abstract – Circle Foundation for the Arts

Léonce Lemmens

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Dutch artist, Léonce Lemmens creates contemporary modern paintings. Working with acrylics, oil, collages and mixed media she paints personal and timeless pieces. Her paintings consist of endless layers of built-up colors and mixed textures. Applied paint gets removed again, after which new layers are created with new elements and colors. It's a playful and inquisitive process, resulting in abstract expressionist art pieces that tell a story each time.

Léonce Lemmens studied at the Art Academy but turned early on in a different direction and worked in corporate organizations and healthcare until 2014 when she picked up painting again.

Monika Bendner

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Monika Bendner was born in Berlin and dealt with art at an early age. She gained experience in painting and figural art. In Munich, she attended a private Art Academy, later in Frankfurt she took several courses at the BBK and in Kronberg / Taunus for Painting, Drawing, Etching and Photography. Bendner sees the world with different eyes. Due to her creativity and imagination, she transforms concrete objects abstractly into unusual pictures.

The artist has received nine awards at home in Germany and abroad. Most recently she was awarded the 2020 Art Prize by Art Tour International Awards, Artist for A Green Planet, New York. Articles on her practice have been published in Art Tour International Magazine, 2020 Summer Issue, 'Art as a Healing Force', USA and Art Tour International, 2020 Fall Issue, 'Artists for A Green Planet', USA. In 2021, she was featured in 2021 ATIM's 10-year Anniversary Artfest, Winter 2021, USA.

"I love colors and non-colors. Now I thought to portray it in a series of pictures. That's how I see nature. The beauty there is in the abundance of colors, but also the beauty in the melancholy of the non - colors. This is how my pictures were created and designed in abstract forms. Now everyone can decide for themselves what like better."

Schwarz - Weiss liebt die Farbe setzen

Tepe Kraus

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Tepe Kraus is a German painter who grew up in an artistic environment — her father is a film director, writer and illustrator, her stepfather a professional musician. Her childhood was unconventional: drawing, painting, sleeping on the tour bus of her father's band and being on theater's stage. At the age of 20, she went a completely different route, studied Humanities and received a public scholarship for graduation in 2013. Her creative urge finally brought her back to painting and to an education in graphic and media design.

Solo exhibitions took place in 2015 at the art association Worms, 2016 at Owlstand Gallery, 2020 at Pre-Relase Gallery, Telomedia Worms and in June 2021 an exhibition is scheduled at Galerie Haus zum Stein in Mainz. Her paintings have been used as book covers and since 2018, Tepe Kraus is represented by the French art association 'Singulart'. In autumn 2020 she was concluded in Spotlight Art Magazine, Issue 21, in January 2021 an interview and poster appeared in the fashion and design magazine "Slowmo Magazine".

Hong Liu-Sertti

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“I have moved to Finland, lived in a Finnish-Chinese family and received art education in both countries for nearly 20 years. Over the years, my creative theme has always been freedom and love in conflict and harmony. People, birds and stamps are the main elements of my works. People are shown meticulously in the context of freehand brushwork. The bird is a metaphor for freedom. The stamp has been regarded as an important element since the composition of the painting and is closely integrated with the image. The words of the stamp include ancient Chinese poetic phrases, such as "流水香 Flowing Water Fragrant", "草惊风 Wind Blowing Grass ", etc., and some inscriptions, such as "Love" and "自由 Freedom"; there are Chinese and English as well as Finnish, such as "Running tree" and "Vapaus" and many more.

With the use of ink, color and gold foil, stamps and patterns, concrete and abstract, exaggeration and realism, I constantly transform contradictions into harmony. The forests and lakes of Finland are the backgrounds of my work. The wonderful forest contains various life forces. Everything takes its place in the crowd. The lake reflects the brilliance of various spirits. The individual's soul poured out in the silence, joyously in the constant flow. Multiculturalism gives creativity an endless drive."

Hong Liu-Sertti has had solo shows at Pori Art Museum, Finland and South China Art Museum. She has been in group shows including the Official Pavilion of Bangladesh 58th Venice Biennale as well as Art Basel Miami Beach among others.

Marilyn Simler

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"After my first degree, I taught art at Redhill School in Johannesburg before emigrating to the UK in 1978. Since University in London, I have continued to be involved in the art world through regular exhibitions, in printmaking and painting."

South African artist, living in London, Marilyn Simler has received commissions from corporate and private clients, including the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. Her work is represented in public collections including V&A print portfolio with the PMC, The Rolls Building London and Unilever.

