I have been an artist since childhood. I started taking lessons under the tutelage of a relative who was an art teacher. My first painting was a watercolor of a white kitten. I proudly display it in my home today.

My husband and I have lived in several locations in the United States and in Europe where I studied art in many museums and galleries. I would always get instruction from local artists wherever we were. The experience has led to a diverse, eclectic appreciation for the creative process.

http://highlanderart.com

Jen Raynes

Jen specializes in a surfeit of genres including horse and animal subjects.  Recently JEN has expanded her subject matter, working in a wider variety of subjects, formats and textures, including surf and water scenes, surf boards, in addition to her infamous animal subjects.

http://jenraynesstudio.com

Sandi Billingsley

I have to create things. Creating is almost all I think about. I'm driven to create magical works of art filled with glowing colors and sparkling gems that create images of worlds of wonder that fill me with peace. I love the physical process of creation. I enjoy challenging myself with new materials and new techniques, combining them into novel works of art unlike any I have seen before. Ever since meeting my husband, I have been inspired to create images of couples. These romantic images have achieved their highest expression in my sanded style of paintings. These dynamic pieces are created by a unique process that combines many layers of representational art into a single abstract image whose dimensional interest is heightened by innovative, terraced framing.

http://www.studiosandi.com

The inspiration for my paintings comes from the art and symbols of ancient civilizations as well as contemporary cultures from around the world. Geometric and nonlinear patterns are integral to my art, stemming from my scientific background.

My work reflects patterns that can be found, moving, all around us, in nature and in everyday objects.  Motion in each Mosaic-like painting is conveyed and delivered by the fluidity of the design, the movement of the patterns, the ever changing iridescent tones of the metallic paint.  These paints reveal new dimensions to the work that come alive with gradations of luminescent color.

http://www.fineartbymariana.com

I paint with organic handmade pigments on canvas stretched over panel, using additive and subtractive processes that include stenciling, masking and transfer printing techniques. Over the past fifteen years, I've visited historical and religious sites in countries around the world. The ornamental pattern of these diverse cultures is an element common to all of them. The paintings, murals, sacred monuments and architecture of these places have influenced my palette and the complex patterning in my work. These elements provide an ideal vehicle for exploring traditional formal elements--color, design, shape, surface, rhythm, depth and scale--in an abstract context.

However, my passion for painting combined with my educational background in political economy and anthropology has led me to regard pattern as more than a formal convention. In my work, it is a visual metaphor for the interconnectedness and interdependency between all things, such as between cultures, and between humans and nature.

http://ww.nalynelunati.com