Opening Reception: April 17, 2025 | 5:30 PM
Closes June 7, 2025
Closes June 7, 2025
Presenting Artists
Jan Best |
Bailey Gallery: Wings, Waves, and Wanderers: The Best Perspective
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Jan works primarily in oil paints in a style that is a mixture of contemporary realism and impressionism. She creates in both her home studio and En Plein Air (outside on location), and often works Alla Prima (in one sitting). Jan enjoys participating in many plein air events throughout the year around the Southeast each year. You will find her work exploring the beauty of landscapes, the novelty of still life, and the character-focus of animals, birds and figures alike. She is intrigued by colors, patterns and the effect of light in the everyday, and seeks to take her viewer on an emotional journey of joy and memory.
Jan has sold her paintings online throughout the United States as well as internationally, in galleries, local shops, and artisan festivals. A handful of her works were purchased and were featured in a major motion movie. She participates in art exhibitions and shows and has been chosen to show in several prestigious juried exhibitions throughout the USA, while winning awards as well. Jan is an Associate member of the American Impressionist Society and Oil Painters of America. Jan is also a member of The Art Colony of Gainesville, GA, the Quinlan Arts Center, and the Monroe-Walton Center for the Arts. She is represented by Oakley Gallery, located in Out of the Cedar Chest Antiques & Interiors in Gainesville, GA, and the Hemlock Gallery in Clarkesville, GA. Artist Statement There's an unparalleled beauty in the smooth, buttery texture of oil paints as they intertwine to reflect the essence of the world around us. I strive to discover unique perspectives, employing light and composition to guide the viewer's gaze and create a dynamic journey across the canvas. My aim is to evoke a profound emotional response, whether it be a memory or a wish or just a peaceful place to rest. Sometimes, I will employ unexpected splashes of color to add an element of surprise and intrigue. |
Sivananda Nyayapathi, ARCALM, OPA |
Massey Gallery: In Pursuit of Excellence
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Dr. Sivananda was very fortunate to be born into an artistic family. His father, Mr. N. S. V. Rao, was a painter, writer, dramatist and singer. Sivananda was inspired by watching his father paint, which led him also to art. For many years, since childhood, Sivananda had learnt from his father. He had started exhibiting his drawings since the age of twelve.
Sivananda started painting in oils while pursuing his studies in engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), where he had obtained a doctorate degree in Electrical Engineering. He has studied with some of the top artists like David A Leffel, Burton Silverman, Daniel Greene, Dawn Whitelaw, Michael Shane Neal, and Scott Christensen. Sivananda has been juried into the Nation’s top competitions. He has also won many awards from these competitions. Partial lists of awards and exhibitions are given below. Sivananda has also been a juror for some of the Nation’s top art competitions. Sivananda has been teaching art for over 22 years. Honors
Partial List off Awards
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Sadie Pennell |
Thomas Gallery: It's the Little Things
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Meet the Artist
Born in 1994 and based in Dahlonega, Georgia, Filipino-American artist Sadie Pennell is esteemed for her craftsmanship in creating intimate and meticulously detailed watercolor works, each confined to an area as minute as a quarter. Her practice as a watercolor miniaturist redefines conventional notions of scale and medium, pushing the boundaries of what her medium is capable of. Artist Statement I find beauty in the delicate and the understated. "It’s the Little Things" is a collection of over 40 miniature watercolor paintings, each no larger than 24mm in diameter. Through these small, intricate pieces, I aim to capture fleeting moments—tiny fragments of life that hold great personal meaning to me and may speak to others in ways that feel both familiar and profound. I believe it’s in these quiet details where life’s true richness lies. The size of these works invites the viewer to get close, to pause, and to really experience the work. In doing so, I hope to offer a moment to step away from the hustle of everyday life and into a space of reflection, wonder, and nostalgia. Each painting becomes a little invitation to slow down, embrace the beauty of small things, and rediscover the joy in the moments we often overlook. "It’s the Little Things" is a celebration of life’s everyday wonders—the tender, the simple, and the heartfelt. With every brushstroke, I seek to create a personal connection and a sense of intimacy that draws you in and invites you to experience the world in a new, deeply personal way. |
Alexi Torres |
Walters, Roy C. Moore, Mansfield Galleries: Imagine
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Alexi Torres discusses the relationship between nature and man in a contemporary context emphasizing the interconnectedness of all living things. He seeks to initiate a dialogue on the effects and power of human thought and behavior on our everyday reality, The mind and ideas as a creative force rules his creative process. He goes into scenarios of how to use our thinking and focus to be authentic and to block outsider manipulations. Following universal laws he finds the connection between spirituality and politics, richness and acceptance.
