Our Artists

Findings features both regional and national artists. Consider the sampling of work featured like a portal from our gallery into their studios - giving you a glimpse into their world and their capabilites. Contact us today learn more about an artist of interest.

AJ. Eccles – Inspired by Nature, Colorful, Gifting Memories

All my paintings have meaning to me or others. My parents were born and raised in the Outer Banks region, and my extended family is still there. I spent summers visiting my Aunt Shirley and Uncle Gene at Corolla when it was just a small village and there were no roads. Aunt Shirley was a great hunting guide and a better shot than most! Uncle Gene was the lighthouse keeper at the Currituck Light. My mother and Aunt Shirley always gave each other gifts of “heritage” – gifts that meant something about their shared past. I am trying to bring some of these gifts of heritage and memories to life with my watercolors. My husband and I spend a lot of time at my paternal grandparents’ farmhouse in Harbinger at the OBX, which gives us the chance to extend the heritage of the Albemarle Sound, the ocean, and the OBX and to our children and grandchildren.

Aleea Jaques – Bold, Colorful, Abstract

As a woman, I have struggled with the idea that I need to feel small, get small, be small. I can’t be too loud or colorful because it isn’t lady-like. I can’t shine too brightly or have too much confidence for fear of appearing feral. I’ve come to realize my art reflects my rebellion against these pigeonholes. Might those with a bold personality be received and celebrated - even expected to express that boldness? These works represent my brave, bold, untamed joy. Expressed in layers, movement, and value, my paintings are a nod to the playful energy of a child. Drips, splatters, and texture work together to intensify the viewer’s experience, and in the end, I produce a work of art that cannot be ignored.

Alex Sayer – Emotional, Texture, Unique

To explore my creative side I started painting. Art, for me, is a cathartic release. I enjoy riding the wave of emotions that comes with each painting. Each piece that I create has many ups and downs, twists and turns, frustrations, and excitement. I enjoy creating a piece of art and allowing my feelings to flow freely across the canvas. I currently live and create art in my home studio in Lynchburg, VA. Previously, I have studied under artist, Inez Berinson Blanks. I also have shown at The Academy, Riverview’s Art Space, Magnolia Foods, St. John’s Church, and many other local venues. I currently display most of my work at Findings Art Gallery in Lynchburg, VA. I have been creating many different and unique pieces which include flowers, landscape, figure studies as well as abstract pieces. I love to use texture in my work as I believe it helps to define the painting and make it come alive while truly expressing the feelings and depth it brings.

Alice Glass - Colorful, Acrylic, Experimental

Raised in a family brimming with commercial and fine artists, Alice has always had a deep love for art, but didn’t start painting until early 2015. Her first experimental paintings gave way to a variety of subject matter including abstracts, florals, faces, landscapes, Mediterranean villages, beaches, still life, and commissioned pieces of family houses and pets. Alice’s work features bright and colorful acrylic paint on canvas, canvas board and watercolor paper. Her work is produced with her favorite selection of brushes, wedges, and palette knives. Alice’s style is to quickly create her subject matter with broad painterly strokes leaving thick, expressive bands and pods of colors mixed on her palette board as well as the canvas itself. In less than seven years, Alice’s artwork has been displayed in several regional galleries and a dozen one- woman shows. A 36-year resident of Lynchburg and a 1980 graduate of Mary Baldwin College, more than 500 pieces of Alice’s artwork can be found in the homes of more than 350 collectors.

Amy Burczyk – Illustrative, Whimsical, Avant Garde

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I moved to Virginia about five years ago. I am a painter, an interior designer, a project manager for LGFlint General Contractors, and a mother of three. My shows span the state of Virginia and Wisconsin and have been painting since childhood. My memories are of crayons and paints, and then that of an art teacher who inspired so many “aha moments”, that it awoke a deep appreciation for the imagination and the use of art to heal.

