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The Magic Box of Tales & Truths is an ongoing series for young readers that celebrates adventure, culture, and resilience. Each series are different like the magic of foods that produce good healthy rewards; the different phases of life while growing up; and the experiences of joy that comes from good deeds, giving, kindness, respect, responsibility, loyalty, and much more–all told through lively stories, colorful illustrations, and charming poetry. Each beautifully crafted book differently, from cover to cover, ranging in page count from 40 to 50 pages, 11 x 8.5 inches (landscape design), and available in Soft or Hard cover is filled with vibrant pictures, heartfelt narratives, and delightful poems designed to inspire and educate young minds.

Magic Box of Tales & Truths, Series 1 – Maggie is about a brave girl who journeys from Russia to America, embodying themes of hope, perseverance, and the importance of family and tradition. Maggie’s inspiring story is woven with poetic verses that bring her adventures to life, making her journey memorable and meaningful. As she shares her story, she introduces young readers to nature’s tiny superheroes—blueberries—whose health benefits are explained through engaging poetry and fun tales, making healthy eating exciting and magical.

BUY – https://www.lulu.com/shop/ben-rayman/magic-box-of-tales-truths-series-1-maggie/paperback/product-p6j49e9.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Magic Box of Tales & Truths, Series 11 – Elizabeth, arrived from Paris with her own Magic Box of Dreams and Memories. Elizabeth’s stories take children on a poetic voyage to her homeland, sharing cultural tales, sights, and sounds. Her verses celebrate diversity, curiosity, and the joy of exploring new places—all while emphasizing the importance of nourishing our bodies with good foods and embracing our roots.

BUY – https://www.lulu.com/shop/ben-rayman/magic-box-of-tales-truths-series-11-elizabeth/paperback/product-nvjn9g4.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Magic Box of Tales & Truths, Series 111 – Samantha was born in America but traveled around the world for the USDA. Her story, Solid Southern Roots of Rich History is packed with global adventures and wise, poetic reflections on the benefits of wholesome, nourishing foods. Samantha’s tales encourage children to appreciate the richness of different cultures and see healthy eating as a delicious, worldwide adventure—beautifully expressed through rhythm and rhyme that make learning fun and memorable.

BUY – https://www.lulu.com/shop/ben-rayman/magic-box-of-tales-truths-series-111-samantha/paperback/product-84jqeq2.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Magic Box of Tales & Truths – Series IV – Tirone is an enchanting story about a curious boy growing up in Michigan’s lakeside town of Empire. Through vivid storytelling, Tirone’s father shares humorous and imaginative tales about different ships—trains, cruise ships, cargo vessels, tugboats, and navy ships—bringing the ocean’s adventures to life. The story, The Boy Who Grew Up With the Sea in His Heart also touches upon Tirone’s exciting future as a seasoned captain exploring the world’s oceans, inspiring young readers to dream big, embrace adventure, and believe in their own journey ahead. As Tirone’s love for the sea deepens, he learns important lessons about kindness, responsibility, and perseverance.

BUY – https://www.lulu.com/shop/ben-rayman/magic-box-of-tales-truths-series-iv-tirone/paperback/product-7kjzre4.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Magic Box of Tales & Truths – Series V – Murray walks back to his pre-teen age and from there moves forward into his college years, then his chosen career path, delves into marriage, family, and his rise in the publishing industry, which all stems back to his profound belief in his early youth —that newspapers are the heartbeat of neighborhoods—transformed not just a town but an entire way of seeing the importance of local stories. In a world where headlines fly by in seconds and digital screens dominate our daily lives, Murray Bernard’s story, Behind the Headlines, He was the Heartbeat of the Community reminds us of the timeless power of community, storytelling, and connection.

But there is much more in Murray’s story that were indicators he was the ‘Chosen’ as a reminder if you stick to your guns, stay the course, and believe the “Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for,” once said by English writer Joseph Addison (1672-1719), you will feast upon the affluence of real world knowledge gained to embrace the adversities, to envision the possibilities while travelling among the skeptics, and soaring through the undergrowths others would pass by.

BUY – https://www.lulu.com/shop/ben-rayman/magic-box-of-tales-truths-series-v-murray/paperback/product-rmjknpj.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Magic Box of Tales & Truths – Series VI – Sisterhood, is the final book that completes the ‘Wisdom’ six-pack collection. Its story, The Gardens of Sisterhood: Legacy of Love, Blood, and Choice tells of the bonds formed in friendship between Maggie and Elizabeth that created an expanded American female connection with other “sisters” like Judy, Karen, Donna, Pat, Janet, Kate, Joyce, and Carol in their immediate world. In a broader sense, similar to the “six degrees of separation” theory, sisterhood fosters relationships on shared values, experiences, and a commitment to uplift and empower each other that forms a foundation of a lifelong powerful supportive network.

BUY – https://www.lulu.com/shop/ben-rayman/magic-box-of-tales-truths-series-vi-sisterhood/paperback/product-84jqzn5.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Robert W. Cook doesn’t need a photo album to remember his favorite spots. He paints them in watercolor. From the old buildings of Cuervo, New Mexico, to cafes in France, if a scene captures his eye, it goes on canvas. One unique factor of Bob’s work is the great amount of detail that is tediously placed in his paintings. While it takes Cook an average of 4 days to complete a painting, a setting, like the streets of New Orleans, will take much longer.

Artist Cook grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, and like many kids of the 50s, took a job delivering newspapers. His route included downtown Kansas City where merchants awaited the latest news. One storefront, in particular, always caught his eye. A retouching art studio, where air brushes were used to bring life to prints, seemed to mesmerize Bob. Before long, he was working for this shop as a gopher, just to get close to the industry. The company evolved into an architectural rendering business where structures were created in real life artwork. This work was significant to an architect’s presentation long before a project was started.

These humble beginnings led Cook to Dallas, Texas, where he spent the next 30 years as an architectural illustrator. His professional career led him to produce over 13,000 paintings, shown in prestigious areas such as the Chicago Art Institute, the US Architectural Perspectivists Society and the Japan Architectural Renderers Association.

Today, Cook is retired and a fulltime fine watercolor artist. Awards and honors have been collected from the National Watercolor Society, the Society of Watercolor Artists, the Southwestern Watercolor Society, and the Florida and Louisiana Watercolor Societies.  He has been accepted in many major shows, including Rio Brazo.

     “El Metropole†is an example of how Cook may be casually having dinner with friends, then turns as he leaves the restaurant to see a spectacular scene that must be captured. Lights that drench the front of the establishment create a haunting shadow among the darkened buildings, and leaving a feeling of melancholy. The scene is from Mirande, France, and is realism, painted in watercolor.

Landscape is another passion of Cook’s as he takes in every detail of the reflection from the sun as it pours over the simple scene of “Oak Point†that the viewer is able to share to same astonishing beauty as the painter, which is what every artist strives to achieve. The leaves almost a look as if they are swaying and provide that same dizzying effect that is so enjoyed from the color bursts of autumn.

In a video found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OJUBHajib0, Bob explains from his studio how the application of frisket is used in his watercolor painting. He uses rubber cement and thinner as a solvent for perfecting certain elements and edging of his paintings. Frisking is also used in airbrushing.

Robert W. Cook’s gallery, Your Private Collection is located on the Square, in Granbury, Texas, where his paintings can be seen first-hand and see more at: http://1-robert-cook.artistwebsites.com.

Editor’s note: For the print format edition, click on:

Sharing memories with watercolors – Portrait of Robert W. Cook.

Music may be considered the universal language, but fine art is not far behind. From all over the world, artists align with the classical beauty of the ‘Old Masters’ style of enchanting light, form, and a touch of their own personal style. It is amazing how an artist can retain the precious balance of the composition of the greats while creating a new and exciting painting with their individual talent.

A fine example of an old and new marriage is seen through the work of Julia Bright. Born and raised in the Soviet Union, her travels to Europe and the United States provided different types of culture. The ‘Old Masters’ of art mesmerized her with their intricate balance and light. Rembrandt, Chardin and Ingres were her favorites and can easily be seen as you follow the flow of her mood-accented work.

Her love of the Baltic Sea spread to the seascapes of the United States and Julia found her calling in the art of the masters mingled with the love of the sea. Not originally focused on art, Julia claimed her degree in Marketing Management where she spent 20 years in the profession. It was not until her move to the U.S. from the Soviet Union that Julia connected with the old and new culture through drawing, painting, and attending museums and galleries in her new home of Denver, Colorado.

The passion that Julia found in art was too strong to ignore as she became a believer and follower of the great European greats of the past. Her studies focused on those memories of Italian and Russian history and she discovered a modern sensibility in her world that displayed a special color, light, and all subject matter.

The vivid and tranquil contrast of sea versus land is a constant reminder of how the masters were able to separate the properties of the natural essence with their shadows of light and balance while streaming the focal point of nature. Bright has done a tremendous job of keeping the flow of seascape alive and accurately defined with the scene of beauty.

Julia’s work has been exhibited at the Swiss Art Expo in Zurich, Switzerland, the Littleton Museum of Fine Art Annual Juried Show, Greenhouse Gallery Salon International Annual Juried Show, Richard Schmid Fine Art Auction, Boulder Art Association’s National Juried Shows, where she received the corporate award of excellence two years in a row, and at the Art Students League of Denver’s Art & Soul Juried Show & Auction. Her work hangs in private collections in the U.S., Canada, Switzerland, Finland, Lithuania, and Russia. Julia is an associate member of the Oil Painters of America (OPA), and a member of the Boulder Art Association.

Bright’s pieces have a timeless feel and it comes as no surprise that early in her artistic career she spent time at the Louvre in Paris studying the works of Rembrandt, Chardin and Ingres. If you have ever dreamed of owning an oil painting of the Renaissance period, feast your eyes on the work of Julia Bright. Your search may be over.

Oil on panel is Julia’s media to bringing shadows, color, and depth to objects, people, and landscape. You can see more of her work at www.juliabrightart.com. Currently showing a collection of seascapes at Loveland Public Library, Julia continues to show her work of still life, people, animals and nature around the Denver, Colorado region.

