gratitude, or ecstasy, and the act of creation allows for deep emotions to manifest physically and permanently – a reminder of beauty that deeply affected me or a snapshot of grief that I survived. Each layer of acrylic is a time I will never revisit with the exact same mentality and emotion, therefore freezing and preserving my moments forever.

If you are interested in seeing more of Rebecca’s work, please email her directly. Visit the 3rd Annual Colors Art Exhibition here.

Best in Show
(Digital & Photography)
Mac Titmus

The introduction of digital and its light-room image processing was a revelation to me. It enabled me to produce images with the vibrancy, depth and sensitivity I had imagined for years. It provided a level of image interpretation never before possible. The result transformed my photography from an art of image capture to an art of image creation. It created a bridge between reality and imagination; pushing my photography with a technique I call “interpretative photography” and a style I call “digital Impressionism.” An interpretive digital style characterized by vivid visual effects interpreted with dramatic shifts of light and color designed to express mood and emotion.

Please visit Mac’s website if you are interested in seeing more of his work. Visit the 3rd Annual Colors Art Exhibition here.

Best in Show
(3 Dimensional)
Sandra Ledingham

Both making & pedagogy in clay continually inform Ledingham’s practice along with residing part-time near Chitzen-Itza Yucatan in Mexico. As a worker of ‘objects in space’ she is lured by a love of architecture & design. Wherever she travels, she continually explores the history of clay’s humble usage, whether it be ancient cuneiform tablets, antiquated monuments & buildings, toilets, as a food source, or as humble pots. She considers her current ‘wall‘ series not only architectural forms but statements which speak to the human condition. ‘Formalism’ as an aesthetic with its pure use of color/form/ texture /contrast/balance etc., drives her interest in form. Pivotal to these sculptural walls are the pierced surfaces suggesting to the viewer an interior space. The ‘coded‘ punctures ( via the use of binary code, Braille, Morris code) are a fundamental layer of message & mystery further informing the work. “As this civilization and its cradle of origin spiral due to conflicts, my interest in the modest material of clay and its origins of usage become ever more endearing and meaningful to me. As workers in clay we should be proud, we come from a fierce and pivotal material.”

Sandra’s formal studies include ceramics with Marilyn Levine at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. Teaching of ceramics & design has included Concordia University, Portland Oregon as well as University of Saskatchewan. Sandra is returning from an Exhibition in France informed by LOCATION & PLACE examining migration in the Mediterranean by juxtaposing the exotic of the French Riviera, entitled Departures – Examining a Paradigm Shift. Currently she’s completing a collaboration in the Yucatan, Mexico with local Mayan potters entitled Kukulkan. In 2016 she was invited to collaborate internationally in New Zealand. 2012 Sandra was commissioned to create a permanent sculpture in Saskatchewan’s Legislature entitled Multis E Gentibus Vires.

Please visit Sandra’s website if you are interested in seeing more of her work. Visit the 3rd Annual Colors Art Exhibition here.

2nd Place (Traditional)
Alex Ogle

Alex Ogle is a New Jersey based artist whose work focuses on extreme saturated colors and the human figure ranging from portraits to full body postures. She grew up working as a stage hand seeing first hand the effects of dramatic, theatrical lighting and how they enhanced the entertainment atmosphere. This back stage experience inspired her exploration in using vivid color palettes on the human figure. Alex seeks to render the human figure in a realistic sense by proportionally depicting her subject matter and honing in on accurate placement of values. The abstraction comes into play by adjusting the colors / hues in which she works with to convey a more powerful and dramatic connection between the subject and the viewer.

To see more of Alex’s work please visit his website.

2nd Place
(3 Dimensional)
Marlene Siff

I am concerned with communicating a sense of harmony, balance, order and spirituality. We are all confronted on a daily basis with the fragmentation of our non-linear lives, trying, as in a puzzle, to make all the pieces fit together to make sense of it all. The multi-dimensionality and multi-layering of my work reference what one must uncover to penetrate the illusions of reality and reach the mystery and essence of the soul. My paintings, works on paper and sculptures depict imagery of personal events and psychological issues. They are expressed through geometric shapes, color, light, space, texture, edges and movement all interplaying with one another engaging the viewer to participate.