The work I do now is a reaction to the transitions that my life has taken. My artwork is thick with symbolism and imagery that invite strangers to look deep into my life story and dare to relate. It’s a coping mechanism and a social experiment. A lens and a mirror. Whimsy and hope derived from real life strife and upheaval. I use characters like the polar bear to identify with. Polar bears are cute, but fierce; strong, but on the verge of extinction.

“We all walk that line,” we want to know that we will be here forever, but every one of us at some point is that polar bear.”

Amy Calandra Davis – Vibrant, Colorful, Multifaceted

Amy Calandra Davis has B.A. in Studio Art and Art History as well a B.S. in Housing and Interior Design. After owning several original art-based companies, Amy and her husband Jimmy opened Findings Gallery. Amy’s own artwork focuses on color and form, texture, and pattern. Rather than just painting with brushes, Amy prefers to “draw” her imagery on canvas. Crayons, graphite, chalk, pastels, gold leaf and acrylic paints are her mediums of choice. Her process is never the same from piece to piece and it’s that organic unpredictability that gives her art such a unique, vibrant aesthetic.

Amy Gallagher – Abstract, Portraits, Mixed Medium

Amy Gallagher is an abstract artist who specializes in modern tribal inspired portraits. Her work is bold, intimate, and reflective of her perception of the human spirit. Amy uses acrylic, textiles, paper, and other assorted mediums in her creations to build texture and grit. Her objective is to overpower the viewer with a desire to touch and connect. Amy’s paintings allow for an emotional connection between her imagination, her memories, and her observations of the human shape and spirit. Her work often originates in dream imagery during her sleep – visualizing faces and inspiration. When the expression is then realized in her conscious state, it becomes a very therapeutic and fluid process.

Amy grew up in the Pacific Northwest and attended the Art Institute of Seattle, receiving her degree in Communication Arts with a focus on Graphic Design and Illustration. Amy has worked in several unique design capacities over the last 25 years, pulling inspiration from both her roots and her travels. Today, Amy co-owns a Marketing & PR Firm in Lynchburg, Virginia where she resides.

Ashley Ullstein – Abstract, Whimsical, Colorful

Ashley Burke Ullstein is a self-taught Abstract Artist who began painting in 2021 at the age of 55. She uses bold, bright colors to create whimsical pieces meant to bring a little “happy” into the homes of her collectors. Ashley draws inspiration from her hometown of New Orleans combined with her adult years in New England and Southwest Virginia.

Ashley began painting with instruction from Adele Sypesteyn in New Orleans and is a member of her Art with Adele Academy. She has since completed Nicholas Wilton’s Creative Visionary Program (CVP22) and is now a member of the CVP Academy, headquartered in Sausalito, CA. Having access to artists and instructors worldwide with a vast array of expertise in these two organizations has been the catalyst to continue to explore new techniques, mediums, and painting styles.

Caroline Q. Murphy – Colorful Acrylics, Still Life, Landscape.

Caroline Q. Murphy is an award-winning painter living in Fredericksburg, VA. She creates cityscapes, still life’s and landscapes dripping with opulent colors. Capturing introspective and fleeting moments, she primarily works in acrylics, experimenting with light, saturation, and unique hues.

A mother of four and graphic designer, she is based at Libertytown Arts Workshop in Fredericksburg, and her work is owned by collectors all over the US.

Cindy Podeschi – Instinctive, Fluid, Colorful

Hello there… first and foremost I am a lover of color. This passion goes way back to my childhood when I would spend hours doodling with just paper and a large box of Crayola crayons.

Eight years ago – at the age of 52 – I picked up a paint brush and never looked back. When I start painting, the hours melt away, and when I’m not painting, I crave it.

I work primarily with acrylic paints, inks, and mediums. My style is instinctive, textural, and fluid.

I hope my paintings will make you pause, remind you to go with the flow of life, and simply make you smile. If my work achieves this, then I’m in my happy place.