Print format-click on to view-select 2 page view:

Julia Bright expose Fall 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. (PNAN) – Online at CONNERSMITH through November 2025, “Reckoning” is the latest body of paintings by Jessica Maria Hopkins. In this series, artist Hopkins departs from her earlier concentration on figural imagery to explore elements of abstraction that have always informed her work.

 “With each application of color, I apply part of myself and my art process,” Hopkins says. As she builds imagery by applying different colors in response to one another, the artist uses a sgraffito technique to incise patterns in multiple layers of wet paint. “I subtract pigment and write a different language,” she explains. “I scratch through undefined paths of color to create a new surface where I can search for something I am trying to understand.”

The artist explains, “Each color and brushstroke in my paintings has different meanings generated by personal experiences. I embrace the ambiguity that my images communicate with colors that embody the unknown – something mysterious that I want to comprehend.”  

For Hopkins, vertical lines traversing colorful fields of paint suggest bodies moving through another dimension. “Like x-ray imaging, my style shifts from representation to abstraction, suggesting figures through implied shapes in constructed space,” she asserts. “As in physical life, my work is in constant evolution.”

To view see: https://www.connersmith.us.com/exhibitions/jessica-maria-hopkins-reckoning

About

Jessica Maria Hopkins (b. 1983, Washington, DC) is a figurative painter who lives and works in Takoma Park, Maryland. Her artistic training at Howard University aligns her practice with the painting traditions of Alma Thomas and the AfriCOBRA movement. “Each figure I paint narrates my growth as a woman of color,” Hopkins imparts. The artist experiments with surface texture, explores the symbolic value of decorative patterning, and accesses the emotional potential of color in her work. Hopkins’ work has been featured in exhibitions at The Howard University Gallery of Art and The Delaware Contemporary. Hopkins’ work is in the collection of the University of the District of Columbia as well as numerous private collections.

JACKSON, MS (PNAN) – Slated to open Saturday, November 1, 2025 at the Mississippi Museum of Art, “Joe Overstreet: Taking Flight” is an exhibit that brings together three phases of Overstreet’s painting practice: angular, geometric constructions from the 1960s, the sculptural Flight Pattern series from the 1970s, and the large-scale, immersive Facing the Door of No Return series from the 1990s.

Spanning six decades by artist Overstreet (1933-2019). His vibrant works break through the four edges of a conventional canvas, leap off the wall, and expand to immense proportions. Unfolding in space like kites, sails, or the patterns of a kaleidoscope, they invite viewers to see and move through painting in new ways.  “Like birds in flight,” as Overstreet described, his paintings embody a restless tendency “to take off, to lift up, rather than be held down.” 

MMA will host a two-day program that explores Overstreet’s work with Kenkeleba House, a community arts organization that Overstreet cofounded on New York’s Lower East Side in 1974. The event will connect this important part of Overstreet’s career to Black-led arts initiatives active in Jackson today.

About

As a pioneering African American artist and activist, Joe Overstreet pushed the boundaries of painting through decades of experiments in abstraction. Born in rural Conehatta, Mississippi, he began his artistic journey in the California Bay Area during the 1950s, participating in the Beat scene and exhibiting in local galleries and jazz clubs.

     In 1958, he relocated to New York, joining a vibrant community of artists who were redefining abstraction. In dialogue with the Civil Rights and Black Power movements of the 1960s, Overstreet made representational paintings as well as abstract shaped canvases, and in the 1970s he removed his works from the wall entirely with his groundbreaking Flight Pattern series. Meridian Fields, a series of paintings on wire mesh from the early 2000s, was partially inspired by the artist’s memories of Mississippi.

     In 1974, Overstreet’s deep commitment to his creative community in New York led him to co-found Kenkeleba House, a downtown gallery and studio space that supports artists of color to the present day. Overstreet remained an active artist and cultural leader until his passing in New York City in 2019.

     Overstreet’s work has been featured in significant recent exhibitions including Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power (2017–20; Tate Modern, London; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Broad Museum, Los Angeles; De Young Museum, San Francisco; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston); The World Goes Pop (2015; Tate Modern); Witness: Art and Civil Rights in the Sixties (2014–15; Brooklyn Museum; Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin); and Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles 1960–1980 (2011-13; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; MoMA PS1, New York; Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA).

Some on the agenda are: October 11 and 12, Raku Workshop; November 1 and 8, Intermediate Jewelry Stone Setting; Tube Setting; November 11 through December 9, Intermediate Jewelry and Metalwork; and November 12, Beginning Jewelry: Cabochon Pendants. For a complete listing, see: https://www.jansenartcenter.org/classes/all-classes.

WEST PALM BEACH, FL (PNAN) – Opening at the Norton Museum of Art on Saturday, October 25, 2025 and on view through March 29, 2026, the exhibition, “Art and Life in Rembrandt’s Time: Masterpieces from the Leiden Collection” it will be the largest exhibition of privately held Dutch 17th-century paintings ever organized in the United States. In addition, it coincides with the 400th anniversary of New Amsterdam’s founding on the island of present-day Manhattan.

Rembrandt is the artist at the exhibition’s heart, with works representing all periods of his career. Complementing his paintings are those by artists intimately connected to him in Amsterdam, including his teacher Pieter Lastman and pupils Ferdinand Bol and Arent de Gelder, among others.

The exhibition also features artists working in Rembrandt’s hometown of Leiden, including his friend and rival Jan Lievens and student Gerrit Dou, as well as Jan Steen, Frans van Mieris, and Gabriel Metsu. Painters who worked in other Dutch artistic centers are also represented, such as Hendrick ter Brugghen, Carel Fabritius, Frans Hals, Gerard ter Borch, and Johannes Vermeer. https://www.norton.org/exhibitions/art-and-life-in-rembrandts-time-masterpieces-from-the-leiden-collection

Organized thematically, the exhibition offers a glimpse into 17th-century life in the Netherlands. People take center stage, as seen in portraits and character studies capturing the social aspirations and individuality of the era’s citizens.

Also on view are engaging depictions of everyday activities: market vendors selling their wares, soldiers playing cards, youths engrossed in books, and women writing letters or playing music. Religious and mythological subjects, commonly shown in private homes, reveal the period’s spiritual and intellectual pursuits.

Accompanying the exhibition is a fully illustrated, 160-page catalogue exploring Dutch life in the 1600s and providing detailed entries on each work.

WACO, TX (PNAN) – On view through Friday, October 31, 2025, in the Beard Gallery at the Waco Art Center, “In Her Element” brings together five distinctive voices from artist members of Women & Their Work, an Austin-based organization dedicated to advancing women artists.

Featuring Tara Eales, Amy Twomey, Philana Oliphant, Georgie Miller, and Valerie Fowler, the exhibition showcases the dynamic range of voices of contemporary art practice in Texas.

Each artist explores their own creative territory through experimental materials, bold conceptual ideas, or unexpected visual narratives. Together, their works create a dynamic conversation about what it means to be fully immersed in one’s artistic practice today.

In the newly-established Flora Cameron Gallery, the exhibition, “Sense of Place” is on view through January 2026. Twenty works from its collection marks the first public showing of its holdings.

The exhibition centers on the American Southwest, long recognized for its luminous skies, resilient landscapes, and layered cultural history. Through paintings and works on paper by artists such as Gustave Baumann, Nicolai Fechin, Norma Bassett Hall, Marc Chagall, and Larry Bell, the show reflects how the land and its people inspired both local voices and visitors drawn to Taos and its surrounding valleys.

COLUMBUS, OH (AAPNW) – Going on view Wednesday, October 8, 2025, at the Columbus Museum of Art, “Tacita Dean: Blind Folly” is the first major museum survey in the United States of work by British European visual artist Tacita Dean (b. 1965).

The exhibition, organized in close collaboration with Dean, spotlights her career-defining approach to creating art through unmediated and chance-based drawing processes across a variety of mediums, from film to printmaking. “Blind Folly” is the show’s title, reflects Dean’s desire to let the behavior of her mediums dictate the results of her work. For the artist, the playful and old-fashioned phrase connoting foolishness, “blind folly,” represents the role chance and fate play in the creative act.

Blind Folly brings together several of Dean’s monumental blackboard drawings along with rarely shown drawings from her studio on paper, found postcards, albumen photographs, and 16mm films. This selection includes several newly created works, some of which were inspired by Dean’s residency at the Menil Collection’s Cy Twombly Gallery, a Renzo Piano-designed building devoted to the work of late American artist Cy Twombly (1928–2011).

More about the Exhibit

Tacita Dean: Blind Folly is curated by Michelle White, Senior Curator, The Menil Collection, Houston, and presented at the Columbus Museum of Art in collaboration with Daniel Marcus, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, and Rae Root, Roy Lichtenstein Curatorial Fellow. The exhibition is accompanied by the book Blind Folly or How Tacita Dean Draws, written by Michelle White (co-published by the Menil and MACK). The text, illustrated with more than forty images, is based on seven years of conversation between the author and the artist.

Carol Wright was right when she wrote, “If this music had been written for a movie, it would be a top seller,” She says much more, “Like the best symphonic movie scores, the music allows the wilderness area and its Native American and Celtic heritage to spring vividly from the speakers…”

     In my world, somethings never age, they become iconic such as “The Polar Express” a 2004 film that tells of a young boy and that mysterious train bound for the North Pole; “It’s a Wonderful Life” a 1946 film where James Stewart plays George Bailey who has given up life, but his Guardian Angel intervenes and shows him what things would have been if he has not helped others.

Therefore, I find this 1996 instrumental album by Tim Janis, his first on his label in the same league, a classic returning often, and I can wholeheartedly relate to why he was inspired by and composed based on his experiences in Acadia National Park, including the Maine’s coastal views from Mount Desert Island and the town of Bar Harbor, especially “Tribal Land” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC8qzCz-sRk&list=OLAK5uy_n0_vL-8B6f065_iJg81s1zWA84mx6somA&index=3

The album is definitely as I see it, projects serenity in its highest form with impressionistic melodies, led by the orchestra work by Janis at the piano mixed with synthesizers, and other acoustic instruments; thusly, it brought to my mind foregone memories, physical sensations on hike over the rocky terrain, a stream of emotions yearning of those once as I stood near the ocean’s edge, the onslaught of stormy weather, the waves of the sea water rapidly coming ashore, placing me on the pages in ‘Wisdom’ when Nana foretold Benjamin’s future, and when he and Jackie begin their global separation.

