This painting serves as a attempt to capture the majesty and tranquility of both the snow-covered peaks and the contrast between the vibrant greens on the rocky outcrop and the cool blues of the ocean. Harmony and interconnectedness were themes that guided my brush.

At time of writing, this piece is available for purchase here.

Image Credits

All Images Are © Peter Van Giesen

Peter Van Giesen Artist Bio

Peter N. Van Giesen grew up in Ontario and completed university degrees in Psychology & Religion in British Columbia where he currently resides. Inspired by “The Eternal Aura of Nature”, for him, the act of creating art is “a mystical process, a spiritual work…”

Van Giesen describes his painting style as one that hovers between representation, impressionism with a dash of abstract. “I attempt to reach into the fabric of the world exploring the dynamics of tension and elasticity. I create images based on the interplay between darkness and light, the interconnected aura of the natural world.”

Peter was recently featured at Art Tour International

Blog / Website: Peter N Van Giesen Artist

Follow Peter Van Giesen on: Twitter | Facebook

Noisy distortion with a blast of color.

Attempting to escape from the dream world.

Degraded edit, with plenty of noise and grain for a creative vintage feel.

Image Credits

All Images Are © Austin Sessler

Guest Artist Bio
Austin Sessler

I am a 19 year old digital artist from Arizona. I focus on trying to inspire others to chase their creative ideas, and show people that there is no limit to our creativity, which is why I find myself in many different fields of art. My works can be found on Instagram @youngdumnumb

Follow Austin Sessler on: Facebook | Instagram

“Unload” is part of my Sock Monkey Oracle Series. Each piece of artwork in this series depicts a state of being that encourages reflection. As I worked on this painting, I thought about Dave’s patience and his kind demeanor. May you all have such a friend to help lighten your load.

Image Credits

All Images Are © Shannon Grissom

The “crazy flower” and all of it’s beauty dissolving in the sunlight.

A bird taking in nature’s beauty while being viewed through a trippy lens.

Imagine being stranded in the ocean, you’re trying to swim to safety. Nothing looks the same.

Image Credits

All Images Are © Austin Sessler

Guest Artist Bio
Austin Sessler

I am a 19 year old digital artist from Arizona. I focus on trying to inspire others to chase their creative ideas, and show people that there is no limit to our creativity, which is why I find myself in many different fields of art. My works can be found on Instagram @youngdumnumb

Follow Austin Sessler on: Facebook | Instagram

Their Magnolia

Childhood memories of my Grandparents garden has always been my inspiration for painting. The vast variety of colours and fragrances that I can still see and smell now when I am painting brings me so much joy to still after all this time be in the garden with them. My Nanna, Carmen and I would always water the flowers together and she would take me around the garden showing me the newest addition to her garden. We would sit under their exquisite magnolia tree and just take in the colours. I would sit in the conservatory with my Granddad, James and we would look out into the garden seeing the smile of my Nanna’s face as she admired her work. We would paint together, my Granddad and I. He would always encourage me to use bold and bright colours in whatever I was doing. We would laugh at his inappropriate jokes and paint together.

Meeting in Spain

I have developed my own unique style of painting. I adore textures, and bold beautiful colours. I don’t so much as paint as let the flowers grow naturally in front of me as they do in nature. I aim to create artwork that brings joy and happiness to others, the joy that my Grandparents had. Not wanting their joy to no longer be with myself and others, every painting I create has not only my signature but also their initials. Everything I create is to share their happiness with others.

Lake Views

Image Credits

All Images Are © Ruth Davis

Guest Artist Bio
Ruth Davis

Ruth Davis is a self taught upcoming abstract artist based in Hertfordshire, originally from Somerset. Her main medium is acrylic on canvas.

Ruth grew up with an artistic family background, she was always encouraged by her late grandparents. Her grandad was an artist and her grandmother was a keen gardener. Ruth has always been surrounded by nature which has inspired the main themes to her colourful, unique, botanical artwork.

Although Ruth has only been painting professionally for a short amount of time, she quickly developed her own unique style of work which instantly became recognized by galleries and art lovers from all around the world. In her first year she had an exhibition in the Gordon Craig and her painting “I am still painting flowers for you” is in Gallery M&Art agent’s international digital art magazine. More recently she has had her painting “34 Rose Arch” displayed in the Broadway Studio Gallery, Letchworth. Ruth is also now featured in House and Garden magazine’s April Art Edit and also in all 12 of the Life magazines May Art Edit.

Blog / Website: Abstract Artist – Ruth Davis

Follow Ruth Davis on: Facebook

Sensei Vision is a custom Naruto character created in collaboration with Kenan Ozalp and his YouTube channel: Sensei Vision. The eyes on his clothes represent Sensei’s vision and his exceptional ability to see through the instances. Him having blue and green eyes resembles his spirituality and intelligence. The giant sword The ōdachi 大太刀 represents his distinctive skill-sets and tools he utilizes. I dressed the character with Hakama. Hakamas are regularly worn by practitioners of a variety of martial arts, such as kendo, iaido, taidō, aikido, jōdō, ryū-te, and kyūdō. Vision is the state of seeing and the ability to think about and plan the future with imagination as well as wisdom. The great sword ōdachi or nodachi 野太刀, field sword is a type of traditionally made Japanese sword 日本刀, nihontō used by the samurai class of feudal Japan.

SENSEI VISION

SPIRIT OF DRAGON FRUIT

I created a character representing the spirit of dragon fruit. The hair and the outfit resembles the shell of the dragon fruit. The body resembles the inside of the dragon fruit.

Dragon fruit may look exotic, but its flavors are similar to other fruits. Its taste has been described as a slightly sweet cross between a kiwi and a pear. Dragon fruit is a tropical fruit native to Mexico and Central America. Its taste is like a combination of a kiwi and a pear.

The dragon fruit has an appealing appearance, bright red, purple, or yellow-skinned varieties, and prominent scales. The fruit is elliptical. The flesh has a subtly flavored sweet taste or sometimes slightly sour taste. The inside is either white or red, with edible black seeds dotted all over.

SPIRIT OF DRAGON FRUIT

I joined the Ten Hundred Shape Challenge a.k.a. Random Shape Art Challenge in 2018, where I had to turn a random shape into art!

To put it simply, you take random shape outlines, coffee stains and turn off your brain and begin filling the shapes with whatever you can fit into them. It’s a great activity to do as a warm-up before a big drawing session or to get some new ideas when you’re in a jam from an art block.

There are no set rules to achieving it; take the image and let your creativity take over, turn the page any direction you wish, and you will begin seeing a mixture things than you would just looking at it head-on. You don’t need to get stuck drawing portraits either; try drawing mini environments, vehicles, architecture, anything!

Ten Hundred Shape Challenge

Image Credits

Images are by Anisa Ozalp – All Rights Reserved

Guest Artist Bio
Anisa Ozalp

Anisa Ozalp is an artist who was born and raised in New York, USA. She taught herself how to draw and paint at the age of three; her first drawing was “Elmo” from Sesame Street. She enjoyed animation and stop-motion films and was intrigued by how they were made behind the scenes. She loved reading imagination-provoking books which gave her the ability to create art today. Those who love art in its entirety would be great admirers of her work.

She mastered creating handmade dolls from imagination using her Singer sewing machine at a very young age. She is also assisting on art-related e-commerce projects which involve handmade products. Her artwork is a mix of handcrafted and digital. For her education, Anisa will be majoring in Art Animation. She holds a Fashion Design Certificate which she obtained in early 2021. She currently receives ongoing art training from her art teacher Song Binghu on still life drawing, oil painting, calligraphy, and watercolor. She obtained certificates in Adobe Illustration, Photoshop, InDesign.

Anisa completed several challenges, such as “Inktober,” “Continuous Line Challenge,” “100 Days of Sketching”, “100 Heads Challenge”,” Ten Hundred Shape Challenge,” with great success and praise from her followers. She is determined, focused, and continuously evolving in her work. Anisa always pushes the boundaries and experiments with various art verticals. She incorporates her artwork inter-culturally, representing different parts of the globe.

Websites: Anisa Ozalp & Anisa Ozalp – Medium

Follow Anisa on: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | YouTube | Instagram

Fortunately, I was given a second chance after having a donor stem cell transplant in 2017. This led to some revaluation and I decided that my art practice was no longer going to take a back seat, so I went part-time with art teaching and I re-joined my local printmaking studio.

Reduction Lino cut prints from the recent ‘bloom’ series

Initially, the artwork was a reminder to myself as I tried to hold onto my own lessons, but over time I learnt that it is a powerful way to encourage and connect with others. I started to meet people at art fairs and exhibitions and some shared their stories with me. I saw incredible strength and vulnerability and these connections reaffirmed the realities of the human experience that I passionately wanted to capture. I knew from that point that the human form was a vital part of the work. Over the years it’s evolved from full figures to portraits as I explored the emotion I could capture in a single subject. During the pandemic, I was unable to access the print studio which I relied upon for many of my processes, so I started to use a technique called lino printing, which involves carving a piece of lino (called a plate) with tools to create a relief surface; which is then coated with a layer of ink and printed onto paper. I do this by hand with a tool called a Baren which applies even pressure to transfer the ink.

Some prints are built up with several plates, or from plates that are repeatedly carved into between each layer until it is eventually destroyed. This means that you know that each piece is an original, handmade piece of artwork that is always limited edition. It is important to me that you can see evidence of the process of its creation, so I leave marks behind which also creates life and energy in the piece.

