Val Rossman
A Relative Matter
2015
Acrylic on dibond
24" x 24"
Courtesy of Gross McCLeaf Gallery

About the Work:

Color?..I think in color and remember in color. CoIors are my way of accessing places, people, experiences and feelings. I recall rooms from my childhood, which are glimpsed through the colors in the paintings. I try to make sense of the world by creating balance in my paintings using color harmonies.? sometimes muted and at other times bold. My art is a chaotic blend of chance and careful planning which is an apt metaphor for life. Each painting is a map leading to an adventure of color, mark and space.

These paintings have multiple layers and I never really know when one will be completed until the very end. While painting I feel like I am traveling through and around the painting being directed by something within the work's magic. When a painting is complete every shape, color, mark and texture has a sense of belonging to the whole. The balance between the expressionistic marks in unexpected places and the slicker geometric shapes is necessary in creating a complex surface. The individual shapes teeter against one another and push and pull with each other. It's interesting how sometimes the smallest mark or line will make a big difference in the total painting. Juxtaposing the line of colored rectangles remind me of a child's board game and provide avenues of moving from place to place within each painting. I love that there is a sense of whimsy even though the work is filled with hard edges.

About the Artist:

Val Rossman has been working as a professional artist for over 30 years. During her career she has had more than 21 one-person shows and been in numerous group shows in Philadelphia, Delaware, New Jersey, Florida and New York. She has won several prizes, including the Award for Excellence at The State Museum of Pennsylvania, and at the Cheltenhan Art Center Annual Painting Show. In addition, she has been on the faculty of Main Line Art Center for the past 20 years as a teacher of abstract art. She has lectured at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and done a workshop at the River Arts Center in Vermont. Her work has also been seen on Bravo Cable Television.

Rossman's work has been collected by both individual and corporate clients in the U.S. and abroad. Some of these include Blue Cross of Greater Philadelphia, AT&T, United Pacific Life Insurance, MasterCard International, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Bank, Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania and Hebrew University.

Val Rossman has been creating drawings and paintings in her studio in Philadelphia for the last 30 years. Her work has gone through various stages, however, her wonderful sense of color combined with a lyrical and often whimsical mentality have always infused her drawings with a lush and personal aura. The combination of rich and unexpected hues and gestures with sometimes questioning formats give the work an unforgettable presence.

Sam Nejati
The Solace of Silence
2020
Acrylic on canvas
24" x 20"

FMV: $3,200

About the work

In my work, I seek to externalize the internal realm and the spiritual elements of human existence by visualizing and defining a sense of space, mood, and atmospheric themes

About the artist

Sam Nejati was born and raised in Tehran. He attended the Tehran Visual Academy of Arts. In 1999 he moved to Los Angeles and Later on to San Francisco Bay area. He eventually went on to study art at San Francisco State University (SFSU). Since his graduation in 2012, he has been living and pursuing his painting practice in the San Francisco Bay area.

Nejati creates paintings that seek to externalize the internal realm and spiritual elements of human existence through timeless and universal themes. His work explores the interplay of the cognitive and the spiritual. Nejati's paintings are predominantly atmospheric. They contain the contrary concepts of flatness and depth, solidity and fluidity, permanence, and transience to evoke emotions and create certain moods. He explores these contrary experiences as a way to imbue a physical presence.

Nejati has exhibited mainly in the United States, and his work has been written about extensively, most notably in Works & Conversations, Artwork, and Studio Visit magazines.

Jotham Malavé Maldonado

El Jardin

2020
Oil on canvas
40" x 30"

About the work

I explore my Puerto Rican heritage and humanity through figurative painting, drawing, and sculpture. In PR, our political history, art historical themes, and religious traditions have been buried under oppressive colonial culture and politics for centuries. These are the buried stories that fascinate me. I research and reimagine them in order to keep the socio-political context of my island alive for current and future generations.

About the artist

Jotham Malavé Maldonado (1989, Las Piedras Puerto Rico). Acquires the Associate Degree in Technologies of Telecommunications from the University of Puerto Rico in (2007). He studied at the School of Fine Arts of San Juan in the Department of Painting, which graduated with honors (2014).During his graduation from the MFA at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts he was awarded prizes such as The Judith McGregor Caldwell Purchase Prize for the Academy's Permanent Collection and The Woodmere Art Museum Purchase Prize both prizes will host Malavé's works for their permanent collections. He has had several exhibitions in museums such as the Museo de Arte y Diseno de Miramar, Museo de Arte de Caguas, Museum of San Juan, Museum of Contemporary Art and in alternative spaces such as La Productora in Santurce, Puerto Rico. He currently lives in Philadelphia where he developed his work.

