Argentinian-born Claudia Samper reminisces on her early life in Buenos Aires. “As a youngster I was always drawing and creating things with my hands,” she recalls. “By the time I entered the university I didn't have many choices in Buenos Aires except for traditional career paths--medicine, education, law, etc. We of course did have a wonderful art institute, but it never crossed my mind to pursue art then.” The one track that suited her the most was architecture. After completing that 6-year degree program, she had acquired a solid base in both the technical and the art spheres of the curriculum.
Read moreMarcia Coppel: Conversations
Marcia Coppel's paintings are influenced by the color and spontaneity of Mexico. She loves to sketch in restaurants, cafes and on the beach. Her May 2017 solo, Connect/Disconnect 2, is about communication and the lack of it in today’s digital culture. The interactions (or isolation of individuals in the same space) could have been situated anywhere in the world. But since she loves Mexico and spends a lot of time there, she made drawings and paintings situated in that country.
Read moreJanathel Shaw: Portraits of Courage
Janathel Shaw’s April solo show, SOLIDAREity! is a reflection upon the status of Blacks in America: a series of figurative pieces and portraits of men, women and children looking boldly into the present and the future. Inspiration for this new series derives from the lost souls, activists and community of people who are part and parcel of the American landscape—people who enrich that landscape in both hidden and overt ways. The portraits incorporate texture, rich deep lines and are anchored in contrast. Several are rooted in a defiant solidarity of consciousness, soulfulness, and personal voice. Some are dark in tone in recognition of ongoing struggles.
Read moreLisa Tureson: Curiosity ---> Exploration ---> Creativity
Lisa Tureson
Once Lisa Tureson decided to leave her career in the insurance industry, there was no stopping her from exploring and learning about the many techniques, materials and tools artists use to express themselves. Actually, she probably always did have a curious and exploratory bent. At age four Lisa often watched her artist-teacher mother at the easel. Thusly inspired, her first murals were created out of her mother’s lip stick on her sisters’ bedroom walls. Whether she was chastised for her use of the lipstick medium or praised for her ambitious wall-size art expression, this “project” proved a precursor to the large paintings in her present day solo exhibit Scribbles: An Urban Art Expression at Touchstone Gallery during March 2017.
Read moreApril Rimpo: Finding Different Perspectives
April Rimpo
It’s been said that there are about 34 towns in 25 states named Springfield. Five of them are in Wisconsin and at least one is in Massachusetts. The latter is singular, because April Rimpo grew up there close to her grandparent’s home where paintings made by her grandfather graced the walls. When April drew pictures as a child, copying cartoon figures and exploring what the pencil could do, she received positive feedback from the family and teachers.
Read moreMary Ott: The Pull of Metallics
Mary Ott working in the Montgomery College Print Studio, Silver Spring MD
Mary Ott’s February solo exhibit “Metallics: Paintings and Prints” at Touchstone Gallery features artwork that includes copper, silver and gold-colored paints and inks. Mary’s techniques, whether on a smooth canvas base or a unique and textured paper, result in images of nature that seem influenced by the Zen of Japanese art, an art aimed at uncovering the essence of the object under scrutiny. In Mary’s work, grasses are singled out and isolated from complexities of a natural biosphere; then presented in a simplified space, elucidating the purity of seemingly simple life forms--forms often forgotten in our contemporary rough-and-tumble mechanical world.
Read moreSteve Alderton’s Fleeting Memories
Steve Alderton
Steve Alderton, in his third series “Memoryscapes: Blurry Lines III,” continues an exploration of landscape memories as viewed through the prism of time. In this final component, Alderton pushes his works until they become abstract and the focus is contemplative in nature. His acrylic paintings describe landscape qualities that are “felt” rather than defined as specific representational scenes our eyes see in the real world of land, sea or sky.
Read moreElaine Florimonte: Painting Layered Metaphors
Elaine Florimonte
Elaine Florimonte’s day often starts out over coffee in the morning while she touches base with some of her high school art students. They come in early to talk about the parallels between art and life and what to do when something goes wrong in a painting—philosophical stuff. “It’s a privilege to be present in their lives at these moments when 15 to 18-year olds are forming their identities,” she muses, “and I stay connected to about four or five each year, following their progress through college.” In the classroom Elaine teaches techniques and various media while coaching them through the standard processes of making art. Sometimes she picks up the brush and paints on her own canvas to get a point across, a technique she learned from one of her own teachers during her high school days. It was this particular teaching model that convinced her to study art and then become an art teacher herself.
Read moreKate McConnell: Capturing Color in the Landscape
kate-portrait
How does the artist paint the landscape while, at the same time, paint from the “deeps” of the soul? Painter Emily Carr posed that question to herself as she painted alone in the forests of British Columbia sometime in the 1930’s. “What do I want to express? ... The arrangement, the design, colour, shape, depth, light, space, mood, movement, balance, not one or all of these fills the bill. There is something additional, a breath that draws your breath into its breathing, a heartbeat that pounds on yours, a recognition of the oneness of all things,” she writes in her journal.
Read moreDavid Alfuth: Is This Art Really 3-D?