Cindy Vener – Plein Air, Texture, Landscape

My artwork is shaped by bold color, shapes, texture, and light from my surroundings. Having recently moved to The Villages, Florida from Virginia, where I lived for almost 40 years, I have found new inspiration for my paintings in the Florida landscape. I paint in plein air and in my studio, working in oil or acrylic, frequently using a palette knife. I started working with cold wax medium five years ago and found it to be a great vehicle for layering color, making marks, scratching through paint, and revealing layers below to create texture in my abstracts.

Courtney Cronin – Energetic, Bold, Colorful

Art has always been in my blood- I do love red! With a degree in Art Education from UVa, I taught a few years before moving to Roanoke. Here I have taken many classes from the Studio School, taken workshops from some well-known artists, entered shows, and even won awards!
Observing everyday life gives me the inspiration to translate what I see into an abstract or loose representation. By using bright, bold, and colorful shapes I’m hoping the viewer feels energy, happiness, and joy.

Deliece Blanchard – Diverse, Impressionistic, Musical

Deliece Blanchard paints landscapes, with lyrical and rhythmic marks that reveal her background in music. Her plein air and studio paintings are colorfully impressionistic, and frequently depict her favorite environment, the Blue Ridge Mountains. A cellist, as well as a painter, Deliece has degrees in biology and music from the University of Virginia and taught orchestra in the public schools for 24 years. She describes painting en plein air as a further step in an appreciation of the natural world, where being outside “with a purpose” makes her feel like a fellow creature on the earth. Deliece has been juried into 3 American Impressionist Society shows and 2 Oil Painters of America shows. Her work has appeared in Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine.

Delmus G. Phelps - Floral, Still Life, Wonder

Like most artists, I've always been better communicating visually (through my paintings) than with words.  But I'll try to give you a little insight into what drives me. Things of beauty.  It's just that simple.

I create my paintings out of need.  It's not something I have much choice with.  Painting is my drug.  When I'm not painting, I'm grumpy, irritable, distant and moody.  When painting, I'm in my element.  All is right with the world. It makes me feel whole and human.

I feel my work has a great importance to it also. It forces us to stop and look at the beauty that surrounds us every where.  To allow light and color to touch that part of us that says we are alive, and that these fleeting moments shown in my work can be forever captured on the canvas. To be enjoyed over and over when we need to have a few moments of peace and joy.

My inspiration comes and flows naturally.  I see images all the time that I make note of to put to canvas. Many ideas I don't have time for at the present but are cataloged in my mind and my art journal for future work.

Elizabeth Tuttle – Mixed Medium, Large. Colorful

Elizabeth Tuttle lives and paints in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Her current works are primarily acrylic, gouache, ink, or egg tempera. Egg tempera is an ancient medium with extant paintings dating to the 4th Century A.D. It is also a time-consuming process of many layers using dry brush techniques.

Elizabeth Is an exhibiting artist with Findings Art Store in Lynchburg, Virginia and Co-Art gallery in Staunton, Virginia. Her paintings have won awards at Fine Arts Shows in Rockingham County NC, Bath County VA, Clark County VA, Shenandoah Valley Art Center, and Shenandoah Valley Watercolor Society. Elizabeth’s paintings have been accepted into juried shows by the Virginia Watercolor Society, Roanoke College, Guilford College, Clark County and Bath County Virginia, Shenandoah Valley Art Center, and Beverly Street Studio. Her work is in private and public collections across the U.S. and in Portugal.

Ellen White – Watercolor, Abstract, Water Inspired

Ellen White is a native of Lynchburg, Virginia. She graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1980 with Bachelor of Arts degrees in History and Studio Art. After graduation, she obtained a law degree, and her career path led her away from painting for 30 years. In anticipation of retirement, she renewed her love of watercolor painting as a student of Purnell Pettyjohn in 2011. She has also studied watercolor painting with Karen Beauprie in Key West, Florida the past several winters. She has attended workshops at the Studio Schools in Roanoke, studying abstract watercolor with Ron Thurston and gouache with David Eakin. This summer she attended the Virginia Watercolor Society workshop to study pouring techniques in watercolor with Linda Baker. She attended the Summer Artists Program at Nimrod Hall in Bath County, Virginia several summers studying plein air painting in watercolor. She has exhibited annually at the Lynchburg Art Festival since 2014. Her painting “Studio Window at Nimrod” won that event’s Abe Schewel Watercolor Award in 2015.

