Scott G. Brooks | Interview

I use the figure to create surreal and mildly inappropriate imagery, from simple portraits to complex narratives.

What influenced your art style?

My early influences were TV, movies, and comic books. Being from Michigan I also recall being influenced by wildlife artists. There were some beautiful religious paintings at the church we attended, that I would stare at while attending mass. My parents had some very interesting and unusual art hung in the house, from Margaret Keane knockoffs to Dutch master knockoffs, several of which I now have hanging up. Specific elements such as ruff collars or horse drawn carriages continue to be a staple of my work. Over the years I’ve been drawn to specific movements such as the pre-Raphaelites, and more artists than I can list, but they include Cadmus, Bosch, and Rockwell.

How has AI changed your work?

I don’t think AI has changed my work yet. From my perspective it seemed to just come out of nowhere. I can turn my nose up and dismiss it, but it's obviously here to say. The elaborateness of it is daunting but also inspiring in a weird way. My work has always been fantastical and detail forward so I can’t help seeing it as competition of some sort. Pixar and CG has definitely changed the way I see the world and create, and over time I think AI will as well. Just as photography moved painting into new directions, I predict AI will as well, but it’s just too early to see what direction that will be. One thing for sure is that AI won’t be able match the effects of traditional painting and making art anytime soon. 

What role does your artwork have in society?

My work plays the role of the non-conformist.  I live in a world filled with bears, cubs, otters, mermaids, kitties, puppies, witches, fairies, pagans and atheists. As someone who has often felt marginalized, I feel comfortable with those who share that experience. These are the people I include in my work—my neighbors, coworkers, drinking buddies, and loved ones.  

As a gay man, existing has become a political act, and I once again find myself in a time where people like me and my friends face demonization. This is not new to me and it seems to recur every decade or so. I accepted long ago that there will always be people who hate me simply for living my life. I am privileged to live openly and safely, while so many people live in fear or risk their lives for speaking up and being who they are. Given the current climate of anti-LGBTQ+ laws and propaganda, I feel a responsibility to be more public about who I am and the work I do. I hope my work speaks to that weird kid somewhere and can help unlock something in them that’s buried or has been pushed down. I’d like to give someone the courage to stand out and not feel forced to conform to the rigidity of society.

What concept or narrative is behind your work?

My work is primarily narrative, and while I try to communicate new and different ideas in each one, there are a few recurring themes. Being an outsider is common in my work. Impending doom and some sort of mental or physical impairment pop up quite a bit as well. Religion and spirituality - both pro or con, comes into play, as does sexuality, either as an underlying theme or in a more direct style. 

Do you ever venture out of your creative process to try out new things? 

I spend most days painting, but am occasionally dragged out of my comfort zone and try new things. Back in 2020 I was invited to audition for a reality art show that would have pitted me against other artists. That went against just about everything I believe in but rather than a flat no I went along and had several interviews with casting agents and producers. That was way outside my comfort zone. Ultimately I was not selected, the show recently aired and most artists panned it. I have not watched it, and also relieved I was not selected.

TikTok was another venture that I tried and ended up enjoying. More traditionally I dabble in the occasional sculpture, and I also work digitally quite a bit. I recently opened a shop on Threadless and have a line of tshirts for sale there. Creating those designs forced me to think about ways to simplify my work and what I’m trying to say, which could be very useful in my traditional work as well.

Which was your breakthrough piece? Tell us more about it.

I think my first breakthrough piece was from 1997. It’s a large oil on canvas piece called “Light Sources of the Body and Sole” and takes place in a church. I had been working hard for many years to be more traditionally representational,  but realized that was becoming painful and limiting. There were enough academic and photorealist painters out there I thought I would try something new. I had been drawing these little cartoons characters with exaggerated wide-set eyes and large heads, so I thought I’d try that in my “Art”. This piece was one of the first and by far the most elaborate. I still have it hanging in my studio today. It was a style that confused people but it also made my work very easy to recognize. Eventually it seemed  like everyone was painting figures with big heads and wide-set eyes so I have slowly begun going back to a more traditional style and being a bit more subtle with the distortions. 

The Ginger with the Dragon Tattoo

20 x 16 inches

Oil on canvas

Girl with a Cabbage

24 x 18 inches

Oil on canvas

Rhapsody in Yellow and Red

48 x 24 inches

Oil on canvas

Sonata in Red and Yellow

48 x 24 inches

Oil on canvas

Home to Roost, 2019

Oil on canvas

20 × 16 in | 50.8 × 40.6 cm

Gabriella Di XX Miglia | 10 QUESTIONS

Born in Genoa, Italy, Gabriella Di XX Miglia received her art education at the Ligustica Academy of Fine Arts in Genoa doing studies with Rocco Borella and Mimmo Rotella, then for three years continued her training under Guido Chiti and Palma Viardo. Later she received her Masters Degree in Art Restoration and Conservation. In 1983 Gabriella opened her painting studio in Los Angeles. Esther Robles, a pioneer in California modern art, organized and hosted Gabriella Di XX Miglia first personal exhibit in USA .Gabriella's works have been shown annually in both national and international shows. She was featured on 1984 in The Los Angeles Times, Sunday Home Magazine.

Her paintings are in the collections of private, corporate, and public sectors. In 1985 she was nominated for Guggenheim Fellowship, New York.

1-What is different from your art work than other artists working in contemporary realism?

I go beyond realism in my desire to capture resonant moments.

2- How important is process versus the end result?

Process is my compulsion of painting born by curiosity. It involves of letting go of controlled, pre-planned finished pieces without expecting an end result. The end result is always unpredictable. 

3-What is your ultimate goal when creating contemporary realism?

My ultimate goal is to stay consistent to my muse in connection and balance.

4 -What do you like best about your work?

The surprise of using new tools, the discovery of my subject through different marks, the human connection.

5-What do you do you like least about your work?

It takes a long time to find my end result.

6 -Why contemporary realism?

I always was a figurative painter but also attracted to some elements of dream that makes sometime my art a bit more expressionist. I express my reality who is my connection to all my inner sensations.

7- Which are your greatest influences?

Da Vinci, France Hals, Rembrandt and many more.

8- What is your background?

I studied painting at The Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti in Genoa, Italy and received my Master Degree in Restoration and Conservation from the University of Genoa, Italy. After working in both Italy and USA in bublic and private sectors as a conservator and a restorer I dedicated full time in my art making.

9- Name three artists you’d like to be compared to in history books.

Turner, Giovanni Boldini, Pietro Annigoni

10- Which is your favorite contemporary realism artwork today?