Zoë Lukas
Strata

2019
Acrylic on canvas
12" x 12" x 1-1/2"

About the work

My work explores visual boundaries and transparency, with pieces created by both adding and subtracting paint and materials to the surface. I layer paint and then sand it down, scrape and pull at the surface to create textures, and work with the interplay of shiny vs. matte; rough vs. smooth; and saturated color vs. soft. My hope is that the viewer feels some of the poetry that I felt when making the work, and through that, that we can share a powerful bond.

About the artist

Zoë Lukas received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and divides her time between paintings and cakes. During the day, she designs cakes at Whipped Bakeshop, the award-winning Fishtown bakery she founded in 2009 with her husband Brennen. At night, Zoë can often be found in her home studio creating abstract paintings and collages with tools ranging from brushes to pins, old maps, nails, glue and sandpaper. You can find Zoë's work on Instagram @zoe.lukas and @whippedbakeshop.

Pauline Houston McCall
E MESA
2018
Acrylic and oil on canvas
40" x 30"

About the work

I am on an energetic artistic journey documenting the falling and rising of the human spirit.
I love dancing the line between. epic figurative paintings and then trapping that energy into a pure and raw emotion of abstraction.
"E Mesa" is a depiction of a beautiful distilling of erratic movement to sitting still and drinking a pure nourishment of color, energy.movent and clean line.

About the artist

Rising early one morning and watching the pink.sunrise with the simple realization..
I have come to infect the world with extreme, profound beauty through the art making process.

Large, boldly painted figures, pushing and pulling through landscapes of color, tell the story of my African and Native American ancestors.

High contrast colors race across the canvas with broad, expressionistic brushstrokes, resting in quiet shapes that are meant to speak deeply to our souls.

Both abstract and representational, figurative works began the narrative of the falling and rising of the human spirit. There is extreme beauty in both sorrow and triumphs of the body, soul and spirit as we traverse the earth, the universe and beyond.

As a multi-media artist, I have come to tell the story of our humanity through large, lush paintings soaked in color and gold leaf. Drawings that dance and move across paper, wood and stone connect the viewer to the immediate message of the narrative; this is the gentle passage of my artistic journey.

Large figurative sculptures and jutting abstract monumental installations, that graze the sky as well as within interior spaces, are simply another way to speak to the world in the third dimension.

Judith Jacobson
Blood to Mud: In Memory
2020
Oil and sand painted on stretched canvas
36" x 32"

FMV $2,500

About the work

In Memory:
1918 Spanish flu... September 11, 2001... Covid-19 Pandemic..........

Mortality looms
invisible, stealthy
the flesh it consumes
and... What is FOREVER?
Gradual decay - inevitable deterioration
I observe with curious fascination.
I'd like to say detached.
Outward trails of inward travels
Journeys marked with blemishes and scars
of where we've been and how long we've tarried.
I stare and glare and dissect.

Remembered flesh, supple and toned
Youthful belief in forever
Mortality looms
invisible, stealthy
the flesh it consumes
and... Where is FOREVER?

About the artist

Judith Jacobson received her BFA in Painting from The Tyler School of Art in 1969, and her MFA in Painting from The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1997 at the age of 49 3/4! She is the recipient of The Leeway Foundation Edna Andrade Grant in Painting (catalogue), awarded for work that exhibits exceptional promise and talent. Judith's work was purchased by the founder of The Leeway Foundation and is part of the permanent and prominate collection. Judith also participated in panel discussions with other Leeway grant recipients at the Philadelphia Art Alliance.

Judith has been in many solo and group exhibitions. Her work is included in collections throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.

Andrea Lyons
A Room Divided
Oil painting on wood shape

35" x 27"

About the work

I have been doing oil paintings on wood shapes for a while now. They have evolved and originally I painted on canvas stretched on wood shaped bars but found myself fascinated by wood itself. I related it to how the wood has similarities to the skin of a human being in the aging of the skin and the aging of a tree, with its bark and the increasing of the rings inside of it. I love the patterns and textures of wood and emphasize it playfully with colors of the paint I use. The shapes I have always been interested in . Some of them are architectural as I often think of the shapes of a home and the interior spaces of it.

About the artist

Andrea has a BFA in Printmaking and Art Education from Tyler School of Art, and a Certificate and MFA from The Pa.Academy of Fine Arts in Painting. She has exhibited mostly in the Philadelphia area although she had a solo exhibition of her work in 1993 at The Julie Heller Gallery in Provincetown,Ma. Andrea has won many awards throughout her career, including The Edna Andrade Award in Painting for an Emerging Artist from The Leeway Foundation for Women in the Arts. This year, she most recently won an Award for Excellence from The Fellowship of the Pa. Academy of the Fine Arts. The Fellowship Awarded her a Purchase Prize Award in 1993.Her past history includes teaching Art in Philadelphia Public Schools for twenty five years.