As an avid sailor, diver and beachcomber, her subjects often relate to water, water-related activities and creatures found both around and underwater.

Gay Tucker – Oil, Impressionist, Still Life

Gay Coffey Tucker is a Lynchburg oil painter. Her style varies and she is considered an intuitive impressionist with occasional excursions into other styles including abstracts. She usually paints without a set up sill life or without a model, letting the painting evolve in a looser way.

Her work has been in juried shows in Virginia and California.

She has been an active member of the Lynchburg art scene for many years.

Heidi Pommer – Pencil, Portraits, International Inspired

Heidi was born in Santiago Chile in 1970 and at age three moved to Germany, where she won her first art competition and years later one of her pencil drawing was exhibited at the Galeria Nacional de Bellas Artes in Chile. With a degree in Fashion and Interior Design and her love for drawing and painting and her works hang in private collections in Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. Heidi studied with world renown portrait artist Daniel Greene. In 2017 she found her true love in pottery.

JJ Hogan – Bi-Coastal, Watercolor, Optimistic

Once a scribbler, always a scribbler…

Rich and plentiful opportunities have allowed me to be creative across the country. I’ve been jumping coasts all my life (La Jolla, Denver, San Francisco, Pensacola, Coronado, and Norfolk). Alexandria, Virginia is my home and the center of my art and design world.

My watercolors and images are inspired by the land and sea, decorative and ornamental design, figurative subjects, and all things patriotic. My style leans classic but not fussy; timeless yet simple. I am often inspired while I am antiquing, visiting museums, gardens, flower shops, on the water or in nature. I strive for a marriage of my painting and design skills; each original is painted with gouache, watercolors or shimmery metallic. My hope and intent are to create art that displays optimism, encouragement, and inspiration in your life.

John Shuptrine – Photographer, Landscape, Film

Fine Art photographer John Shuptrine has been watching magic appear in darkroom trays for over 50 years, a continued love affair with textures, shapes, shadows, and light. Primarily self-taught, John specializes in Black and White (film based), but with occasional visits to the land of color. His interests include landscapes (both natural and urban) and close-up abstracts. His most common camera used is a 4×5 field view camera. John has had numerous one-man shows in the Lynchburg, Va. area including a show in the New Image Gallery at James Madison University. He has won several awards for his photography including a best in show at the Lynchburg Fine Arts Center Juried Photography Show. John also received a Gold Award in the B&W Magazine 2005 Annual Edition.

Julia Dean – Watercolor, Landscape, Whimsical

Julia Dean is a native of Amherst County. She enjoys mediums that include watercolor, oil, and acrylic. Her longtime interest in art lead her to watercolor classes instructed by Purnell Pettyjohn. Julia’s studio is located at “Art on 12th” which is her favorite place to be in her free time. Being with other artist develops an energy and is encouraging as well. Clouds and landscapes are her main interest when painting.  Her work has been displayed at Lynchburg Art Club, Lynchburg Art Festival (she has made the judges fence twice), Bath County Art Show and Allegheny Highlands Fall Art Festival. She currently has art displayed at Findings Art in Lynchburg Va. 

Johnna Douglas - Landscape, Southern, Calming

Johnna Douglas is a self-taught abstract and abstract landscape painter living on the southeastern coast of Georgia. Inspired by the Creator of all things and the natural beauty of our world, she creates abstract landscapes that are simultaneously soothing and stimulating. Inspired by the style of the coastal low country, her paintings represent equal parts relaxation and refinement; basic but elevated, casual yet elegant. The common thread that ties all juxtapositions together being, timelessness. She enjoys imbuing her work with a sun faded and salt washed feel that imparts a sense of calm and peace to its viewers.