Stephen Bauman in his portrait of a boy with blue eyes.

David Morris | Spotlight

How important is process versus the end result?

For me process is extremely important; I am most drawn to works that take on the look of a relic and I love when the end result holds evidence of the process. Rubens’ oil sketches are a good example of this. I love to see evidence of layers that have been built up or of hints of the underlying drawing that the artist perhaps used as a basis, but never tried to erase. Some of these marks may represent failures and others revisions. But to me such marks breathe life into a work; they represent the struggles that were part of it. As such, often the work of other artists that I have bought has been small studies that were created in the course of larger works.

What is your ultimate goal when creating contemporary realism?

I don’t think much about how my work would be categorized under a specific genre. Rather what I make is the result of my interests.  I have always been drawn to the human figure as subject matter. When I represent people I look for something unique in the person’s expression, or the pose, or the design of how multiple figures are intertwined that I try to represent and communicate.

What do you do you like least about your work?

In general I work with a quite limited palette, because it is manageable for me and it feels like a natural way to keep the painting unified. That said, I truly admire, and am dumbfounded by the work of figurative artists like Steven Assael and Nelson Shanks in which they have created brilliant works with huge palettes of highly chromatic pigments, that hold together beautifully.

Which are your greatest influences?

The work that I make is an amalgam of what I have learned and what I have experienced in the course of my life. I am influenced by those from diverse disciplines who have taught me in medical anatomy,  artistic anatomy, understanding form, techniques in drawing and painting, etc. My work is influenced through my studying the work of living and deceased artists. It's also from travel, reading, watching plays and noting set design, listening to music, looking at photographs, and making an effort to become one with nature and my surroundings.

Christa Forrest | 10 QUESTIONS

1- What is different from your art work than other artists working in contemporary realism?
It has always been a struggle to find my own uniqueness - what makes me different.   Throughout my creative journey I have compared myself to others and seen frustration along the way.  I finally decided to focus on myself. Working through my uniqueness and creative process by focusing on my own self portrait.  So my work is a true connection of me.  Getting to understand and accept me as well as sharing my creative journey with my viewer through the feelings and experiences I have felt throughout the process.  

2- How important is process versus the end result?
I truly enjoy the process and sometimes never get to the end result.  I love activating my canvas with an underpainting and experimenting with different ways to allow it to come alive.  My process is my growth, each time learning and understanding how to get to that end result.    I do enjoy finishing but the process is where I love to live.  

3- What is your ultimate goal when creating contemporary realism?
Where my creative journey is right now, my goal is to see myself, my uniqueness and story through my self portraiture series.   Each new painting becomes growth.  I love the challenge of making it look “real” but also experimenting with texture and color to play with those themes.   

4 -What do you like best about your work?
I love the learning process. I truly enjoy working through my creative problems and finding solutions.  I love challenging myself to think and see differently and play with those challenges on my canvas.   What I love is looking back as I experience where I started and where I am now as an artist.   Creating a growing, breathing body of work that evolves as I evolve in my creative journey.

5- What do you do you like least about your work?
I think what I least like about my work is that it takes me so long to get to that end result.  My “inner critic” loves to voice their opinion when I don’t need it.   

6 -Why contemporary realism?
I love the challenge of realism.   I love experimenting with color and texture to create a living, breathing body of work.   I love diving into a subject and see the uniqueness of it.  I love challenging my work to develop story and feeling rather than just making it look like a photograph.

7- Which are your greatest influences?
My greatest influences are all of the amazing female portrait artists out there.  I love watching and supporting their growth.   It has been my motivation to grow through their successes.  

8- What is your background?
This is somewhat of my second career.  I spent 20 years in the finance industry and quit to pursue my true passion as an artist.  I am primarily self-taught but I definitely take advantage of learning from many of the artists that motivate and influence me.  My work focuses primarily on portraits in oil but I love to work in mixed media and do love to paint a good landscape every once in awhile.  

9- Name three artists you'd like to be compared to in history books.
That’s tough to choose just three.  But I love Georgia O’Keefe, Frita and I am currently obsessing over Bisa Butler’s amazing work.  

10- Which is your favorite contemporary realism artwork today?
I can’t stop obsessing over Amanda Greive’s work.  If I could spend an hour watching her process….

Nadia Ferrante | 10 QUESTIONS

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1-What is different from your art work than other artists working in contemporary realism?
I always try to capture the mood of the subject, it fascinates me how the human body moves in space and how I can express a thought in an action. What strikes me most in the themes I deal with, is highlighting the condition of women in modern society and the theme of the environment. I try to express myself in various techniques, trying to put them on the same level of importance.

2-How important is process versus the end result?
I spend a lot of time creating the best surface for my work and in the creative development of the concept I want to achieve, to find the right way so that my intent corresponds to the final result, it is perhaps my favorite thing. I also always try to go a little further in my search for the perfect texture, be it in human figures or in the fabrics of clothes. 

3-What is your ultimate goal when creating contemporary realism?
My ultimate goal is that of creating something unique that corresponds to the image in my mind so that it is clear to the viewer, and that it reaches as many people as possible. 

4 -What do you like best about your work?
When the final work turns out to be even better than the starting image that forms in my mind 

5-What do you do you like least about your work?
When in progress I realize that what I see does not work as it should, or that the initial project proves to be longer than expected to be implemented.

6 -Why contemporary realism?
Because it is the way of conceiving art that I have had since I was a child, linked to the great masters of the Italian Renaissance who were like superheroes for me.

7- Which are your greatest influences?
What most influences me is the Italian Renaissance and the Baroque, in particular Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio in my formative years, later I fell in love with Degas who made me discover pastels, Klimt and the Pre-Raphaelites. . I have recently been admiring Annigoni’s work 

8- What is your background?
I took a drawing and painting class for 2 years, a few workshops, a drawing and painting course in life, but over the years I’ve perfected the technique that works best for me, both in painting and drawing.

9- Name three artists you’d like to be compared to in history books.
Degas, Caravaggio, Annigoni.

10- Which is your favorite contemporary realism artwork today?

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Benji Alexander Palus | 10 QUESTIONS

Benji Alexander Palus is a painter of closeness; intimacy. Inspired by figurative art of every style and era, Palus works in the discipline of figurative realism, delving deep into the humanity of just a handful of close friends who act as his muses. His oil paintings are extensions of his personal relationships, explorations and celebrations of everything he values and admires in his friends' divine femininity.