Education

B A HONS. Fine Arts - University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

University Education Diploma - University of South Africa

B A HONS. Fine Arts - Middlesex University, London

M A Fine Arts (Printmaking) - Middlesex University, London

Susan Monk

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Karen Kucharski

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Karen Kucharski is a Visual Artist working in drawing, painting, and print forms. Early influences of living in a land of lakes, rivers, and waterfalls, mixed with lingering traditions from far-off lands, made her keenly aware of the divisions of space and of the artistic nature of cultures. These provide inspiration for her art.

Karen taught at Cornell University, spanning fifteen years, including in the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (drawing); College of Human Ecology (drawing and surface textile techniques related to fashion); College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (American Indian art), and in the Cornell Summer Program, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences (an anatomy approach). She was especially recognized for her contributions to the American Indian Program, and the Art and Anatomy/ Drawing the Human Figure course she developed and taught in the Cornell Summer Program. She received the Sylvia Wyckoff Award for Excellence in Teaching from Syracuse University and has held teaching positions at Dartmouth College and Binghamton University, among others.

A native of Pennsylvania with her studio in New York, Karen has exhibited her art in multi-disciplinary, onstage performances with musicians, dancers, and symphonies, and in art exhibitions internationally in Japan, Canada, and Germany. Her “Connecting Cultures” projects bring awareness to indigenous issues and cultural practices. She is re-emerging as an active artist in the global community.

"I am influenced by a sensitivity to time, place, and identity that arises from knowing I live in a land not of my ancestors. It manifests in imagery of the “primordial bond,” and to thematic partnerships in context with the landscape or of elemental forces and symbolic journeys. My art is an exploration of the spiritual forces evident in indigenous cultures, in family traditions, and in a curious nature to see beyond. I emphasize spatial dynamics and rhythmic movements, using compositional arrangements to shift between the physical, the experiential and the imagined."

Education

B.A. in Studio Art, State University of New York at Binghamton, Harpur College

M.F.A. in Printmaking and Experimental Studios, Syracuse University

Tricia Skoglund

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While growing up in Southern California, Tricia's youthful talent as an artist was quickly recognized by her early art teachers and by several prominent artists in the area. This early recognition made it possible for her to spend many years studying under some of the most prominent artists in and around the famous art colony of Laguna Beach, CA.

After graduating from High School with an art scholarship, Tricia accepted a position as a manager, and contributing artist, at an art gallery in Del Mar, CA. It was during this time that she took the opportunity to explore many different art forms and art mediums all while continuing her education, managing the gallery, and showing and selling her own work.

The next step in her art career took her to Salem, Oregon where she started a family and at the same time went to college to study Graphic Design. In addition, she was able to use her gallery experience to open, own and operate her very successful Arts and Design Co., which specialized in painting and designing murals in both residential and commercial properties.

Now that her family has grown, Tricia Skoglund has once again evolved and grown in a new and creative way. She is currently having fun using acrylics, pastels, torch-cut steel and all kinds of recycled metals. She loves the contrasts and energy that old metal gives to her art and how it gives each of her creations a distinctive one-of-a-kind 3-dimensional, individual look.

Discovering unrefined and rustic details in nature gives her inspiration for her work. Objects left outside to rust and corrode captivate her imagination and compel her to give new life. as a highlighted part of her work. Tricia also finds inspiration from the sea. The movement from the water, how it reflects light, and its energy are always very important parts of her work. It's that combination that helps make each of Tricia Skoglund's creations be a very unique and smoothly interwoven piece of work.

Heather McFarlin

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"My abstract oil paintings come from a place of honoring, inquiry, and opening up to something much larger than myself. Like Joseph Campbell said, "follow your bliss." I start with rich, vibrant high pigment oil paints. I find so much satisfaction in color combinations and relationships. I continue, working with layering and texture, always trying to achieve harmony within the palette.

Symbols unfold naturally as I allow the process to move through me, and the composition begins to form. Ultimately I would say my creative process honors deeper feelings and psychological processes, and connects me with a fresh way of perceiving the world that I, in turn, offer to others. My biggest inspirations are Rothko, Diebenkorn, Van Gogh, Matthew Wong and Chagal.

I can relate to what art journalist Karen Kedmey wrote about Mark Rothko: “Rothko painted to plumb the depths of himself and the human condition. For him, art was a profound form of communication, and art-making was a moral act.” My art goes hand in hand with my background working in the Healing Arts. Since the pandemic, I have decided to pivot and become a full-time artist. My studio is a greenhouse in Marin County, California.”