Karen Blaesing – Soft, Delicate, Unconventional

Design, color, and simplicity are the main elements of my work. I use watercolors in a non-traditional way by mixing opaque and transparent paints. I contrast pure with grayed colors that are more expressive than the “local color” of the photo, simplifying the design, balancing large simple shapes with smaller shapes, and eliminating any elements that don’t add to the design. This gives my work its unique look. I’ve worked on my fine art painting since graduating from Kendall School of Design in Grand Rapids, MI. I entered numerous juried competitions including The National Watercolor Society, NWS traveling shows, Potomac Valley Watercolorists Award, The Edgar Ewing Memorial Award; The Philadelphia Watercolor Society Award; The National Watercolor Oklahoma, Best in Show; California Watercolor Association, Bronze Award; Taos National Exhibition of American Watercolors, The Taos National Society of Watercolorist Award. Eventually I achieved the status of being a Signature Member of The National Watercolor Society.

Kate McClure – Vibrant, Portrait Artist, Modern

Kate McClure is Lynchburg, VA-based artist who lives with her husband, Paul, her son, Jack, and her “fur babies” Gryff and Louise. Kate’s work has been featured and collected across the United States. She began her art business as a portrait artist and continues to work with families to across the country create portraits of their children.

Starting in 2018, Kate expanded her business to include original works of art. Kate takes her love of classical painting and combines it with playful, vibrant color and intricate patterns of brocade, aztec designs, and collage to create her one-of-a-kind pieces. Kate paints in the traditional still life genre, but with a modern approach. Working from her home studio, she’s inspired by the objects around her: ceramic bowls, fruit, tablecloths, and plants. Her pieces are finished in an epoxy coat giving her work a distinctly modern feel.

Kate grew up in Memphis, TN. While her parents worked for the local newspaper, Kate took painting lessons at the Memphis College of Art. Her dream was to grow up to become a full-time artist, but when she graduated college, she found it difficult to make a living from her art. Kate worked in an office for five years until she decided she’d had enough and set off for Florence to study the work of the old masters (and drink wine.) When she returned to Memphis, she established her studio and began accepting portrait commissions. Her paintings can be found in numerous private collections throughout the country, as well as the permanent collections of Auburn University and the American Cancer Society.

Kelly Mattox – Large Scale, Colorful, Oil

Kelly Gravely Mattox’s paintings are exuberant, expressive, and colorful which include landscapes, cityscapes, nature, abstracts, and animal portraits. Her oil palette is bold and exciting which creates a “wow” moment when you see them. Kelly’s love of nature has been her inspiration. Her favorite artists growing up were Vincent Van Gogh and Georgia O’Keeffe. Later in life was Diebenkorn, Wayne Thiebaud, and more. Kelly’s artwork is an extension of her personality and hopes you will enjoy them. Kelly received her BFA from VCU in Commercial Art and a minor in Art History. Her professional career was in sales and marketing: retail, publishing ‘Style Weekly” arts and cultural magazine, the travel industry, an art gallery, and a special event organizer.

Laren Baum – Landscape, Abstract, Large Scale

Laren Baum has been avidly exploring fine art, with an emphasis on painting, since 2011. In addition to her concentrated study with Rosalie Day White, Laren has attended workshops and classes with Joan Fullerton, Colin Page, Mary Gilkerson, Andreas Bality, Purnell Pettyjohn and John Morgan. She has also studied in The Studio School at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and during multiple retreats to Nimrod Summer Arts. Her work has been included in group exhibitions at the Academy Center of the Arts, Riverviews, Nelson Gallery, Lynchburg Art Club, Bower Center for the Arts, selected work for Downtown Lynchburg Association and Findings.

A native of Los Angeles, Laren moved to Virginia forty years ago. From intimate urban street perspectives to large expanses of sky at sunset to landscape-inspired abstracts, she hopes that the colors and movement in her work will affect the viewer with the emotion and contemplation she felt during their creation.