To see more of Marlene’s work, please visit her website.

3rd Place (Traditional)
Zachary Long

Zachary Long is an artist working primarily as a painter out of Lubbock, Tx. where he is in the process of receiving his BFA with an emphasis in Graphic Design. He enjoys painting on a large variety of subject matter often using the qualities of paint to his advantage to create artistic looks unique to the medium. Only paint as a medium could give him the quality of immediacy in filling in information on a surface. Each brush stroke changes and edits the image, which he builds up to differing degrees in pieces to convey different messages and emotions. Sometimes, a more atmospheric technique is used juxtaposing complementary colors together to confuse a space and hide a subject almost in plain sight. Other times, he uses the more soft and atmospheric qualities that paint is capable of to blur and confuse a background creating a feeling of spatial depth in which a figure or object seemingly floats within.

To see more of Zachary’s work please visit his website.

3rd Place
(Digital & Photography)
Maya Bergeron

Bio: Maya Bergeron is a young woman challenging society and consumption through photography. Maya grew up moving around various parts of Canada including her fathers organic farm on the Sunshine Coast. Now living in Montreal, she is a self-taught independent photographer with a passion for colours, travel and plants. Having studied Environment and International Development at McGill University, she is concerned with issues of human rights, women’s rights, environmental exploitation and justice. These themes are very present in her work and inspire her travels. Through her photography, she tries to confront and challenge ours modern lifestyle of consumption and capitalism. One major way this is done is by juxtaposing the Western lifestyle and customs with that of other cultures, sharing insights into other worlds. This she does through a mixture of Street, Macro, and Documentary style photography. She hopes that her images will make people think and promote change, all the while making people appreciate small beauties that exist all around us. Maya Bergeron’s work can be found on her website: https://mayabergeron.wixsite.com/gallery

Statement: My work is inspired by detail and colour. I find inspiration in the fact that, when taking the time to look, a simple scene unravels showing all of the incredible and diverse life within it. These scenes come to life before my eyes when I find plants and small insects which I like to juxtapose with man made creations such as buildings or religious and sacred places. Through my work I want to create an appreciation for the small things, the simple things, the things often overlooked. This sits within a bigger story of raising awareness for contemporary challenges, especially issues of social justice and climate change. I am fighting for people to step away from consumerism and exploitation, and to come back to the simpler things.

To see more of Maya’s work, please visit her website.

3rd Place
(3-Dimensional)
David Ordóñez Lacayo

My work decolonizes minds through the representation of the values, colors, movement and denied history of our aboriginal peoples. Each piece that I elaborate is a tribute to their ancestral knowledge, to their wisdom so little recognized by the hegemonic culture and its power of connection with nature. It is a call for its revaluation, an initiative for Western culture to approach and learn from the roots of indigenous peoples to save this planet from injustice and exploitation.

Guatemalan artist. Member of National Geographic Society, Smithsonian Institution, Natural History Museum, Founder of Galería Arte El Dzunun and Museo Ixchel del Traje Indígena, Patronato Bellas Artes. Doctor in Architecture, Madrid University, 1972. Postgraduate, Real Academia de San Fernando, 1972, Madrid, Spain. Postgraduate, University San Carlos, Guatemala, 1974. Last year I was awarded with the Goya International Award in the Barcelona Biennial 2017, with my “tanates” – aboriginal shawls forming a bag containing Mayan glyphs as an imagine of our our identities gestation. These “tanates” are a tribute to Guatemalan Mayan traditions.