Daniel Clark
The Waking
2018
oil on linen
22" x 26"

About the Work:

This painting portrays a remembered scene from the artist's childhood.

About the Artist:

Daniel Clark is a Philadelphia-based Artist and designer, whose original paintings and sculpture work hand in hand with a design practice of interiors and objects. Clark's background in architectural and object conservation results in an artistic sensibility steeped in history with great sensitivity to material and context. Clark received a BFA in Painting from The Tyler School of Art in 2017. He currently works in the field of historic preservation in Philadelphia, PA, while also maintaining an active painting practice and taking on a selection of custom projects.

Jacqueline Unanue
Magical Journey VII
2018
Acrylic on canvas
14" x 14"

Courtesy of Muse Gallery, Philadelphia

About the Work:

In Magical Journey series (2018), I have intentionally changed my palette from earthy colors to luminous ones. These new vibrant colors show significant contrast with the darkness of the current historical moment. Through these new paintings, I am making a magical journey in a way similar to those who made prehistoric rock art using paintings and engravings to reach what they desired. In my case, I wish to reach both individual and collective idyllic happiness and peace that is, in some way, my "political act."

About the Artist:

Jacqueline Unanue is a Chilean American artist of Spanish ancestry who has resided in Philadelphia since 2000. She studied design at University of Chile. At that time, she became interested in the rock art found in Chile. Unanue traveled extensively through Chile's Atacama Desert doing on-site rock art research in the solitary valleys, mountains and cliff areas where original ancient rock paintings and carvings exist. In Spain, she studied the pre-historic paintings of the Altamira caves in the Basque Country, the home of her paternal ancestors.

In addition to numerous individual and group exhibitions in Chile since 1983, she has also exhibited in Spain, Finland, Ecuador, Argentina, and the United States-in galleries in Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York.
She was awarded grants sponsored by the Directorate of Cultural Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile (DIRAC) for her solo exhibits at Guayasamín Foundation in Ecuador (1997), and at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington DC (2000). In 2015, she received the Latin American Women in Art and Cultural Tribute recognition in New York.
Her work resides in many private and public collections in the Americas and Europe.

She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, Ricardo Guajardo who is also an artist and designer. She was a member of 3rd Street Gallery, Philadelphia for 10 years. Currently she is represented by Muse Gallery Philadelphia.

Donna Sensor Thomas
Convection II
2008
acrylic on canvas
30" x 30"

About the Work:

This works captures the movement in a lava lamp.

About the Artist:

Donna became interested in art at a young age and created her first pieces as a child. By the age of 10 she was haunting art museums, favoring modern art paintings. She continued to create art through high school.

Donna graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in philosophy. After graduation, she pursued a computer career and worked in that field for 12 years.

Travel to Italy and the purchase of a house re-ignited Donna's interest in art and created an interest in interior design. After 3+ years of intense study, Donna earned an M.S. in interior design from Drexel University. Her Master's Thesis was Practical Grace: The Functional Aesthetic of Everyday Interior Objects Created in the Scandinavian and Japanese Traditions.

When the time came to seek employment in the interior design field, Donna found herself soul-searching. She realized that what she enjoyed most while in school were her art classes. So, she decided to pursue painting full-time, working out of her studio in Mount Laurel, NJ.

John Howell White
FISSURE in green
2008
Watercolor on paper
17" x 13 x 0.625"

About the work

Paintings hover about, unattached to their referents. They differ, in time, reference, and ambience, from film and photography. They welcome their viewers through their visual impact and, like ghosts, haunt them through their visual omissions. They conjure an absence, which ferments attachments and invites future visitations.

About the artist

White is Emeritus Professor of Art Education, Department of Art Education, Kutztown University. He earned his M.F.A. from Pratt Institute and his Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University. He is the author of Experience Painting, a Davis textbook for secondary art students. White was named the Higher Education Art Educator of the Year nationally (2012) and statewide, Pennsylvania (2009). He has conducted research and published extensively about the history and philosophy of art education. He has served as Director of the Higher Education Division of the National Art Education Association and Chair of the National Art Education Association's Research Commission, the Department of Art Education, Kutztown University, and the Council for Policy Studies in Art Education.

G. Kellum
Octavia's Dream
2012
acrylic on wood
26" x 36" x 10.5"

About the Work:

This piece is inspired by the writing of the late Octavia Butler. It is a peculiar combination of the African American Experience in the 20th century and the merging of Science Fiction and Dark Fantasy.

