When Scott Myers originally left college behind, he thought he would use his recently earned English degree to become the next great American writer. Life had other plans, and soon Scott was touring the US and Europe in what he describes as a “middling, floundering, rock n’ roll band.”
Always a creative spirit, Scott eventually began experimenting with oil paints and has since devoted his considerable talents to mastering the art of fine oil painting.
His love for music has never left him and Scott happily describes his artistic process “as dancing while he paints.”
It has now been a decade since Scott placed his creative focus on the visual arts. His newest collection of artwork now on display at Providence Gallery features energetic cityscapes of the New York City skyline alongside landscapes and interiors that run the stylistic gamut from Realism to modern Impressionism.
Through his art, Scott seeks to capture the vibrant world he witnesses around him. More than anything, Scott hopes his renderings portray the earth in a joyful manner.
– Artist’s statement
Providence Gallery is proud to represent Scott Myers as he emerges as a recognized talent on the art scene in the southeastern United States.Scott’s artwork will be on display through August 2022.View more of Scott’s work here.
Providence Gallery is pleased to announce our newest artist, Esther Moorehead, has a new series of cityscapes on display now. A talented fine arts painter, Esther’s vivid compositions allow the observer an opportunity to explore the deceptively simple animated engagement of people as they encounter one another in passing.
Esther Moorehead describes herself in these succinct words: “I am an obsessive creative. An explorer. A wanderer.”
Esther attributes her love of travel, curious nature, and keen, observant eye to having been born and raised in Canada and having had the opportunity to live in the UK and the US.
Inspiration from Esther’s high school art teacher, a native of the Czech Republic, led her to develop a lifelong passion for European art, culture, and history. To follow this passion, Esther began traveling extensively to see and experience different cultures and lands for herself.
Esther earned her BA in Art Education in 2005 and went on to teach high school art classes in Toronto for a decade. Following the birth of her second child, Esther decided to step away from the classroom and has been working as a studio artist since 2015.
Esther’s acrylic and watercolor paintings are sold in galleries in the US and Canada and are included in numerous private art collections.
Esther’s Moorehead’s new “Passengers” series of cityscape/figurative compositions in acrylic on canvas. On Display Now at Providence Gallery!
I am fascinated with the convergence of the mundane and the spectacular and how each is relative to human perspective. I mingle those two ideas in my work, drawing inspiration from familiar spaces and new explorations. Using my original references, I focus on constructing scenes of transience, fleeting glimpses of moments in time. ~Esther Moorehead
Fine oil painter paula holtzclaw has been on a roll in the last year, repeatedly receiving well deserved recognition from leading national arts organizations.
Paula confirms she was thrilled and honored when the prestigious Oil Painters of America organization designated her a Signature Member in June of last year!
Recently, Paula was chosen as the recipient of the American Women Artists (AWA) “Award of Excellence” in recognition of the superior quality of her oil painting, Luminescence, 35″ x 45″.
Paula Holtzclaw stands before her award winning painting, Luminescence, at the ongoing AWA show: LOOKING WEST: AN EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTING WORKS BY AMERICAN WOMEN ARTISTS.
Paula detailed the inspiration for this piece and the thought process that went in to creating it:
“My painting Luminescence was inspired from memories of a twilight canoe trip along the river while at our past American Women Artists Exhibition at the Haggin Museum in Lodi, California. Looking west through the trees, the setting sun cast its golden glow across the water, mentally imprinting this image and moment in time; it became the subject of this painting. On the east coast, it is common to see these luminescent “lightning bugs”, or fireflies, emerge at twilight, so I decided to add this touch of home to my painting.”
– Paula Holtzclaw
The panel of jurors chosen to judge the exhibition included Christine Bullard, an avid, respected art connoisseur, John Fawcett , well renowned for his western art, and Jennifer Henneman, an Associate Curator for the Petrie Institute of Western American Art, Denver Art Museum. In excess of $25,000 in cash and merchandise awards were given to winners in various categories.
Exhibition Catalog: LOOKING WEST: AN EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTING WORKS BY AMERICAN WOMEN ARTISTS, on display now through September 2, 2019, at the Steamboat Art Museum, Steamboat Springs, CO
Paula has been recognized by the AWA before, having won the organization’s “Purchase Award” for her oil painting, Delta Twilight, in their 2018 exhibition held at the Haggin Museum in Lodi, CA. Fittingly, this “Purchase Award” winning painting was purchased by F&M Bank in Lodi, California, and it is now part of their permanent collection.
American Women Artists is a non profit organization dedicated to the inspiration, celebration and encouragement of women in the visual fine arts. In 2017, AWA launched 25 in 25, a bold initiative to secure 25 museum exhibitions for our women artist members, in the next 25 years. The impetus for launching this effort was the knowledge that work created by women artists comprises only 3-5% of the permanent holdings of art museums in America and worldwide.
To find out more about AWA’s 25 in 25 initiative, check out this informative video: WATCHAWAVIDEO
Providence Gallery artists Anne Harkness and Ann Watcher are also AWA members and have received recognition for their superior abilities as fine art painters as well. All three women are looking forward to collaborating on a group exhibition to be held some time this fall!
Providence Gallery will be making an announcement in the near future so stayed tuned!
I recently asked renowned artist and Providence Gallery manager, Rod Wimer, to share his framing advice for artists based on his years of experience and customers’ most frequent requests:
Q. What is the number 1 rule you would advise artists to follow when framing their artwork?
A. The best framing advice I can give to any artist having a show is that, if their work is going to be framed, I highly recommend that all frames used should be the same throughout the show. In other words, the same molding should be used on each piece of art being showcased. One of the highest compliments we receive here at the gallery is for artists who choose to frame their work with the same frame throughout the show. Not only should the artwork be consistent, but using the same frame on each piece lends to a very cohesive and beautiful show! Customers love it!
Q. How many years of experience do you have in framing and installation? (I know combined you and Debbie have something like 70-75 years.)
A. I have been a professional picture framer and artist since 1980. I have worked in six different frame shops throughout the years.
Q. In your experience, what types of frames are clients most often drawn to?
A. In my experience here in Charlotte, gold seems to be the most popular frame choice for the majority of our custom framing clients. After that, warm silver – sometimes referred to as champagne, and then black seem to be the second and third most popular frame finishes. When custom framing a piece of artwork, consideration should always be given to what type of frame looks best on the art.
Q. Conversely, what types of framing turns clients off and gets the most negative feedback?
A. Frame choices that do not accentuate the art properly are always a big turn off for custom framing clients! A lot of our custom framing work comes from clients who have old pieces of artwork inherited from various family members. The framing is often out of date or was originally a poor choice when the piece was framed in the past. Updating your custom framing can often make your art look completely different and brand new! Many clients are often amazed at how a simple update can change the look of everything!
Q. Any other recommendations?
A. Proper custom framing is very important, especially for paper bourn pieces of art. Paper art should always be framed with acid-free mats and UV protective glass. Art on paper tends to fade very easily if not glazed properly! Likewise the backing should be acid free from core. This protects the art and keeps it from developing small brown spots called ‘foxing’. Foxing is caused when backing and matting is not acid-free. Acid will leach into the artwork over time and cause foxing, which basically ruins the artwork and can only be cleaned by a professional paper conservationist.
The staff here at Providence Gallery and Frames has the requisite experience to help any client with any custom framing needs. We also pick up and deliver and hang art professionally for our customers.
Lisa Bartell compares her painting process to a favorite childhood past time, “staring at wood grain and discovering odd faces and figures.” This early spark of creativity has been nurtured through adulthood and now as an established painter, Bartell creates vivid abstract figuratives depicting the female form.
These figures are often whimsically elongated and distorted, or juxtaposed with animals whose characteristics represent a search for increased self-awareness. A common thread running throughout Bartell’s compositions are the recurring themes of searching for a heightened self-awareness and a continued quest for understanding of the concept that is self-identity.
Bartell starts each of her oil paintings with a dark hue applied to the canvas and brushed in various directions; the beginnings of nebulous forms begin to emerge, much like the shapes that emerged from the patterns of wood grain and fascinated the artist as a child.
Next, the artist studies her canvas for the elements of line, shape and form, focusing on the relationship between these elements, background figures and the connection of all these things to the primary character. Through innovative use of vivid color, thoughtful brushstrokes and texture applied using toothpicks, brush handles and through the manipulation of oil paints to achieve a range of consistencies, Bartell successfully creates her distinctive “organic and abstract compositions.”
My goal as an artist is to create a colorful cast of characters in a performance of their own self-discovery. ~ Lisa Bartell
See Lisa’s complete gallery of available works here.
Russian born oil painter, Pavel Basille Nikitchenko, entered the Moscow State Academy of Fine Art in 1983. Then, from 1986-88, he participated in the work of the Moscow Experimental Studio of Painting and Graphic Art. For two years, from 1987-89, Pavel also studied with the renowned Russian art professor, Butoroff, in his private art school in Moscow.
Pavel Basille Nikitchenko’s color drenched tonal landscapes depict nature undisturbed by modern intervention. The artist’s fine oil paintings have been exhibited in Russia, the Czech Republic, New Orleans, and North Carolina.
View more of Pavel Basille Nikitchenko’s work here.
Painter Annie Leist gathers her inspiration from the spaces and people that surround her in New York City, where she lives and creates her abstract compositions. Although legally blind, Leist draws inspiration from “the crosswalks, sidewalks, intersections, scaffolding—all [of the] manifestations of the physical, social, and psychological architectures of urban space” that surround her.
The artist explains that her fascination with these figures and spaces derives from the fact that it is these two elements: people and the places they inhabit—that “form a framework around, within, and through which city life and city people flow.” Through her modern abstract compositions, Leist explores “the unwritten rules of public space that maintain, sometimes miraculously, the precarious order of the metropolis and its inhabitants.”
Exhibit on Display Thru November 20th
Revolving Door II, 20″ x 24″ oil on canvas, $950.00
Beacons Red Hand#XIII, 37″ x 48″ oil on canvas, $2,650
Popular gallery artist and renowned abstract painter Rod Wimer has created new paintings for his in demand female form series.
Wimer’s distinctive style includes abstracted works created with multiple layers of media including paint, graphite, colored pencil, and oil sticks on substrates of wood panel, canvas, and paper.
Like the Moon During the Day, 36″ x 18″ mixed media/canvas
Wimer explains his choice of subject matter:
I like to experiment with color schemes and female forms. This series uses a technique referred to as “alcohol resist”. ~ Rod Wimer
The alcohol technique involves adding small amounts of alcohol to layers of acrylic paint to texturalize the painting, also increasing the sense of depth.
New Abstract Paintings by Rod Wimer on Display Now at Providence Gallery
Travis Bruce Black’s new solo exhibition, “Notation” features new interpretations of his popular “Chirps” series of bird figuratives inspired in part by stained glass windows, as well as a menagerie of other woodland creatures, captured in a variety of media, including watercolor on paper, watercolor, gouache, and acrylic on wood.
Black has introduced an innovative style of silk screen and acrylic painting in a new edition of works he explains “are based on the approach of “black figure” pottery from ancient Greece.” Just as the Grecian’s converted imagery into naturalistic black subject matter and then outlined those figures with colored lines, Black has applied this concept to paintings such as “Gusher” (shown above), and “Chance Glance”.
I make them by painting the panel silk screen a little, hand paint some more, then [finalize] it with the black silk screen layer. ~ Travis Bruce Black
Revolving Door II, 20″ x 24″ oil on canvas, $950.00
Providence Gallery and Frame blog 