21st Century and Contemporary More Art

Artist Comments
Evening on Randolph Street in Chicago, home to many of the city's theatres. "The lights are on, the musicals in the theatres are on," says Yangzi. "I painted ...

Artist Comments
Artist Janet Dyer exhibits a picturesque view of a summer sunset in Provence. Groves of trees flourish in the evergreen landscape. She captures the distinct f...

Artist Comments
Artist Emil Morhardt displays an impressionist portrait of three brown pelicans. The birds sun themselves in the Sea of Cortez against a subtle greenish-blue late afternoon sky. "I hadn't thought about pelicans having a 3D vision like hawks until I was looking over my photos and saw one of the birds staring straight at me," shares Emil. He references his photographs from a National Geographic Zodiac that the pelicans seemed curious about, allowing very close viewing.

About the Artist
Emil Morhardt is an acrylic painter from Santa Barbara, California who expresses his passion for birds through realistic acrylic paintings. He paints at home in a studio room that has large windows and a north-facing view of the mountains. He observes the animals from this window, watching roadrunners, foxes, bobcats, deer, and coyote run by. Surrounded by this wildlife, Emil paints bird portraits reminiscent of those by artist John James Audubon. He bases his paintings off hundreds of photographs he takes of birds in the wild and at wildlife recovery centers. Emil captures the freedom and inquisitiveness that birds display in the natural world. Before painting birds, he painted landscapes of San Francisco and the Eastern Sierra. Emil was raised in the high desert of California and learned to paint from his father, who was one of the early California watercolorists...

Artist Comments
Artist Rachel Srinivasan presents a surreal image of a white bison standing in the middle of 10 swords—nominative to its corresponding card from the tarot d...

Artist Comments
This piece was inspired by the desire to linger near or in warm tropical waters, watching the mesmerizing patterns of light refractions as they move with the currents.

About the Artist
Laura Browning...

Artist Comments
Artist Shela Goodman presents a scenic path enveloped by autumnal foliage. In her travels, Shela is always fascinated with the tunnels that trees create. "Not knowing when you entered where you may be when you come out the other side," says Shela. The piece captures the majesty of the season with festive colors and energetic paintwork.

About the Artist

Words that describe this painting: autumn, tunnel, trees, fall, road, season, path, woods, forest...

Artist Comments
I have a succulent in a ceramic sugar skull pot in my kitchen and painted it from life. It has a wonderful expression on its face, and I enjoy the spikey succulent growing from the top like hair.

About the Artist
Kira Yustak paints fantastical scenes that come from her childhood memories, dreams, and the natural world. Each piece feels like part of a larger narrative of an alternative reality, rendered in a style she describes as comic realism. She feels art must trigger something inside the viewer’s soul.Kira currently lives in New Jersey and finds inspiration in the work of Lowbrow, Folk, and Surrealist artists.

Words that describe this painting: sugar skull, cactus, houseplant, garden, plants, day of the dead, succulent, still life, still life, representational, primitive, acrylic painting, green

Cactus Garden...

Artist Comments
Artist Janet Dyer pictures an expressionist sun setting behind lakeside mountains. She captures the warm orange glow of the last moments of its descent. "Softly the evening came with the sunset," quotes Janet. In her trademark style of minimalist strokes, she envisions Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's iconic poetry.

About the Artist
Janet Dyer doesn’t like to spend too much time talking about her art, as she’d rather be creating it. She doesn’t have an artist statement, the traditional statement of purpose crafted by visual artists to explain their method. On becoming an artist, Janet simply states, “I picked up some crayons and pencils and brushes and kept using them.” She believes the process of creating art is equal in importance to the final product. The artist enjoys relinquishing control of her paintings to find delightful surprises in her so-called “mistakes.” Janet's expressively gestural yet bucolic landscapes are a testament to the success of her method.

Words that describe this painting: nature, spring, forsythia, yellow, river, water, trees, reflection, abstract, acrylicpaint, sunset, expressionism, expressionism, nature, acrylic painting, green

Sunset on the River...

Artist Comments
"This painting was inspired by the dramatic lighting and shadows receding into West 14th Street at sunset," says artist Nick Savid...

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Walking around Florence, Italy, artist Onelio Marrero came across a charismatic elderly couple asking for directions. Onelio fondly remembers the memory and m...

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A soft burst of pastels paints the evening sky in this delightful seascape by artist Gail Greene. "A setting sun creates a mystic feeling of enchantment," sha...

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Artist John Jaster paints a realistic still life of a teapot and flowers. White roses blossom, some with open petals and some still in their colorful buds. Th...

