Wendy Chidester

Laces and Cases

2015

Louis Russomanno (b.1948). Still Life, ca. 1975. Oil on canvas, 16 x 24 inches; 20 x 28 inches framed. Signed upper right. Excellent condition. Detail is simply amazing in this photorealistic original painting. Gallery label affixed on verso. Contact number with no area code suggests a mid-1970's range in which to date the piece. A native of New York, Russomanno has exhibited widely and with success and is the recipient of numerous prizes and juried awards including from the Phillips Mill...

Represented by George Billis Gallery NYC. In my work I explore family objects as “families” of objects—individual silver heirlooms that are related to one another in a single collec...

Artist Comments
A stack of vintage suitcases sits packed and ready for travel. At the top, a nest cradling a blue egg symbolizes home,...

Pastel on paper Paper size: 5.5 x 15.75 inches Signed lower right

Still life painting of a basket

ARTIST STATEMENT: My work delicately renders familiar domestic comforts that we use to feel secure. Examining the identities of heirloom textiles and childhood nostalgia summons conf...

ARTIST STATEMENT: My work delicately renders familiar domestic comforts that we use to feel secure. Examining the identities of heirloom textiles and childhood nostalgia summons conf...

Nature has always been Tara Esperanza’s muse and source of endless fascination and inspiration. From an early age, her love for the environment shaped her way of seeing the world. As...

A painting of carefully wrapped packages against a vibrant background. Each package is wrapped in a differently patterned paper. There is an air of anticipation, the edges close are sharply painted as if with bated breath and the edges along the horizon softly blurring out like a sigh thats been held, finally released. The vibrancy between magenta ground and the phthalo blue green background hum. The painting brings to mind the excitement of a child's birthday party, a wonderful sense of joy and nostalgia. Painting dimensions: 24 x 24 inches Frame dimensions: 28 x 28 inches Framed in a wide silver frame Artist Bio Maryann Lucas lives and works in Sag Harbor. She is primarily self-taught but has also received instruction and support from wonderful and generous members of the East End artistic community. Working exclusively in oils, Lucas sets out almost daily to create plein aire landscapes and seascapes. In her studio, she works directly from life and captures the beauty of natural light as it transforms ordinary objects into visual delights. Lucas wants her work to celebrate all that is well with this world and brilliant in this life, despite its pockets of darkness. For me, she says, I know I am in the Presence of something beautiful, when it steals my breath, silences my mind, pushes out everything else and draws me in. I trust That. I use That to guide my hands as I arrange a still life or scan a landscape to determine where to set down my easel. Ultimately, That is what drives me to paint. Becoming evermore skilled as an oil painter is another of Lucas goals. To that end she remains teachable, finding it refreshing and vital for her own growth to paint with others. She has studied with favorite artists including Michael Klein...

Kelly Birkenruth's oil painting "Everyone's Favorite Game" depicts a rock, paper, and scissors. About the artist: Kelly Birkenruth’s captivating paintings are in the style of contemporary realism while staying firmly grounded in the tradition of the Old Masters. She is able to pull the viewer into her paintings by interweaving emotion with a humanistic quality through her supreme handling of light. Through her portraits and still lifes she is able to evoke sensitivity and empathy, which in turn allows her to create images which transcend mere representation to capture the true essence of her subject. Kelly’s arresting compositions, draftsmanship, use of color and observation of detail allow her to create paintings with a timeless quality. After earning her degree from Pennsylvania State University, Kelly moved to southern California where she began a career as a fashion model. Her agency soon sent her abroad to Paris and Tokyo, where she spent the next several years modeling. When she wasn’t walking the runway, she spent endless hours in the great museums of the world, closely observing and studying the works of the Old Masters. “My time abroad, particularly in Paris, opened my eyes to the vast beauty and power of a great painting. After that I knew I wanted to dedicate my life to the pursuit of Fine Art” said Birkenruth. After returning to the States, Kelly studied at Otis College of Art in Los Angeles, CA. She then continued her studies through workshops and private study with renowned artists such as Daniel Sprick, Steven Assael and Jesus Emmanuel Villarreal. In the spring of 2019 Kelly...