Kristopher schoenleber

Kristopher is an award winning photojournalist, with 21 years in television news and 15 years in still photography. He specializes in landscape and nature fine art photography. His work has been featured in numerous art exhibits, locally and internationally, and several publications. Born and raised at the Jersey shore, he loves to travel and explore the world around him, always looking for his next magical capture.

www.kgsphoto.com

Andrea Hellman

Andrea Hellman, Ed.D., is an associate professor in English at Missouri State University. She is acclaimed for her TESOL publications and directs Show Me Multiliteracy (multiliteracy.net), a National Professional Development grant project.

As a prolific fine artist, Andrea's digital paintings have garnered accolades, including Best in Show from the Gallery Ring, Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards from the J. Mane Gallery, Artist-of-the-Month and Bronze Awards from the Camelback Gallery, a Second Place Award from the Ten Moir Gallery, Solo Artist and Talent Prize Awards from Teravarna, and many more. Her art is published in journals like the Passengers Journal, Moon City Review, Beyond Words Literary Magazine, Artistonish Magazine, and Hayden Ferry's Review. She is a member of the Fresh Gallery and the Formed Gallery in Springfield, Missouri, USA.

"Melting Glaciers Silk" was inspired by the magnificent summer landscape of Iceland's glaciers. The technique involves layering digital watercolors, then blending, balancing, and denoising colors, and applying a specially designed filter to achieve the shiny surface of a silk scarf. Andrea's landscape silks and silk abstracts are available to view and purchase on her website (andreahellman.com).

www.andreahellman.com

Padma Aleti

Padma embarked on her artistic journey in her native India, where she grew up as the youngest of six children. She now resides in New Jersey, working as a full-time Graphic/Web Designer while pursuing her passion for Watercolor Painting. Having experimented with various mediums, she found watercolor particularly captivating due to its inherent challenges. Initially focusing on realistic paintings, Padma gradually transitioned towards impressionism, and her current style resides somewhere in between. She loves to experiment with different styles. Despite lacking formal training or mentorship from a professional painter, she has become a skilled and accomplished artist, entirely self-taught. For Padma, art is a labor of love; a means of expressing her innermost thoughts and harmonizing with the wonders of nature. Her work has been showcased in juried exhibitions, and she has garnered awards in several painting competitions.

www.padmaaleti.com

Nikki Coulombe

Ultimately as a traditional artist most comfortable painting or drawing, my approach toward art emphasizes value in the work process, where means to expression are diverse, and despite the outcome, effort is always worthwhile. I grew up in Alberta, Canada, where three years of formal education led to a home-based business in eastern Ontario, working freelance while my children were young.

Until moving to the U.S. in 2002, volunteer work at schools involved developing educational projects around themes of Art History, multiculturalism, and environmental issues. Along with a variety of on-site work for Interior Designers, commissions have included fabric design, illustrations, acrylics paintings, pet portraits, and customized wall murals for homes and restaurants.

Photography is an ongoing interest, influential in my work as inspiration, where I'm guided by the experiences and observations. Modifying style is characteristic of my work, mostly dictated by subject matter and the unique challenges presented by each individual piece as it unfolds. I work intuitively and don't really have pre-set, predictable methods, except there is constant concern for negative spaces being as important as the main objects. I'll remove material to create marks, imply structures, backgrounds and spatial movement, using damp cloth and dry brushes on paintings, pottery tool and fingernails with oil pastels, and different sizes of erasers for work in graphite and soft pastels.

Recently (2020-24) I've been doing large format soft pastels on paper, trying a broad range of subjects portraying some of the amazing places I've traveled to, as represented by animals, plants, and landscapes.

nikkiartwork.com

Caitlin Garvey

Caitlin Garvey (b. 1970, Brooklyn, New York) is a Virginia-based photographer whose work explores the themes of identity and relationship. Drawing inspiration from the Shenandoah Valley where she resides, her art often utilizes nature as a metaphor to explore the concepts of self and belonging, while in relationship with one’s community and environment. Garvey received a B.A. in journalism, a M.A. in English literature, a J.D. from the University of Dayton School of Law, and an L.L.M in international law from American University. She has worked as an attorney, a librarian, a historical interpreter and a teacher. Her work has been widely shown in galleries including juried shows at the Museum of the Shenandoah, Athenaeum Gallery, Darkroom, 1650 Gallery, the Art League, the Valley Educational Center for the Creative Arts, Muse Winery, and the Falls Church Arts Center.

Her art has been featured by the “Mountain Courier”, the Tiny Seed Literary Journal, Artist-Blacksmith's Association of North America, the Gardener’s of America, and the American Horticultural Society. She was the featured artist in the “Mass on the Epiphany in Creation, A Eucharist Drawing on the Poetry of Mary Oliver'' where her images were projected on the walls of St. Aidan’s Epsicoal Church accompanied by the poetry of Mary Oliver and the words of the mass. Among her honors, Garvey was awarded “Honorable Mention” at the Moscow International Foto awards and also at the Neutral Density Photography Awards and “Best in Show '' and the “People’s Choice” awards in a juried show at the Valley Educational Center for the Creative Arts. Most recently, she was honored to have her work included in the Woodstock Banner project, received 1st Place in the Photography Show at the Valley Educational Center for the Creative Arts, and had a 2-person exhibit at Muse Vineyards in Virginia.

www.caitlingarvey.net

Brian Hallas

Brian Hallas is an award-winning abstract digital photographer whose latest works focus on the flora that decorates his daily life. His photographic improvisations are often kaleidoscopic in nature, resulting in “hallucinatory blooms of the imagination.” The work is frequently quite painterly, thus altering the character of photography itself. His images have been shown in galleries and museums throughout the United States, and hang in several private collections in the US and elsewhere. Brian has also been featured in a number of both print and online magazines, and collaborates with several artists across the globe.

Brian enjoyed a long career in the theater as a sound designer and performer, and has been an associate of National Medal of the Arts recipient Ping Chong since 1983. Many years ago, he adopted photography as a medium for expression upon becoming a schoolteacher, where economy of effort to achieve maximum effect is a key to survival. He now works at a local nursery as a gardener, which feeds his daily rituals of taking, processing and posting his photographs. Among the multitudes of perks afforded by a life in the Arts, Brian has especially been fortunate to feast in many parts of the world where he otherwise would never have dined.

https://brianhallas.myportfolio.com/brian-hallas-abstract-imaginitive-realism