I am a visual artist dedicated to create awareness about the identities of my country of origin. I have exhibited in Europe, the United States, Asia and Latin America and many of my artworks belong to several museums, such as the Ixchel Museum of the Indigenous Costume. Critics of art have described my artwork as the one that weaves the original meaning that inhabits our “ab-origine” memories. Recently in 2018 I just exhibited at Artbox Project 1.0 in New York. Red Dot at Basel week in Miami 2017 and in 2018 in Guatemala in MESOAMERICA exhibition at The Captains’ Palace in Antigua Guatemala and Arte en Mayo, Rozas Botrán Foundation

To see more of David’s work, please visit his website.

4th Place (Traditional)
Linda Steele

Linda Steele is a contemporary painter and sculptor, born, raised and still lives in the small northeast Ohio community of Leetonia. Her artistic abilities were evident at the early age designing her own paper dolls. She completed the commercial art program at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh; after which she married her high school sweetheart. Linda, the oldest of three girls, vividly recalls the first year in which she did not receive a doll for Christmas, looking back, perhaps it was a sign of what was yet to come.

It was from local ceramic class that she received the inspiration to make her daughter a porcelain doll …for a Christmas present of course! From that moment forward, this self taught sculptor creating collectible dolls from scratch was propelled into a thirty-five year career in professional doll artistry. As a doll artist, Linda earned the prestigious reputation as an “A” list doll designer; receiving numerous local, national and international awards for her creativity and artistry.

In 2017, Linda’s career took an unexpected, yet exciting new path upon her discovery of fluid acrylic painting. Using various acrylic pouring techniques, she then enhances the pour by the addition of animals, birds, butterflies, landscapes and much more. Linda feels that sometimes it is the paint, the pour, that speaks to her, telling her what enhancements will spring to life; and other times, she believes it is heavenly intervention revealing its wonder. Regardless of where the inspirations spring, her mantra that “I paint for my own enjoyment” bursts to life from her heart to the canvas. With just a little over a year since her artistry took on this new life, she has already received recognition from the Fine Arts Community.

To see more of Linda’s work, please visit her Facebook page.

4th Place
(Digital & Photography)
Barbara Mierau-Klein

Barbara Mierau-Klein is a digital artist recognized for her multi-layered, imaginative and colorful fine art images. A native of Germany, Barbara lives in the Washington, D.C. area but often travels the world as a passionate landscape and nature photographer since her teenage years. Barbara discovered digital art several years ago and became so fascinated that it turned into a full-time pursuit. Much of Barbara’s work is highly stylized and focuses on beautiful moments and evocative moods across a wide range of subjects. The inspiration for her images comes from many sources, often her own nature photography, but also books, song lyrics, movies, and works of other artists, old masters as well as contemporary digital artists.

Barbara’s work has been exhibited at the Heaven Art Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona and the Orenda Gallery in Reno, Nevada. She has had thirteen top-ten placements in online juried art competitions at the Light Space Time Art Gallery and Fusion Art Gallery over the past year. Her work has also appeared regularly in Living the Photo Artistic Life Magazine and Fine Eye Magazine with a feature article on her work in August 2018. With her digital art creations Barbara seeks to impart a sense of wonder and invite the viewer to step into a different reality for a brief moment.

To see more of Barbara’s work, please visit her website.

4th Place
(3-Dimensional)
Jacki Cohen

The art of fused glass has been Jacki Cohen’s artistic passion for more than a decade. From her studio in Scottsdale, Arizona, Jacki creates acclaimed pieces attracting clientele nationwide. Her creations are a delight in color and composition, a testament to her enthusiasm and skill in working with glass as an artistic medium. The scope of Jacki’s work is both functional and decorative consisting of bowls, plates, wall hangings, unique gifts and home decor.

From large scale installments to cabinet knobs and drawer pulls, Jacki’s contemporary pieces add beauty, value and individual character to any home or office. She also offers a special collection of Judaica artwork and is available for custom designs. Jacki is a trained artist who has studied painting, drawing and ceramics prior to discovering her love for fused glass art. Always an admirer of the medium, it was not until she took a class in stained glass that Jacki started experimenting with glass designs. Feeling limited with stained glass, Jacki discovered that fused glass allowed her to more freely express herself artistically through the vibrant colors and unlimited designs. Since her first class, Jacki has studied extensively under glass masters and is constantly educating, refining and building her skills and expertise.