Mary Di Iorio

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Born in Itabirito, MG, Brazil, Mary Di Iorio began her life as a plastic artist in the spring of 1969, exhibiting at Galeria do Minas Tenis Clube - Salão Jovem. There followed more exhibitions, collective and individual and travel throughout the country and abroad. Mary Di Iorio collaborated in the formation of the Faculty of Arts, Federal University of Uberlândia - MG, where she was a teacher and Chair of the Department. She is the author of the book "Ceramics in Brazil: Systematization Bibliographic." and has been published in critical catalogs, magazines, books, newspapers etc.

Published books: "Arte Cerâmica no Ensino" - Editora UFU - Federal University of Uberlândia - MG - 1st edition 1981 and 2nd edition 1984 - 33p., Il; "MARY DI IORIO" preface Pietro Maria Bardi, Editora UFU - Federal University of Uberlândia - MG - 1991; "Ceramics in Brazil: Bibliographic Systematization" - Editora UFMG - Federal University of Minas Gerais - MG, 794p., Il, color

Léonce Lemmens

Monika Bendner

“Z. Z. besteht meine Kunst aus Kreativer, abstrakter Fotografie, die zum großen Teil durch Zeichnungen, Scherenschnitten, Folien, Lichtquellen entstanden sind. Abfotografiert und im PC bearbeitet. Daraus mache ich Serien und erzähle damit kleine Bildgeschichten.”

Tepe Kraus

"Art is never in a vacuum, it flows and is always - whether intentionally or unintentionally - transcendent, between the worlds, between the senses, between the people. A bridge. And a bridge is committed to both sides."

Hong Liu-Sertti

“I moved to Finland, lived in a Finnish-Chinese family and received art education in both places for nearly 20 years. Over the years, my creative themes have always been freedom and love in conflict and harmony.”

Marilyn Simler

"My work explores images of the natural world through layers of colour, shape, line and texture. Interwoven are elements of pattern. I like to think of my work as containing images and fragments of images that arrest the viewers' attention and challenge their perceptions."

Susan Monk

“Art is a reflection of the emotions of the artist as an individual. Seeing more than just a view or flowers but the abstract lines, movement, colour and harmony of the subjects. For me it is important when painting to follow my heart and true self, thereby transmitting the joy and energy.”

Karen Kucharski

"A winged figure rises, assuredly, as one with the land. Time stands guard for the living spirit of the earth. Water on its rhythmic journey dances in color. There I was, in a line of immigrants in a place I nevertheless loved. The land, those whose land it is, and the line are worthy of honor."

Tricia Skoglund

Heather McFarlin

"Salvation is a long road that leads through many gates. These gates are symbols. Each new gate is at first invisible; indeed it seems at first that it must be created, for it exists only if one has dug up the spring’s root, the symbol." - Carl Gustav Jung

Mary Di Iorio

"Mary's work is a point of balance between the various trends in Brazilian and world ceramics in recent decades."
- Frederico Morais, Art Critic - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“Z. Z. besteht meine Kunst aus Kreativer, abstrakter Fotografie, die zum großen Teil durch Zeichnungen, Scherenschnitten, Folien, Lichtquellen entstanden sind. Abfotografiert und im PC bearbeitet. Daraus mache ich Serien und erzähle damit kleine Bildgeschichten.”

"Art is never in a vacuum, it flows and is always - whether intentionally or unintentionally - transcendent, between the worlds, between the senses, between the people. A bridge. And a bridge is committed to both sides."

“I moved to Finland, lived in a Finnish-Chinese family and received art education in both places for nearly 20 years. Over the years, my creative themes have always been freedom and love in conflict and harmony.”

"My work explores images of the natural world through layers of colour, shape, line and texture. Interwoven are elements of pattern. I like to think of my work as containing images and fragments of images that arrest the viewers' attention and challenge their perceptions."

“Art is a reflection of the emotions of the artist as an individual. Seeing more than just a view or flowers but the abstract lines, movement, colour and harmony of the subjects. For me it is important when painting to follow my heart and true self, thereby transmitting the joy and energy.”

"A winged figure rises, assuredly, as one with the land. Time stands guard for the living spirit of the earth. Water on its rhythmic journey dances in color. There I was, in a line of immigrants in a place I nevertheless loved. The land, those whose land it is, and the line are worthy of honor."

"Salvation is a long road that leads through many gates. These gates are symbols. Each new gate is at first invisible; indeed it seems at first that it must be created, for it exists only if one has dug up the spring’s root, the symbol." - Carl Gustav Jung

"Mary's work is a point of balance between the various trends in Brazilian and world ceramics in recent decades." - Frederico Morais, Art Critic - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

"Mary's work is a point of balance between the various trends in Brazilian and world ceramics in recent decades."
- Frederico Morais, Art Critic - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil