“To take my inner visions with my hands and create a work of art for you the viewer …. That is the ultimate in self expression.”
Cher Pruys was born in Regina. Over the years she lived in many places including Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Fort Frances, settling into her present home in Devlin, on the banks of the Rainy River with her husband Mark, 4 dogs and 2 cats.

By age three, Cher was seldom found without a drawing tool in hand. She worked in pencil, charcoal and ink over the years, until, she picked up a paintbrush at the age of 35. Beginning with oil paints, she found her chosen mediums in acrylic, water color and gouache.

Although self taught, her dedication and talent has seen her work juried into 99 International exhibits, as well as exhibits in numerous non juried shows. She has won 75 awards for her work at the International Juried Exhibits. Included in these awards, the first recipient of a major Canadian National Award, The Mary Pratt Crystal Award of Excellence at the 2014 SCA Open Juried Exhibition, The SCA 1st place award of distinction twice respectively, 2016, and 2017 at The Canada’s 150 show. The Gold Medal recipient for Figurative Painting in The Mondial Art Academia’s International 2018 Competition. The Aviation Week & Space Technology Award Best of the Best, and the ASAA Award of Distinction for the best painting in the ASAA International Space & Technology Exhibit & Competition, consecutively for 2 years. She has had 14 solo exhibits. Cher is also an avid fused glass artist, and a certified teacher of piano and guitar.

Her painting “The Bubble” had the honour of being part of the Masterworks from The International Guild of Realism Tour. She Was Elected to the American Society of Aviation Artists as an artist member in 1996, and eventually Was elected as a Foreign Affiliate Artist Fellow, one of only two Canadians receive this honour. Her work has graced the covers of 3 books, 14 magazines, and has-been featured in over 50 international publications. Cher’s works have found a permanent home in private and public collections worldwide.

Cher’s artistic style can be described as Realism with a hint of Abstract in her latest works.

What I seek to share through my photography are images with which I have a strong and instinctive personal connection. Images may be simply documentary, invoke a sense of time and place, or resonate as an abstract blend of color, shape or form. Others provoke an indefinable question that does not readily yield answers without further study and reflection.

Self-taught, my creative process follows an intuitive yet patterned path, from capturing a digital image through the process of interacting with and refining the image, searching for the combination of adjustments that produces the kind of instinctive connection I seek. Most often the images with which I have the strongest connection are those that do not produce an immediate reaction but provoke a response through repeated contact and consideration over time.

I’m an independent Artist specializing in charcoal. But as I grow and evolve as an Artist and even just as a person, I find my work doing the same. As Nina Simone put it “An Artists duty is to reflect the times. As far as I’m concerned, it’s their choice. But I choose to reflect the times and the situations in which I find myself.”

When I heard those words I took them to heart. I stopped just drawing pretty pictures and started creating Art that reflected my own life experiences, even when doing so meant being vulnerably honest about difficult experiences.

My work involves a lot of nudity, but it’s never what I consider pornographic. I like to use nudity in my work to represent vulnerability, transparency, liberation, etc.

Photography is Gareth’s artistic release. Since 2015, Gareth brings his imagination, vision and inquisitive mind to visual life following a successful career as a forensic scientist.

Gareth’s art explores bold abstracts or unique perspectives created from his original photographs or digital art.

Gareth presents moments of beauty, quiet joy or intrigue in balance with the need to draw attention to important issues. Everyone needs a break from today’s unending negative news and Gareth provides a breather from the stress of today’s world. He still brings difficult issues into his art – but is convinced that balance is the critical life component and as such, hopes his art will heal this disparate world through creative expressions, thoughtful moments and visual enjoyment or challenge.

Gareth photographs everything, big and small, that makes him stop, look, think, smile, or feel and then puts his unique take on it. Gareth’s images are a moment of balance, offering something to everyone. His curiosity fuels exploration of the world via the abstract, urban and imaginative images that arise.

Gareth believes that viewers connect with him. Often that connection is the breather he provides. He’s touching people with his images and that is his inspiration.

Telagio is a portrait, figurative, and cityscape artist using various atmospheric painting techniques working in watercolor on paper. His paintings are strongly influenced by the use of negative space, allowing the painting to “breathe”, depending on the subject matter. Telagio tells a story through his paintings which is similar to a writer telling a story with words. He is interested more in human moods and feelings, not prettiness. Telagio was granted a scholarship to San Franciso Art Institute and finishe d his education at Calironia collge of Arts and Crafts. He has been blessed and grateful for the recognition of numerous award-winning diversified watercolor paintings honored to him at international, national, and regional juried art show. Telagio conducts private and group watercolor workshops throught Northern California.

Kevin Kemp is a Canadian native. While growing up in Toronto, he pursued the visual arts but in school, worked towards a business career. After finishing high school, he entered the business world and began work for a finance company in the business district of Toronto. A few years later he saw the inside of an art college and everything changed. Two years at the Ontario College of Art, as it was known then, as well as courses in illustration and psychology at several other colleges and smaller schools provided an education in life drawing and painting. He also studied photography including dark room techniques. Following his education, Kevin held a variety of jobs -warehouse laborer, post office worker and picture framer before beginning his career as a scenic painter in film and television.

After moving to Stratford, Ontario, Canada in 1989 with his wife and two sons he began work as a theatrical painter with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival from which he has retired after 30 seasons. Kevin continues to study photography, painting, digital art and classical guitar. His paintings and digital images hang in homes and galleries in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, Toronto, Hamilton, London, Madrid and New York.

Kathy Paulus resides in Moreno Valley, California. She considers herself a self-taught artist specializing in pastel work. She specializes in pet/wild animal portraits and still life subjects. She has done many commissioned animal portraits and enjoys the joy it brings to a devoted pet owner. She enjoys realism and the challenge to capture the real beauty in animals. She has a special love for horses and all wild cats. She also enjoys painting still life subjects. She also enjoys working with colored pencils She has been exploring scratch art and she became a member of the International Society of Scratchboard Artist in 2018. She alternates working with pastels and scratch work. She is an active member of the Redlands Art Association in Redlands, California and Yucaipa Vision Quest Art Association in Yucaipa, California. She is involved in the international group of artist and photographers, Paint My Photo. She is also involved in many online groups as well. She enjoys teaching in workshops and sharing the knowledge she has obtained through the years in the area of pastels and scratch art. She enters many local and international art shows and has won many awards for her pastel work and Scratch art. You can see more of her work on her facebook page, www.facebook.com/ElipisFineArt

Barbara Mierau-Klein is a digital artist recognized for her multi-layered, imaginative and colorful fine art images. A native of Germany, Barbara lives in the Washington, D.C. area but often travels the world as a passionate landscape and nature photographer since her teenage years.

Barbara discovered digital art several years ago and became so fascinated that it turned into a full-time pursuit. Much of Barbara’s work is highly stylized and focuses on beautiful moments and evocative moods across a wide range of subjects. The inspiration for her images comes from many sources, often her own nature photography, but also books, song lyrics, movies, and works of other artists, old masters as well as contemporary digital artists.

Barbara’s work has been exhibited in several galleries in the US and Europe and was awarded numerous awards. Her images also appear regularly in international art magazines. Barbara is represented locally by Waverly Street Gallery in Bethesda, MD.

The sparks that start the process of Nashville,Tennessee painter and sculptor Loretta Kaufman’s work are the natural world and the life around us. The Quartet and Duet paintings were inspired by the three years Kaufman lived on a 600 hectare farmstead in South Africa bordered by the Harteespoort Dam on one side and the Magaliesburg Mountains on the other. The waterhole on the property was a stop for abundant wildlife including numerous species of birds. The blue heron, snowy egret, slaty heron and the little bittern were the most frequent visitors watering side by side collectively and without any apparent challenges from on another. Reviews describe her acrylic paintings as bold and arresting; the paintings are smooth angular and geometrically complex and contain visually stirring abstract imagery, enticing viewers to unexpectedly examine and consider serious and sometimes complicated issues such as animal behaviors and awareness.

The desire to live with purpose and passion motivates Pablo McLoud to seek unique opportunities to experience, learn, and grow. Along with that pursuit is the quest to be moved and inspired in an artistic sense, and to capture those moments ‘on film’ for their unique once-in-a-lifetime qualities. As an artist who has spent quite a bit of time in remote wilderness areas, he believes that untrammeled natural locations are those special places that fosters, nurtures, and enhances creativity. He feels that experiencing first-hand the wonders or our natural world trigger sparks of creativity that brings about growth and productivity in artistic expression. His desire is to explore and discover distinct and magical moments in natural surroundings, and to share those instants in photos that inspire, awaken, and stir the soul. He looks to have his photography evoke emotions within his audience that makes one feel, emote, and ponder. And, hopefully, by interacting with his photos the audience’s state of being is enhanced as they learn about the different facets of this special and unique geographic region.