More recently, Jacki became a juried artist through the Sonoran Arts League. Her work is continually being juried into galleries in Cave Creek, Carefree, and North Scottsdale. Her glass art has been showcased at Anthem Civic Center. In May of 2018, she was awarded the prestigious best of Jewish Arts & Culture. Jacki has been featured in VoyagePhoenix magazine, North Scottsdale Lifestyle Magazine, Phoenix Jewish News, and Arizona Jewish Life Magazine.

To see more of Jacki’s work, please visit her website.

5th Place (Traditional)
Brianne Urzada

Brianne Urzada’s art explores how major life events can impact identity and sometimes pull apart the physical body from the non-physical self. After surviving cancer Brianne is focussing on the duality between the the physical body and the non-physical self, that is often contradicting and fragile. She chooses to explore them separately at first and then later marry them into a vibrant union. To better understand these thoughts of human existence Brianne seeks out, examines, and documents other women in the community who have experienced life happenings, specifically a cancer diagnosis, that creates tension between the physical self and the non. Ideally, Brianne’s art would crush fear that the physical body can oppress on the audience, and allow the viewer to look past mortality, opening up a much deeper look at existence. Brianne resides in Regina, Saskatchewan with her partner Eric and her two children Winston and Charlize.

To see more of Brianne’s work, please visit her website.

5th Place
(Digital & Photography)
Gordon Pollock

Gordon Pollock is a composer and photographer based in Jersey in the Channel Islands. After 50 years of practice he has finally found his niche. He specialises in creating liquid sculptures from water, milk, paint, other liquids and as here, music. He writes 3 second symphonies then photographs them playing through colored liquid, turning the sounds into spectacular visual colorful art. Influenced by the work of Martin Klimas, who used existing artist recordings, Gordon creates his own music with each instrument and sound generating different shapes and formations. The results resemble glass sculptures but still expressing the energy from the music. To freeze the motion, Gordon uses up to 12 flash units with a flash duration of around 1/20,000 second. These liquid sculptures do not last long, cannot be seen with the naked eye, can only be captured by high speed photography and each one is completely unique.

To see more of Gordon’s work, please visit his website.

5th Place
(3-Dimensional)
Arriyan Peagler

Arriyan Peagler is an innovative woodcarver and printmaker who has envisioned himself as an aspiring artist since his early childhood. Arriyan began to focus his creative energies during his teenage years in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, submitting numerous award-winning pieces to art shows and competitions. He then refined his artistic talents at Morehouse College in Atlanta, obtaining a B.A. in Fine Art in 2003 and selling his first woodcarving and relief print at his senior exhibition.

Determined to find a practical application for his creativity, Mr. Peagler, earned a Masters of Landscape Architecture degree from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana in 2008. After graduation, he worked briefly as a designer at landscape architecture firms in Virginia Beach and Lynchburg. However, due to a shortage of design work in the struggling economy, he abandoned the landscape architecture profession to pursue his passion for woodcarving as a full-time career. Although Mr. Peagler conforms to accepted woodcarving practices, he utilizes his unique perspective to shine a new light on the characters of traditional folklore via the medium of wood sculpture.

To bring his vision to life, Arriyan primarily sculpts hardwoods including walnut and African mahogany, and prefers to use traditional hand carving tools, palm gouges, and a wooden mallet to gain a more intimate relationship with the raw material of his work. Once he is finished carving, his sculptures are sanded and/or painted for a smooth finish to bring new life and character to a once living medium. African inspired themes are of greatest interest to Mr. Peagler as he consciously uses lemurs and other primates along with people indigenous to Africa in his sculptures. He hopes to add character and diversity to each carving.

To see more of Arriyan’s work, please visit his website.