About the Artist:

Glenn was drawn to architecture and illustration for its discipline and structure. Eventually, Glenn was confronted with the fact that architecture was 10 percent drawing and 80 percent mathematics. Abandoning architecture, illustration became Glenn's focal point, giving him a clear perspective on the direction he wanted to steer his art practice. Very early on, Glenn discovered the importance of black and white visual elements as a personal guide when approaching polychromic structure. During this period, he became more liberated when he encountered the works of Sam Gilliam and Isamu Noguchi. These and other like-minded artist have influenced his work but the biggest influence came from his experience with Buddhism and Taoism. These have had a profound effect on the way
Glenn sees things.

Glenn was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1947 and was the youngest of eleven brothers and sisters. After serving in the military for 2 years, he attended the Philadelphia College of Art (PCA), which is now The University of the Arts, and graduated with a BFA in Illustration in 1977. Glenn had his first exhibition at the University of Pennsylvania upon graduating from the university. He has been represented by the Sandy Webster Gallery and Art Jazz Gallery. Glenn has also been part of several prominent group exhibitions including those at the Delaware Contemporary and the Woodmere Museum. In 2018 his work was showcased in an exhibition curated by Design Philadelphia in the BOK Building. He currently has an artist studio in the BOK Building in South Philadelphia where he works.

Robert Zurer
Online Dating
2021
Oil on wood
40" x 30"

About the work

By way of background. All my paintings come from a dialog, a call and response led primarily by the painting. It is not until pretty far along in the process that inklings of meanings start to float in.

Hopefully many meanings can be created from a work of art. The danger of talking about the meanings that came to me is that it might shut down or severely limit the emergence of meanings for the viewer. So if that is a concern please stop reading now.

One of the first narratives that appeared to me was that it was an illustration of Meredith Monk's "Hocket". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q4puw29Xm4 in that It is an exchange of a something between two characters across a distance.

However, at some point in the process, a feeling of dissatisfaction or anxiety entered into the interchange, like being afraid of being able to catch a fly ball unexpectedly hit towards your hiding place in right field. It no longer related to Hocket which is quite joyous.

Amidst this pandemic we are all trying to touch one another across a distance. That is how the title Online Dating came to me.

About the artist

Robert Zurer is a native New Yorker and has lived and worked in New York City all his life. Very recently he relocated to Philadelphia where he now maintains his studio practice. He is primarily self-taught although he did study privately from 1999-2006 with the painter Wade Schuman (now director of painting at The New York Academy). He is an active member of the NYC Crit Club and has been so since its inception in 2017.

Kirby Fredendall
The Color of the Air on Lake 12
2020
oil on panel
10" x 10"

Courtesy of Candita Clayton Gallery, Box Heart Gallery, and the LAA Art Collective

About the Work:

This series was done to capture the character of the changing light over the water throughout the summer months.

About the Artist:

Fredendall's most recent work explores her relationship to a lake in the Adirondack Mountains. While the paintings can be most directly defined as landscapes, they can be more accurately described as representations of the constantly changing energy of our relationship with not only ourselves, but also with those around us and with our environment. They examine the unbreakable but changeable connections that exist between forces both within us and without.

Linnie Greenberg
Three Wishes
2020
Acrylic
13" x 13" x 2"

About the Work:

I found a path to art rather late in life and so happy to be here.

About the Artist:

Took first collage class 10 years ago and still exploring art in all forms with much joy and pleasure.

Diane Pieri
3 SUN DAY
2021
painting/collage on paper
13" x 13"

About the Work:

This small framed work is on paper using collage, paint, gold leaf, punch shapes. It is inspired by Indian Folk Art.

About the Artist:

BFA- Temple University Tyler School of Art 1969, 34 solo exhibitions, 215 national/international exhibitions, Pollock- Krasner Grants (1999/1992), Independence Foundation Fellowships in the Arts (2001/2011), Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Grant (1992), Philagrafika(2005), Yaddo (1991), MacDowell Colony (1990), Socrates Sculpture Park(1990), Manayunk Stoops: Heart and Home, Association for Public Art's New Land Marks Program(2006), 12 murals- Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program, 7 murals- College Station, Texas, founded Cooke Museum of Art, Cooke Elementary School, North Philadelphia(2005-2009).
Teaching Artist, Philadelphia Museum of Art- 22 years.

Rebecca Jacob
Manzano Horizon
2019
Oil on linen
40" x 30"

About the work

A horizon line is not just a vanishing point. It can be a symbol of what lies ahead-challenges, expectations and wonderful possibilities. Serenity is thematic in my work and the healing power of nature.

This painting was inspired by the views of the American Southwest.

About the artist

Rebecca Jacob is an oil painter transporting onto linen experiences of various landscapes that have had an influence on her. She grew up taking nature walks, science classes at the Natural History Museum in Philadelphia and vacations were focused on the natural environment.

