Volume 19
Iva Milanova Print
Artist Profiles - Volume 19

Iva Milanova Iva Milanova

Iva Milanova paints portraits filled with bold color choices and exuberant movement, drawing on a diversity of traditions in the artistic and the spiritual worlds.

Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, Iva Milanova cites influences as varied as folk and religious textiles. Indeed, textile design was among her first artistic endeavors, beginning her experimentations with weaving and fabric dyeing at age ten alongside her grandmother, and moving quickly to aquarelles thereafter. The child of a jewelry designer mother and a sculptor father, she had early exposure to a variety of artistic mediums. Her search for god and the spirit has influenced her works and their motifs as much as her artistic upbringing. She has had a long interest in icons, mosaics and the Christian symbolism of Eastern Orthodoxy, which comes through in the features of her sitting subjects and the temperament of her thick brushstrokes. The quality of the paint is transformative to the subjects in the works: "By experimenting with different types of paints, Milanova creates a wide spectrum of surface textures, [such as] flatly composed temperas, painterly aquarelles, and sculptural oils."

Combined with her use of color, the works are imbued with a wondrous sense of movement: "Using vibrant, rich hues and a thick impasto brushstroke, Iva Milanova transforms her canvases into contemporary renditions of modern iconography….Equally striking are the dynamic shapes that heighten the visual energy that enlivens the canvases."
Indeed, the modernist styles of Picasso and Matisse can be seen in many of the compositions as well.
Read more... [Iva Milanova]
 
Christophe Moratal Print
Artist Profiles - Volume 19

Face Inkjet Print on Fine Art Paper 18''x 12'' Face Inkjet Print on Fine Art Paper 18''x 12'' Christophe Moratal takes a refreshing, innocent approach to photography. His compassion for his subjects (a woman's face, an architectural study) shines through the glossy print. The light that gives his work breath is meticulous yet natural. He views the angles and lines of a building with curiosity in and reverence for the shape itself. In his "encounters," as Moratal refers to them, he's able to capture the purity and depth of the interaction, both between subject and camera, and the world in which they reside emotionally and physically. A connection also emerges, due to the trust the artist demands and deserves, between the audience and the subject. The integrity of Moratal's "encounters" isn't lost in stylistic choices, but rather the art is reached organically, by the ingenuousness of the subject and the almost invisible hand of the artist. Whether at home in Switzerland or traversing the mountains of Yunnan, Moratal communicates an unfaltering respect for the geography of a face.

 

www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/photographers/?inc=details&id=77681
www.Art-Mine.com/ArtistPage/Christophe_Moratal.aspx

 
Jacqueline Staikos Print
Artist Profiles - Volume 19

  Up Close Oil on Canvas 18''x 14'' Up Close Oil on Canvas 18''x 14''

Jacqueline Staikos paints vividly emotional pieces bridging the formalist and expressionist genres. Rendered primarily in oil paints, her works recall the colorful boldness of classical still lifes and the stylistic curiosity of an artist looking to transgress traditional boundaries.
French-born and currently living in Canada, Staikos' roots dig into Irish, Scottish and French-Canadian bloodlines. With such a well of internal histories and influences she is profoundly connected to her emotional mind and comments: "As the logic of the emotional mind is associative, I have found it very helpful to call upon intuition, imagination and memory to aid in the creative process. I have learned not to get too attached to a plan for a painting as it almost always has a plan of its own." Jacqueline Staikos’ works take her through a brooding processing of the unconscious, forcing her to relinquish control and release in bursts of purely creative impulse. The result is a captivating series of mysterious yet high-spirited works.

 

www.Art-Mine.com/ArtistPage/Jacqueline_Staikos.aspx

 
Leonardo Ciccarelli Print
Artist Profiles - Volume 19

Memoire 7 Oil on Canvas 19''x 19'' Memoire 7 Oil on Canvas 19''x 19''

Leonardo Ciccarelli’s paintings capture memories, portraying both the haziness and vibrancy that characterize the past. Ciccarelli uses loose, impressionistic brushwork to depict pensively layered landscapes. Reminiscent of the metaphorical city scenes in novels by Joseph Conrad and Virginia Woolf, each of Ciccarelli’s marks suggests a meaningful train of memories. A purple rectangle may initially resemble a building, but it also acts as a proxy for a whole stream of experiences that may have occurred within countless buildings and homes. He uses a diverse palette, easily transitioning between pastels and natural tones, but his color always conveys an introspective self-awareness.

Since Ciccarelli often implies a horizon line in his paintings, his compositions seem to exist within tangible space. This tangibility makes the illusory quality of his images all the more stirring, emphasizing the contrast between structured time and people’s emotion-ridden perceptions. Because of its preoccupation with consciousness, Ciccarelli’s work has the expressive depth of the best visual and literary artwork of early modernism.

Ciccarelli has pursued painting since childhood. A student in Macerata, Italy, he worked under the guidance of painter Vincenzo Monti and sculptor Umberto Peschi. His work can be found in both corporate and private collections and he has exhibited internationally. Ciccarelli lives and works in Macerata.


http://ciccarellileonardo.it/
www.Art-Mine.com/ArtistPage/Leonardo_Ciccarelli.aspx
 
Fred Wackerle Print
Artist Profiles - Volume 19

Clouds II Oil on Canvas 27''x 27'' Clouds II Oil on Canvas 27''x 27''

With moods that vary from contemplative to joyful and luminous colors that present nature in all its vivid palette, plein air artist Fred Wackerle's paintings reveal a consistent love of the tones and shapes conjured by sunlight meeting object. Whether still-lifes of gently rendered flowers, burnished desert clouds, or warm urban paintings of favorite Chicago sites, Fred's brushwork brings his chosen subjects to vivid life.
From his impressionistic, almost liquid clouds to his mountains standing in backlit sunsets, he captures the innumerable shades present in sky, stone and flora, from yellow cacti set against an approaching storm's indigo clouds to sunsets pulsing over rocky black hills. There's also a powerful understatement to Fred's work, seen most prominently in his use of shadow, whether across a corner of desert hillside, or the lush green of a city park, as well as the gentle tranquility in even his most blazing landscapes.
Fred's passion for his subjects, whether sunsets, cityscapes or popular figures is clear, and as both a plein air and studio artist, his dedication to his work varies from scouting out locations for his landscapes to nurturing in-studio inspiration for his abstractions. Deep involvement in the work is essential for Fred Wackerle, and this commitment is present in the romance with light and shadow which he brings forth on his stunning canvases.

www.wackerle.com
www.Art-Mine.com/ArtistPage/Fred_Wackerle.aspx

 
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