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Artist Sherri Aldawood paints a fleet of wooden boats docking by a harbor. She aptly plays with depth in limited painterly strokes. Sherri brings more detail to the foreground for a clearer focus and gauges the distance affected by the atmosphere and sunlight. The maritime seascape, painted in dark blue exudes both a composed and easygoing ambience.

About the Artist
Sherri Aldawood didn't intend to always paint flowers, but over time her love of gardens started to permeate her art. She focuses on the light and color of the flowers on the canvas. Sherri prefers alla prima, working with wet layers of paint instead of letting them dry. She keeps the paint as wet as possible by using walnut and clove oil to extend the drying time.

Words that describe this painting: boats, harbor, seascape, Derek Penix, impressionism, Sorolla, Sargent, ocean, fishing boats, pier, shadow, water, oilpaint, impressionism, seascape, oil painting, blue

Harbor Boats...

Artist Comments
A lush glade of trees nestles a charming pink house in artist Janet Dyer's expressionist piece. She draws inspiration from scenes of...

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Sparrows take flight and glide with the breeze. As they move in different directions, their angular forms overlap in an organic pattern. Bold black outlines con...

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Inspired by one of my favorite views after climbing a challenging peak in the northeast Muddy Mountains. There were dramatic storm clouds swirling about and w...

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Artist Guigen Zha paints a white horse wading along blooming lotuses in realistic detail. It stands quietly in the shallow waters as the moonlight dreamily glows on the pond. "It seems to have forgotten where it came from and where it is going," says Guigen. He conveys the message of loneliness being a different kind of beauty.

About the Artist
From cross-cultural life experiences, artist Guigen Zha presents conceptual compositions of traditional Chinese art...

Artist Comments
Artist Elizabeth Garat shares a glimpse of a pastoral landscape with an impressionistic approach. "This iconic red barn off of Grand Avenue in the east end of Ojai, California is a favorite scene for me," shares Elizabeth. She beautifully captures the warm sunny day when the golden...

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Artist Christopher Garvey presents a realistic display of glassware and ceramics set atop a wooden table joined by billiard balls...

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Artist Guigen Zha paints red lotus flowers under the shining sun. Square blocks of gradient color fill the fragmented scene. He pain...

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The beauty of the mundane shines on artist Benjamin Thomas' painting of a gracefully lit wall. He captures the brief moment while having lunch on the porch wi...

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Artist Gail Ragains portrays two gestural figures clad in swimwear on a hot summer day. The piece pays homage to the Bay Area figurative movement yet retains ...

Artist Comments
A lush expanse of lavender fields in Provence, France. Artist Janet Dyer depicts this countryside view with varying shades of violet perfectly balanced by the...

Artist Comments
Artist Yangzi Xu depicts an iconic view of LaSalle Street in Chicago, facing south from the bridge. She rendered this piece in a warm muted palette, setting the stage to highlight sporadic lights and reflections on wet concrete. "My focus was to convey the mood and feeling a rainy day brings to my beloved city," shares Yangzi.

About the Artist
Artist Yangzi Xu captures a nostalgia for Chicago and its dramatic seasonal changes in her expressionist cityscapes. Having a full-time job and being a wife and mother, Yangzi makes a habit of painting everyday to keep her passion exciting and fresh. She keeps a queue of ideas and reference photos that she takes throughout the year. She looks through her references, tweaks and adds elements to them. Once inspiration strikes, Yangzi draws several sketches and begins to work with oils on canvas on multiple pieces at once - to keep each painting spontaneous and new. "I try to capture the paradox of life in the city, where one can be in a crowd and yet feel alone," Yangzi says. "My main intent is not to capture the physical reality of a scene, but to express my own moods and feelings to my audience." In her free time, Yangzi enjoys reading, with her current favorite genres being biographies and memoirs. Yangzi is an alumnus of DePaul University in Chicago.

Words that describe this painting: Chicago, La Salle...

Artist Comments
In the style of contemporary realism, artist Guigen Zha paints a porcelain vase of Buddha's head. A bouquet of blue lotus flowers blooms in the oriental still life. Succulent dew drops glaze the delicate petals. Guigen conveys the message of hope and peace for good in life.

About the Artist

Words that describe this painting: healing, lotus, belief, still life, floral, poetic, cultural relics, Tang Sancai, oriental, Asian, Chinese, oilpaint, realism, ceramic, flower, vase, budha, head, vertical, tonal, still life, flora, realism, oil painting, grey

The Buddha...