abstract – Circle Foundation for the Arts

Gayle Printz

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Gayle Printz is an internationally acclaimed American abstract artist whose work is on permanent exhibit in France at Le Musée de Peinture de Saint-Frajou. In the last nine months, over 85 Printz paintings have shared the 150 Awards Ms. Printz won in Juried International Art Competitions. Printz’s artworks have been the focus of countless worldwide exhibitions and publications.

Using color, flow, three-dimensionality, and texture to express herself, Ms. Printz creates paintings that transcend the familiar. Her artworks are famous for drawing viewers in and inviting them to assign personal meaning and universal context by listening to the whispers of their imaginations. Printz paintings seem to have a magical quality; they can change completely depending upon the angle at which you gaze. Gayle Printz would say, “As with life, the meaning in my work, depends upon the way you look at it.”

Although it seems impossible to anyone who has seen her artwork, Gayle Printz picked up her first paintbrush in May of 2020. For Ms. Printz, creating these remarkable works of art during the pandemic helped her bring lightness and beauty back into a world that was interrupted. Now, by encouraging each of us to use our imagination as the lens through which to find meaning in her work, Gayle Printz can share that beauty with any viewer open to embarking on this subconscious journey.

A limited quantity of her Award-Winning Museum Quality Paintings has been released for sale at https://www.GaylePrintz.com. With Gayle Printz being touted by Curators, Investors, and Art Collectors as “the World’s next great Abstract Artist,” her work has already proven to be a worthy investment.

Kari Veastad

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“Creativity has always been a part of my life and has given me a lot of energy. I also love hiking, being out in nature and seeing creation with a different language and colors for each season.

Ten years ago, I started learning oil painting, but something was missing until I discovered to paint intuitively. To play with colors in an intuitive universe has given me a color pleasure journey as it has evolved into an exciting joy where I play with colors until I discover something that will emerge on the canvas.

I love to see a blank canvas and to go on a journey to discover what the finished artwork is each time. It always surprises me what the new images tell me during the process. Painting is still a learning process in my inner world, and it reminds me of the wholeness and how everything in life is connected. Meditation, gratitude, and reflection often lead to new movements in my inner landscape.

My hope and desire with art are to expand boundaries, open up for reflections and expand horizons, see the world from other angles and remind someone of the vast universe we live in and all the love given to us both in the inner and outer landscape. Some of my works are only for relaxing, joy, inner peace, or to bring awareness of all the love and light we don’t see but as surrounds us all the time."

Symona Colina

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Symona Colina was born in 1954 in Ridderkerk, The Netherlands and has been actively showing her work internationally, including in The Netherlands, the United States, Italy, Spain, Belgium, England, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France. Symona lives and works in Italy.

"My work is like the wind since the wind encloses all I can feel and touch. Enclosed by the wind is where transparency lies ahead and time is left behind. That is where I am in wonder."

Art has many interfaces with existence. It is all around in its countless disciplines. And nevertheless unlimited. The interfaces employed by Symona Colina in the visual arts chiefly tie in with: 'spatial perception, spatial thinking and contemplation.' Through which infinity apparently comes within reach.

Somsak Chaituch

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Somsak Chaituch was born in the hills of Northern Thailand where he grew up in a small bamboo shed. At primary school, his talent for drawing was first noticed. As a youngster, he had to work to support his family. He worked in the rice fields or sold watermelons during the day and as a restaurant-singer at night.

Somsak came to the Netherlands to study arts when he was 27 years old. After his bachelor's graduation at the Utrecht Academy of Arts, Somsak Chaituch continued his study and became a Master of Fine Arts at the Dutch Art Institute at Twente University in 2003. Chaituch had many solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums around the world. His works are found in many private collections. Somsak Chaituch received several national and international awards.

