Michael Kotasek

Montauk

2012

Painted from life in his connecticut studio, John Moris paints two metal oar locks. These tools are normally attached to the sides of a row-boat, and lock in the oars with which a sailor would row. Hanging fro a tiny metal nail, dangling from a small white thread, before an off-white, monochromatic backdrop. Framed in a simple black frame, as pictured. Frame dimensions are 24 x 20 inches. Painting dimensions are 19 x 15 inches. John Morfis was born in Glen Cove, Long Island in 1976. His humble beginnings made pursuing a career in art difficult and paradoxically necessary. Fixated on making things aesthetically pleasing, John made an extreme departure from his family life when he chose to base his life on art. Surrounded by mechanics, welders, and otherwise trade workers John had a tough time expressing his interest in a world much more utilitarian and much less expressive and impractical. With an extraordinary desire to be an artist and a grant awarded, John was able to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in painting from the University of Hartford in 1998. While there John studied oil painting under American realist Stephen Brown. John’s first solo show took place in 2007 at the Ellen Traut Collection Gallery in Hartford, CT and was a near sell out. Since then John has had success up and down the northeastern coast of the United States working with various galleries and collectors. His work has also appeared in various group shows at the New Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut. ARTIST STATEMENT Each painting, although a portrait of a tired hand...

Painted from life in the artist's studio, a rustic, wooden basket overflows with bright colored flowers. Four apples scattered in the foreground, cast shadows, and reflect on the gro...

A half-husked corn on the cob rests upon a wooden surface. Painted from life, this still-life painting is academically proportionate, colorfully correct, and would make a great addit...

A moody and surrealistic still life of peonies. While the scene seems to take place outside, the reflection in the vase reveals a window with light streaming into a dark room. As alw...

John Morfis was born in Glen Cove, Long Island in 1976. His humble beginnings made pursuing a career in art difficult and paradoxically necessary. Fixated on making things aesthetica...

American realist painter Steven Levin continues his "Books and Butterflies" series with this still-life. Butterflies flit around cut lilacs and an open book. The wings of the butterf...

Still life painting of a basket

In organizing these paintings, I combine aspects from multiple sources-drawings, reference photographs, both personal and others, and memories of events or places where crowds gather...

In organizing these paintings, I combine aspects from multiple sources-drawings, reference photographs, both personal and others, and memories of events or places where crowds gather...

In organizing these paintings, I combine aspects from multiple sources-drawings, reference photographs, both personal and others, and memories of events or places where crowds gather...

In organizing these paintings, I combine aspects from multiple sources-drawings, reference photographs, both personal and others, and memories of events or places where crowds gather...

Egg Tempera on Panel. The artwork actual size is 10 1/2h x 8 5/8w, including frame 16h x 14w. Antonio Matallana was born in Spain. He studied at Ecole Superieure des Beaux Arts in Se...