"My paintings are meant to be enjoyed and lived with, not to impress or follow the current art market trends."

Originally from Medford, New Jersey, Rebecca now lives and works in Media, Pennsylvania.

Adam Erlbaum
So Ugly
2020
Oil on canvas
30" x 24"

About the work

This is the third piece in my ongoing Journal series (on view at www.adamerlbaum.com). Each work employs a more or less regular grid. Each work uses an identical palate of six colors. Enjoy.

About the artist

Adam Erlbaum received a BA in Mathematics from The Colorado College in 2002. He then enrolled in non-degree classes at The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Erlbaum's experience there assured him that he could apply his mathematical sensibility to painting. He began work at Philadelphia's I Brewster Gallery, while studying abstract painting at the nearby University of the Arts. Abstract painting became Erlbaum's chosen form. He showed his first group of abstracts at I Brewster. Erlbaum continued to pursue abstraction at the Main Line Art Center in suburban Philadelphia, which prepared him for the MFA in Visual Arts program at The Vermont College of Fine Arts. During this time, Erlbaum participated in an exhibition for alumni of The Shipley School held at The Artist's House Gallery in Philadelphia. Always looking for multiple perspectives on his work, Erlbaum returned to suburban Philadelphia to study at The Wayne Art Center. In 2017, Erlbaum moved his practice to Philadelphia's Mill Studios, where he paints today.

Signed and dated.

Brooke Lanier
Remnants 2
2011
oil and wax on panel
11" x 14"

About the Work:

This painting was inspired by the remnants of a sign painted on the side of a building in Fishtown. The layering and the lost message caught my eye. I enjoy how the constant battle between taggers and landlords creates unintentional abstract paintings. I used to love how every time I walked to my studio, the scenery was slightly different. Many of the wonderfully decrepit buildings that gave the neighborhood so much flavor have been replaced by generic condos.

About the Artist:

Brooke Lanier is a painter most known for her depictions of water and her paintings made from hand-crushed brick. She earned her Masters of Fine Arts in Painting from Tyler School of Art, where she spent her first year studying in Rome, Italy. Lanier also holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has exhibited her work in Prague, Rome, New York, and across the U.S. In 2007, she received 2nd award in Volkswagen's "Driven" competition for young artists with disabilities; the prize-winning work was inspired by her retinal detachment. She received a grant and had her work displayed in the Smithsonian Institute and the John F. Kennedy Center before going on a two-year national tour.
Today, she continues her studio practice in Philadelphia, where she also teaches and curates art exhibitions.

Sandi Lovitz
Perfume Bottle Reflections
2020
Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas
20" x 30"

About the work

This is from my series entitled Tapestries, or an intricate or complex combination of things or sequence of events. I build up many layers of paint and add and subtract with different methods so that different layers can be subtly revealed... My inspiration for this series comes from my desire to experiment with the juxtaposition of shapes, contrasts, and rhythms that make up the layers of life.My desire is to invite the viewer into my paintings so they can explore a rhythm, shape, color, or mark that they can personally connect with.

About the artist

Sandi Neiman Lovitz graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelors degree in Art Education and taught art in the Pittsburgh Public School system for two years.She was of President of the Tri-State Pennsylvania Artists Equity for two years and is now on the board of DVAA. She is also involved in ARTsisters, a group of women who are professional visual artists that not only support each other, but also reach out to women and children in the community. Sandi was juried in to the Centennial exhibition at the Delaware Art Museum by John B. Ravenal, curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. She was also juried in to the Berks Art Alliance at the Reading Art Museum and was awarded an honorable mention by Lisa Tremper Hanover, CEO of the Michener Museum. She participated in the Square Foot Art Basel Miami and was awarded the Nolan Painting Award at the Main Line Art Center in Haverford, Pa. by celebrated artist, Moe Brooker. Sandi now paints full time in her studio.

Bobbie Adams
Soliloquy
Pulp painting, pigmented paper monotype
unframed: 14" x 19"
framed: 21" x 25"

About the Artist:

I am most interested in examining and pondering, and portraying aspects of the physical world. I have come to love the subjects of my childhood that I ignored back then - anatomy, physics, mathematics - and am intrigued with the challenge of portraying an essence or idea, of fundamental natural phenomena. My abstractions are intended to capture moments, movement, or place, and to create connections amongst seemingly disparate or unrelated elements.

The media of printmaking and papermaking in particular attract me because of the many technical variables that affect the finished work. I use many different plates, and interweave many layers of transparent ink, assembling and embellishing, as well as overprinting. Every color is a separate plate and separate printing. The process and content are both meditative and labor-intensive. I have found this a satisfying way to develop the illusive and ghostly images I am most often seeking in this transient and turbulent world.