In the artist's words: “It's difficult to convey the importance of my friendships with these few women who inspire me to paint. They are my art. They inspire me with the very fabric of who they are, down to their core – the way they love and live their lives, raise their families, and overcome hardship and tragedy.”

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1- What is different from your art work than other artists working in contemporary realism?

I try not to compare my work to other artists' work (thief of joy, and all), but maybe it's the straightforward nature of the scenes I generally paint. There's not a lot of symbolism in my work. I don't believe that a deeper meaning to an image is necessary to make it more beautiful, or if you'll excuse the redundancy, more meaningful. I paint actual moments that I've experienced with my muses which capture their own unique personalities, and prefer to leave it to the viewer to project their own feelings and thoughts onto them. For example, I recently finished a painting of my pregnant friend at a restaurant, checking her sandwich for mayonnaise. It's so simple but I find the image beautiful and funny - it's just something that she does because she really hates mayonnaise, yet there was something there so endearing to me, and yes, moving. I can only hope that viewers will find as much delight as I do in the little moments like that.

2- How important is process versus the end result?

I think the end result is really what matters most. That's the part that lasts. Looking at my finished pieces, you'd never know which ones were a struggle and which ones came easily - which started with a detailed sketch and which started as blobs of color on the canvas. That said, though, to the artist the process is all there is. However, once a painting is finished it goes out of your hands and off into the world. It's no longer yours. From an altruistic perspective, what you're giving to the world is far more important than your own individual experience.

3- What is your ultimate goal when creating contemporary realism?

I want to give people wonder. When I see a piece of art and it fills me with wonder, it's like magic. It transports and transforms and connects with me. If I can create something that gives people that sense of wonder, it's like a sacred privilege, for which I am inexpressibly grateful.

4 -What do you like best about your work?

I guess it's the fact that since I paint my closest friends, my work gives me so much time to spend with them. An artist by necessity spends long stretches of time working in solitude, but for me that lonely time is spent reliving memories on the canvas in between the times that those memories are being made. It keeps the people that I love close to me, even when they live a thousand miles away.

5- What do you do you like least about your work?

That's easy - there's not enough of it! I work too slowly! I wish I could be one of those artists that pumps out thirty paintings a year, but if I can finish one a month it feels like an accomplishment. I'm more prolific than I used to be, but it never feels like I'm doing enough.

6 -Why contemporary realism?

From my earliest childhood, realism has been the style to draw my eye and move me the most, so that's what I do. I'm a realist by nature. I'm not a spiritual person, nor particularly philosophical. I know that spirituality, philosophy, and symbolism play a large part of realism art, but honestly those aren't the aspects that appeal to me, at least not in the work that I do. I love that I can create a painting and a person, thing, time, and/or place are made real on the canvas - capturing a real moment, real emotions. I love the freedom of that simplicity. My paintings usually don't "mean" anything. They're captured moments, slices of life, and hopefully that's what makes them resonate.

7- Which are your greatest influences?

I can throw out some names - Sargent, Titian, DaVinci, etc, or contemporary artists like Pamela Wilson, Jeremy Lipking, Casey Baugh, Heather Brunetti, but the list would be unending. I have thousands of influences. Every single piece of realism art that I've ever seen has left a mark.

8- What is your background?

I consider myself mostly self-taught when it comes to practicing my chosen calling of figurative realism. Most of what I know of figure drawing and oil painting comes from trial and error, built on some basics that I learned in high school. When I was twenty I took an eighteen month course in commercial art and earned an associates degree, but it wasn't very illuminating. There wasn't much focus on fine art and I missed the week they spent using oils because I was on an internship. A few years ago I took a three day workshop with Natalia Fabia which was wonderful, but that's pretty much the extent of my fine art education, aside from visiting galleries and art museums to study the paintings and artists that I love.

9- Name three artists you'd like to be compared to in history books.

A gallery director once told me that my work reminded her of Caravaggio, which swelled my head a bit, although I'm not sure I see it, ha ha! Really, though, I try not to think about things like that. I just do my best to make something beautiful and worthwhile.

10- Which is your favorite contemporary realism artwork today?

There are soooooo many! But I have to say that the image that first popped into my head when I read this question was “Pearl” by Heather Brunetti.

Sarah Warda | 10 QUESTIONS

Sarah Warda is an American realist painter from Connecticut. She received her formal education from the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts, as well as the Art Students league of New York with Harvey Dinnerstein and workshops with Aaron Shikler. Her work has been displayed in notable venues such as, the National Arts Club of New York, New Britain Museum of American Art, and the Zhou B Art Center Chicago. She has participated in numerous exhibitions including Connecticut Women Artists, Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Arts Club NY, and PoetsArtists. She has been commissioned for numerous illustrations, murals and portraits for public, private and corporate collections.

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1.-What is different from your art work than other artists working in contemporary realism?
Having been told that I am “so sensitive” most of my life, I’ve found a place in my art for this sensitivity that has become my superpower. I think I harness and embrace vulnerability, empathy, and a sense of hope into my art. I’m sure other artists can relate.

2- How important is process versus the end result?
My process is hugely important to the end result. I used to wish that I was one of those highly organized painters who pre planned everything perfectly-  a perfect drawing, premix all the colors, and put on the gloves. Although I really admire this approach, I came to the realization that it not how I work best. I tend to make order out of chaos, and this allows me to really feel the subject and make room for instincts and edits along the way.

3- What is your ultimate goal when creating contemporary realism? 
It might seem lofty, but my goal is to break through the veil of our perceived reality in some sacred way. In a world where we are connected to everything but ourselves, I would like to bridge this gap with my art.

4 -What do you like best about your work?
Honesty and vulnerability

5- What do you do you like least about your work?
My tortured approach

6 -Why contemporary realism?
It’s a great time to express our reality

7- Which are your greatest influences?
Right now, Velazquez, Barkley Hendricks, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Kathe Kollwitz

8- What is your background?
I studied with Deane Keller and Dan Gheno at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts, The Art Students League of NY under Harvey Dinnerstein, and portraiture workshops with Aron Shikler.

9- Name three artists you'd like to be compared to in history books.
As if- Leonardo Davinci, Andrew Wyeth, Turner

10- Which is your favorite contemporary realism artwork today?
I am very moved by the painting, Star of the Sea by Patricia Schappler

Elena Caravela | 10 QUESTIONS →

Elena Caravela, a School of Visual Arts alumna, has exhibited widely and has garnered awards for her painting and portraiture. Examples include a finalist in The Artist’s Magazine 34th Annual Art Competition, NOAPS Online International Exhibitions, Allied Artist of America at Salmagundi Club, Placing in the Portrait Society of America

Member’s Competition, Finalist in Art Kudos International Competition, Awards at Ridgewood Art Institute, Women Painting Women juried exhibition, Principal Gallery, and a Solo Exhibition “Girls In Sight” at the Visual Arts Center of NJ.