Behind the scenes photos showing the process of linocut

I want to share work that celebrates strength and vulnerability, acknowledging that everything is impermanent, imperfect and incomplete and that is beautiful.

“The lotus flower is a reminder of the beauty that comes from change,
the magic that a new beginning brings, and the seed of potential that’s buried
in the most unlikely places.” ~ Jennifer Williamson

Reduction linocut prints from the recent ‘bloom’ series

Image Credits

All Images Are © Clare Morgan

Guest Artist Bio
Clare Morgan

I am a practising artist and teacher working in Derby, UK. I create original, empowering portrait artwork in lino print that encourages reflection, empathy and calm.

After graduating in 2005 with a degree in Fine Art, I fell in love with printmaking; The process has remained a constant source of fascination for me. I relish the patience required and labour involved in preparing the stencils and plates. I am excited by the element of unpredictability inherently attached to the process. Until the first pull of the print, you are never quite sure what will be revealed.

I seek to explore the fragility and instability of the human experience juxtaposed against a desire for certainty and control. To make our inner world visible through expressive portraits, exciting colour palettes and imagery revealing more of a story and allows us to connect.

Blog / Website: Clare Morgan Fine Art figurative printmaker

Follow Clare Morgan on: Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest

Yoon | Contemporary female portrait of Asian model in Oil paint

Using the colors of the floor, wall, pillows, or a small detail like a colored doorknob inspire me to add to the painting. I love to work together with interior designers to create the perfect picture: a beautiful painting that matches the interior and lifts the energy of the room.

Yoon in interior, matching colors of her surroundings

Image Credits

Images  are by RK Hercules – All Rights Reserved

Guest Artist Bio
RK Hercules

Born in 1989, RKH is a self-taught Dutch contemporary artist from Amsterdam. Her work is known for its striking female portraits, a subject that is inspired by her time studying the oil paintings of old masters. In her lifelong pursuit of art, Hercules developed her characteristic style that blends the old and the new; by drawing from the image of modern women today through Instagram models and the fashion industry, she joins these often contradictory depictions of women together, creating a timeless vignette of the modern woman.

Website: RKHercules.com | Instagram

The surrealist Spirit of Time captures the reality of life in the 21st century. It shows the impacts caused by humans’ treatment of the world and each other. Disrespect for the earth, human health, racial, gender and economic equality have resulted in climate chaos, destruction of biodiversity, the advance of COVID 19, accompanied by fear , all which are skillfully presented using religious symbolism. While a disturbing image, the message may be one of hope and an opportunity for change.

Patrice Dechavanne – Spirit of Time

Lithography, reprography art paper printed in 5 copy.
Each copy is numbered and signed by the artist. Size 60/80

Material about the work indicates the image is questioning of the Western world which has lost moral, political, economic, religious, and ecological values. As with all art and, more so with surrealist art, the meaning cannot be defined by one person as the artwork provides different messages for each viewer. With this in mind, you the viewer can comment on the work and what it means for you.

The artist´s biography can be viewed by following this link: Patrice Dechavanne Biography

Image Credits

Image is © Patrice Dechavanne

Guest Author Bio
Charalee Graydon

Charalee Graydon was born in Alberta, Canada. She is a writer, journalist, academic and past lawyer. She works in the areas mediation and collaboration and is currently a faculty member at EUCLID University.

Charalee holds degrees in Bachelor of Arts in English and Political Science, and a Juris Doctorate in Law. Following receipt of a Rhodes scholarship in 1982, she pursued legal studies in Oxford, England where she obtained a B.C. L degree. She held academic positions in England, New Zealand, and Canada and is presently a faculty member at Euclid University. She completed her Ph.D. in Mediation and Conflict Resolution in June 2020. She has also practiced law in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada.

She has published three books of literary fiction  and one of which has been translated and published in Spanish.

She developed programs for students, judges, and the corporations on legal issues and published academic works in environmental law, sentencing and commercial law.

Blog / Website: Charaleeg.com

Made For The Sun ©June Rollins

Instead, I’ll share them with you. Layered, saturated hues and deep values are the keys to making this watercolor glow. During these uncertain times, please keep painting. Get lost in the process. Hope for tomorrow. Wake up and repeat.

Made For The Sun Process Steps

Image Credits

All Images Are © June Rollins

Guest Artist Bio
June Rollins

June Rollins is an artist, art instructor and author of “Alcohol Ink Dreamscaping Quick Reference Guide,” available on Amazon. She is currently working on her first novel, “She Lost Her Muse.”

Blog / Website: June Rollins Art

Follow June Rollins on: Twitter | Facebook