Best in Show
Traditional Art
Beth Shapiro
I have been painting on acrylic panels (commonly known as “Plexiglas”) for more than a decade. My work is non-representational – it’s about the colors, the shapes and lines, contrasts and subtleties, depths and movements within the paintings. By working with acrylic paints and glazes on Plexiglas, light appears to emanate from within the painting and the unique textures invite the viewers’ visual caress. (One is always tempted to touch the surface of my work.)
And while we indulge in the beauty and drama of the visual, our very human instinct is to seek out even greater meaning within the image. It becomes what we feel and associate and think about what we see. My most successful pieces are those that invite the viewer to interact not only with the visual elements, but with the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual associations they experience through the work.
Inspiration
I came to paint on acrylic panels while on a quest to paint with the purity of color one finds on a computer screen. My work is something of a contemporary update of the color-field painters of the mid 20th century, but it’s also influenced by a pioneer of abstract art, Wassily Kandinsky, as well as the minimalist Donald Judd. The works of Hans Hoffman, Helen Frankenthaler, Jackson Pollack and Mark Rothko have inspired me tremendously.
Techniques
My paintings are created by mixing acrylic paint with glaze mediums and pouring the mixtures onto my panels. I manipulate the panel, and the paints and allow the layer to dry. Once dry, the process begins again, as I connect with each layer of paint and build upon it. Chance and gravity play a role in the creation of all my paintings. I have also used the mixtures as backgrounds for over-paintings, and I have cut and shaped the dried paint to create small blocks which are used as mosaic pieces to build a new painting.
Career Highlights
Painting is my second career. I worked in corporate America for more than 15 years before starting a family. I chose to stay home with my young children, and as they grew, I returned to school part time to study art and design. I attended San Antonio College and then transferred to Texas State University-San Marcos, where I earned my BFA in Painting in 2008. My work has been shown in galleries in Texas, Atlanta and Virginia, with my first solo show at The Radius Gallery in San Antonio in 2009.
If you are interested in seeing more of Beth’s work, please visit her website. Visit the 5th Annual Colorful Abstractions Exhibition here.
Best in Show
Photography & Digital Art
Gareth Jones
Photography is Gareth’s artistic release. Beginning photography in 2015, Gareth bring his imagination, vision and inquisitive mind to visual life following a successful career as a forensic scientist.
Gareth’s art explores bold abstracts or unique perspectives created from his original photographs or digital art pieces.
Gareth wants to present moments of beauty, quiet joy or intrigue in balance with the need to draw attention to important issues. Everyone needs a break from today’s unending negative news and Gareth attempts to provide a breather from the stress of today’s world. He still brings difficult issues into his art – but is convinced that balance is the critical life component and as such, hopes his art will heal this disparate world through creative expressions, thoughtful moments and visual enjoyment or challenge.
Gareth photographs everything, big and small, that makes him stop, look, think, smile, or feel and then puts his unique take on it. Gareth’s images are that gift – a moment of balance, to find something in the image. His curiosity fuels the exploration of the world and the abstract, nature, urban and imaginative images that arise.
Gareth believes that whenever viewers purchase or comment on images, they connect with him. Often that connection is the breather he provides. He’s touching people with his images and that is his inspiration.
Gareth’s art can be found in private collections in Canada but have also sold around the world.
Gareth has been a medalist in various competitions including one of the world’s oldest photography competitions, the International Salon of Photography.
Please visit Gareth’s website if you are interested in seeing more of his work. Visit the 5th Annual Colorful Abstractions Art Exhibition here.
Best in Show
3-Dimensional Art
Moti Bazak
My creation comes from early childhood existential experiences, when I realized that things do not work well…. and that they need a fixing. Years later, I am collecting and connecting to used pieces of wood, metal, paper, etc.
These items have finished their lives and have been thrown away, abandoned, and forgotten. Each piece holds its own unique morphology; their individual colors, textures, bruises and scratches tell me about their past life.
When the right moment comes, these different pieces of many origins become displaced and coalesce into an artwork — and , in a sense, getting their “afterlife” within my work.
This process of fixing and reviving has a comforting effect on me and, in my humble way, I am trying to pass this effect on, in my art.
To see more of Moti’s work, please visit his website. Visit the 5th Annual Colorful Abstractions Art Exhibition here.