Lindsey S. Winfrey – Acrylic Texture, Landscape, Perspective

Lindsey’s paintings are an escape and journey – a time to relish the process of creativity: the brush strokes, the layers, the juxtaposition of colors. She works primarily with acrylic paints for their intensity of color and the ability to layer and create textures with various acrylic mediums and gels. A native of Lynchburg, Virginia, Lindsey’s landscapes generally focus on special places that she has known all her life, including fields at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the pristine beauty of the Cowpasture River. Working from onsite sketches and photographs, she mixes observations with her own personal memories and feelings of how she perceives a place. In addition to being an artist, Lindsey is a full-time art educator, wife, and mother of two young children. Her work is featured at Serena & Lily, Chairish.com, and the Capital Artist Collective.

Lynell Hilt - Nature, Dimension, Fantasy

Inspired by her mother, who was an accomplished painter, Lynell attended Philadelphia Museum College of Art.  She graduated with my BFA in 1969 and has been an artist all of her life. Lynell started working in crafts, attending the American Craft Council shows, including the Reinbeck show in New York Lynell made macramé jewelry, 3-D fabric forms and wall hangings.

Over the years, Lynell gravitated to silver and copper jewelry, including antique trade beads, wire wrap and semi-precious stones. Living in Sedona Arizona was a delightful time, offering many great galleries to show my work, as well as great studio workshop opportunities. I love working in clay and casting. Castings of my handmade tiles are now present in my “Nature Series” work. After moving to Lynchburg in 2012 her jewelry line continued and is now exploring 3-D wall art again. After years of hunting objects, looking to nature and exploring antiques stores, Lynell has a large collection of items that are calling her to bring them together. She and her husband share studio space and often collaborate on ideas and concepts.

Mark D. Johnson – Painter of Everywhere, Cityscapes

Few things in life give me more joy than creating art. As I gaze at the world around me, I see potential paintings everywhere and thus aspire to be a “painter of everything.” Whether in the studio or the great outdoors the creative process takes me on a journey of discovery full of unexpected twists and turns until I arrive at the destination of a finished piece. I’m not one to shy away from painting challenging subject matter as can be seen in the complexity of my Lynchburg cityscapes, which are perhaps my best- known work.

As a self-taught artist, I’ve studied extensively and learned a great deal through workshops with nationally known artists like Ken DeWaard, Patrick Lee, and Lynchburg’s own Ron Boehmer. I’ve had the honor of receiving many awards through the years at various juried shows in the Lynchburg area, where
I live with my wife Laurel, our two boys, and three cats.

Marsha Staiger - Colorful, Acrylic, Graft

For inspiration, Marsha looks to the Washington Color School. The Washington Color School, also known as the Washington, D.C., Color School, was an art movement starting during the 1950s–1970s in Washington, D.C., in the United States, built of abstract expressionist artists. The movement emerged during a time when society, the arts, and people were changing quickly.

Marsha uses acrylics to paint on paper that has not been treated to gain that absorption and freshness that happens because of the white of the paper. Medium and support merge and become equal. Marsha uses the word Graft in all of her paintings that contain stripes or strata. In 2014, she started by using tape for a clean line and then reusing the tape for other paintings. It felt like grafting skin to a new surface. Marsha is particularly interested in how the organic mark works with the formal controlled mark. She allows you to look through the surface and dive into the glimpses of what is beneath.... resurface and grasp, acknowledge the cords of color, texture, surface.

Megan Davies – Graphic, Stylized, Tonal

Megan Davies is an artist based in central Virginia. Her art is inspired by nature, traditional African art, and the small, often-overlooked joys in life. She balances unexpected contour lines with calming shapes and earthy tones. Having lived in various places throughout the world, she often finds the common threads of contrasting cultures, tying them together in her art. No matter the inspiration or subject matter, Davies hopes to tell a story with her work and to visually connect the viewer to their personal experiences.

Megan was born and raised in Lynchburg, Virginia, and graduated from James Madison University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in painting and drawing. Her work has been exhibited in Virginia, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

Melody Wallace – Scenic, Multi Medium, Realism

Melody King Wallace is an artist residing in Salem, Virginia but is a native of Lynchburg, Virginia. Wonderful childhood memories while growing up surrounded by the Blue Ridge mountains and Virginia’s majestic scenery formed lasting impressions.

