Jan Best
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Although drawing and sketching since childhood, Jan Best has been painting on and off since she discovered her passion for painting as a teenager, when she took a class as a high school elective to fill her school day. Jan went on to earn her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism at the University of Georgia and began her career in the advertising media buying field. Jan has since had several career changes, from stay-at-home-mom, to freelance advertising media buyer, to Irish Dance teacher to Horse Show manager/secretary. Naturally, college, work, family, and raising her two children limited her painting one piece every 3-4 years, usually as gifts for family. When she became recently empty-nested, she rediscovered her passion, and now averages 1-2 works each week.
Jan works mostly in oil (while dabbling in acrylics and pastels here and there), and often works Alla Prima (in one sitting). She also enjoys painting en Plein Air (outside, on location) as well. Her work is a mixture of contemporary realism and impressionism. Her favorite subjects are landscapes, seascapes, birds and animals. She is known for keen portrayals of light, water and reflections. Jan has sold her paintings online in the USA and Internationally, at local shops, at artisan festivals, and even has sold them to a major motion movie set. She participates in art exhibitions and events and has been chosen to show in several prestigious juried exhibitions throughout the USA, while also receiving awards. A huge supporter of her local community, Jan has also donated and had her paintings sold in several local charitable auctions. Always learning, she attends workshops as she can and currently resides with her husband in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She has studied with Sara Oakley, Pat Fiorello, Amanda Lovett, Suzie Baker, Stephanie Amato, Carol Marine, Bill Davidson, Anne Blair Brown, and Vicki Norman. |
Sivananda Nyayapathi, ARCALM, OPA
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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. |
Sadie Pannell
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Born in 1994 and based in Dahlonega, Georgia, Filipino-American artist Sadie Pennell is esteemed for her exceptional 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 fine art with remarkable sophistication. While her pieces may appear modest from a distance, they reveal an intimate world of intricate detail upon closer examination, suffused with a profound sense of warmth, serenity, and wonder.
Pennell’s oeuvre is a seamless blend of Impressionist inspiration and realist precision, drawing a rich tapestry of influences that include Mary Cassatt, Pierre-Aguste Renoir, Claude Monet and Filipino artist Fernando Amorsolo. She admires how the Impressionists masterfully used each brushstroke to enhance clarity and composition, creating works that, while spontaneous and expressive, also convey a sense of structure and depth. This fascination intertwines with her deep respect for Amorsolo’s vibrant realism, where light and color are harnessed to breathe life into his subjects, imbuing them with a radiant vitality. In her own work, Sadie channels these combined influences to create miniature worlds where light and color are pivotal. Her pieces, though initially appearing highly precise, reveal a delicate interplay between meticulous detail and the expressive spontaneity inspired by the Impressionists. This fusion of styles results in a striking realism that captures the viewer’s attention and invites deeper exploration. Despite their diminutive size, Sadie’s works exemplify her exceptional ability to merge the precision of realism with the fluid, evocative brushstrokes of Impressionism, all within a space encompassing less than a single inch. “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” — Vincent van Gogh This quote by Van Gogh encapsulates Pennell's approach to her art, where even the smallest elements come together to create something extraordinary. Through her work, she elevates the ordinary to the sublime, demonstrating that every small joy, no matter how tiny, deserves recognition and reverence. |
Alexi Torres
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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 is a fine artist working primarily in the printmaking medium. She is best known for her woven screenprint pieces. She was born in Boise, Idaho, and raised in Tallahassee, Florida.
Torres received her Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor from the University of Florida, her Master of Law from the University of Miami, and most recently, her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking from the Savannah College of Art and Design ("SCAD"). At its heart, Torres' artwork explores and celebrates the ideals of freedom, equality and empowerment. Her work is in the permanent collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as Delta Airlines, SCAD, the Ritz Carlton, JW Marriott, Norwegian Cruise Lines, and the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation. Torres is represented by Maune Contemporary (Atlanta, GA; Santa Barbara, CA) and Contessa Gallery (Cleveland, OH; Palm Beach, FL). She lives with her family in Atlanta, Georgia. |