Human beings captured in candid moments are at the heart of Elena Caravela’s work. She may concentrate on a particular concept driving a series of paintings, but fleeting human expression is always the underlying core of her paintings. Both Idiosyncratic and universally recognizable nuance of facial expression and body language is on display in frank and sometimes awkward recognition for the viewer. This conveyance of emotion is also demonstrated in Caravela’s Illustration work. It includes magazines such as 3x3 Magazine for Contemporary Illustration, award winning children’s picture books, and a non-fiction picture book about young female artists that she authored and illustrated.

Q&A

1- What is different from your art work than other artists working in contemporary realism?

My work is about the individual in the moment, the personality, or the concept. While always embracing realism, my color palette and or style serve to support the expansion of my subject or concept. These are the elements that drive my work. I’m not in the business of “pretty” for pretty’s sake. 

2.- How important is process versus the end result?

The process is almost everything. The absolute joy of making something out of a personal driving motivation. That said, when the result is disappointing, I have no qualms in painting over the work and starting over or starting something new.

 3.What is your ultimate goal when creating contemporary realism?

My goal is to do my best in bringing forth my subject or concept in search of their myriad mysteries. Peeling away a layer for others to see and feel and to connect with it in some way.

4 -What do you like best about your work?

It is of the moment. Often a fleeting aspect of an expression revealing part of a subject’s complex personality. The same process reveals a concept 

Very close to my heart.

5- What do you like least about your work?

The deficits in my technical skill in so far as my dream of always surpassing them.

6 -Why contemporary realism?

The ability to grab any viewer’s eye instantly, because the human brain cannot resist representations of truth in life.

7- Which are your greatest influences?

So many! The masters of old, of course. Many female artists whose names may not be recognizable. And tons of artists working today. I save images of particular works on my desktop. I refer to them over and over again to inspire me.

8- What is your background?

I’ve been thinking like an artist for as long as I can remember. Certainly feeling deep connections to all living things and a wonderment of the light and the dark. There was never any question that I wanted to BE an artist. Then a BFA at SVA at a time when conceptual art and abstraction won the day. Hence, illustration was the only form of realism that was sanctioned.  I illustrated and painted portraits. I love to teach young artists. I love to share the skills of drawing and painting, gifting anyone the power of expression and creativity.

9- Name three artists you'd like to be compared to in history books.

If ever, Velaquez, Goya and one of my students.

10. Which is your favorite contemporary realism artwork today?

For today, “Void” by Amaya Gurpide

Ariane Kamps | 10 QUESTIONS →

1- What is different from your art work than other artists working in contemporary realism?

My work is different in that I tend to use a lot of punchy colors, lots of neons, etc and the subject matter is often centered around modern problems, mostly concerning how technology is affecting society on a spiritual level. My goal is to create modern mythologies.

2- How important is the process versus the end result?

The process means a lot to me, I enjoy a lot of the little things. I enjoy sanding panels of all things, gilding the edges with gold, little things like that. I'm always excited to begin a piece. That initial excitement is what carries me through the long process that becomes the end result.

3- What is your ultimate goal when creating contemporary realism?

I want to have a conversation with the viewer about our modern life, the choices we make each day and the world we're ultimately building.

4 -What do you like best about your work?

I like to creating little worlds and making peculiar dreams become reality. It helps me think about the issues we're facing when I can see it represented. 

5- What do you do you like least about your work?

I dislike having to explain the meaning or inspiration behind the work because I often don't have a "message" attached to each work, just loose ideas that I wonder about when I look at each painting.

6 -Why contemporary realism?

I'm a very literal person, I get stuck on details which is useful in realism and I've found a safe haven in contemporary realism. I feel like the artists that work in contemporary realism are pushing boundaries and asking important questions, it really feels like an art movement that is alive and growing.

7- Which are your greatest influences?

I love the work of Frank Frazetta not only for his fantastical worlds and narrative work but also because, not unlike myself, he started oil painting later in life. He was very gutsy, and made being true to himself and his vision paramount. I also love the work of Mucha, Klimpt, Monet, and Waterhouse. In terms of living artists I'm very moved by the work of Kari-lise Alexander, Ali Cavanaugh, and  Kristin Kwan.

8- What is your background?

I didn't end up going the conventional education route but much of what I learned was from fellow painters, workshops and what I could find online.

9- Name three artists you'd like to be compared to in history books. 

I would feel honoured to simply be mentioned in a history book, I can't imagine being compared to any of the incredible talent out there today.

10- Which is your favorite contemporary realism artwork today?

I love this egg tempura piece by Julio Reyes. It feels timeless yet still contemporary.

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Lorena Lepori | 10 QUESTIONS →

What is different from your art work than other artists working in contemporary realism?

I believe intentions are what makes every work unique. Mine are unpredictable, sometimes. I am mostly inspired by personal memories, abstract feelings and references from movies and music I grew up with. This combination of elements characterizes  what I produce.

How important is process versus the end result?

In my case the two  are deeply connected. Once the right idea hits me, the creative process evolves quickly; subjects, backgrounds, outfits and props are already in the picture before I touch the brush. They are so clear to me, that ,rarely, I found something different from what I have planned on my canvas.

What is your ultimate goal when creating contemporary realism?

Make the  viewers curios about the references and amuse them with the twist I like to add in the composition.

What do you like best about your work?

In the process I like the attention I give to the  concept. In the end, I like to see the materializing of my abstract idea.

What do you do you like least about your work?

I would love to be more spontaneous, less obsessed with technical details.

Why contemporary realism?

I consider myself a pragmatic soul, but nothing trigs me more than realistic figures, amazingly executed, immersed in the abstraction of an idea. 

Which are your greatest influences?

My very first love was Tamara De Lempicka, flamboyant colors and beautiful women in glamorous  and swoony poses. I think I got my imprinting from her, and that would explain the focus of my attention into feminine figures.

Caravaggio, and his incredible dramatic work, definitively represents a level I have always aimed to. Last but not least,  Gustave Klimt who stimulated my curiosity  with his ethereal pale women,  wrapped in symbols and flat fabric.

What is your background?

I used to be a cartoonist and illustrator in my twenties. Life drove me away from that  world  for several years. Only in my forties I went back to my original passion, and I started to train myself as a painter, with the help of artist friends and a lot of self-teaching. It is now 9 years that I am totally committed to oil painting. And I love it!

Name three artists you'd like to be compared to in history books.

I would love to see  my name mentioned next to the three artists named above, that would be of course very ambitious and not very humble.

Which is your favorite contemporary realism artwork today?

A huge masterpiece by Sergio Martinez - The portrait of Desire

Gemma Di Grazia | 10 QUESTIONS

1. What is different from your art work than other artists in contemporary realism?
Unlike still life, landscape painting or botanicals, my flowers are my live models. They have personality, express emotion and have a narrative. The story of my flowers is a dialog between color and the shapes they create; and the conversations can be harmonious, complementary, or energetic.

2. How important is process versus the end product?
The process of painting provides such joy. I love the fluidity of the oil paint, and the satisfying control of my brush. The discovery of the palette as it reveals itself is like watching an engrossing movie. Time doesn’t exist when I’m painting, I’m simply in a zone, a headspace of hundreds of intentional decisions flowing from my mind. The end product is, as some say, “when I stop painting.” To conclude a painting is to finish a good book: resolved and better for the experience.

3. What is your goal when creating contemporary realism?
My goal is to sell my work, so I may afford to continue painting! I heard Audry Flack say recently that art is healing; that can be for the artist and the viewer. Flowers are life-affirming, and beautiful. Beauty itself is healing, whether creating or appreciating it.

4. What do you like best about your work?
My new series of floral paintings fuse representational florals with elements of design. It is exciting and hopeful to make work with the goal of expressing beauty.

5. What do you like least about your work?
I have many more ideas than I can paint. Editing is crucial. My painting process takes time, so I never have enough.  

6. Why contemporary realism?
I enjoy painting what I see, then putting it through my filter and express the beauty.

7. Which are your greatest influences?
My parents, who were artists.

8. What is your background?
A family of artists contributed to my early interest in art. My grandmother, mother and father all attended Cooper Union for art. My mother was a painter and my father, Thomas Di Grazia was a published illustrator and painter. I attended LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and then earned a B.F.A. from Hunter College. I also studied at S.V.A., Parsons, and the Art Students League of New York.

9. Name 3 artists you’d like to be compared to in the history books:
Instead of artists from history, I’d rather be along side the many artist friends whose work I admire.

10. Which is your favorite contemporary realism artwork today?
It is difficult to choose just one particular favorite contemporary realism painting, but some of my favorite contemporary artists are: Xenia Hausner, Hope Gangloff, Audry Flack, and Janet Fish.

GEMMA DI GRAZIA

Di Grazia’s representational paintings are a celebration of color, light and form. Her compositions exhibit formal aesthetic elements, whether using soft pastels or oil paints, she uses a luminous and vibrant color palette that transform the formal foundation into something exciting and dynamic. Her work seeks to evoke the life-affirming beauty inherent in the natural world, and reveal what is extraordinary in the familiar. Ultimately, it’s not the subject matter that interests Gemma, it’s the tone, the gesture, color, light, scale and composition, that continue to absorb and inspire her.

Michael Van Zeyl | 10 QUESTIONS

1- What is different from your art work than other artists working in contemporary realism?
I think my work looks different because I work in three picture planes, a foreground, midground and background and they are clearly separated by dimensional feeling. I like to play with texture and use color harmonies to push the near too far feeling. I think the individual elements of my paintings are realistic but the overall composition is imaginative. 

2- How important is process versus the end result?

I spent so much time developing a process with oil paint using material surfaces that were mostly handmade. I hoped to create textures that were not seen before. Being a painting teacher, I surrounded myself with more people who were focused on technique and HOW to paint. When you have a show and you discuss your work with more non-painters you learn they are talking about and focus on the final image and WHAT you painted. 

3- What is your ultimate goal when creating contemporary realism?
To paint my truth but ultimately connect with a wide enough audience which make my paintings immortal.

4 -What do you like best about your work?

It is a reflection of my thoughts.

5- What do you do you like least about your work?

How long it takes me to call it complete.

6 -Why contemporary realism?
Because when I walk out of every museum and art fair I visit that is the genre that stays with me and can’t stop thinking about.

Field of Lilies, 2018

Oil on panel

20 × 30 in | 50.8 × 76.2 cm

7- Which are your greatest influences?
I’m going to go with the living ones because I had the opportunity to study with all of them starting with David Leffel then Steven Assael and weekend with Bo Bartlett. 

8- What is your background?

I went to art school with a focus on illustration and design. I began painting after art school at the Palette & Chisel Academy where I was able to paint with dozens of great artists and talk art talk art 24/7.

9- Name three artists you'd like to be compared to in history books.

I like Vermeer for his thoughtful picture making, I like Thomas Dewing for his etherial quality and made up color harmonies and I like Degas because when you think of dancers you automatically think of him.

10- Which is your favorite contemporary realism artwork today? 

Daniel Sprick’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

MICHAEL VAN ZEYL

Michael Van Zeyl is a full-time artist living and working in Chicago. His formal training began at the American Academy of Art, continuing on at Chicago’s Historic Palette & Chisel Academy. His art has been featured in several publications such as: American Art Collector, PoetsArtists, and American Artist magazine. Michael’s work is already appreciated in many public and private collections, such as the United States District Court, University of Chicago and was the 2014 recipient of the Dorothy Driehaus Mellin Fellowship for Midwestern Artists.

Sharon Sayegh | 2022 Year in Review

Were you included in any shows?

I was selected to be in the ArtFair24C Showcase 2022. I also had a two person show at Grant Avenue Gallery, NJ  and exhibited several paintings at LeMieux Gallery, New Orleans. 

Did your art sell?

Yes I did sell this year.

What are you looking forward to in 2023?

I will be exhibiting in a three person show at ArtworksTrenton in May 2023.

Kristen Santucci | 2022 Year in Review

Best known for her ethereal landscape and figurative paintings, Kristen Santucci's body of work has the ability to transport viewers to the space between shadows and light, allowing us to witness the transmutation of the changing luminescence. Studying her paintings is like gazing at a subject in the pre-dawn light of consciousness between dreams and waking.

Kristen is a self taught artist who was born in Maryland in 1970. At the age of eighteen, she moved to Clearwater, Florida where she resided for over thirty years. In May of 2022, Kristen relocated to Montpelier, Vermont. The beauty of her new surroundings has inspired Kristen to focus on painting Vermont's unique landscape.

Kristen is a current member of PoetsArtists group, where her work has been featured in several of their publications and online exclusives on Artsy.net. Her work has recently been featured in an issue of Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine. Kristen's paintings have been collected nationally and internationally.

Was 2022 a good year for you?

For me, this year has brought a lot of changes. I had been working in an art gallery in Clearwater, FLorida for over eight years. In January, the owner of the gallery passed away and my job ended. In May, my husband and I decided to move to Montpelier, Vermont. There have been challenges, but I feel that I'm where I'm supposed to be.

What were some of the highlights in your art career?

One of the highlights of this year was participating in a plein air event in Vermont, and selling a painting right off the easel!

Were you included in any shows?

I was included in Abend Gallery's Holiday Miniature Show.  I had three pieces included in a group show in a local Vermont gallery. I was also included in a few online shows on Artsy through 33 Contemporary Gallery.

Were you published in any art magazines or periodicals?

I was absolutely thrilled that one of my paintings was selected to appear in the September/October issue of Fine Art Connoisseur! A painting of mine was also featured in an article in a local newspaper.

What are you looking forward to in 2023?

I am so happy to be living in Vermont! It's unlike anywhere I have ever been, and I am obsessed with painting the landscape! Now that I am getting more settled in my new environment, I look forward to creating many new works in 2023!

John Hyland | 2022 Year in Review

Q.: Was 2022 a good year for you?

A.: Yes, very good, in fact.

Q.: What were some of the highlights in your art career?

Aside from continuing to sell work through PoetsArtists and 33 Contemporary Gallery in Chicago, I grew and expanded as an artist, becoming much more comfortable incorporating metaphor and symbolism in my portraiture. This is particularly evident in my most meaningful series of paintings to date — “Saints Like Us,” contemporary portraits of saints, martyrs and other religious figures, depicted as if they had suddenly shown up in the 21st century, complete with many of the trappings of our time, from cellphones and earbuds to tattoos and the clothing of our age. The series, which I started in March and finished in early December, has fortunately been well received, being chosen for its own viewing room on Artsy. One portrait, of Saint Vitus, the patron saint of dancers, was even featured in American Art Collector as part of an article about the online PoetsArtists show “Exertion.”

Q.: Were you included in any shows?

A.: Several other paintings of mine were included in a variety of other PoetsArtists publications and shows, from the “Pandemic” show in Dublin to the “Summer 2022 Pop Up Show” at 33 Contemporary in Chicago. My painting for the summer show — a large beach scene featuring children digging in the sand at the charming Civic Beach at Point Lookout, a hamlet in the town of Hempstead on Long Island, just outside New York City — was chosen for the cover of the show’s catalog. Another painting, a portrait of Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska, was included in an exhibition to raise funds for Ukraine at the William Ris Gallery in Jamesport, N.Y. Several paintings of mine were selected this year to go to the moon in digital form in 2023 as part of the Peregrine Collection payload aboard the Peregrine Lunar Lander. And I completed a large group portrait commission of 14 members of one family — that’s correct, 14 — that was well received. Yes, 2022 has been a good year in my art career, indeed.

Q.: What were some of the pitfalls?

A.: Dealing with health issues is nothing new for me, having had many heart and spine procedures and surgeries over the years. But 2022 presented a unique challenge, first dealing with severe Covid-19 and then unexpected but serious ramifications from what was eventually diagnosed as post-Covid-19 syndrome, which attacks the most vulnerable parts of the patient. In my case, those areas are the spine, the heart and, since I am also asthmatic, the lungs. I am now being treated with medication and physical therapy and am finally back to painting again, but for an extended time everything was put on hold, including my saints series, right when I was about to finish it, as my doctors and I faced quite a challenge getting me to stand and walk again without excruciating pain, my heart to stop beating out of my chest and my lungs to function normally again. I am grateful to the doctors, nurses, therapists, family and friends, including our own Didi Menendez, who counseled me to take care of myself and not worry about the art until I was better. Thank you, Didi! I now am gratefully much better. So it’s onward and upward for 2023.

Q.: What are you looking forward to in 2023?

A.: In 2023, I am simply looking forward to painting what I like and what holds meaning for me. In truth, I have always felt this way, to a degree, even when painting was my secondary career while I was knee-deep in my primary work as a newspaper reporter and editor for decades until retiring from that in 2017 and focusing on my art. But my recent health scare, coupled with the joy I’ve derived from my “Saints Like Us” series, has really helped me focus on storytelling through art and metaphor in a way I hadn’t really done in the past. I now see the saints series as a springboard. In fact, while I was finishing it — with a large portrait of Saint Joan of Arc, the series’ capstone — I became somewhat sad to be approaching the end. Not that I won’t ever paint a saint again, but a chapter I enjoyed was suddenly ending. Then that sadness was replaced with a sudden excitement to explore the Greeks and Romans. Whether this turns into a full-fledged series on the order of the saints remains to be seen, but already I have painted a contemporary spin on Agamemnon, the great mythic Greek king, and I am now developing all sorts of ideas for more portraits in this vein. So, 2023 holds much promise.

Katarzyna Adamiak–Jaśnikowska | 2022 Year in Review

Was 2022 a good year for you?
I think it was a good year, although I also feel a bit unsatisfied because I wanted to do more.

What were some of the highlights in your art career?
I was a finalist of this year's Art Renewal Center. Two of my paintings have been included in the Lunar Codex Artists on the Moon project, founded by Dr. Samuel Peralta.

What were some of the pitfalls?
Reconciliation of family life being an active artist. In 2021, my second son was born. So I am a mother of two small children, but I also see that I can be better organized. In the new year, I plan to devote myself even more intensively to paint.

Did your art sell?
All the works I have painted this year, have been sold in local galleries. They were not large paintings. This year I focused on smaller formats.

What are you looking forward to in 2023?
I am curious about the paintings I will be inspired to create in 2023. I feel a great desire to create new work and I look with optimism into the coming 2023.

Daria Solar | 2022 Year in Review

What were some of the highlights in your art career?

My 2022 started with my painting being accepted to “MOD Portrait 2021” catalogue by Barcelona's MEAM Museum. Soon came my big individual show in the Museum of the Factory in Lodz, which resulted not only in a professional catalogue made available online, but also a cooperation with Maciej Kawecki, EU’s technology ambassador and the CEO of the institute “Poland of the Future” - a prominent foundation promoting technology and ecology. Then I had my painting published in Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, and four of my works were accepted to “Lunar Codex” program. September brought my solo show at Krakow's “Bomba Megabitowa 2” Conference, which I regard a great achievement, as it is the Institute “Poland of the Future” foundation’s key educational event of the year which connects people of science, ecology, art and media. 

Was 2022 a good year for you? 

Considering the highlights above, I believe 2022 was an exceptionally good year. However, to be honest, I am more satisfied with my ecology-focused paintings that I completed this year, than with all the other things. Creating art is the reason why I live, much more than competitions or exhibitions, and they are my artworks that are my driving force. 

Daria Solar

Bowing Tulips, 2021

Oil on canvas

15 7/10 × 27 3/5 in | 40 × 70 cm

What were some of the pitfalls?

Well, being an ‘engaged artist’ commenting on technological, social and political events, it is hard to ignore the key event of 2022 – war in Ukraine – that has been shaping our world, especially when you are a citizen of a country bordering war-zone, as I am living in Poland. Here, with a crisis caused by some failed economic decisions of our government, and worsened by war just a day’s drive away, the art market has already suffered a blow, and it is hard not to be anxious about the future. 

How has social media affected your daily practice?

Sadly, publishing online is a burden, but an indispensable one. I fully appreciate its marketing capability, yet...it takes my attention off my art. I often feel disappointed that I forgot to film the start of my work. My dream would be to have it done for me. 

What are you looking forward to in 2023?

I have been working on a few new, meaningful paintings for my "Electric Beings" series, I can’t wait to see them finished. I am also planning to participate in a number of competitions that I am really excited about. Moreover, the massive Multimedia Vincent van Gogh Exhibition that I curate will be shown in Lodz – my home city in Poland – and it will be not only a great marketing opportunity, but an occasion to meet friends and show my work to my kin. And finally, in December the Lunar Codex launch with my digitised artworks onboard is planned, it will be a great celebration for me as some of my futurological paintings will be placed on the Moon.

Victoria von Kap-herr | 2022 Year in Review

Was 2022 a good year for you? 
I can’t say it was a remarkable year as nothing spectacular comes to mind.

What were the Highlights? 
I managed to landscape Plein-air on my holiday at a North German estate. The Highlight was the fascination of my senses, the smells, sights and sounds which brought back fond memories.

What was the craziest thing that happened to you this year?
The craziest thing was Ghosts of women from my past began appearing in summer landscapes. They appeared in the paintings once I got back to my atelier. Ordinary landscapes became a statement.

What were some of the highlights?
The other highlight was the reality I had to take a course to learn by doing I Joined ArtNXTlevel. TUTORIALS!!

What were some of the pitfalls?

The pitfall was not understanding social media This has not helped me as it became a big source of frustration.

What are you looking forward to in 2023?
I look forward to the next year 2023 for it might be the year I make significant progress in my career.

Nanette Fluhr | 2022 Year in Review

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Was 2022 a good year for you?

2022 was a very good year for me. I was able to create work that enriches my life and others. It is very satisfying to have had collectors tell me I’ve given them their greatest gift, and have had people connect with my art and find joy. It’s wonderful to have had my efforts recognized, an honor to have won awards, and to have been invited to show in prestigious museums and galleries. I continue to be grateful to be able to do what I love professionally and continue to grow as an artist. 

What were some of the highlights in your art career?

My proudest career accomplishment this year was having been chosen as the winner of the Manhattan Arts International “HerStory” 2022 juried exhibition. I was honored to have Renee Phillips, Founder/Director/Editor of Manhattan Arts International select my painting, “A Lotus Grows in the Mud” and present me with the Artist Showcase Membership Award from all of the outstanding worldwide entries. The competition was based on originality, innovation, and technical skill — art that has a significant impact on the viewer, inspires contemplation, insight, and transforms us. This was especially meaningful as this painting was born out of my personal journey. I was moved by the beautiful words of someone I respect profoundly.

I’m also thrilled over having several of my works of art selected for a trip to the Moon. Ten of my works of art will be part of the Lunar Codex that will be rocketed to the Lunar South Pole as part of the NASA Viper rover and Astrobotic Griffin mission in 2023. Having digital reproductions of several of my artworks being placed in a time capsule that’s landing on the Moon is a bit surreal to me. Additionally, this has brought much media attention, newspapers and tv interviews, along with several articles written about me and my works.

I am delighted to be invited to have my work included in D. Anthony Gallery located in Wausau, Wisconsin and become a part of their artistic family. David Hummer, the Executive Director of the Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art, just opened this brand new gallery and my painting, "A Lotus Grows in the Mud", is currently on display in this beautiful new space. 

The year ended with my completing a month-long artist residency at the Pouch Cove Foundation in Newfoundland. I was thrilled to have been invited by James Baird Gallery to participate in their International exhibit "WOMAN” and offered an artist residency to live and work outside my usual environment. It was wonderful to be able to immerse myself in beautiful new surroundings and focus on creating every day. The physical and mental space allowed me to hear and listen to my own thoughts and grow as an artist. 

The sea and crashing waves inspired me tremendously. The ocean has a way of putting life in perspective. I'm so glad that I had the chance to explore this on canvas. In addition to working on my portraits and figurative paintings, I created a couple small paintings of waves. These were joyous and freeing to make! I truly loved exploring different methods and the use of color with no attachment.

I am thankful that my residency coincided with the “WOMAN” exhibition. It was wonderful to be in Newfoundland and see this amazing exhibit in person. The show featured work by over forty painters from over twenty countries. It was exciting to exhibit with fellow residents and meet other artists and collectors from all over the world who stopped by the gallery to see our work.

Did your art sell?

I sold works online through 33 Contemporary Gallery and through my studio. It's always wonderful to have a work of art appreciated and acquired by new collectors. In addition I created and delivered portrait commissions to thrilled clients.

Were you included in any shows?

I have participated in many shows both internationally and online.. 

I am honored to be the winner of Manhattan Arts international “HerStory 2022. I was also invited to exhibit in other International shows such as, James Baird Gallery’s exhibition, Woman, and delighted to be juried into the “Divine Feminine” exhibition in the UK. 

I have also participated in online shows through the Poets Artists community, Mujer, Presence and Absence, and Desperately Seeking Madonna where my new painting, “Autumn” was selected for the cover of the catalog.

Were you published in any art magazines or periodicals?

My art going to the moon received much media attention. A television interview with Della Crews of News 12 NJ about my work being included in the Lunar Codex set off a serendipitous series of events.  