Inspired by French Impressionists and American artists of the 19th century, she is very interested in light and color and how they influence a subject. She explores expressive paint application along with realism while varying tight and loose brushwork to evoke memories and emotion.

Melody is skilled in multiple mediums including oil, watercolor, and pencil. She is drawn to landscapes, people, and animals.

She studied Art and Art History at the University of Iowa and has continued to learn independently. She began her art career in 2005 by taking on commissions. Her artwork has also graced commercial wine labels and walls of public spaces.

Purnell Pettyjohn – Watercolor, Landscape, Animals

Purnell is a native of Martinsville, Virginia. She received her B.A. degree from Stratford College in 1972, majoring in Art Education. She is blessed with three daughters, two sons-in law and 15 grandchildren. She often says that her greatest creations are her precious daughters.

Purnell’s paintings have been accepted in several juried area art shows, the Tri-State Watercolor Society, Pennsylvania Watercolor Society, West Virginia Watercolor Society, Central Virginia Watercolor Guild, American Watercolor Society and National Watercolor Society. She is currently a signature member of the Virginia Watercolor Society.

Her watercolors are bright and colorful depictions of daily observations, emphasizing the play of light, shadow, and color. She enjoys experimenting with new and varied ideas to keep her paintings fresh and changing. By working with talented students, she finds that she learns as much as they do, in her classes.

Rodney Laughon – Oil, Landscape, Plein Air

Rodney Laughon is an exceptionally talented artist who, unlike many other successful artists, did not begin painting until in his thirties. Laughon became interested in painting because of helping his son with a school art project and, within only a few years, was exhibiting and selling highly developed landscapes. Retiring early from his previous career to paint full time, he has been painting for over twenty years.

Rozina Essani – Colorful, Serene, Impressionistic 

Rozina was born in Pakistan and raised in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. She earned a pure math degree from Georgia State University and a math education graduate degree from The University of Georgia. Currently Rozina is a math educator alongside a self-taught artist painting at nights and weekends. As a mathematician and an artist, Rozina has always found mathematics synonymous to art in the way proportions, depth, and balance play a role in art making. She is always captivated by the light falling over a scene and its role in helping us connect with nature’s unpredictable state. Her art journey began with sketch art, which then evolved into experimenting with mediums such as acrylic, oil and watercolor.

Rozina’s work reflects her personal style – colorful, serene, and impressionistic. Inspired by nature and the deconstruction of landscapes and objects into color, lines, form, and space, she strives to depict the beauty and color of our natural world infused with the multidimensional reality of light.

Rozina’s artwork has been a winner in the 2018 Jubilee Arts – International Arts Festival in Lisbon, Portugal, awarded to only eight out of over 5,000 entries from the United States. Her artwork has also been in multiple exhibitions at the JKR Gallery in Utah, Suwanee Art Center in Georgia, and online at the Christenberry Collection. Rozina works primarily in watercolor and oil from her home studio based in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

Rudy Hilt - Designer, Painter, Emotional

Over the years Rudy has designed buildings, furniture, interiors as well as consulting for organizations, developers, universities and retail environments. Rudy’s artistic endeavors include, drawing, painting, photography, digital artwork and some work in film making. He graduated with my BFA from the Philadelphia Museum College of art and received a Master’s degree in Fine Art from the Tyler School at Temple University in 1972. An active artist all his life, the past few years his attention has turned fully to painting, drawing and digital art.

Rudy likes working with acrylic paint over Venetian Plaster. The plaster allows light to reflect through transparent layers of color with a dramatic result. Rudy likes to work in a series of images, all based on a theme. He selects a color and textural palette and an idea for expression. My current themes are “Stone and Water”, “Sedona Memories”, and “Ancient Walls”. Rudy and wife Lynell spend their days in a common studio in Lynchburg Virginia and enjoy supporting each other’s efforts, as they have done for the last 55 years.