I like to provide hints of subject matter in my titles, but leave specific narrative to the imagination of you the viewer.

Pia de Girolamo
True North
2015
Acrylic
31.75" x 41.75" x 2.25"

About the work

In this painting, abstracted forms and a cool palette echo the vast landscape of the far north with its forested mountain chains and glacial lakes.

About the artist

Pia De Girolamo is an accomplished painter living and working in the Greater Philadelphia area whose recent exhibitions featured large-scale paintings based on abstracted mountain landscapes, as well as a series evoking the urban landscapes of Rome and Italy. She has had thirteen solo exhibitions, most recently at the Museo Mastroianni, within the Musei di San Salvatore in Lauro in Rome and the Cerulean Arts Gallery in Philadelphia. She has also shown extensively in group exhibitions regionally. De Girolamo has a BA in Art History from Barnard College, Columbia University and an MD degree from the University of Rochester. She lectures on the relationship between art and medicine as well as the connections between art, nature, and health. Her awarded work has been acquired for collections by the Museo Mastroianni, Rome, PNC Bank, Pittsburgh, and Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA and has been highlighted in Hollywood feature films.

Kimberly Stemler
tea
2015
Oil on canvas
6" x 6"

About the work

Kimberly Stemler's paintings are densely patterned, focused on color, filled with yearning. Stemler is captivated by the earth's linear quality, the moment of place where sky touches earth and what happens in those remaining spaces that eventually arrive at our feet. She chisels away at the natural world, patching together bits and pieces, composing and rebuilding the landscape.

Repeated fragments, dissected skies, slabs of earth.

Separating the land with paint, Her intent is to look beyond and through.
Capturing moments, glimpses of creation, landscapes, the order of atmosphere and the outside world. It's central formations and ecosystems, fields stumbled upon or driven by- caught in a glance; newly trampled ground on previously uncharted territory. Giving the viewer recollection - a sense of having been there.

This reminiscence also gravitates towards objects that inhabit a past. Stemler attempts to capture their wistfulness, the nostalgic quality that they hold so dear. a celebration of their existence; a commemoration of remembrance.

Stemler's work is about the recognition of the subtleties of life and environment. These are the moments and pieces she attempts to capture and recreate: accumulation and repetition, intricacies found in the structure of organic objects, the concept of time and space through light and layers.

About the artist

Kimberly Stemler was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pa, and received a BFA in painting from Tyler School of Art, Temple University. Living with her husband Jon and their three boys in a rural area of Montgomery County she is inspired by the land. Her work primarily revolves around landscapes that are densely patterned, layered and focused on color. These landscapes, while abstracted, have the ability to give the viewer a sense of connection to place, time, moment. They can feel nostalgic and almost recognizable, like a fuzzy memory. Another focus of her work tends to revolve around objects that are evocative, wistful, and full of remembrance.
Kimberly is the recipient of Best Abstract Award from the Philadelphia Sketch Club's "Absolutely Abstract" group show and the Member Award from the "Small Works" show located at Studio B in Boyertown. Recent juried shows include Community Arts Phoenixville's "Rust to Rise", Montgomery County Studio Tour and solo shows at the Abington Art Center and Cairn University.
Collaborative public work with Jonathan Stemler includes "little red string" temporarily installed in Northern Chinatown through the Asian Arts Initiative in 2009, "alpha and omega", a permanent installation commissioned by New Hanover United Methodist Church, and "Windows of History", located in Souderton, Pa.

Paula Cahill
Pink Sharks on Bikes
2015
Oil on linen
16" x 20" x 1"

About the work

"Pink Sharks on Bikes," is part of a series of paintings about sharks, a subject that I continue to revisit over time. I have had an interest in sharks since early childhood and often used this theme in school projects. In this piece, I strove to explore color and the absurdity of sharks on bikes.

About the artist

Paula Cahill is a contemporary American artist. She is known for paintings that are based on her memories of scuba diving at deep, dark depths of the ocean.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Paula relocated to the Northeast where she received merit and academic scholarships while pursuing an education in the arts. She holds an MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and a BFA from Tyler School of Art and Architecture. She also studied at the Art Students League of New York and Parsons School of Design as a transfer student.

In 2019, Paula served as an undergraduate critic and speaker at Temple University. In addition, she was a visiting artist at the Westtown School in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Fran Gibson
Angles and Energy
2020
oil on canvas
40" x 45" x 1.5"

Courtesy of Cerulean Arts

About the Work:

This is the year of living vicariously.

I started several paintings at the beginning of 2020 with the understanding that I was revisiting a familiar place, My City: Philadelphia.