Somsak Chaituch is an abstract expressionist painter in a very identical style in brushwork and colour composition. Brilliant and warm colours and curly-shaped lines refer to the nature and culture of Thailand. With his characteristical crossover identity between east and west and with his lyric between abstract and figurative, Somsak takes the observer in a dream to learn of the existences of life.

The paintings of Somsak Chaituch are music for the eyes. Warm melodies and traditional rhythms blend in abstract expressionistic themes of nature that still refer to the warmth and colours of his origin. They are blend in western composition and style to give the observers that feeling of sparkling excitement that every powerful artwork must give at first glimpse.

Marita Tobner

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"The works deal with the diverse aspects of humans, their nature and their relationships and ambivalences with one another. Abstract and representational elements penetrate the pictorial space and create a field of tension with an eye for internal and external experiences.”

"Die Arbeiten befassen sich mit den vielfältigen Aspekten des Menschen, seiner Natur und seinen Beziehungen und Ambivalenzen untereinander. Abstrakte und gegenständliche Elemente durchdringen den Bildraum und schaffen ein Spannungsfeld mit Blick für innere und äußere Erfahrungen."

German artist, Marita Tobner was born in Ulm in 1961. She studied Free Painting at the Ulm School of Artists' Guild in Ulm with Elke Traue, Wladimir Safronow and Georg Fenkl (2001-12) as well as at the Art Academy Esslingen with Angelika Hentschel (2013-7). In 2014 she studied with Prof. Albert Küppers and in 2016-7 with Stephan Geisler.

Marita works as a freelance artist and has made painting trips to Ireland, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. Her works belong to national and international, private and public collections, notably the Museum of Fine Arts collection in the Neu-Ulm district. Marita Tobner is represented worldwide by LDXArtodrome Gallery Berlin, Malta, Hong Kong, as well as Galerie Alpha 7 Weisweil and Galerie Inspire Art Dresden.

Kathryn Neale

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Kathryn Neale holds a BA (Studio Art, Graphic Design) from Principia College in Elsah, IL, an MA (Painting and Drawing) from Eastern Illinois University (Charleston, IL), and an MFA in Visual Art (Painting) from Washington University in St. Louis, MO. She was awarded the Louis Roblee McCarthy Scholarship, the Helen Faibish Memorial Scholarship Award for Graduate Sponsorship, and the Belle Cramer Graduate Art Award during her two years at Washington University. Her artwork has been exhibited at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum (St. Louis, MO), Des Lee Gallery (St. Louis), Bruno David Gallery (St. Louis), the Lemp Brewery (St. Louis, MO), Townsend Wolfe Gallery (AK), Chesterfield Arts Center (Chesterfield, MO), University Art Gallery at Eastern Michigan University (Ypsilanti, MI), Miami University (Miami, OH), Riverside Art Museum (Riverside, CA), Parks Edge Exhibition Center (Idyllwild, CA), Swope Art Museum (Terre Haute, IN) and the Tarble Arts Center (Charleston, IL). Neale has pieces in the permanent collections of the Indiana State University, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel (Clayton, MO), The Eilan Hotel (San Antonio, TX), The Four Seasons Hotel (Boston, MA), as well as private collections. Most recent exhibition was held at the Des Peres Hospital featuring 15 local artists' work from May - October 2016.

Ms. Neale attended the prestigious Painting’s Edge Residency led by Roland Reiss (Idyllwild, CA) in 2008 as well as was an advanced level intern at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC. She has taught as an adjunct professor at Maryville University (St. Louis, MO) for graphic design and illustration and currently lives and works in St. Charles, MO.