David Alfuth
Are David Alfuth’s new sculptural collage works really 3-D? Or is the architectural subject matter just fooling our eyes? To find out, you’ll have to see his new surreal collage works, Perspective, at Touchstone Gallery between October 5—30, 2016.
Read moreLina Alattar: The Unscripted Experience of Painting
Lina Alattar
“Abstract work has its own way of explaining itself,” says Lina Alattar, an abstract painter at Touchstone Gallery who works in acrylics on canvas. To understand how her paintings speak, she tunes into each one by being consciously aware and open. “I just respond to the marks, because it’s the experience of painting that drives the painting.” Knowing that nothing is scripted opens the door to tolerance for “accidents” that happen during the painting process. For Lina, these unexpected happenings in the creative process preempt any preconceived ideas. Each one shows her the possibility of going in a different direction, a road less traveled perhaps. American contemporary painter Helen Frankenthaler summed it up saying, “You have to know how to use the accident, how to recognize it, how to control it, or ways to eliminate it so that the whole surface looks complete and born all at once.”
Read moreMcCain McMurray: Stained Paintings
Think about diving into the waters of the Caribbean. Imagine feeling the sensations of being under and in the water off St. Bart’s, St. Johns or Martinique. Cooling blues and greens float with muted reds, yellows or oranges. Then visit the newest paintings by McCain McMurray in his solo exhibit Immersion at Touchstone Gallery during the month of July. You’ll see slices of the Caribbean in his long vertical paintings—painted essays defining the essence of this watery space and the experience of exploring life in it.
Read moreLinda Bankerd: A Delicate Balance
Linda Bankerd
Riding a bike the way Linda does takes a lot of exertion. That she burns calories as she whizzes through the landscape there is no doubt. But what she gains is more subtle. Forms blur their way into her brain, are stored there and often make an appearance in her abstract paintings. Likewise everyday colorful home objects and special rooms in the interior of her home, also penetrate her psyche and accumulate there until called upon when she faces a new blank canvas. With brush in hand and acrylic paints at the ready, those stockpiled sensations emerge and turn into colorful complex shapes and forms.
Read moreTouchstone Gallery Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary!
It’s 2016 and Touchstone Gallery is in a celebratory mood! Being one of the longest-tenured and most highly regarded artist-owned galleries in Washington, DC, Touchstone will celebrate its 40th year in Washington on May 13th with an Anniversary Gala and a May 4-29 member artists show, featuring solo artists, Paula Lantz and Colleen Sabo, and works by present and former members. The gala and show are open to the public.
Read moreFigure 8 plus 1 (Part 1)
Rimpo’s fascination with people continues today and is reflected in her figurative work. Her semi-abstract method of working results in portraits that are about a mood, an everyday activity, or a way of life, rather than detailed portraiture. She uses a variety of textural techniques in her paintings, but only uses a technique when she believes it enhances the story. In this exhibit you will meet people Rimpo saw when traveling within the United States and in Guatemala. In each case something grabbed her attention and made Rimpo feel she just had to tell the story. Can you find a story in her paintings?
Read moreBill Mould : The Art of Allusion
Bill Mould 2012
Bill is a ceramic sculptor — one who works at taking clay from the earth and transforming it into sculptures, which recall ancient myths. The clay, heavy to begin with, becomes light and intensely fragile as he works with it.
Read moreSteven Fleming: Artist on the Move
Steven Fleming (Rosemary Luckett photo)
Steven Fleming is a runner and a cyclist, moving happily through the landscape in all seasons. A feeling of wanderlust is part of what keeps Steven moving, both physically and artistically. Maybe it's because he grew up in a Navy family that relocated every 18 months or so. Maybe it's because he has a zest for exploring new landscapes and new ways to make art. Maybe it's because he is "never content to rest in one place and repeat the formulas of the past."
Read moreThe Privileged Series: Pests By Anthony Dortch
Anthony Dortch
A fine artist and graphic designer, Anthony Dortch's realm is one of precision and grace. Do not allow the lovely colors and silken textures to distract you. Take care not to be taken in by the golden flesh and blue body's charms. Dortch does not create pretty pictures, he constructs a meaningful experience. Layers upon layers of seductive details, revealing societies clandestine verity. When standing before his pieces, one cannot help but feel, imagine, and reflect. Cleverly wrapped in bold and daring colors are elegant motifs whispering of struggle and hope. Veins of beauty and yearning reach out to captivate, to beg questions of ourselves, and break down the facades of our seemingly structured world.
Read moreMary Trent Scott: Storytelling with a Brush
Mary Trent Scott
Today and in eons past, storytelling is a way for humans to convey events in words, and images; to improvise or embellish, to educate, entertain, preserve culture and instill moral values.
Read moreJanathel Shaw: Ceramic Portraits
Janathel Shaw
"There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud," Carl Sandburg once said--words that clay sculptor Janathel Shaw can relate to. Her recent clay works can be seen at Touchstone Gallery from Sept. 6-29, 2013. As a teen, Jan was inspired by teachers at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and sculptor Elizabeth Catlett (who she was fortunate to meet). She relished in half day-studio classes staying late into the evenings to hone her art skills. Over time, attended Howard University, Prince Georges Community College and George Washington University. Jan received her Bachelors and Masters from George Washington University.
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