By the time March came around, and the pandemic began for real, I was way invested in life on the streets.

At that point, with the quarantine in full gear, I was afraid that the city was feeling abandoned and isolated. I worried for my fellow Philadelphians, living inside for an extended time.

By June, I decided to drive through the city and see for myself, only to find that life had started up again, reemerged and renewed in a unique way. New construction started or many projects continued. People were still the main attraction, in crosswalks and on sidewalks going to local shops and restaurants. They were tasting the places that were all so familiar.

I never stop feeling the enriched energy but will always remember the quiet drone of underlying isolation and discomfort.

When I walk through my city, Philadelphia, I hear the rhythms of The Roots, the harmonies of Boys to Men, the kick-ass smack of Patti Labelle, the audaciousness of Pink, the celebration of oneself in Walt Whitman, and the complex river patterns in Thomas Eakins' Schuylkill River. It's crowded on the streets with all that activity, but it's always the same. Philadelphia, my city.

When I paint the city, it's from a deep feeling of understanding the place I never left and always return to say:

I know your strengths - I know your faults - I have an abiding love of you, My City: Philadelphia.

Bette Lesher
Path to Old Main, Penn State
2015
Watercolor
23" x 29" x 1"
A/P

About the work

This painting was created in honor of nephew Ryan Lesher who died at the young age of 16. His desire was to attend Penn State University like his brothers. Print sales have raised money for the Ryan Lesher Foundation.

About the artist

Bette Lesher is a self-taught Philadelphia artist and print maker living and painting in the city for over 30 years. She is a representational watercolor artist and photographer.

Ara Zeibarian
Worried
2020
acrylic on canvas
19" x "24

About the Work:

In this work the artist explores his life as an essential worker during the pandemic plus the social upheaval in America and Armenia's losing in a war with Azerbaijan.

About the Artist:

Born in 1969 to Armenian parents here in Philadelphia and received his BFA from Tyler School of Art in 1992 with a degree in Painting.

Jessica Demcsak
Fragment of Place
2020
Acrylic on wood
4" x 4" x 4"

About the work

Jessica Demcsak began creating architectural paintings on wood during her MFA program in 2002. These explorations about the home, memory and meaning transformed into documentations of storms when she visited New Orleans two weeks before Hurricane Katrina. She re-visited New Orleans after the storm to document the architecture. After New Jersey's Super Storm Sandy, Jessica began painting on firewood which was the most vital material to have during the loss of power.

Her recent work has been informed by the increasing and intensifying storms due to climate change. The work honors the homes, buildings, and families that have been destroyed and the memories and ghosts that remain.

About the artist

Jessica Demcsak is a New Jersey artist. She received her BFA in Painting from Mason Gross School of the Arts in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1999, her MA in Art Education from Kean University in 2001, and her MFA in Painting from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia in 2004. Demcsak has exhibited in the New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania area. Her work has been included in New American Paintings Magazine as well as New Jersey Monthly. In 2005, she received a Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Grant. She currently resides in Bridgewater New Jersey with her husband and three children.

James Oliver
Chopper #2
2020
Mixed media on canvas
12" x 12" x 1.5"

About the work
James Oliver is a painter whose precise visual language pushes the tradition of twentieth century abstraction into a contemporary context. Oliver is a conceptually driven formalist whose work is inspired by his dreams and emotional states, which he abstracts into an undetermined and subjective viewing experience by emphasizing line, color, and form. Even as Oliver turns to a figurative practice in recent series, rendering cultural icons like chopper bikes, Pontiac Firebirds, and his childhood poodle in detailed line drawings, these representations similarly evoke broadly accessible affects abstracted from his mental landscape.

About the artist
Born in Upstate New York, raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the son of an advertising executive and an educator, Oliver was exposed from a young age to visual art from its' most commercial applications to more visceral exponential lives. As owner of James Oliver Gallery, Oliver has honed his painting and curatorial skills. As a curator he scans the breadth of the world for artists who will enhance the vision of his gallery spaces.

Smokie Kittner
Untitled
2020
Pastel on rag paper
6" x 6"

Favi Dubo
Winner
2018
Oil on paper mounted on cardboard
Triptych: 6" x 26" x 1.5"

About the work

Painting a very structured world while exploring different materials to bring out an organic feel.

About the artist

Favi Dubo is a Philadelphia area PAFA artist for forty years concentrating on abstract for twenty years. Art teacher as well as historian my works have been displayed numerous places from Maryland to Maine as well three published books and recently set designs for local theatres.