Dieter Crumbiegel

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Painter and ceramic artist, Dieter Crumbiegel studied art (1961-75) at Staatl Hochschule für bildende Künst Kassel, Germany. He studiedd Painting with Prof.Fritz Winter and Ceramics with Walter Popp. Dieter recceived a 1959 Stipendium "Max-Beckmann-Gesellschaft, München" and the same year became a member of "Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes". In 1974 he received the state award in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany and showed his first piecce at Deutsche Keramik der Gegenwart 1975. In 1975 the artist became a member of the International Academy of Ceramic, Genova and he was a professor at Art College for Applied Arts, Krefeld, Germany at the Department Ceramic/Glass-Design (1979-2001). Dieter Crumbiegel led the 1980 workshop "Architecture Ceramic", Int. Ceramic Symposium Cork, Ireland, and in 1982 worked as a supervisor at Helwan-University Giza, Cairo, Egypt. In 1983, he joined the art group "Gruppe 83 - Deutsche Keramiker" and he has exhibited since 1961 in Germany and internationally. Dieter's works belong to private and public collections internationally. Dieter retook an interest and practice in painting in 1984.

Shuai Xu

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Artist and curator, Shuai Xu graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, China, and a classical oil painting studio in 2018. Currently, he is studying in the Art Department of Claremont Graduate University in the United States. Xu's work focuses on the invisible world, and a lot of inspiration comes from his dreams. He has been concerned with topics such as the universe, individuals and nature for a long time.

"My current works focus on the invisible world, and much of my inspiration comes from my dreams. I am interested in humanity’s relationship to the cosmos, particularly as it plays out here on Earth; especially the relationship between individuals and nature. I hope to explore my inner world more deeply while expanding outward, to engage society and beyond.

My current works are built on my understanding of these historical works and my dreams, both of which have passed and both of which I explore while awake, assessing and analyzing them rationally and consciously. The dream world is an invisible world, but we cannot deny its existence. I proceed by “plagiarizing” scenes from my dreams, incorporating them into my work and giving them three-dimensional form in physical reality.

However, this does not mean that every one of my paintings comes directly from my dreams. I will record the content of my dreams, and get inspired by my dreams, and connect with the real world through the dreams. When I finished my work, the work may be different from my original dream scene, and I added my thinking in the real world to the work.

But it is undeniable that the initial motivation that prompted me to create these works came from my dreams. So I think dreams are very important to me. Sometimes, my paintings lead me to create land art. Because painting can create unlimited imagination in a limited space, I can freely conceive the land art scene in my mind through painting. Painting is like a draft of land art to me. My land art uses the land as a canvas to form a visually vast landscape, so as to explore the relationship between human beings and nature, and even between human beings and the universe. Whether it is dreams or cosmic space, we can call it the invisible world. This invisible world is often overlooked by society at large but it is the focus of my work."

Petra Knezic

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Petra Knezic is a self-taught artist from Slovenia that focuses on ink art. She uses precise technical pens (isographs) with drawing ink, that let her create very detailed drawings on paper or canvas, for the sake of exploring an idea with the smallest line.

Her art is based on creating stories, using empty-faced, gridded people (Soulies) or skeletons, to invite the viewer to mentally collage their person into the drawing and experience it for themselves. She seldom steps out of the black and white variations as she sees her love of ink as an upgrade from previously used pencil and charcoal and a possibility to strip down a situation into its building bricks.

Petra has been published in international art magazines around the world and has been awarded the first Leonardo da Vinci Award - The Universal Artist in Florence, Italy as well as the Canaletto Prize for outstanding work in her art career in Mira (Venice), Italy. She has been published as one of the ten finalists in the abstract and experimental art issue of the leading art magazine International Artist Magazine. She has also been distinguished as one of the 20 jury-selected artists in the CCBA International Milano Art Competition, finishing 2016 with an international group exhibition at the Bakery Pavilion and later the Art Passage gallery in the heart of Milano, Italy. Since then, Petra has focused on only one collection, the "Grids and Bricks - Underwater" works, which she completed in 2018.