Russ Voelker - Realistic to Surreal, Texture, Oil

Raised a military “brat”, I’ve lived far and wide. From the Canadian border in upstate New York, to Oahu, Hawaii, and many places in-between. I’ve seen and experienced more than most people.

After graduating in advertising/marketing at Utah State University, my career began as an ad agency artist. Through the years, it evolved into the responsibilities of a large agency Art Director then finally as a Marketing Executive. So, I’ve spent a lifetime around art and concepts. When I retired several years ago, I picked up a paint brush and applied my years in the creative world to paint on canvas. Now, with the freedom that retirement provides me, I like to experiment rather than adhere to a specific style.

I paint almost exclusively in oils. I like the richness and textures they provide to the process. Sometimes my art is realistic, other times impressionistic, or even surreal. I like to combine nature and geometry, it often takes the viewer on a journey. And finally, the biggest validation of anyone’s craft is when people like it so much, they want to own it. Right now, I can only hope you enjoy the sensations my artwork provides to you, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll want to enjoy my artwork in your own home!

Sallie Rabe - Warm, Healing, Illuminating

Sallie has been an artist her entire life.  She paints mostly from of her imagination and from her heart. Using oils, Sallie places a unique focus and interest on space and light. Her observation and study of light are part of what make her such a recognizable and sought after talent.

Sallie Rabe has a BFA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.

Sallie Sydnor – Fun, Colorful, Beauty

It started in church. My Dad, a Presbyterian minister, would drone on and on every Sunday from the pulpit, while his attentive family (Mom, sister Martha, and moi) would sit in rapt attention. Except that I would be scribbling furiously in the margins of the bulletin, drawing every shape and object that might pop into my mind. The art stuck, but not so much the sermons!

As soon as I could hold a pencil I was hooked. The ability to put what I saw in the world onto a piece of paper consumed me. Light, color and the beauty of everyday objects and situations fill my head. Beyond working with oils, collage has opened the blended world of paint, printed papers and found objects for me. So much fun. The beauty of it all is that there is no limit to it. Now as a more senior person, I have the time to study, read, visit workshops, and practice. Always more practice, but a labor of love. Bring it on!

Sarah Trundle - Geometric, Abstract, Multifaceted

Sarah Trundle’s paintings range from bold, geometric, brightly colored abstracts, to works of serene, monochromatic, minimalism.  Each painting represents a unique result of a constantly shifting process of obscuring and defining, of complicating and simplifying, and of using the surprises that emerge to inform each subsequent step. 

Sarah sees this push-pull process as an integral part of the finished painting. She strives to give the viewer a window into this struggle  by leaving early marks,  shifted shapes, and under-layers still visible to the viewer.

Sarah holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Dartmouth College and a Masters Degree in Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University.  She started her career as a full-time artist after having worked many years as a mental health therapist (who always dabbled in art). 

She is represented by several galleries nationwide and is honored to have her work in numerous private and public collections internationally.

Susanne Tabet - Expressive, Feminine, Empowering

Susanne Tabet is a German abstract figurative painter who lives and works in Northern Virginia. She found painting in her early twenties when a visit to the Tate Modern in London introduced her to the works of Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani and ignited a desire to replicate his work. She continued to study and explore other great masters in modern art and, over the years, developed and evolved her skills and distinct style. Her expressionist figures aim to be a translation of emotion and a celebration of femininity in all its forms. As a female painter who creates abstract female figures, Susanne’s art aims to capture women's raw, emotional essence. Her art is about self-expression and exploring; painting is like tracing her life experiences and sentiments. She uses bold strokes and vibrant colors for the viewer's immediate, visceral response. Through her work, Susanne explores the complexities of the female form, its beauty and power, vulnerabilities, and imperfections. Her art is a celebration of femininity in all its forms without the objectification and sexualization that often accompanies depictions of the female body. Ultimately, her goal as an artist is to create work that speaks to the heart and soul and inspires a sense of empowerment. Susanne’s work has an international fan base with private collectors in Thailand, England, Germany, and Cyprus.