realism – Circle Foundation for the Arts

Ana Backhaus

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Ana Backhaus, a Portuguese photographer specializing in documentary, family, and wedding photography, is currently based in Dubai. Her passion for the art of photography is deeply intertwined with her love for artistic expression and the entire photographic process, driving her to consistently seek ways to enhance her creative insight.

As a devoted visual artist, Ana excels in the intricate tasks of capturing and editing images with meticulous attention to detail. Firmly believing that every individual possesses a unique story, she is wholeheartedly dedicated to creatively conveying these narratives through her work.

Through the lens of her camera, Ana endeavors to immortalize genuine moments, emotions, and connections, highlighting the distinctive qualities of each subject. Her ultimate aim is to craft timeless images that not only artistically showcase the beauty of real-life moments but also evoke a profound sense of nostalgia and authenticity.

Ana is proud to be acknowledged as an award-winning photographer and expresses gratitude for the opportunities that have allowed her to showcase her talent. Leveraging a combination of technical expertise and artistic vision, she strives to produce images that deeply resonate with viewers, leaving a lasting impression.

Throughout her artistic journey, Ana derives joy from the process of capturing moments and transforming them into a cherished archive of memories.

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Monika Malinowska

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Monika Malinowska is a painter, portraitist, and graphic artist born in 1976, and she has been associated with Cracow since birth. From 1996 to 2001, she studied at the Faculty of Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, obtaining a master's degree in art from the copperplate engraving studio of Prof. Stanisław Wejman in 2001. Following her graduation, she worked with publishing houses and advertising agencies as an illustrator and graphic designer. Between 2002 and 2009, she was a member of Fyns Grafiske Varksted in Odense. In 2019-2020, she joined The Polish Portrait Artists. From 2018 to 2020, Monika conducted her own classes and art workshops.

With nearly 20 years of specialization in commissioned oil portraits, her works are also often inspired by landscape and nature. She operates the "Paleta" Portrait Studio and resides with her family in Wegrzce near Cracow, where her art studio is located. Monika Malinowska's paintings are present in numerous private and institutional collections in Poland and abroad.

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Liyuan Liu

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Liu Liyuan graduated from the Department of Dyeing and Clothing department at Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. She loves painting and began to learn it during her childhood. Liyuan has completed research on classical and modern art and has excelled in studying figure painting. Now living in Vancouver, Liyuan has studied under the famous oil painter Xue Yanqun and the Chinese painting and calligraphy master Liang Zhaotang for many years.

Liyuan is also engaged in the application work of art advancement to famous schools in North America, helping students apply for prestigious schools in North America and Europe and has many years of experience with a 100% success! Her students have won many awards in the World Cup Art Drawing Competition and continuously published professional art guidance articles in the media such as Metropolis Daily, Global Chinese News, Afar, and Altitude, as well as accepted personal interviews.

In 2017, Liyuan did personal interviews with the columns of Canadian City TV "Elegance" and "Dating in the City." At the same time, she has been invited to give lectures on the Canadian Chinese Radio "Art Special Interview" and "Live Broadcast of the Guidance Series of Prestigious Art Schools".

In 2021 and 2022, she participated in the Vancouver artist group exhibition with five works. Liyuan's oil paintings have won awards in Switzerland; her watercolor works have also won awards on online exhibitions in the United States; her works have also been published in the well-known French artist magazine "Circle Quarterly Art Review."

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Yuqian Sun

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Yuqian Sun was born in Shenzhen, China, in 1997. At the age of 14, her long journey of studying abroad began. After graduating from Idyllwild Arts Academy in California, she earned her BFA degree at the University of Michigan in 2019.

Yuqian's career as a professional artist has never been derailed. At the age of 21, Yuqian published her original photography book and held her first personal exhibition. By now, her work has won prizes in multiple international art competitions and has been recognized by professional galleries, museums and art foundations in Europe, the United States, Japan and China.

Yuqian's art practice is derived from her photography works, which she started practicing when she was a kid. It was a pure hobby at first, but turnt into a long and comprehensive method of creation that carries her aesthetics. she aims to turn these externally lifeless models into internally living objects. Her work creates a poetic space that makes people reconsider where the borderline of life and lifelessness is.