Artistmarius

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Solo Exhibitions

2019 Bolinas Gallery, Bolinas, California

2018 Bolinas Gallery, Bolinas, California

2018 Golden Gate Sotheby’s International Realty, Oakland, California

2017 Urban Hardwoods, San Francisco, California

2017 Legion of Honor Museum ‘Special Day Event’ San Francisco, California

2017 Triton Hotel, San Francisco, California

2016 Urban Hardwoods, San Francisco, California

2015 UCSF, Gallery 190, Memory and Aging Center, San Francisco, California

2014 SF City Hall Office of Supervisor Scott Weiner, San Francisco, California

2013 Sanyok Gallery, Sausalito, California

2013 Legion of Honor Museum ‘Special One Evening” San Francisco, California

2015-2010 De Young Museum, ‘Special One Evening’ San Francisco, California

2011-2010 Legion of Honor Museum, ‘Special One Day’ San Francisco, California

2011-2009 Orchard Hotel, San Francisco, California

2008-2006 Art Work Gallery, San Francisco, California

2005 Engine Gallery, Toronto, Canada

2004 Café Claude, San Francisco, California

2003 Paxton McCall Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

2002 Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, California

2002 Katherine Finn Gallery, Tiburon, California

2000-2001 Circle Gallery, Carmel, California

2001-2000 Gallery Z, San Francisco, California

1999 Commonwealth Club Gallery, San Francisco, California

1999 Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, California

1998 Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, California

1997 Kiabundo Gallery, Kobe City, Japan

1996 Commonwealth Club Gallery, San Francisco, California

1995 Gallery Choko, Tokyo, Japan

1994 Kiabundo Gallery, Kobe City, Japan

1992 McKesson World Headquarters, San Francisco, California

1991 Osaka Contemporary Art Center, Osaka, Japan

1991 Kiabundo Gallery, Kobe City, Japan

1990 Joy Horwich Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

1989 Osaka Contemporary Art Center, Osaka, Japan

Awards/Grants

2016 - 2017 Hero’s and Hearts – San Francisco

Education

MFA, Printmaking, Croydon Fine Art College, Croydon, England

BA, Painting, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas

Gayle Printz

“To provide viewers freedom to find emotional meaning in the intangible by evoking the unconscious use of their own imagination."

Kari Veastad

"My inspiration is beauty, movement, and interaction between body, soul, and spirit and my artworks often end up in different directions between inner and outer landscapes or the connection of the wholeness. Like Edward Hopper says: "If I could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint."

Symona Colina

"Perspective is like a world to see and to see a world, in which it is often more important how we see than what we see."

Somsak Chaituch

Marita Tobner

"The works deal with the diverse aspects of humans, their nature and their relationships and ambivalences with one another. Abstract and representational elements penetrate the pictorial space and create a field of tension with an eye for internal and external experiences.”

"Die Arbeiten befassen sich mit den vielfältigen Aspekten des Menschen, seiner Natur und seinen Beziehungen und Ambivalenzen untereinander. Abstrakte und gegenständliche Elemente durchdringen den Bildraum und schaffen ein Spannungsfeld mit Blick für innere und äußere Erfahrungen."

Kathryn Neale

"I’m a painter who primarily works in acrylics but also experiments in multi-media, collage and chalk paints on a variety of surfaces. I am constantly drawn back again and again to pattern that evokes nature, specifically plants and flowers."

Dieter Crumbiegel

"Abstraction does not depict reality, but is it self reality."

Shuai Xu

"I integrate these sources of inspiration into my works by thinking about dreams, starry sky, reality and nothingness, combined with Chinese cultural elements, like Ching. I hope to explore my own world more deeply while expanding outward. Every one of us is familiar with dreams."

Petra Knezic

"The core of my art process is the transformation of any given situation that occupies my mind, with all its colours, into the basic molecules, the building bricks. There are so many issues that cannot be settled because of their density, without being analysed and understood. I draw them."

Artistmarius

"The true transcendence of life occurs during the creative process. Through the power of color, shape and form; a painting can become truly a transcendent vehicle for altering one’s consciousness and reality. The journey of what is real, and what has meaning, is the apotheosis of art's purpose."