Creative Thresholds

by  Zoë Boston

Artist: Zoë Boston

HER NAME IS ZOË BOSTON.

Zoë is an artist in almost every sense of the word.   She has been drawing for as long as she can remember, but did not begin painting until she returned to the West Coast.  Born in Los Angeles and raised in Upstate NY, she now resides in the Oakland Bay area.

Zoë’s inspirations come from God, life, love, music, and everything in between.  She is dedicated to being true to herself, which in-turn, transforms her work into passion on canvas.

“My goal has never been to be different. Most humans are trying to be different, and, as a result, most are actually quite the same. My goal is to be myself, andjust being myself already makes me different. There will never, in all of creation, and throughout time, be anyone like me or you again, so be yourself and love who you are!

As far as what I do, what you see on canvas, I’m calling it art to simplify the means of my expression. These pieces were birthed from the passions of life, living freely, being myself, and loving who I truly am. I use acrylic on canvas to express myself, and I continue to grow with each new piece.

You are not just witnessing art, but pieces of my life’s journey. I look forward to being able to share it with you!”

Website: ZOEBOSTONART.COM

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theycallmezb/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZoeBostonArt/

Email: Zoebostonart@gmail.com

You can find more of Zoë’s work at the following locations.

Abrams Claghorn Gallery
1251 Solano Ave
Albany, CA 94706
(510) 526-9558
http://abramsclaghorn.com/

Zachary’s Chicago Pizza
5801 College Avenue
Oakland, CA 94618
(510) 655-6385
www.zacharys.com

In addition, Zoe’s work has been featured on the cover of, and included in, the December 2016 publication of TrapXArt magazine, Volume 2.

by James Bentley

James Bentley is a Canadian artist who lives and works on the small island L’Île-Perrot, just off Montreal, Québec. He studied and began his career as a freelance illustrator; a practice which gave him a great love for drawing. Anchored in figuration, he now works mainly with acrylic on canvas and acrylic & pastel on paper. Bentley’s current body of work is focused on the ocean, portraits and figure studies. He is always on the search to paint in an inventive open manner.

Website: http://www.jamesbentley.com/index.html

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/james.bentley.79677

by Ana Bayon

Artist: Ana Bayon

Ana Bayon is a Argentine draftsman living New Hope, Pennsylvania. She studied fine arts in Buenos Aires and New York. Her work was recently featured in the contemporary drawing publications  ‘Strokes of Genius – 8’ and in the upcoming ninth edition. Her work was also selected for the book  “Art Journey: Portraits & Figures, The Best of Contemporary Drawing.” Her work is in collections throughout Philadelphia area.

by Gavin Garcia

Ana – oil on canvas

KB Bed

KB with cushion – pen and paper

Life model I – pen on paper

Lying with her – Mono print

Self-portrait

KB II – pencil on paper

Ana portrait – mono print

KB

Drypoint, self-portrait

KB with cat – pencil on paper

Where there used to be a theatre.

Neil Young

Dylan

For Francis

Artist: Gavin Garcia

I am an artist and a musician from Gibraltar, living and working in London. Within my work I try to explore the human form through the study of individuals whilst hoping to create images which capture the vulnerability and beauty of people. At times I focus on the surrounding landscape and its encompassing attraction, be it man made or crafted by nature. By drawing, painting and printing I use the strength of line as well the power of colour to create images that hold meaning.

Website: www.gavingarciaart.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gavingarciaart

Twitter: @gavinkgarcia

Video to recent interview: https://www.facebook.com/gbcthehub/videos/1168111816606273/

by Thomas Donaldson

Artist: Thomas Donaldson

Thomas is an English figurative painter and Lecturer based in Asia. He received his Master’s degree from Newcastle University in 2000 and since then has taken part in numerous exhibitions globally. His visceral works depict the portrait/nude which has been a traditional subject within the history of painting, which is easily recognizable and has been painted over and over again. This familiarity with the subject and the ideal of beauty in an increasingly over photo-shopped media allows Thomas to develop the process of painting through abstraction, mark making and impasto and at the end of the process still have something that remains familiar although imperfect and slightly awkward.