More on this musical masterpiece at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib4Nwes7j8s and more on this remarkable artistic gem at: https://www.timjanis.com/about-tim-janis

https://art-to-artpalettebooks.com

MARIETTA, GA (PNAN) – Slated to open on Saturday, September 20, 2025, with an Opening Reception, from 6:00-8:00 pm at the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, the exhibition, “T is for Timon” will consist of a selection from Craig Drennen’s seventeen-year body of work based on Timon of Athens, William Shakespeare’s least admired play.

Focusing on the characters in the play, Drennen’s series brings together ideas that are opposite but connected: being straightforward and being talented, culture and personal experience, success and failure. These themes are explored through various forms of art, creating a dialogue between different aspects of human nature and society. Drennen’s work encourages viewers to think about how these contrasting ideas influence our lives and perceptions, often blending them in surprising ways.

Drennen’s paintings, sculptures, performance art, and installations go beyond the original story that inspired them. Each piece acts as a kind of stand-in or “surrogate,” offering a space for both the artist and the audience to confront and reflect on shared cultural backgrounds and personal memories. Through this process, the art becomes a powerful tool for understanding ourselves and the world around us.

For more information, call 770.528.1444 or see: https://mariettacobbartmuseum.org. Editor’s Note: On Saturday, November 1 from 2:00-4:00 pm, there will be an Artist Talk.

About

Craig Drennen is a painter based in Atlanta, GA and a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow.  He is represented by Brigitte Mulholland Gallery in Paris. He has had recent solo exhibitions at The Suburban in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Freight+Volume Gallery in New York City, and the Atlanta Contemporary in Atlanta, Georgia.  His work has been included in group exhibitions at Anton Kern Gallery in New York City and the Kunstverein Langenhagen in Langenhagen, Germany.  He has been an artist in residence at Yaddo, MacDowell, and Skowhegan. His work has been reviewed in Art in America, Artforum, and The New York Times. Drennen served as dean at the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture in Skowhegan, teaches at Georgia State University, and manages THE END Project Space.

LIMA, OH (NWPR) – In collaboration with the Boys & Girls Club at Bradfield Community Center, ArtSpace/Lima will present, “Capturing the Spirit” on Thursday, September 18 at 5:30 pm, an evening of poetry written and performed by young voices from the Lima community.

The project brought together youth writers, ages 8 to 12, with Lima’s Poet Laureate, Laurin Wolf, who guided them in discovering the power of language and developing their unique voices through poetry. The resulting collection features their original works and reflects the creativity and insight of Lima’s next generation of storytellers.

Student poets will take the stage at the art center and present their poetry in a public reading. In addition to the live performances, the summer workshop materials and creative notes will be on display, offering a glimpse into the process behind the work.

For further information, Sally Windle at ArtSpace/Lima 419.222.1721.

For over two decades, this interdisciplinary artist, curator, and convener has explored how language, pattern, and music construct meaning, synthesizing Indigenous and Western traditions through vibrant color, complex patterning, and layered sound. Gibson is also celebrated for his painting, installation, video, and performance work.

For more information on the Fingerman Lecture series, call the art center at 515.277.4405. Editor’s Note: The series is made possible by Lois and the late Dr. Louis Fingerman.

About

A member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent, Gibson represented the U.S. at the 2024 Venice Biennale with his acclaimed exhibition, “the space in which to place me,” which debuted at The Broad in Los Angeles in May 2025. He was selected for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2025 Genesis Facade Commission and will present new work for the historic exterior this September. His work is held in major collections including MoMA, the Whitney, and the National Gallery of Art. He lives in New York’s Hudson Valley and is an artist-in-residence at Bard College.

BISMARCK, ND (PNAN) – On view at the North Dakota State Capitol, through December 2025, the exhibition, “Dakota Territory” is a collection of mixed media on canvas by North Dakota artist Chris Wakefield.

Featuring 30 of artist Wakefield’s works, “This show represents just a small cross section of my observations during my time here in the Dakota Territory,” says Wakefield. “It’s a portrayal of the beauty, wonder, romanticism, risk, danger, mystery, hope, and heartache all woven into the tapestry of this once very wild place.”

His artworks explores the layered history of the region, its landscapes, wildlife, and people. “These paintings are my contribution so that we take time to reflect and remember this grand ground, its wildlife, the people with names we know,” Wakefield expressed, including he adds, “along with the countless others whose names we will never know, but who all lived here and died here to make this the place we exist today.”

Influenced by a childhood shaped by pop culture, Wakefield describes his creative process as intuitive and expressive. “I just have fun, get lost in the color, throw paint on the canvas and see what happens,” he says. “It’s where I feel the happiest, like I’m doing what I was meant to do.”

The exhibit can be viewed on the observatory level of the 18^th floor.

ANCHORAGE, AK (PNAN) – On Tuesday, September 30, 2025, at the Anchorage Museum, from 6:00-8:00 pm, an evening with Roman Dial during the “Outdoor Adventure Series: Alaska Packrafters.” Discover the beginnings of packrafting in Alaska, share stories, and answer questions. The program celebrates Alaska incubators and trailblazers in the outdoor world.

In addition and currently on view through February 15, 2026, the exhibition, “Roman Dial: Crossings” showcases images, which record changing landscapes, equipment, and approaches to outdoor travel, and commemorate some of Alaska’s most well-known characters in the mountaineering and backcountry world.

Wilderness explorer Roman Dial has been traversing Alaska’s peaks, tundra, and rivers since the 1970s, documenting his hiking, bicycling, boating, skiing, and ice-skating adventures through photographs.

MARIETTA, GA (PNAN) – On the agenda, another new exhibition at the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, opens Saturday, September 20, 2025, “History Lessons” by Ahmad Hassan Taylor, an Atlanta-based visual artist and also known “The Atlanta Illustrator” is a storyteller. His highly recognizable work, especially portrait paintings, challenge conventional narratives within art history.

The artist says, “My heritage is the main influence for this body of work, as I come from a long line of creatives and educators that have positively contributed to this narrative. Though many prominent portraitures throughout history are well-known to the public, I could not think of any that looked quite like me.” Visitors will find out during an Opening Reception on Sunday, September 21, from 1:00-3:00 pm. He went on to say, “I often wonder what will happen to our language, history, and culture as we adapt to technology and the persistent flux within our world. My goal is to help alleviate this potential loss of information by creating thoughtful pieces of artwork that educate the world about these influencers of positive change.”

For more information, call 770.528.1444 or see: https://mariettacobbartmuseum.org. Editor’s Note: On Sunday, December 14, 2025, from 2:00-4:00 pm, there will be an Artist Talk.

If you love art but have a hard time deciding which media you are most comfortable with, choose them all! There is nothing wrong with multi-tasking your skills. Tom Emerine is a perfect example of how you can paint with watercolors and oil, or create functional ceramics. Bringing out the best in nature with icy clarity or feeling the mood of a child at play make Emerine’s watercolors jump to life.

Tom has always had an active imagination. The mind can take you to unknown heights in what is real and what is felt. Art gives you the opportunity to materialize these thoughts and to share with the world. Tom sells his fine works of art at art fairs, consignment stores and online.

“All that stirs within me has danced in the hearts of those who have gone before me. With the work of my hands, may I honor them and the One who is forever faithful.” Thomas M. Emerine

Emerine has been a high school art teacher at Van Wert High School for over 20 years. His goal of teaching others how to dream and materialize anything has always been first and foremost. The interaction with people stimulates his mind and brings out his playful nature.

Graduating from Bowling Green State University with a bachelor’s degree, he gives credit to the magnificent instructors for giving him the zeal to move forward with art. He went on to earn his master’s degree at Bluffton College.

While teaching was an inspiration, Tom loved to create. In 2007, he opened a studio where the best of both worlds could be realized. Here he draws, paints and weaves clay into vessels of beauty. The outlet for his imagination overload is fulfilled as he works non-stop for hours. Time becomes secondary to his love in bringing a magical transformation from mind to hands.

     Many creations have earned awards through juried art competitions. These include the William Nunnamaker Award at the Findlay Art League, 1^st Place and Best of Show at the Delphos Art Guild and 1^st Place award at the Gateway Arts Council in Sidney, Ohio. However, the awards do not mean as much to Emerine as do the memories made with those that share his creative nature.

For an itinerary of upcoming presentations or call to make an appointment to see his lively studio, see: www.raspberrywoods.com. Filled with landscape paintings, wildlife drawings and ceramic pieces; your mind will be opened to the various medias available for your personal calling.

We all appreciate vivid photographs that capture a gap in time when an incredible moment can never be relived. It is not just the picture that is burned in our memory, but a feeling that is generated within that fleeting instant. Perhaps this is why we find the work of exceptional realism artists so profound.

     Christopher Leeper grew up in Western Pennsylvania where warm spring evenings were filled with natural aromas, sounds of nature and nighttime lights that invoked a rather nervous, restless feeling. Instead of throwing these memories aside for the glamour of city skyscrapers and seeking new freedoms, Christopher grabbed his chance of keeping his memories alive.

Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors

Leeper is a gifted realist artist that works in all mediums and has never lost sight of those tender moments. He graduated from Youngstown State University in 1988 with a BFA degree in graphic design and has focused on landscapes, flowers and people of today and yesterday. Nature does not change and this provides Leeper with the perfect background to draw an audience. Whether it is a snow covered wooded path or a narrow road leading into a small forgotten town, he is able to capture the reality that we all want to seize and remember.

During his 40-year career as an artist, Christopher has illustrated four children’s books for the Smithsonian and the African Wildlife Foundation. In addition, he has been featured in Artist’s Magazine, Watercolor Magic, and PleinAir magazine.  He is a member of the adjunct faculty in the Department of Art at Youngstown State University, a member of the Oil Painters of America, Ohio Plein Air Society and past president of the Ohio Watercolor Society. Today he resides in Canfield, Ohio.