Yuqian studied and experimented with traditional mediums, striving to refine her painting style into unique authorship. In her doll portrait series "Artificial Fairies" and "Gem in Their Eyes", she keeps looking for the ideal doll in the images she created.

Watercolor is the medium Yuqian has studied the most in the past nine years. The emotional intensity that emerges in the poetic flow of translucent color is the reason of her obsession with the medium. When working on representational paintings with watercolor, Yuqian imagines capturing a solid form with intangible materials like water and light. Yuqian has learned to be confident yet humble to cooperate with water instead of controlling it. Water-flow calms her down, teaches her to be honest with herself, and brings her inner world onto paper.

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Akshita Lad

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Akshita’s art originates either from an emotional, autobiographical point of view or from a point of view based on the reality around her. She is led to intuitively paint with emotional freedom when she is creating her abstract expressionist works. When painting the reality around her, whether inspired by nature or people, she tends to follow more traditional techniques of painting.

Akshita paints with a lot of sensitivity and emotion. She uses colors, symbols and elements to imbue her paintings with a specific energy and meaning. Everything from the colors, textures, and brushwork come together in harmony and invite the viewer to connect with the emotions and story of her paintings. Her aim is to sustain this relationship - the instinctive, deep-rooted gut connection that is created between her works and her audience.

Akshita’s painting style is influenced by her love of the Renaissance and Impressionist Masters like Rembrandt and Monet. Whatever the subject matter, Akshita wants to create works that are timeless, elegant, and beautiful. Akshita Lad’s sense of aesthetics developed during childhood. While on family holidays visiting museums, she fell in love with the works of great masters like Da Vinci, Monet, and Rembrandt.

Akshita’s vast range of works includes portraits, landscapes and abstract expressionist paintings. Akshita is a believer that every thought and every creation has an energy and frequency. She uses this awareness to consciously creates art that amplifies messages of inclusion, positivity, joy and happiness. Whatever the subject, Akshita’s works display depth, elegance and beauty.

Akshita has shown at prestigious shows and galleries like Saatchi Art Gallery and the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris. Her works have been selected for publication as well as in numerous online /open-call selections.

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Monica Mendes

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Rafael De Armas

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Rafael De Armas was born in Uruguay, South America. He completed tertiary studies at the Uruguayan School of Fine Arts using Bauhaus methods. As the result of Rafael's high achievement he was accepted by well-known landscape artist Eduardo Amezaga and Italian Master Lino Dinetto as an apprentice. After many years of vocational training, Rafael joined a number of advertising agencies and worked as a freelance illustrator.

In the late 1960s he worked independently as a graphic designer and photographer while simultaneously painting and sculpting as a means of feedback and grounding for the applied arts which come together in design.

Uruguay's institutional breakdown of 1973 sank the country into the grimmest dictatorship in the country's history and made all independent projects unfeasible. Rafael subsequently moved to Argentina with his wife and children.

Between the years 1974 to 1980, Rafael worked for the Science and Culture Educational Foundation as the Head of Art. Over this time he also looked after the editorial department, overseeing all publications of the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research.

From 1981 until 1995 Rafael ran his own Graphic design business. Because of his wide abilities Rafael had a multitude of clients that provided a very broad spectrum of work. With the advancements of digital techniques Rafael was quick to realize the advantages and in 1985 he became one of the pioneers of applying digital technology into graphic design.

The Argentinean High Court recognized Rafael's knowledge of art and from time to time he was called upon to act as an expert witness for art forgery cases. In 1982, Rafael helped set up the Association of Argentinean Graphic Designers, this role defined a graphic designer's job profile and the Association still exists today.

In 1995, Rafael moved back to Uruguay with his family, setting up a new studio in Montevideo. He continued painting and designing in Uruguay until he migrated to New Zealand in 2003 to be near his daughters.

These days Rafael will be found working hard inside his home studio in New Plymouth. Chances are he will be busy painting with oil on canvas with his iPod providing him with hours of classical music and jazz.

Rafael's explanation about his political or environmental artwork:

"I don't stop with the pleasure of aesthetics I like to make a statement on the concept of defending ecology. I'm not conveying propaganda I just want a clear example about what we all have to face up to."