Website: http://www.thomasdonaldson.biz

Facebook   https://www.facebook.com/thomas.donaldson.art

Instagram   https://www.instagram.com/thomasdonaldsonart/

Twitter       https://twitter.com/thomasdonaldson

Pinterest     https://www.pinterest.com/thomasdonaldson/

Tumblr       http://thomasdonaldsonart.tumblr.com/

by Melinda Matyas

The red curvature (dyptich)

Seven days (dyptich)

Hope, the thing with feathers

I’am going to be a pilot

The silence of animals

Mama, I’m coming home

The wind blows where it pleases

Lorelei

Stopping by woods on a snowy evening

And the walls were restless under chalk drawings

I’ve been here before (dialogue with myself)

Artist: Melinda Matyas

My artistic preoccupation is mostly based on existential explorations of the human condition. Very much interested in the intensity of sensation experienced from the subject’s presence, I’m looking beyond the body, discovering that beyond our well-lived triviality in each individual the spirit is made flesh, under its surface in each one the whole creation breathes. Though the starting point is always personal, emerging out of my obsessions and the emotional intensity which flows through myself and through people living around me, this intensely personal content of the work invites a reciprocal identification on the part of the viewer.

http://melindamatyas.com

https://www.facebook.com/MelindaMatyasPaintings/

https://www.instagram.com/melinda_matyas/

by Amy Oliver

Sleeping – wire and aluminium mesh

As I turned… Print on canvas (close up of Beneath my Mask)

Disjointed Fore – aluminium wire mesh

Silence me – print on canvas (mannequin and masking tape)

Complete – wire and aluminium mesh

Disjointed 3 – heavyweight paper, masking tape, ink and fire!

Disjointed Too – aluminium mesh

Beneath my Mask – aluminium mesh

Artist: Amy Oliver

I have a particular interest in issues surrounding mental health, social and political conditions, and women’s rights and identity, and tend to theme my work around this subject matter. My intention is to create pieces that express vulnerability and instability but which also suggest the (often subconscious) core strength within, in an attempt to capture the fragility of self. In terms of the materials I use, I have an affinity with metals – more specifically aluminium due to its lightness, movement and energy. I enjoy responding to materials in unconventional ways and pushing their (and my) boundaries; and unearthing discarded, lost and forgotten items and using them to construct something else entirely, bringing a new dimension to their existence.

My work and style is ever evolving and I am on a constant learning curve. I didn’t start my creative journey until 2013 when I undertook a 10-week Figure & Portrait sculpture evening class at The Art Academy, London and this led me, at age 44, onto a part-time one year Certificate in Sculpture with the same school in 2014/15.

I am drawn to and inspired by the subjective work and language of artists such as Schiele, Dumas and Emin, together with a myriad of unknown/lesser known artists and have been lucky enough to connect with many via social media.

www.fragilityofself.co.uk

http://www.celesteprize.com/member/idu:88274/

https://www.instagram.com/fragilityofself/?hl=en

https://www.facebook.com/amy.oliver.3950

Current & Upcoming Exhibitions | Shows:

11 – 14 August 2016

Blair Zaye Presents ‘Exposed’, Ben Oakley Gallery, Greenwich, London (showing ‘Complete‘)

15 – 29 October 2016

East Kent Open House weekends

 
Previous Exhibitions | Shows:

9 – 13 July 2015

The Art Academy Graduation Show, London

30 April – 19 June 2016

Artiki Eventi | Breakfast in Beirut, Treviso, Italy (showing ‘Beneath my Mask‘)

by Tom Bennett

Barely Resolved Inoffensive Nude, oil on canvas, 2016

Fatigue 4, oil on paper, 2016, 16″ x 22″

Fatigue, oil on paper, 2016, 12″ x 9″

Fatigue 2, oil on paper, 2016, 20″ x 16″

Fatigue 3, oil on paper, 2016, 16″ X 20′

In the Hold, oil on paper, 2012, 18″ x 9″

Muddy Company, oil on paper, 2012, 16″ x 20″

Quiet, oil on paper, oil on paper, 2015, 19.5″ x 27″

Mannered Nude, oil on paper, 2015, 9″ x 24″

Memory Loss, oil on paper, 18″ x 14″

Sleepwalk Redux 2, monotype, 12″ x 12″

Sleepwalk Redux 17, monotype, 12″ x 12″

Sleepwalk Redux 24, monotype, 12″ x 12″

Witch 18, monotype, 2016, 12″ x 12”

Witch 21, monotype, 2016, 12″ X 12″

These Things don’t Mean Anything, 2012, 18″ x 9″

Artist: Tom Bennett

Tom Bennett, born in Ridgefield, Connecticut, grew up in a household of artists and was influenced by his father, Harry Bennett, an award-winning painter and illustrator. His father’s version of Dante’s Divine Comedy was seminal in shaping Bennett’s early aesthetic.  He grew up spending much of his time experimenting with a wide range of art mediums, but particularly, drawing.

He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting at the University of Connecticut in 1982 where he worked under the noted  painter and photographer, Bill Parker. He also studied design and color under the award-winning Paul Zelanski.

Tom had his first one-man show at the Ridgefield Guild of Artist Gallery in 1983, and a few months later moved to New York City to further pursue his painting.

