"Red" 2015 Show

This show will run February 1-28, 2015. Artists from around the world were called to submit their work and we were very pleased with the response we received. There were 117 accepted works and they came from 26 different states in the USA and 8 other countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Malaysia, Russian Federation, and Switzerland. A variety of styles and mediums were entered including, acrylic, blood, ‘bodypaintography’, charcoal, digital, ink, latex, mixed media, monotype, oil, pastel, photography, resin, scratchboard, watercolor, and woodcut. The judging criterion was originality, interpretation, quality, demonstration of ability, and usage of medium. Other factors, such as the clarity of the images provided and their ability to be viewed online, as well as relating to the theme, also contributed to the decision. “Best of Show”, “First Place”, and “Second Place” winners received a monetary award in addition to special recognition.

We were very happy to donate 10% of all entry fees from this show to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). It is our hope that this small act of kindness will blossom and grow to help someone else. Please visit http://www.ifrc.org/en/ for more information.

Thank you to all the artists who participated! Your talents and skills gave us a diverse body of work to create this attractive show.

Buyers- Please contact the artists directly for sales. Colors of Humanity Art Gallery does not handle any part of the sale or collect any commission, it is solely between the buyer and artist. You may find a link to the artist’s website or email address below their work.

Hunter was born in the UK and moved to Canada where she has lived most of her adult life.

From the age of three she studied ballet, jazz and tap. Elaine owned and taught in her own dance school in Ottawa Canada for 31 years and after moving to BC in 2006, she now teaches dance in her own school in Halfmoon Bay, BC, Canada. Her happiest experiences were when she was dancing or outdoors enjoying the peacefulness and power of nature.

Her innate sense of movement is a major influence and characteristic of her highly expressive one-of-a-kind photographic images. She explains, “Where I used to choreograph my dance students, now, I choreograph nature. “

Her captivating images are created with her imagination and skillful use of digital photography. She takes the viewer on a metaphysical journey where infinite possibilities for discovery abound.

Although her images begin by photographing subject matter in her surrounding environment, she transforms them into visions that could easily be interpreted as other-worldly images from a space odyssey or science fiction drama.

The artist’s desire is to take the viewer on what she describes as “a wildly fanciful terrestrial paradise.” Her intention to make us wonder if the visions that she created were actually there when the photograph was taken.

Elaine Hunter has exhibited in many galleries and art venues in Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast in B C Canada as well as New York, California and Europe.

In addition to having her art in many private collections, several of Hunter’s images are in the Admiral Lounges in JFK and Miami airports. Her Pine Tree images have been placed in many rooms in the newly renovated Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto, Canada.

Elaine Hunter creates visionary photographic art which she describes as “Chimerical” art. She is an expert in photographic manipulation. Her bold and dramatic images have won numerous awards .In 2014 the artist received 2 Awards of Excellence for her work from Exhibitions Without Walls, for her work “Winter Ocean Storm” and "Ocean Dream ". Her art appealed to the judges whose criteria was “impact, creativity, composition and consistency with the theme”. Elaine is represented by Linus Gallery in LA for her work Canada Road to Sky. Her photography was also selected as part of the” Celebrate BC Day” in 2013.

Elaine Hunter states, “My goal is to uplift, inspire and support you on your journey through life. I wish to excite you as you gaze upon the images of Nature that I create. I feel that I am revealing the soul of Nature, and hope that you too, experience the love that I have in my heart for the world around me.”

-Written by Renee Phillips

Martha Wade is a painter, muralist and graphic designer. Originally from Southern Indiana, she grew up in a compulsively creative family, where someone was always painting or cooking or writing or otherwise making something. She began drawing and painting at a young age, but did not imagine that she would ever pursue it as a career.

She attended Oberlin College, where she received a BA in theater in 1985. Originally intending to study English Literature, she was drawn to the color and pageantry of the stage, a passion that was cemented by a memorable semester in London studying theater. That early background and training is evident in all her work.

After graduation, Martha moved to San Francisco where she cobbled together a number of improvised jobs and performed in local theatre productions before unintentionally beginning a career as a muralist. She saw a newspaper article about a San Francisco mural painting company, Evans and Brown and, on impulse, applied for a job. She learned the fundamentals of the craft while working there, and was able to travel extensively, painting and installing murals both nationally and internationally. She moved to Sonoma County in 1995 and established her own mural business, Martha Wade Design.

Over time, the collaborative nature of mural painting became unsatisfying, and Martha shifted her focus to the unexplored territory of creating personal work. She says: “What I love most about painting, and what I find most desperately frustrating about it are one and the same. It is the unpredictable process of exploration, of trying to allow something unexpected to find its way through the weight of all my set ideas and expectations. When I’m unable to sidestep my impulse to control the outcome of a piece, I’m inevitably left with an image that is flat and dead on the canvas. When I am able to listen and respond more carefully, the work can sometimes take on a surprising and energetic life of its own. In my work right now, I’m most drawn to the figure. I am fascinated by how exquisitely attuned we are to our own kind, to the meaning that we can draw from the slightest nuance of gesture and movement and expression in one other. My goal is to find a way to access this powerful visual language in my paintings, so that a piece takes on its own quality of mood, ambiguity, and feeling. I’m seeking my own personal, contemporary idiom in grappling with a form that has entranced painters since before the Renaissance.”

Caryl Morgan is a nationally recognized contemporary realist watercolor artist whose primary interest is working with vivid, highly saturated watercolor. Morgan uses close, cropped angled perspectives with strong shadows and contrast to elevate the images she paints to an iconic status. She is a signature member of the Watercolor USA Honor Society as well a many other state and regional watercolor groups. Her work is represented in private, corporate and permanent museum collections throughout the United States. Her work has also been exhibited in Japan and South Korea as part of an art cultural exchange program sponsored by Watercolor USA Honor Society. She works from her studio, Earth Road Graphics in historic downtown Newkirk, OK.

Caryl Morgan received her BAE degree from Oklahoma State University then taught high school and adjunct community college art classes for 33 years before taking early retirement to pursue her art career full time. While teaching she spent summers completing graduate work at many regional universities including Wichita State, University of Kansas, Kansas State University, Northern Colorado University, Northwest Missouri State and most recently the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The instruction she received from such a diverse educational background serves her well in her own personal art career.

Caryl Morgan has been painting with watercolor for over 40 years and states that the reason she took on the medium is that someone told her it was difficult to work with because one cannot correct painting mistakes. To Caryl that made mastering the medium a personal challenge. She began painting in the traditional fashion with layers of washes but soon found that she was intrigued with painting direct, highly saturated color to produce the "realism" she desired. She also focuses on aspects of color theory, rarely using black or white paint, but instead using complementary color to create full value ranges to represent shadows and less intense washes for lighter values. She loves to replace shadows with very obvious color complements of a particular color.

Caryl recently purchased a 10,000 square foot historic limestone building next to her studio and is in the process of rehabbing the building. The plan is to have an antique store, Prairie Urban Gallery and frame shop, 3-D design studio and two large apartments on the second floor. Morgan plans to teach art classes in the new space, host community events and use the Prairie Urban Gallery to serve as a community focused art space.

Colors of Humanity Art Gallery

"Red" 2015 Show

Best of Show

First Place

Second Place

Honorable Mention

Noteworthy

"Red" 2015 Show- (click on any image for more details)