Bennett Vadnais

Randall's Island, Framed

2016

Artist Comments
This painting was inspired by the landscape of Central Oregon near Mount Bachelor. The mountain stands proud against the rocky foothills that surround it.

About the Artist
Nancy Merkle;s process begins with a glimpse of color, a flicker of light, a pattern, or a texture. Elements swirl in her mind for hours, sometimes days, sometimes weeks before a design clicks and is transferred to canvas. With the canvas in front of her, she works intuitively -- a mark here, a mark there, a little touch of color, a bit of texture -- until she is satisfied and declares the work finished. Currently Nancy;s work leans toward abstraction; she doesn't paint the world as it is, but as she wishes it were. Bold colors and loose brush strokes are her goal. When she;s not making art, Nancy travels the Pacific Coast with a bicycle strapped to the car and curiosity in my back pocket. Fun Fact: Nancy lived in Alaska until she was five. She had bison in the backyard, bears at the landfill, and a moose who stopped by once in a while to look for sweet grass...

Artist Comments
This is one of artist Heather Foster's favorite local hiking paths. "The intriguing part of aspens is that the groves are connected via their root system," expl...

Artist Comments
This painting celebrates the way nasturtiums grow with abandon near the coast of California. They glow, even on a foggy day.

About the Artist
Impr...

Artist Comments
In this dreamy forest scene, artist Candice Eisenfeld used a palette knife and thick, semi-dried acrylic as the top layer to achieve the essence of tree bark textures. Background layers of tree forms are embedded in thin, white veils of paint and varnish to achieve an early morning, atmospheric effect.

About the Artist
As an American exploring issues of identity, artist Candice Eisenfeld paints through the lens of the first American art movement, the Hudson River School. Rather than depicting a specific locale, Candice’s artwork evokes a sense of place. These "inner landscapes" are invented, and often reference photographs taken during travels in southern Appalachia and the Blue Ridge and Smokey Mountains. Whether real or imagined, her paintings are influenced by the Dutch Masters, Tonalists, and Chinese painting. Produced on a single wooden panel, the ethereal landscapes are often joined with segments of aqueous color fields which act as commentary for the landscapes, like the chorus in a Greek play. The crisp, hard edges separating the landscapes from the color fields command a sense of order in an otherwise fluid and painterly surface. With two or three sections of the panel competing for attention, the painting creates multiple focal points. Candice's art has been displayed in embassies in Namibia and Belarus, held in the collections of Norwest Bank and Northwest Airlines...

Artist Comments
A cowboy on his horse with his trusty dogs herd his cattle along a grassy ravine. Pine trees line the background opening up to a bright sunny sky. Artist John...