portrait – Art & News from EBSQ

EBSQ Spotlight on Photography: Colour: Richard Holland

This month’s featured gallery is Photography: Colour. Photography lets us briefly stop time and capture tangible moments. Whether spontaneous or crafted, what our eyes see is frozen forever. When the photograph is in colour, we will always have the blue of the sky, the flush of a cheek, and every colour the world presents us. During the month of June, we are going to take a few moments to catch up with some of the EBSQ photographers that enjoy capturing the world in colour.

Richard Holland

I became interested in photography when I was about 16 years old…got my first SLR as a high school graduation present from my parents. Much to their dismay I spent the better part of my college years in the photo lab. I spent a couple of years learning the silver process (B&W) and developing a personal gum bichromate process (water colors) before moving on to color (long before the digital age).

I call myself a social landscape photographer, which is like photojournalism without the paycheck. I like to capture the truth in a person’s eyes, something they prefer you wouldn’t see; a soft spot. It’s there for a moment unguarded then jumps back behind the wall. I also enjoy performance photography: music, dance, sports. Nature is also a big draw. Stopping time in the flight of a bird or a bee. Enjoying the bloom of a flower. Helping others be moved by things they otherwise might not.

I feel color photography deals with reality. Black and white by its very nature manipulates the moment. I love both. – Richard Holland

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EBSQ Spotlight on Portraits & Figurative Art: Sandy Farley

This month’s featured gallery is Portraits & Figurative Art. Portraits are the artistic representation of an individual or individuals with the face as the focus. The term “figurative art” most frequently refers to the representational depiction of a human or animal figure. Often they are deeply personal – either to the artist, because of the emotions being expressed by the subject or because of the emotions these works elicit from us. They delight, disturb and connect us. During the month of May, we are going to take a few moments to catch up with some of the EBSQ artists that create some of these evocative pieces of art.

Sandy Farley

Animals have very rich social and emotional lives. Their capacity for empathy, their delight in play: these are the very things that we first seek out in them when we wish to bond with or understand them. I often take my artwork to middle ground between animal and human — a place where characteristics of both are blended, and perhaps a bit of humor is added to sweeten the mix. My human and animal portraits share these traits. – Sandy Farley

EBSQ Spotlight on Portraits & Figurative Art: Mark Satchwill

Mark Satchwill

People, especially portraits, are my favourite subject matter. The human face is an amazing thing – every one unique and beautiful in its own way, the window to the character of the soul behind it. The challenge of capturing not just the superficial likeness, but a glimpse into the heart of the subject, is what excites and fascinates me. All the subtle nuances, the muscles at the corners of the mouth, the eyes, the tilt of the head, all can be used to convey meaning and expression and what it is to be human. – Mark Satchwill

EBSQ Spotlight on Portraits & Figurative Art: Leola Walker

Leola Walker

What inspires me when I paint figures – motion that shows or causes emotion. From the innocent joy on my grandchildren’s faces while playing in the backyard, or the sway of the sari as women carry water above their heads, to the raw brute emotion of beast and cowboy at the rodeo. All tickle your senses and hopefully provoke thought about the scene. Can you almost hear the laughter of the children? Hear the singing? Or smell the sweat and hear the grunts at the rodeo? Because I paint mainly in miniature I have to try and create this on a very limited space. It’s a challenging and fun process. – Leola Walker

EBSQ Spotlight on Portraits & Figurative Art: Theresa Bayer

Theresa Bayer

My paintings feature dreamlike scenes of mysterious people, animals, and landscapes and have a storybook quality to them. Symbols inspire me, because they compress complex ideas and philosophies into immediately accessible images. I love portraying the figure and seeing how many different ways it can fit into a fantastic scene. I attend figure drawing and figure painting sessions to get a fix on the realism, and then invent surroundings. – Theresa Bayer

EBSQ Spotlight on Portraits & Figurative Art: Pat DeVane Burns

Pat DeVane Burns

What is so intriguing to me about forms and faces, be it person or animal, is that each one is an individual… alike in so many ways, but different. It is my challenge as the artist to see what is unique about the body language, the nuance of expression, the coloration, the personality and to translate what might be considered intangible into a tangible painting of that individual. – Pat DeVane Burns

Winner announced in Simon Sez… Halloween!

This week’s Simon Sez challenge winner is Patricia Lee Christensen. Harlan – this week’s Simon, chose Halloween as her them. She had something to say about all the entries and wished she could have chosen them all, but ultimately, she decided to “pass the baton” to Patricia.

First Pumpkin - Patricia Lee Christensen

If you want keep up with Simon Sez, be sure to go to the EBSQ Forum and check Challenge Central. Challenge Central is the place to check on current and past Simon Sez challenges – complete with all the entries, as well as all other EBSQ Challenges.

Congratulations Patricia! We look forward to your turn as Simon.