Rafael explained why he started painting New Zealand birds:

"Back when I first arrived in New Zealand in 2003 I soon became aware of the amazing birds we all share this land with. I have always enjoyed walking and my interest in this genre developed as a consequence really. Observing the birds and understanding their typical postures, characters and learning about their preferred foliage all helped me settle into my new homeland. The more I saw the more I wanted to see, walking in the Hunua Ranges or visiting Tiritiri Matangi island sanctuary and so many other places is important for me. My bird paintings are really a plea in favour of nature."

Select Mentions

2005 Finalist at Portage Ceramic Awards

2006 1st Popular Choice Award at Franklin Art Festival

2007 2nd at Pumphouse Art Awards

2007 1st Popular Choice Award at Franklin Art Festival

2007 Merit Award for Miniature Painting at Franklin Art Festival

2008 Finalist at New Zealand Painting and Printmaker Awards

2011 1st for Miniature Painting at Franklin Art Festival

2011 1st for Oil Painting at Franklin Art Festival

2011 1st Popular Choice Award at Franklin Art Festival

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Diane Liguori

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American painter, Diane Liguori was born in North Carolina, raised in upstate New York, and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area straight out of college. She is a former advertising executive and a public biotech Chief of Staff who gifted herself with a hard-earned new creative career as both artist and writer. Diane has an MFA from San Francisco-based Academy of Art University and a studio located in the heart of the Alexander Valley in Geyserville, California. Her work has been shown and sold in private galleries as well as juried regional, national and international exhibitions. Diane is a member of American Women Artists, California Art Club, and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

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Deimante Bruzguliene

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Art by Barbara

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Barbara Boeglin, born 1961, is a Swiss self-taught, amateur painter, working in oils and pastels. Her favorite subjects are flowers and realistic animals. She started painting in 2013, following the instructions of Bob Ross tutorials. After a few months of learning his style, Barbara discovered Gary Jenkins' TV shows. She studied his style in Berlin and got the Jenkins Art Teacher certificate. Barbara also visited Gary in his US home for three four-day semi-private classes.

Just for fun, Barbara took a painting class with Eric Wilson in Berlin. Eric paints realistic animals in oils and pastels. Barbara thought that this slow process would bore her, but she wanted to try anyway because of the beauty of Eric's paintings. Surprisingly she really enjoyed this slow, detailed process. This is when she started to paint animals in a realist manner.

In 2018 Barbara also began to paint with soft pastels and pastel pencils. The artist regularly takes three-day workshops with Eric Wilson in pastels. A few months ago, Barbara began employing a more impressionistic style in her paintings. She is always open to new technics and styles, for example, acrylic pouring.

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Ana Backhaus

Monika Malinowska

"I study and portray what awakens my curiosity and moves emotions to the extent that it feels significant to be saved from obscurity and expressed in the process of painting. I translate my personal experience of reality by means of the universal language of oil painting and drawing.”

Liyuan Liu

Yuqian Sun

"My art practice is derived from doll photography, which I started practicing when I was a kid. Inspired by the visual beauty of these mass-produced toy dolls in real life, my paintings discuss the cultural context of the meaning behind objects that are artificial imitations of human beings.”

Akshita Lad

Monica Mendes

"I am an artist who paints my surroundings, I am a representational and humanitarian artist who is disturbed by prejudices and social injustices. I strongly believe that as an artist, I have social responsibilities and through my art, I want to contribute to a better and fairer world for everyone."

Rafael De Armas

"I don't stop with the pleasure of aesthetics I like to make a statement on the concept of defending ecology. I'm not conveying propaganda I just want a clear example about what we all have to face up to."

Diane Liguori

Deimante Bruzguliene

"I love painting. I work with passion and love. It is like a second nature to me. My painting is a kind of therapy for me. It lets me say things that I cannot express any other way and at the same time allows me to populate the space around me with artifacts."

Art by Barbara

"Most of my paintings are photorealistic animals, mainly wildlife. I like the freedom, the power and the beauty of these creatures. I often paint big cats, which are in my opinion, the royals of wildlife. Dramatic lighting and colors are my preferred references."