Della Crews, "The Paintings from Nanette Fluhr will be going into Space in a Time Capsule to the Moon in 2023. How Cool is that?", News12 NJ TV Segment, April 10th, 2022

After seeing the Della Crews interview, Greg Prince, author and NY Mets aficionado, was captivated by the portrait of my son Lonny sporting a Mets cap and jersey. I forwarded his email to Dr. Samuel Peralta, the physicist, storyteller, and curator of the Lunar Codex. Immediately, Dr. Peralta got "Lonny" onboard. Greg went on to interview me and write an article, which is now moon bound as well. My oil painting of Lonny is a portrait representing love and determination and now synergy is working to rocket it to the moon.

Greg Prince,  "Moonstruck", Faith and Fear in Flushing, May 27, 2022

My painting, “The Beauty of Shabbat” will also be included in the Lunar Codex and I was thrilled to have Evelyn Frick write a fabulous feature for HeyAlma. “The lunar calendar is central to Jewish practice and informs our holidays and traditions. It is very meaningful to me to know that as the moon revolves around the earth marking each month, my art celebrating one of our most sacred traditions will be there.”

Evelyn Frick, "This Very Jewish Painting Is Heading to the Moon", Hey Alma, April 6, 2022

So incredibly honored to have this story about me by Smile Train. I'm passionate about supporting the life changing work Smile Train does and humbled to be featured by them. 

Smile Train, “Nanette Fluhr: Art as a Medium for Connection" July 2022

I was excited by Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine's wonderful write up about my painting "A Lotus Grows in the Mud" and the award it won for Manhattan Arts International HerStory 2022. 

Peter Trippi, "Out and About", Fine Art Connoisseur, July/Aug 2022

In addition to spotlight articles by my alma maters, Rutgers and School for Visual Arts, other articles include:

Canvas Rebel, “Meet Nanette Fluhr”, July 2022

Max Gillies, "Dressed to Impress", Fine Art Connoisseur, Nov/Dec 2022

Fine Art Today, Artist Spotlight: Nanette Fluhr, Sept 2022

Renee Phillips, Nanette Fluhr, Museum Quality Realistic Portraits, Manhattan Arts International, Feb 2022

Fine Art Connoisseur Featured Artwork: Nanette Fluhr, July 2022 The cover image, "Summer Wind", is available on Artsy.

What are you looking forward to in 2023?

I am looking forward to some exciting portraits I have been commissioned to paint as well as creating personal work for my collectors and myself. I always want to grow as an artist and continue to create meaningful and lasting art. I also enjoy sharing my knowledge of traditional realism through teaching and will be leading a workshop this summer at The Inview Art Center at the Landgrove Inn in Vermont.

I am also curious to see how my time exploring, reflecting and creating in Pouch Cove, Newfoundland will influence my future work.

With over two decades of professional experience, Nanette Fluhr has created paintings that hang in public and private collections worldwide. Known for her sensitive portraits and exacting technique, her art has been recognized by prominent artistic institutions. Nanette is a master portraitist able to capture a remarkable physical likeness, along with the true essence and spirit of her subject. Her Honors include, The American Women Artists Distinguished Achievement Award, the winner of Manhattan Arts International HerStory 2022, and a proclamation for her achievement in the arts by the Suffolk County Legislature. Her art has been exhibited at The Butler Institute of American Art, The European Museum of Modern Art, The Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art, as well as in a six-museum exhibition on contemporary American realism in China. Nanette is one of the artists from across the globe whose work was selected for inclusion in the Lunar Codex, a time capsule of digitized works of art and literature being sent to, and permanently placed, on the moon.

Elena Degenhardt | 2022 Year in Review

Was 2022 a good year for you?

Looking back, I think it was.

What were some of the highlights in your art career?

Some of this year’s highlights have been exhibiting at Salmagundi Club in NY; an inclusion in a high profile juried museum’s exhibition of professional artists in Germany (“Klare Kante!” at Museum Ostwall in Dortmunder U); showing with The Pastel Society UK at the Mall Galleries in London and with The Pastel Society of America at The National Arts Club in NYC (two most competitive pastel juried shows); as well as receiving my Master Pastelist Honours with the IAPS - International Association of Pastel Societies.

What was the craziest thing that happened?

I guess when I learned that several of my works would be archived and stored on the Moon as part of the Lunar Codex Artists on the Moon project, founded by Dr. Samuel Peralta.

What were some of the pitfalls?

Lack of time and possibility to work uninterrupted, due to my husband’s change of job and our family’s big move abroad which has started this year but will continue into 2023. I haven’t had any dedicated studio space since summer and had to put on hold some of the large scale projects. I have painted mostly en plein air and on a small, portable table easel. In the end, I had such an urge for plunging into a large work that I taped a huge sheet of paper onto the wall in our tiny kitchen. We couldn’t cook but this work is now up on Artsy through 33 Contemporary.

Elena Degenhardt

Just The Way I feel, 2022

Pastel on archival paper

26 2/5 × 38 in | 67.1 × 96.5 cm

Did your art sell?

Yes, through galleries, from my Etsy shop (of plein air paintings and small works) and from my studio. Some works went to returning collectors which is always special and a sign for me that my work has a consistency. But I’ve also gained quite a few new collectors. One collector has recently purchased several works from galleries in the USA and Europe and is interested in further works.

Were you included in any shows?

I’ve had work included in 17 juried, curated or invitational exhibitions, in Germany, France, USA, Ireland, UK, South Korea and China.

Were you published in any art magazines or periodicals?

When earlier this year Anne Hevener, the editor of the renowned American magazine Pastel Journal, contacted me regarding an interview, I was delighted. I was touched when she wrote that she was particularly interested in my paintings of water and how the various series explore my inner, emotional world. The result of the interview with writer Christine Proskow is a beautiful, thoughtful 8 pages publication in the current issue of Pastel Journal.

How has social media affected your daily practice?

Making reels is a bit time consuming at the moment and I am thinking how to re-organize my working space so that I can easily take good studio videos.

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What are you looking forward to in 2023?

To completing the series “Pandemic Kids” which I started in 2020, while observing the dramatic changes the pandemic had on my children, especially on the younger one, who was 11 back then. I received a small governmental grant for this project and am very happy that most of the works have shown internationally in juried and curated exhibitions and were well received by the public.

One of the portraits won the Best of Show Award in the IAPS - International Association of Pastel Societies Gallery Exhibition at the Zhou B Art Center in Chicago. My goal is to finish the largest work I’d planned, a triptych, and to exhibit the entire series in one show, to give the whole theme a perspective.

I’ve just started a new series, dealing with various aspects of adolescence, but post pandemic, and will continue working on it in 2023. These will be predominantly works in acrylic and oil and they will combine both figures and sea as a background.

I’m also looking forward to more (warmer:) coastal plein air painting at the Côte d'Azur.