Torres taps into collective memory with playful themes and ironic juxtapositions relevant to the contemporary experience. His series range from portraits of ordinary people, cultural, military to a diverse sampling of symbols from popular culture. These images are then reimagined and reconstructed employing a complex unique multi-layer painting technique, bronze sculptures and objects. Inspired by the agrarian lifestyle of his friends and family, Torres plants an idea for each new work and harvests it at completion according to the lunar patterns followed by his ancestors in his native Cuba. To record this ritual, each painting is begun and finished on a waning moon and recorded with his signature on the canvas. Alexi Torres was born in 1976 in Bermeja, a small village about 70 miles southeast of Havana, Cuba. From 1989-1991 he studied at Escuela Provicial de Artes in Mantanzas and 1991-1995 at Escuela Nacional de Artes in Havana. Torres has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in the United States and abroad including: Various Solo Shows at Art Miami with Contessa Gallery. UNIX Gallery, New York, 2013 and 2016; Jones Carter Gallery, Lake City, SC, 2016; Marietta Cobb Museum Of Art, Marietta, GA, 2014; DMoMA Lausanne, Switzerland, 2013; Hoover Library, Alabama, 2013; Rush Gallery, New York, 2012; Kai Lin Art, Atlanta, 2012; Scope Miami, 2011-15; Art Miami, 2011-16; LA Art Show; Texas Contemporary; Art South Hampton; Evan Lurie Gallery, 2011; and Naomi Silva Gallery, Atlanta, 2004. Torres’s work can be found in major private and public collections, including the private collections of Will Smith, Los Angeles, CA; Delta Airlines, Atlanta GA; Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta, GA; Hoover Public Library, Hoover, AL; Museum of Art Matanzas, Cuba; David Mills, San Francisco, CA; Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, Atlanta, GA; Ruth Beardsley, Australia; Laura Rathe, Houston, TX; Bernie Marcus, Boca Raton , FL; Trijicon Inc, VA; Law & Moran, Atlanta GA. He is the recipient of the following awards: 2017 Top prize at Art Fields, SC. 2014 People’s Choice Award; Red Clay Survey; Huntsville Museum of Art. 2002 Grand Prize “Mapa Conceptual”, Matanzas, Cuba. 2000 Second Place Roberto Diego, Provincial Salon of Visual Arts, Matanzas, Cuba. In 2003 the artist moved from Cuba to the United States, he live and work in Atlanta GA. |
Julie Torres
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Julie Miller Torres, born in Boise, Idaho, and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, is an Atlanta-based artist specialized in the medium of printmaking. Torres graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Juris Doctor from the University of Florida in 2002 and 2005 respectively, a Master of Law from the University of Miami in 2008, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking from the Savannah College of Art and Design ("SCAD") in 2016.
Torres practiced law for nearly seven years prior to attending SCAD. That experience is reflected in the subject matter of her work. Her artwork explores the balance between various systems: natural and artificial; societal and legal. She often incorporates text from legal documents into her art counterbalanced by an aesthetic of delicacy to create an interplay between content and form. Torres’ work is in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as Delta Airlines, the Ritz Carlton, JW Marriott, Norwegian Cruise Lines, and the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation. |
Thank you to our exhibition sponsor for your generous support.