Jenny Laden
Moon and NYC
2006
Oil on wood
29" x 15"

About the artist

Born In Philadelphia, in 1970, Jenny began painting at the age of 9. After mastering paintings of oranges and boots, she moved onto the human figure. In 1988, she moved to New York City to attend Barnard College where she studied art and art history. In New York, she learned the art world ways through her work at White Columns, as Development Associate, and later as Assistant Director. In 1996, she entered New York University to receive her Master's Degree in Fine Art. She has exhibited in New York, Chicago, Washington, DC, McClean, Richmond, Miami, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Berlin.

Laden currently lives and works in Philadelphia. She is partial to good light and hot sauce.

Howard Silberthau
Copy of Sarah's Quilt
2019
Oil
42" x 42"

FMV: $5,000

About the work

This painting from a series continues to utilize the grid but also reintroduces color (in a muted form) and a more noticeable brushstroke.

About the artist

Howard Silberthau received an undergraduate degree from Vassar College and a law degree from New York University School of Law.
He continued to study at New York Art Student's League and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Silberthau also practiced corporate law in New York City and Boston before turning to painting full time.

Smashed Label

xBenadryl 6

2014
Oil stick, paint marker, spray paint, and acrylic on canvas.
12" x 24"

About the artist

Smashed Label is for the wrong, for the pieces that don?t fit, the oddballs, the flukes, the underdogs, the underestimated, the
weirdos, the disenchanted, the misunderstood, the misguided, the offbeat, the lost, the misfits, the aliens, the outcasts, the ridiculed and the rejected traveling without roadmaps. Press on.

Be yourself in the midst of any and all scrutiny or judgement. Be different. Smash labels. Create your own.

Brothers Crae and Corei Washington founded their company Smashed Label in 2011. Crae is the artist and Corei, the businessman. The pair began with creating graphic design concepts for logos and business cards as well as graffiti inspired screen-printing for clothing.

Lee Lippman

Untitled #7
2014
Oil encaustic and paint stick on 300 lb. prepared Arches paper (archival)
30" x 20"

About the artist
Lee Lippman (1927 - 2020), lived and worked in Philadelphia most of his life, except for twelve years in Mexico with his artist wife, Arlene Love. In his youth, he studied in Mexico with the famous muralists, Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. He also experimented with new media at the Instituto Polytecnico Nacional. Lippman worked on a mural crew with Siqueiros before returning to school at the Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts), where he was awarded the senior prize for painting. His work is in collections in various places in the United States, including (among others), The Phillip Morris collection, many Pennsylvania universities and colleges, the Hollis and Generalis collections in Philadelphia, the Nelson collection in Denver, and collections in Mexico. For many years he worked as an art director and graphic designer and began painting full-time in 1975. Lippman also played the clarinet and tenor saxophone performing with small bands in Philadelphia.

TJ Walsh
My Blood Is Alive With Many Voices That Tell Me I Am Made of Longing (Rilke)
Mixed media on canvas
10" x 10" x 2"

About the artist

TJ Walsh, BFA, MA (b. 1985) is a: Painter, Art and Higher Education Administrator, Mental Health Professional.

TJ received his BFA Graphic Design/Painting, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia. Received his MA in Counseling Psychology at Eastern University, Saint Davids, PA.

TJ writes and speaks about topics of art, culture, faith and mental health. His work has been exhibited and published internationally. He is on the faculty at Eastern University in the graduate school's Counseling Psychology department teaching Personality and Psychosocial Assessment and Psychopathology.

Paul Romano
Careless Whisper
2016
Oil and paper on wood, artist-made frame
24" x 24" x 2"

About the work

My work is representational, created in a wide variety of media; painting, drawing, sculpture, photography and video. It is a result of personal experience, art history, music, myth and narrative, filtered through allegory, archetype and symbolism. While choosing realistic form, I am not as interested in reality as I am in the ideas of imagination; evocation over accuracy. The audience is left with abstract narratives that ask more questions than give answers. Despite jumping mediums through bodies of work, my methodologies and sensibilities are consistent. Subject matter and formal concerns are strongly linked throughout my oeuvre, giving it a distinct voice.

About the artist

Paul Romano is a fine artist and designer living and working in Philadelphia. Romano studied at the University of the Arts and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. His work became known
to a wider audience when he began working in the music industry, where he was able to combine brand design and fine art. He has designed artwork for over 300 albums and has received two Grammy nominations.

Romano's work is part of private collections around the world and has been shown extensively in galleries across the US, including Last Rites Gallery in New York, NY, Arch Enemy Arts and Paradigm Gallery, both in Philadelphia, PA, Thinkspace Gallery in Culver City, CA, and The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, CA. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Juxtapoz, and Decibel Magazine. Romano has also lectured at venues including the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts, and Brick and Mortar Gallery.

Deborah Caiola
Self
2001
oil on canvas

FMV: $2,500