In 1985 Tom spent seven months traveling alone through Western and Eastern Europe— into Hungary, East Germany and Yugoslavia—and Africa, sketching while traveling and absorbing new stimuli. His visits to sites like Dauchau and occupied East Germany left him with renewed connection to an inchoate subconscious iconography.

Subsequently, travelling into northern African countries like Morocco & Algeria provided fresh, non-western- centric experiences that ultimately had a subtle, yet profound impact on his art making.

He returned to Spain and resided in Barcelona. Tom lived on the Spanish Mediterranean coast painting, where he exhibited locally in solo and group shows. Eventually he returned to New York and moved to Brooklyn, where he has resided ever since.

http://www.saatchiart.com/tombennett
https://www.facebook.com/tombennettart/
https://www.facebook.com/tom.bennett.165470/media_set?set=a.124389307155.101484.660327155&type=3
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tom-bennett/
https://twitter.com/TommyBennett
http://tombennett.tumblr.com/

by Sal Jones

You’re Heartless

You Should Leave Now

You Tell Me

Why Did You Do It

Without Me They’re Nothing

That’s a Good Enough Reason

Okay

We Can Get Out Of Here

I’m On To You

I’m Just An Ordinary Guy With Nothing To Lose

Not Really No

Listen To Me

Sal Jones is a figurative artist inspired by human interplay, translating visual information into paintings; she develops ideas and themes from photographic sources with an emphasis on the painted surface. A re-interpretation of the portraiture tradition in which she uses colour and mark making as tools to communicate with, producing emotionally charged works, often of fictional personas.

Sal has a BA Hons in Fine Art and has exhibited regularly in London and across the UK. Including: Society of Women Artists annual open exhibition, Mall galleries, London; Id- A Fictional Journey into the Psyche, Display gallery, London; Discerning Eye Mall galleries London; Stopjectify, gallery Different, London. Works are held in private collections in the UK, Europe and the United States.

Website: http://www.saljonesart.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/senojlas/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/senojlas  (@senojlas)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saljonesart

Upcoming Exhibitions: 

SOLAR ART EXHIBITION 2016
4th June – 30th July 2016

Nude Tin Can Gallery, 125 Hatfield Rd. St Albans, AL1 4JS
Private View Friday 3rd 6.30pm – 10pm

https://www.facebook.com/events/261986567468567/

Summer Salon 2016

10^th June – 1^st July

Islington Arts Factory, 2 Parkhurst Road, London N7 0SF

Private view Friday 10^th July 6.30 – 9.30 pm

We-R (exhibition to coincide with Pride 2016)

21^st June – 3rd July

Espacio gallery 159 Bethnal Green road London E2 7DG

Opening event Wed 22^nd June 6-9 pm, closing event 2^nd July 6-9 pm

http://werpride16.weebly.com

https://www.facebook.com/events/1754042444832763/

Seduction & Desire

5^th July – 10^th July

Espacio gallery 159 Bethnal Green road London E2 7DG

Private view Thursday 7^th July , 6-9 pm

http://www.espaciogallery.com/future-exhibitions.html

National society of painters, sculptors, printmakers annual exhib 2016

5^th – 16^th July, menier gallery 51 Southwark Street, London SE1 1RU 

Private view Tues 5^th July

The Human Figure – Modern Myth & Storytelling

19^th – 24^th July

The Gallery, Edwards Lane, Stoke Newington London N16 0JJ

Private view Thursday 21^st July 6-9:30 pm

by Jerry Shawback

Artist : Jerry Shawback

Jerry Shawback uses drawing as his primary form of expression. He studied communication design in Los Angeles at the Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of design, a division of the New School for Social Research. Jerry worked as a freelance designer, commercial artist, and animator for the entertainment industry.

After a ten year hiatus from the art world, Jerry returned to painting in 2007,  as a primary focus producing a series of self portraits encompassing various artistic motifs, while maintaining an underlining vision, cohesion and emotional honesty.  The artist’s self portrait series explores identity through multiple approaches to the same subject matter. Stylistically varied, they reveal the strange and vulnerability essence of the human condition. Jerry is now working on a series of paintings and portraits exploring self through images of others.

His affinity for people, observation of life and strong draughtmanship is apparent in his depiction of the human form and informs Jerry’s painting. Other influences include: Rico Lebrun, Egon Schiele, Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud and his mentor Cornelius Cole III.

Jerry has been sharing his works on paper daily on social media, documenting the lives and experiences around him. Exploring the subtle beauty of line through a continuing study of the human form is a common thread that permeates all his work.

Jshawback.tumblr.com

Twitter@jerryshawback