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Leeper continues painting and entering juried competitions, but his real love is focused around sharing his abilities with others. A popular instructor, he teaches numerous workshops each year as well as being a member of the adjunct faculty in the Department of Art at Youngstown State University.  If you have ever felt passionate about learning about realism painting, Leeper conducts workshops and offers classes on how to get started.

“Realism in Watermedia” by artist-author Leeper, combines fantastic, realistic art and specific teaching in mixed media, which will lead you through popular style with unique, easy-to-follow instruction. You will uncover a new range of creative possibilities for your realistic paintings by tapping into the transformative power of mixed Watermedia: watercolors, gouache, acrylics, colored pencil and pastels.

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In his book, which is beautifully illustrated with step-by-step demonstrations, Leeper details how to effectively use each medium. He covers common challenges in an easy problem/solution format and uses before-and-after comparisons to dramatically illustrate improvements.

     “I work with teens to adults and with beginning to advanced painters and tailor my instruction to the specific needs of the student. My instruction is about traditional, representational painting. I draw and paint along with students and offer advice on such things as materials, technique, color mixing, and design. Students can select the type of subjects that they want to paint. I also have a large library of art instruction books and magazines that are always available for extra inspiration.”

Additionally, if the student chooses and the weather allows, lessons can be done in plein air at locations like Mill Creek Park. Ten mini-demos and 3 full step-by-step demos throughout the book will gradually build readers’ skills. Look for this book on Amazon or contact him at: www.christopherleeper.com for information on other available classes, workshops and instructional materials.

Click link on below to view the digital print feature:

Portrait of Christopher Leeper-A profoundness in realism

CHICO, CA (PNAN) – Currently on view and recently opened at the Museum of Northern California (monca) are two exhibitions.

Titled “Life is Short, Art is Long – Dobbin von Puck” runs through Sunday, October 5, 2025. Dobbin von Puck, aka Dr. Robert Puckett, paints what he sees between his ears. Artist von Puck views his paintings as colorful poems stuffed in a bottle and thrown into the sea of time. If retrieved someday, they must speak for themselves, tell their own story.

The dual exhibition highlights the subtle and the striking, the personal and the political—work that reaches beyond the surface to tell us something you want us to hear. Titled, “Don’t Kill the Messenger” on view through Sunday, October 12.

The artworks included in the exhibition carry a message: whispered truths, layered meanings, quiet resistance, or declarations that won’t be ignored. Pieces vary from vibrant and playful collage to metal sculpture and quilled paper art.

This is a ‘first come, first served’ entry, and the first 20 artists entering their work will be able to exhibit in the galleries.  Accepting works dates are: September 10, 11, 12, and 13.

For further information about this exhibit or other ArtSpace/Lima programs, call Sally Windle at 419.222.1721.

Through their abstract synergy, artists Ruth Koomler and Sarah Manco have collaborated on work that is expressive, compelling, and insightful.  Their individual styles are uniquely strong, but complement each other by their creation using a layered approach with works displaying energy, passion, and movement.

For more information, see: https://www.ruthkoomlerart.com, 260.414.4948, 1107 Broadway Street. Per website, it lists the current artists are: Marti Osnowitz, Mary Weiss, Kathy Funderburg, Tammy Hyndman, Adam Boyle, Therese Cook, Heidi Malott, Jan McMurtry Arnold, Joel Fremion, Sue Davis, Art Farm, Jake Patten, Kristie Koomler, Elizabeth Wamsley, Sally Priscilla Lytle, Steve Makowski, Norbert Ploetz, Michael Poorman, Joan Riemer, Tom Sherbondy, Bill Shewman, Mary Ellen Taylor, Sam Parker

Steve Vachon, Ann Vreeland, Lisa Coy, Terry Pulley, Ruth Koomler, and Hilarie Couture.

WAPAKONETA, OH (NWPR) – Scheduled to open on Wednesday, September 10 with an Opening Reception on Thursday, September 11 beginning at 6:00 pm and award announced at 6:30 pm, “Harvest Of Imagination” is a juried art exhibit held at the Riverside Art Center.

HARTFORD IN (NWPR) – The 2025 Annual Juried Art Show held at the Blackford County Arts Center is celebrating another successful season. Over fifty talented artists entered for a chance to gain recognition and awards.

Voting for the People’s Choice Award is ongoing until September 11. The gallery features artist’s works in various media from watercolor, charcoal, oil acrylic, and fabric.

Since opening in January 2015, the extended location of Arts Place in Portland, Indiana, has been growing rapidly. Found at 111 W. Washington Street, there are also classes available. Contact bcac@myartsplace.org for more information.

WATER MILL, NY (PNAN) – Going on view at the Parrish Art Museum Saturday, September 13, 2025, will be an exhibition, “Endless Limits: The Work of James Howell, 1962–2014” is the first career retrospective of the artist and the first time his work will be shown on Long Island, a region that profoundly shaped his practice. The Exhibition Opening Talk is set for Friday, September 12, from 7:00-8:00 pm in the Lichtenstein Theater. The show runs through February 8, 2026.

“James Howell’s work offers a quiet intensity that rewards close looking,” said Mónica Ramírez-Montagut, Executive Director of the Parrish Art Museum. “His disciplined, tonal investigations speak deeply to the artistic and natural environment of the East End and the timeless pursuit of the infinite and the transcendental in art. I am excited for our visitors to learn more about this complex and inspiring artist.”

This retrospective will be the first to explore Howell’s gradual path to his later body of work, revealing the artist’s lifelong inquiry into the effects of color, light, and compositional balance. “We wanted to be able to show the evolution of Howell’s approach over the course of his fifty-year career, from figurative painting into formless abstraction,” explained Scout Hutchinson, Associate Curator of Exhibitions.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue co-published with Hatje Cantz, featuring new scholarship on Howell’s art and working methods with contributions by Kaitlin Halloran, Scout Hutchinson, Jason Rosenfeld, PhD, and Hiroshi Sugimoto. A feature-length documentary, “Thoughts of Infinity” (2024), by acclaimed filmmaker Halina Dyrschka, will also be screened at the Museum during the exhibition’s run, offering further insight into Howell’s artistic and philosophical world.

For more details on will ‘Endless Limits’ and its companion exhibit, “Time Exposed: Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Seascapes” see: https://parrishart.org/upcoming-exhibitions

VAN WERT COUNTY, OH (PNAN) – Wisdom of Nana via Gebo Passage is a captivating novel that intertwines family, faith, cultural heritage, and career against the backdrop of political upheavals, wars, and timeless romance. ​ Written by the Editor and Founder of the Art-to-Art Palette Journal, Ben Rayman, this richly layered story explores the lives of the Grabowsky-Cohan-Cohen-Smith families of French, Jewish, Dutch, German, and Irish origins and their interconnected journeys across continents and generations. ​ With vivid storytelling and award-winning artworks by Pat Rayman, the book is a visual and literary masterpiece that celebrates resilience, love, and the enduring bonds of family.

The novel’s intricate narrative, paired with nearly 30 of Pat’s stunning watercolors, acrylics, pen and inks, and photography, creates an immersive experience that bridges the past, present, and future. The author has chosen novel’s official designated release date to be May 23, 2025 by Art-to-ArtPaletteBooks, marks 50^th wedding anniversary of this hardcover edition is a testament to their shared creative legacy.

As readers delve into the lives of unforgettable characters like Tirone Smith, Samantha McLaughlin-Hatcher, Carol Ann Stone, Benjamin Grabowsky, and Jackie Coleman, among nearly a 100 cast of characters, they’ll uncover themes of hope, destiny, and the power of human connection.

With a sequel in development and the potential of film adaptation, Wisdom of Nana via Gebo Passage promises to be more than just a book—it’s the beginning of a timeless saga. Perfect for lovers of historical fiction, family dramas, art enthusiasts, and collectors, this novel is a celebration of storytelling at its finest.

From the cover to cover, this 320 page 6 x 9 inch hardcover bound book is also designed with special touches of inspiration that speaks to the readers woven among its 11 with 14 subchapters. In addition, it includes a few chosen author’s Portraits of Life short stories like:

In the poignant short story “Your Deal,” Rayman artfully intertwines heartfelt nostalgia and true-life lessons as he reflects on the transformative connection between two men bound by family ties. Set against the backdrop of annual gatherings, card games, and harrowing goodbyes, this story captures the essence of a brotherly bond that transcends generations. At the heart of this warm narrative lies a testament to resilience and the power of connection, as the author navigates the juxtaposition of joy and loss amid hidden struggles. With his prose shimmering with tender authenticity, he paints a portrait of love, friendship, and the bittersweet nature of life’s fleeting moments.

In “My Seductress Southern Belle,” discover the heartwarming tale of a chance encounter that unfolds on a frosty morning, where one man’s empathy transforms into a lifelong bond with a stray cat named Samantha Jo. This enchanting narrative draws readers into the author’s profound love for animals, portraying the deep connections that can blossom when we open our hearts to those in need. With vivid imagery and emotional storytelling, this piece captures the essence of compassion, reminding us that friendship knows no boundaries.

Step into the vibrant streets of New York City with “My Fearless Bro-by-Law,” a captivating blend of fiction and personal reflection. Join the narrator on a whirlwind tour led by the larger-than-life Roody, whose infectious spirit and charm bring laughter and nostalgia to every corner.  This delightful story captures the essence of family bonds, urban adventure, and the remarkable contrasts of life in the city that never sleeps. As humor intertwines with meaningful insights, you’ll find yourself celebrating the unexpected moments that shape our journeys.

“Head West, Young Lass” is a celebration of love, ambitions, and the art of living boldly—a poignant reminder that sometimes, taking a leap into the unknown can lead to the most remarkable journeys of all. Ben Rayman’s narrative interweaves the highs and lows of their shared lives, richly detailing how Patricia’s passion transcended geographical boundaries and societal expectations. From founding the acclaimed “Art-to-Art: Building Friendships Through Art” program to being honored by many for her invaluable contributions, Pat’s story reveals a life steeped in dedication, creativity, and the mission to uplift others—especially those in need.

Wisdom content pages

Note: ‘Wisdom’ is  available on Amazon, B&N and other global platforms.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Wisdom%20of%20Nana%20via%20Gebo%20Passage

Now, close your eyes and picture him, perhaps a thoughtful young man with a thirst for knowledge, his mind ignited by the very words Francis Scott Key penned. Could it be, my dear listener, that the spirit of that powerful line, that bold declaration of freedom and courage, settled upon Charles Barnes like a blessing?

Could it be that the “land of the free” whispered to him of the freedom of thought, the freedom to learn, and the freedom to build something of his own? And could it be that the “home of the brave” instilled in him the courage to step out, to take a leap of faith, and to open that first humble bookstore in Wheaton, Illinois?

See him there, surrounded by the scent of paper and ink, a beacon of knowledge in a growing community. Each book, a door to a new world, a testament to the freedom of ideas. This wasn’t just a business; it was a sanctuary for the brave souls eager to explore the vast landscapes of human thought. And in this sanctuary, a legacy began to bloom.

As the years unfolded, the spirit of that initial inspiration, perhaps a silent guide, flowed through the generations. The names changed – C.M. Barnes, C.M. Barnes-Wilcox, Follett Corporation – but the core remained: a dedication to the dissemination of knowledge, a commitment to serving the brave minds of America.

Then, consider William, the third son. Was he merely following a path laid out for him? Or was he, too, touched by the same spiritual current that had guided his father? Could it be that the very essence of “the land of the free and the home of the brave” resonated within him, urging him to expand, to reach further?

Imagine him, feeling the pulse of New York City, a metropolis where ideas collided and dreams took flight. Was it simply ambition that led him to G. Clifford Noble? Or was it a deeper calling, a spiritual nudge, to create something truly monumental, a “World’s Largest Bookstore” – a physical manifestation of the boundless potential of a free people to learn and grow?

Picture that grand space on Fifth Avenue, not just a building filled with books, but a temple of knowledge, a testament to the enduring power of the written word in a brave and free land.

And today, as Barnes and Noble stands as the #1 book retailer, serving communities across the nation, is it simply a successful corporation? Or is it, in a spiritual sense, the continuation of that initial spark, that inspiration born from the very heart of America’s founding ideals?

Each bookstore, a local outpost of that original vision, a place where individuals can exercise their freedom to learn, to explore, and to become the brave souls who shape the future.

So, yes, my friend, let us consider this possibility. Let us see beyond the brick and mortar, the balance sheets and market shares. Let us embrace the idea that Charles Barnes, perhaps unknowingly, was touched by the spiritual power of Francis Scott Key’s words.

Let us believe that the legacy he built, the businesses that evolved, were not just driven by commerce, but by a deeper current of inspiration, a dedication to the ideals of a free and brave nation, a nation that finds its strength and its future within the pages of a book.

And in this very spirit, we find a new voice, a new chapter unfolding in the grand narrative of human experience. Consider the work of Ben Rayman’s captivating novel, “Wisdom of Nana via Gebo Passage,” we see a reflection of that same dedication to preserving and sharing the richness of life.

Just as Barnes and Noble provides a home for countless stories, Rayman’s novel offers a vibrant tapestry woven with the threads of family, faith, career, and cultural heritage. It is a story that bravely navigates the complexities of political upheaval and war, yet finds solace and strength in the timeless embrace of romance and the enduring bonds of family.

Much like the brave souls who sought knowledge in Charles Barnes’s first bookstore, the characters in this novel – the Grabowsky-Cohan-Cohen-Smith families – embark on courageous journeys across continents and generations, their lives a testament to resilience and the human spirit.

And what makes this book truly special, truly a continuation of that spiritual connection to the power of words and art? It is the intertwining of vivid storytelling, those personal touches of famous quotes by others that unfolds each chapter with the award-winning artworks of Pat Rayman.

Imagine, just as the words of Key might have ignited a spark in Charles Barnes, these stunning watercolors, acrylics, pen and inks, and photography in “Wisdom of Nana via Gebo Passage” offer a visual language that speaks to the soul, bridging the past, present, and future in a breathtaking dance of literary and visual art.

This hardcover edition, a testament to a shared creative legacy, is more than just a book; it’s an immersive experience, a spiritual journey through the lives of unforgettable characters like Tirone Smith, Samantha McLaughlin-Hatcher, Carol Ann Stone, Benjamin Grabowsky, and Jackie Coleman.

Through their triumphs and trials, we uncover themes of hope, destiny, and the profound power of human connection – themes that resonate with the very essence of what it means to be human, to be brave, and to be free to explore the depths of our own stories.

Within the very design of this book, we find echoes of the personal, the intimate, the stories that shape us. Short stories like “Your Deal,” where heartfelt nostalgia and true-life lessons are artfully intertwined, capturing the essence of a brotherly bond that transcends generations.

     “My Seductress Southern Belle,” a heartwarming tale of empathy transforming into a lifelong bond with a stray cat, illustrating the deep connections that blossom when we open our hearts.

     “My Fearless Bro-by-Law,” a captivating blend of fiction and personal reflection, celebrating family bonds and urban adventure.

And “Head West, Young Lass,” a celebration of love, ambitions, and the art of living boldly, a poignant reminder that taking a leap into the unknown can lead to remarkable journeys.

These are like individual flames, each illuminating a facet of life, love, and the unexpected moments that define our journeys. They are testaments to the resilience, compassion, and vibrant spirit that reside within us all.

So, as we consider the vastness of Barnes and Noble, a haven for countless tales, let us also acknowledge the emergence of stories like “Wisdom of Nana via Gebo Passage.” It is a book that not only entertains but also nourishes the spirit, reminding us of the enduring power of family, the beauty of art, and the bravery it takes to navigate the complexities of life.

It is a new voice adding to the grand chorus of human experience, a testament to the ongoing legacy of storytelling in a world that still cherishes the freedom to learn, to connect, and to be truly, bravely, ourselves.

This book, in its own way, is a new chapter in the spiritual journey that began with whispers of freedom and courage, a journey that continues to unfold within the pages of every book we read.

(Epilogue excerpted) “…the reunion between Benjamin and Jackie, now sealed by fate, was the very partnership his grandmother had predicted—a bond that would carry their family into new generations, a union blessed by the wisdom of the past…” will encompass an expansion of “…the love between them would plant seeds of hope for the future, growing into a legacy that would outlast even the shadows that sought to destroy them…” But it doesn’t end with them.

As I See It by Ben Rayman

Amid the upheavals of the 20th century, countless families clung to their traditions—passing down stories, prayers, and cultural rituals that anchored them in faith and hope. Whether it was lighting Shabbat candles, whispering prayers in secret, or preserving native customs, these acts kept their heritage alive through generations.

Their quest for safety and a better life was fueled by faith—faith in family, in their culture, and in a future beyond adversity. Their resilience became the foundation of new lives, new communities, and new hopes.

Many young men and women left their homelands at a tender age to escape violence and oppression. Their journeys were fraught with danger—crossing turbulent seas, navigating unfamiliar lands, and starting anew amid uncertainty. Yet, through it all, they grasped for the brass rings of opportunity, love, and stability.

Their stories are woven with threads of romance, sacrifice, and perseverance—testaments that even in the darkest times, hope can blossom anew.

Today, we honor those who fled their homes, carrying their faith and heritage across continents. Their courage reminds us that, amid political chaos and war, the human spirit’s resilience, guided by faith and love, can forge a brighter future.

Their stories inspire us to cherish our roots, embrace diversity, and believe in the power of hope—knowing that our heritage is the foundation upon which we build tomorrow.

Explore the inspiring stories of families who crossed oceans and continents, holding onto their faith and culture. Discover how their resilience continues to shape our shared human story.

Order today from Lulu Press at: https://www.lulu.com/shop/ben-rayman-and-patricia-rayman/wisdom-of-nana-via-gebo-passage-the-novel/hardcover/product-rm6p788.html?q=Wisdom+of+Nana+via+Gebo+Passage&page=1&pageSize=4

OR in the Palette & Prose Shop.

RALEIGH, NC (PNAN) – Going on view Saturday, September 20, 2025 at the North Carolina Museum of Art is the exhibition, “The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt” which is co-curated by Abigail Rapoport, curator of Judaica at the Jewish Museum, and Michele L. Frederick, curator of European art at the NCMA.

The exhibition showcases the titular biblical story’s impact on the visual and popular culture of 17th-century Holland through more than 120 paintings, prints, drawings, decorative art and ceremonial objects from collections across the world that transformed Queen Esther into a new heroine for a new century.

In the age of Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), the biblical Book of Esther was a key source of inspiration for diverse communities in Holland, both Jewish and Christian. Traditionally, the Esther story is read annually on the Jewish holiday of Purim. For immigrant Jewish communities living with new freedom in more tolerant Amsterdam, celebrating Purim—notably through finely produced.

Esther scrolls and theater productions became meaningful expressions of Jewish culture. For the Dutch, Queen Esther’s heroism came to represent their emerging nation’s identity. Rembrandt and his contemporaries depicted essential scenes of Esther’s story in paintings, prints, drawings, and decorative arts. This exhibition gives expression to this full range of the Book of Esther’s popularity and meaning in Rembrandt’s time.

“We are proud to present an exhibition that continues our longstanding relationship with the Jewish Museum, which has supported our Judaic galleries with several key loans from their collection since 2010,” said NCMA Director Valerie Hillings.

‘The Book of Esther’ makes stops at its two co-organizing institutions before a final run at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston in August 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3vIC-sVrzc&t=63s

https://www.lulu.com/shop/ben-rayman-and-patricia-rayman/wisdom-of-nana-via-gebo-passage-the-novel/hardcover/product-rm6p788.html?q=Wisdom+of+Nana+via+Gebo+Passage&page=1&pageSize=4

     The annual event brings together sports fans and art aficionados for a colorful night at the ballpark. Experience the performing artist Nan-Ana open the game by performing the Star-Spangled Banner.

The players will be outfitted in one-of-a-kind jerseys designed by local artist Jackie Clark, which will be auctioned off as keepsakes.  “We are delighted to continue connecting the arts and the sports communities through a positive and continued partnership with the Frederick Keys,” said Louise Kennelly, Executive Director of the Frederick Arts Council.

There also will be a silent auction of souvenir baseballs decorated by the Frederick Keys players, art-themed activities around the stadium for young fans to enjoy along with several plein air artists stationed throughout. All revenue from the baseball and jersey auctions will go to the Frederick Arts Council to support arts programming throughout the community.

For more information, call the box office at 301.815.9939 or at https://www.milb.com/frederick.

About

The Frederick Arts Council invests in a vibrant and cohesive arts community for the people of Frederick County. The organization fosters an environment where the arts flourish in the community through grants and scholarships, arts advocacy, and links to essential resources. FAC is responsible for large-scale programming such as Sky Stage, Frederick Festival of the Arts, Art in the Park, the Public Art Initiative, and Frederick County’s Arts in Education grants. For more information about the Frederick Arts Council, visit www.frederickartscouncil.org.

Monet, the son of a grocer, was born in Paris and grew up in Le Havre.  In 1856 he met Eugene Boudin, who introduced him to painting from nature.  When Monet worked in the studio of Charles Gleyre he met Pierre-Auguste Renoir and others who, like Monet, would become highly influential Impressionists.  He enjoyed going on outdoor painting expeditions with Edouard Manet, and it is enjoyable to compare paintings done by Monet and Manet of the same scenes.  You can see that each artist worked from a slightly different viewpoint, and with different styles.

Monet did many series of paintings showing the different effects of light and weather on the same subject.  Between January and March of 1877, he painted twelve pictures of the station.  In the fourth Impressionist exhibit, which opened in April of that year, he exhibited seven of these railway station paintings.

The railway station, at that time, was probably the single most powerful symbol of the importance of industrialization to modern man.  Because of this, many artists were using railroads, stations, and trains as subject matter, each presenting these things in an entirely different way.  The artist Turner, for example, saw the train as a powerful force, a dark and menacing creature roaring unfeelingly thru nature.  Edouard Manet, in his painting “The Railway,†chose to hide the train in a cloud of steam so he could depict a more human scene.

But Monet’s view of the railway station is very different from either of these interpretations.  In this particular painting — one of four surviving canvases representing the interior of the station — he painted the train as a delicate black shape contained in the airy web of the station’s ironwork.  Monet is oncerned with light and atmosphere, just as he would have been in painting a landscape of water and trees.  But here the light is given a special character by the presence of smoke and steam filtering the sunlight.

In fact, his views of the Gare St-Lazare are very much landscapes, but they are interior landscapes.  The smoke from the engines creates the same effect as clouds in the sky.  Monet’s quick, sure brushstrokes indicate the gleaming engines and the crowd of passengers on the platform.

As a group, the twelve Gare St-Lazare canvases were the last of Monet’s “modern-life†subjects.  After completing these, he turned completely to painting the natural landscape.

I would like to introduce you to a B&B, one that continues to capture my heart and soul the minute I set foot into this historical home. It is also a place where my sister Pat and I wholeheartedly choose as our annual retreat under the sun in Maine, The Holbrook House in Bar Harbor – www.holbrookhouse.com  

     Aside from its architectural appeal, there are the innkeepers, Eric and Michelle Allvin who not only welcomes you to their home, but also its very large front porch just wants you to curl up to read, relax and enjoy one of the many freshly-made beverages.

     You will certainly take pleasure in the splendid hot breakfasts which are served and a feast also for one’s eyes – a double culinary delight. If not for the latter, there is the afternoon refreshments, those that give you a pick-me-up after a busy day.

     It doesn’t take long to feel part of this 1876 Victorian abode, including the formulation of a friendship with Eric and Michelle because of their humble, kind and gracious personalities.

     There are plenty of vacationing sights within a mile such as Acadia National Park and you can also take in the historical town.

     With the above said, we are booked for 2013 and our thoughts will stay focused on seeing our friends and basting in the richness of this area once again.

Review by Janet Ravas 

Millett’s approach to textiles is literally multi-layered, employing traditional quilting techniques to create works that combine original patterns, a bright palette, and visual nods to queer iconography and activism.

“Iowa Artists 2025: Ben Millett” is a timely and groundbreaking entry into the Art Center’s decades-long series presenting the best of Iowa-made art, and the first solo show by a quilt maker in the museum’s history. Discover more about the exhibition and Millett’s process and practice.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI (AAPNW) – Opening in the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park on Friday, October 24, 2025, “Jaume Plensa: A New Humanism” explores Plensa’s career-long engagement with themes common to our shared humanity such as dreams, desire, justice and mortality.

While Plensa’s oeuvre is marked by diversity in format and media, the human condition remains the primary subject of his art, which traverses the personal and collective, individual and universal. Featuring both monumental and intimate-scaled sculptures and select two-dimensional works that span three decades, this is the first retrospective of this internationally acclaimed artist in the United States.

For more information, call 888.957.12580 or see: www.meijergardens.org. Exhibit remains on view through March 15, 2026.

LIDGERWOOD, ND (PNAN) – North Dakota artists Rick and Connie Whittier, known nationally for their hand-carved and painted spearfish decoys, will be featured in a landmark exhibition titled “State Fairs: Growing American Craft” at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s branch location for contemporary craft in Washington, D.C. The exhibition will be on view August 22, 2025 through September 7, 2026.

Coinciding with the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States, the exhibition surveys American state fairs’ extraordinary and unconventional crafts from the nineteenth century to the present. The Whittiers were selected to represent North Dakota for their masterful artistry and deep-rooted connection to regional traditions of fishing and woodcarving.

The exhibition will feature a sweeping installation of 108 spearfish decoys created by the Whittiers, including small, medium, and large carvings of 12 fish species native to North Dakota and surrounding waters. Their intricate representations include bluegill, pumpkinseed, walleye, northern pike, paddlefish, white sturgeon, rainbow trout, and more—each rendered with extraordinary detail and craftsmanship.

“Rick, along with his wife Connie who works alongside him, are among the nation’s most talented, prodigious, and recognized figures in one of the oldest folk traditions in the country – spearfish decoy carving and painting with roots at least 3,000 years old,” said North Dakota State Folklorist Troyd Geist. “With their work sought after for individual collections around the world and featured in esteemed organizations like the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and, now, the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery – we are deeply grateful for their dedication and contributions to our state, country, and this long-held tradition.”

The Whittiers will visit Washington, D.C. in 2026 to lead public presentations and hands-on workshops, sharing their process and passion with museum visitors from around the world. This opportunity places the Whittiers’ work—and North Dakota folk art—on the national stage in one of the country’s most prominent art institutions.

Indigenous to Puerto Rico, this 300-year-old sculptural art form embodies the religious, multi-ethnic, and multicultural composition of the Puerto Rican people. Traditionally made from tree branches or roots, these small portrayals of Catholic saints were made by rural farmers to express their faith and give thanks for a divine blessing. From this humble beginning, today’s versions are the quintessential expression of Puerto Rican cultural pride and national identity.

During the Colonial Period, the Santos de Palo became essential elements of rural worship, as the isolated peasant population crafted their own holy figures due to a lack of access to priests and religious sculptures. Carved from local woods, particularly Spanish cedar, these small yet deeply symbolic artworks adorned humble home altars, embodying the faith and resilience of Puerto Rico’s population.

The Santos de Palo tradition evolved over centuries, incorporating artistic innovations influenced by Taíno and African traditions, as well as the unique beliefs and practices of Puerto Rico’s folk Catholicism. Despite the hardships faced by the carvers, who often worked as hard-scrabble farmers, the Santos de Palo emerged as a powerful expression of Puerto Rican cultural heritage, symbolizing the nation’s rich blend of Hispanic, Taíno/Carib, and African influences.

Rising to prominence in the 1990s, Saville has played a leading role in reinvigorating figurative painting. Her works reveal a deep awareness of art history and the ways in which the body has been represented over time and across cultures. While inspired by great artists, like Michelangelo and Rembrandt, and influenced by modern masters like Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud, Saville is also intrigued by the work of abstract artists, including Willem de Kooning and Cy Twombly.

Saville’s early figurative representations were captivating in their depictions of heads and bodies. The exhibition reunites some of the paintings the artist created while still at the Glasgow School of Art, including ground-breaking works that launched her into the spotlight. The bold and intense aesthetic of these early paintings prefigures Saville’s later work and her ongoing interest in flesh and anatomy.

“We are honored that the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth will be the exclusive U.S. venue for Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Painting, giving our community and visitors to Fort Worth a remarkable opportunity to experience and learn from the breadth of this celebrated artist’s work,” said Halona Norton-Westbrook, Ph.D, Director of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

Highlighting key artworks, from monumental oil paintings to smaller-scale charcoal drawings, the exhibited works reveal the inventiveness of Saville’s practice. This survey was created in close collaboration with the artist to explore her deep passion for the painting process, including drawing as a cornerstone.

Saville’s painted forms in the exhibit includes a number of drawings that are intimate and almost sculptural in appearance. Using charcoal, pastel, and pencil, the medium of drawing has remained important to Saville’s practice, providing an important outlet for experimentation.

In addition, the exhibit concludes with the artist’s most recent series of new portraits that illustrate the evolution in her presentations of flesh. While her distinct style is maintained, these works fall between the figurative and the abstract. Rendered in saturated tones, for Saville, these paintings make connections between the physical and virtual in our contemporary age.

The exhibition is accompanied by a comprehensive publication of the same name, which is available at online at www.shop.themodern.org.

About

Jenny Saville was born in 1970 in Cambridge, England. She received her B.A. Honors Fine Art from Glasgow School of Art, Scotland before being represented by Gagosian in 1997. Saville is known for her depictions of the human form, which transcend the boundaries of both classical figuration and modern abstraction. Saville has been credited with originating a new and challenging method of depicting the figure in her work by imbuing her monumental paintings with a sculptural yet elusive dimensionality that verges on the abstract. Saville’s works are featured in several public collections, including the Tate, London; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Broad, Los Angeles; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The Morgan Library & Museum, New York; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; and The Long Museum, Shanghai. In 2007, Saville was elected a Royal Academician, Royal Academy of Arts, London.

     During her extended tenure as Poet Laureate, Dr. Lajimodiere plans to expand her outreach across the state. “I’m so excited for the coming year,” she said. “I plan on applying for the American Academy of Poet Laureate Fellowships. My goal is to travel to all four ND reservations and work with Native students to develop a poetry anthology.” If awarded the fellowship, she hopes to include tribal language translations of student work by engaging fluent language speakers.

Her creative work continues to thrive. Dr. Lajimodiere is currently editing a middle grade novel with Scholastic, loosely based on her father’s boarding school experiences, and preparing a new poetry collection for publication. She is also collaborating with a Manhattan-based editor at Lee & Low Books on a forthcoming children’s book.

About

An enrolled citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in Belcourt, North Dakota, Dr. Lajimodiere is an accomplished poet, children’s book author, academic, and cultural artist. She served for decades as a teacher, principal, and professor, and is a retired associate professor from the Education Leadership program at North Dakota State University. Her published works include multiple poetry collections, the award-winning Stringing Rosaries: The History, The Unforgivable, The Healing of Northern Plains Boarding School Survivors, and the children’s book Josie Dances.

PORTLAND, ME (PNAN) – Taking place on Saturday, August 23, 2025, from 10:00 to 5:00 pm in the heart of Portland’s Arts District, the “10^th Annual Portland Fine Craft Show” is an outdoor tradition and a cornerstone of Maine’s vibrant art scene, bringing together the artists and appreciative craft enthusiasts from across the region.

     “The Portland Fine Craft Show has grown over the past decade into one of the most anticipated craft events in the region,” said Simonne Feeney, Show Director. “It’s a true celebration of the skill, creativity, and dedication of craft artists, and a chance for the public to connect directly with those behind the work.”

This year features the work of over 100 juried fine craft artists from Maine and the greater Northeast. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore and purchase one-of-a-kind pieces in a wide array of media, including basketry, ceramics, decorative and wearable fiber, furniture, glass, jewelry, leather, metal, mixed media, paper, printmaking, stone, and wood.

Editor’s note: The 2025 sponsors, foundations and partners are: Artscope Magazine, Chilton Furniture, Guild Fine Craft Shows, Cyber Cop, Decor Maine, Maine Gallery + Studio Guide, Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association, Portland Pottery, Renewal by Andersen, Running With Scissors Art Studios, Saco Biddeford Savings, Shaw Jewelry, The Sock Shack, and West End News.

PORTLAND, OR (PNAN) – Going on view Tuesday, August 26, 2025, “Storywork: The Prints of Marie Watt” showcases over 60 prints, sculptures, and textiles that highlight the artist’s career from 1996 to the present at Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU. The exhibition will be on view through December 6, 2025.

Storyteller Marie Watt born in 1967, in the Pacific Northwest, calls Portland her hometown for almost the last 30 years. As a member of Seneca Nation (Turtle Clan) with German-Scot ancestry, she tells stories that draw from Native and non-Native traditions: Greco-Roman myth, pop music and Pop art, Indigenous oral narratives, Star Wars and Star Trek. As a Klamath elder once told her: “My story changes when I know your story.”

Watt reminds us of stories told by her Seneca ancestors: How the world came to be. What we have to learn from animals; and Our ethical obligations to the planet, as well as to past and future generations.

She tells stories about humble, everyday materials and objects like blankets, quilts, corn husks, letters, ladders, and dream catchers that carry intimate meanings and memories. Over the course of her career, Watt has told these stories through prints. The stories the prints tell are personal, cultural, and universal, dealing with elemental themes including shelter, dreams, the earth, the sky, and the cosmos.

Since this exhibition first debuted in 2022, Watt’s repertoire of stories has continued to expand and grow. This exhibition at ‘Jordan’ will have the new work Watt has created in the past three years, including “Forest Shifts Light” (Sequoia, Crest, Canopy), 2025, a jingle cloud sculpture which was commissioned for this showing.

This American treasure became the Muscatine Art Center in 1965 when heirs, Mary Catherine McWhirter and Mary Musser Gilmore, donated the Laura Musser mansion to the City of Muscatine, which led to a fulfillment of the art center’s mission: “to collect, preserve, interpret and exhibit objects of historical and aesthetic importance for the benefit of present and future generations.”

The Center is many things to the community of Muscatine: Historic House Museum, Art Gallery and Local History Museum. The people of Muscatine have made 1314 Mulberry Avenue a gathering place for celebrating the area’s history, art and culture.

The Muscatine Art Center sits on several acres of grounds. One highlight is the 1929 Japanese Garden installed by Laura Musser. The garden occupies approximately ½-acre on the southeast side of the house and features ponds, streams, hills, stones, tress, and paths. Ornamental yews, stone pagodas, shrines, and statuary are original features.

Once the private home of a lumber heiress, the Laura Musser Museum features many distinctive architectural details of the Edwardian period. Built in 1908, this colonial revival mansion has 11 rooms that exhibit important collections of paintings, sculpture, Oriental carpets, and decorative arts. The adjoining Stanley Gallery hosts national, traveling art exhibitions. The Musser Mansion not only became a city treasure, but also a ‘monument’ to showcase the Arts in the community’s region.

Displayed in the period rooms are several collections. The first, the Laura Musser Collection, includes some important pieces of art. George Grey Barnard, who spent a portion of his adolescence in Muscatine and became a prominent sculpture and collector, created a bust of Laura Musser as a child. Her bust provided Barnard funding to study art in Paris. A second work of art, her portrait painted by Thomas Riss received the gold medal at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904.

The second collection is the Mississippi River Collection which includes portraits of local steamboat captains, a bird’s eye views of Iowa river towns and scenic paintings by Frederick Oakes Sylvester, Henry Lewis and Joachim Ferdinand Richardt, including a rare work by John Mix Stanley. All of these artists have Iowa stories and spent periods of time studying and recording the Mississippi River. The collection spans the entire length of the river and includes paintings, prints, maps, artifacts, sculpture and ephemera.

The third collection includes 39 works by artists such as Edgar Degas, Auguste Renoir, Marc Chagall, Vincent van Gogh, Camille Pissarro, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse that was gifted by Musser’s heirs.

In addition there are works by American Regionalists such as, Grant Wood, Marvin Cone, and others associated with the Stone City Colony are actively acquired as are works made by artists associated with the University of Iowa such as, Mauricio Lasansky and Virginia Meyers.

Two floors of the Stanley Gallery hosts changing exhibitions that rotate multiple times during the year, and lower level designated for studio instruction space.

For more information on his city’s crown jewel and programming, call 563.263.8282 or follow this link: https://www.muscatineartcenter.org/programs.

Featuring work in diverse materials, from marble to fabric, and made by artists from various cultural backgrounds, the exhibition invites viewers to reflect on vital questions in art history and human representation. Together these sculpture busts demonstrate the continued vitality of figural art as a means of addressing both timeless concerns and the most pressing issues of today.

     ‘Busted’ spotlights this ancient genre as transformed by artists in the 21st century. The exhibition offers diverse and engaging human representations by 16 exceptional artists: Elia Alba, Dean Allison, Radcliffe Bailey, Barry X. Ball, Sanford Biggers, Layo Bright, Michael Ferris Jr., Salvador Jiménez-Flores, Leonid Lerman, Sebastian Martorana, Paul McCarthy, Jonathan Monk, Jaume Plensa, Elise Siegel, Rose B. Simpson and Jessica Stoller. Together, their works bring us face-to-face with a rich array of human types and identities.

Throughout history, sculpted busts have served to commemorate and preserve the likeness of distinguished individuals, and to celebrate divinity or nobility. In recent years the bust format has experienced a revival among contemporary artists, as they’ve found it a compelling means to address issues tied to identity, mortality, power and history.

Upcoming programming include “Exhibition Explorations: Busted Exquisite Corpses” on Sunday, August 17, 2025 at 2:00 pm with a Meijer Gardens educator for an engaging exploration of the bust sculptures, followed by a collaborative Surrealist art game where participants contribute to a figure drawing one section at a time, without seeing what the previous person added, resulting in a fun and unexpected final product that’s perfect for all ages. Tap into your creative side as we bring these sculptures to life together!

     “The Psychology of Emotion Expression” on Sunday, September 7, 2025 at 2:00 pm with Dr. Wolfgang Friedlmeier, Professor of Developmental and Cross-Cultural Psychology at Grand Valley State University, for an engaging lecture on the psychology of emotion expressions. Dr. Friedlmeier will examine how facial expressions, feelings, and emotion regulation across cultures shape our interpretations of emotions, partly drawing from his research on how emotion socialization influences children’s emotional development in various cultures. Discover how these insights come to life in sculpture and reveal deeper truths about human emotion.

     Everyone born into this miraculous world brings with them a special talent.  Be it a voice so richly toned that birds stop singing in midair or hands that, with a light and soothing touch, coax otherwise wilted flowers to soar toward the sun.  Grasping your God-given skill can sometimes take a lifetime, ignoring the obvious hints, trying to be something that we’re not, only to return to our intended purpose, sometimes with very little time left.

     Larry Golba of Toledo, Ohio was born a natural artist, intelligent enough not to waste one precious day when his talent was revealed to him at a very early age.

     Somewhere around the third grade, Larry was drawn to landscapes, snow scenes in particular, fascinated by the breathtaking beauty that could be created on canvas.  His hands started moving.  By the age of twelve, he had earned the reputation as the class artist, drawing entertaining cartoon characters and even winning a drawing/coloring contest sponsored by the Toledo Blade.

     “I chose to attend Central Catholic High School because of the excellent Art program offered there. . . two hours of art class daily for four years,” recalls Golba.

     Next came four years at Bowling Green State University where the liberal art and art education classes were difficult and demanding.  Countless hours were spent learning to not only draw and paint using oil and watercolor mediums, but also sculpting, design, creating ceramics, jewelry and aesthetics.

     Larry took a teaching job at Bedford Junior High in Temperance, Michigan as an art teacher upon graduating, but continued his education at Eastern Michigan University, earning a Master of Art Degree in 1976.

     His work magically captures reality in the scene of “Lynn and Murphy” as if one could step right into the red and orange covered autumn woods and stroke the golden Irish sitter while dizzily inhaling the crispness of falling leaves.

     “On The Road to Story, Indiana” recently won the Reuben Counts Award at the 49th Annual June Art Exhibit at the Wassenberg Art Center in Van Wert, Ohio, a display of country as it is, and as it was, with weathered buildings hoarding past secrets and rolls of musky smelling rolls of hay celebrating the present.

     Golba met his mentors through books written by John Pike, Ted Kautzky, Elliot O’Hara, and Rex Brandt.  Artists such as Winshow Homer, John Singer Sargent and Andrew Wyeth provoked him into watercolor painting.

     In 1973, Larry began joining local art organizations and entering shows.  Joining the Toledo Artists Club helped lead him to his first award.  Other awards followed and in1974, he was introduced into the Northwestern Ohio Watercolor Society at the age of 25.  In 1975, Golba was named the Toledo Artist Club “Outstanding Painter,” and since has won roughly 60 awards in watercolor and oil painting, including two Grumbacher Gold Medals for Excellence in Painting, as well as a number of Firsts and Best in Shows.

     “Bushel Basket” was one of Larry’s paintings exhibited in the first Ohio Watercolor Society Exhibit in 1978 at the Canton Art Institute and the same piece was shown in the Toledo Area Artists Exhibit the following year at the Toledo Museum of Art.

     Golba is currently serving as President of the Northwestern Ohio Watercolor Society and a member of the Toledo Artists Club, The Toledo Tile Club, the second oldest art organization in the State of Ohio, the Monday Morning Painters, a local plein air group of oil, watercolor and pastel painters, and is listed in “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.”

     His love of the outdoors and joy of plein air painting while being able to enjoy both makes Larry feel exuberant.  “The atmosphere, the light and color, the sounds and smells of the outdoors are all things that can inspire and add something to a painting,” said Golba.  “Nature puts it all out there for you to be inspired and to translate onto paper or canvas.  I thank God for the opportunity to be able to enjoy His creations and feel lucky to just be able to paint those experiences in my own humble way.”  

     Retired after thirty years of teaching at Bedford Junior High School, Larry is anything but finished teaching.  He continues to hold painting classes in his home studio, the Toledo Artists Club and plein air groups in the summer and fall.  His wife and best friend, Lynn, is a Special Education teacher and manages the business aspects of exhibiting and selling Larry’s work.

     Together the Golbas have reared two children, both with artistic abilities.  Daughter Tara, a Valedictorian of Boston University in Mechanical Engineering, is currently working toward her Doctorate in French Literature at Yale University. Son Brad, a graduate of the University of Cincinnati with a Master of Architecture, works as an architect for Brand and Allen Architects in San Francisco.

     This world is truly made up of miraculous people, willing to present and share their wealth of abilities. Larry Golba is living proof that finding and utilizing your skill will ultimately be your reward, in more ways than one. “Not many other endeavors give me such a great feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. Artists are truly blessed,” he said of his lifetime of painting.

     For an appointment or more information about personally commissioned artwork or painting classes, please call 419.841.1988.

Originally print published, 2005-06 Fall-Winter Art-to-Art Palette Journal. Some timed related portions have been omitted and only selected works shown in this electronic republishing.

Imagine a ribbon of smooth, ADA-compliant pavement stretching across the countryside, following the historic Wabash Railroad Corridor—a corridor once bustling with trains and now poised to become a lifeline for pedestrians, cyclists, and adventurers. This trail isn’t just concrete and paint; it’s a promise of safety for families, a lifeline for Amish community members traveling on foot or bicycle, and an invitation for everyone to explore the natural splendor that makes LaGrange County special.

The story begins with a generous $5 million gift from the LaGrange County Community Foundation, a beacon of hope and collaboration. This investment will jumpstart the first chapters of the trail, spanning nearly 10 miles in and around Topeka, paving the way for a total project investment of nearly $18 million. Over five exciting phases, the Hawpatch Trail will unfurl, gradually transforming the landscape and connecting the dots between towns that have long been separated by narrow, unimproved roads and rocky paths.

But the vision doesn’t stop there. As the trail takes shape, it will seamlessly link to other regional gems like the Pumpkinvine Trail and the Fishing Line Trail—networks of scenic pathways that invite exploration and adventure. Imagine children, seniors, and outdoor enthusiasts embarking on journeys through fields, forests, and quaint towns, all safely separated from busy traffic, yet intimately connected through a shared love of discovery.

    This initiative is more than just construction; it’s a catalyst for community pride, health, and unity. It’s a testament to what can be achieved when residents, organizations, and local leaders work together with a shared hope for a brighter, safer future. As construction is set to begin in late 2026, the story of the Hawpatch Trail is just beginning—and everyone is invited to be a part of this historic chapter.

To make this dream a reality, support from the community is vital, turning this vision into a lasting legacy for generations to come. Donations may be made by mail: LaGrange County Community Foundation, 45 N. 250W, LaGrange, IN 46761 (write “Hawpatch Trail” in the memo line) or online at www.LCCF.net – select the ”Hawpatch Trail Fund.”

And so, the journey continues—one step, one mile, one community at a time—on the trail that will forever change LaGrange County’s story, because when we pave the way for safer, more accessible trails today, we’re opening doors to a healthier, more connected tomorrow.

ATHENS, GA (PNAN) – For the first time at the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia, art will be conserved in the galleries, in full view of the public. Joan Mitchell’s “Close” has been a popular work in the museum’s collection since it was acquired in 1974, just one year after its creation. This large, abstract expressionist work of art has inspired viewers for decades with its expressive, painterly style and layered complementary colors.

Like all paintings, “Close” has aged with time, leading to some cracking in its darker areas. This type of cracking is known as “traction crackle,” which occurs when thickly applied oil paints dry on the canvas. According to art conservator Larry Shutts, traction crackle would usually be stable, but the primer underneath the dark areas on the painting has absorbed extra pigment, making these areas unstable and susceptible to further damage. In celebration of the artist’s 100th birthday, the Joan Mitchell Foundation provided the museum with generous funds to hire Shutts to stabilize these areas.

Typically, conservation treatments take place in labs, but in this case museum visitors will be able to watch Shutts as he works in a viewable, open-access conservation lab created in the museum’s temporary exhibition space. Shutts will be available to answer any questions and speak to visitors as he cleans and restores “Close.” Conserving the work in the gallery gives visitors a rare live demonstration of art conservation, making the practice accessible to a broader audience and bolstering the museum’s educational programming.

For more related events see: https://georgiamuseum.org or call 706.542.4662. Note: In-gallery conservation will take place from August 9 to November 2. Shutts will be present in the museum at specific dates and times (Tuesdays and Thursdays, August 12 – September 4, 11 a.m. – noon and 2 – 4 p.m.), but visitors may observe his progress and learn about conservation at any time during the museum’s regular hours.

The future performances and dates are: CATALYST, Director’s Choice Series on November 7-8 at 7:30 pm in the Dee & Charles Wyly Theatre; Behind the Scenes, November 24-25 at 12:00 pm in DBDT Studios; Black on Black, December 5-6 at 6:30 pm in DBDT Studios; Espresso Nutcracker, December 13 at 7:00 pm in the Majestic Theatre; KALEIDOSCOPE, Cultural Awareness Series, February 13-15, 2026 at 3:00 & 7:30 pm in the Dee & Charles Wyly Theatre; Rising Excellence, April 17-18, 2026 at 7:30 pm in the Moody Performance Hall; and PRISMATIC, Spring Celebration Series, May 15-16, 2026 at 7:30 pm in the Dee & Charles Wyly Theatre.

“Metamorphosis examines the unstoppable forces of movement and expression as vulnerability becomes artistry, the familiar transforms into the unexpected, and dance reshapes our understanding of the world around us,” said Artistic Director, Richard A. Freeman Jr. “This season represents the collision of discovery and transformation that defines our artistic mission.”

This year also marks a milestone as the company celebrates 20 years of hosting DanceAfrica. The landmark celebration includes a full week of free community events, featuring an African dance class led by special guest artist SOLE Defined, a Washington, DC-based company that combines body percussion, tap dance and sand dance to create immersive performances with original musical orchestrations, sound and digital media techniques at DBDT Studios and the DanceAfrica Festival & Marketplace in Klyde Warren Park.

The season also showcases several notable works, including “Lost in Memory” by the award-winning dancer and choreographer of Turkish-descent, Nejla Yatkin (Dance Magazine’s 25 To Watch & 2023 Gugghenheim Fellow).

For more information, see: www.dbdt.com

     My parents were letting me develop my imagination.  I had to deal with the real world every time I went out of the house.  Drawing imaginary things gave me my own world to escape to. 

     This kind of imaginative drawing done by adult artists is known as “Fantasy Art.”  Fantasy Art is a variation of humanity’s long history of storytelling.  Every culture tells stories filled with heroes and heroines, monsters, strange lands, and exotic cities.  Through these tales, whether spoken or painted, we can learn about ourselves, our relationships, and the problems we face in life.

     Fantasy art done to amuse or to illustrate has been around for centuries. 

     For a time, fantasy art fell into disuse.  But in the early 1960s, probably one of the greatest fantasy artists of all time, Frank Frazetta, kicked off today’s fantasy art movement with his covers for Ace paperback books and popular southern-rock band Molly Hatchet album covers.  He and Roy G. Krenkel created the kind of stunning fantasy art that hadn’t been seen in print for decades.  These two artists were inspired by the great 19th century paintings and illustrations, and their art was built on the Academic foundation of strong drawing, design, color and composition.  For the most part, these fundamental skills were no longer taught in art schools.  In fact, the art school establishment of the time ridiculed Academic skills.  

     Today, in part because of the revival of interest brought about by the work of Krenkel and Frazetta, there are art schools that once again teach Academic art.  Being a fantasy artist in today’s world requires the knowledge of a great landscape painter, the exactness of an imaginative architectural artist, and rock solid draftsmanship when it comes to human figures and animals. 

     Fantasy artists also need to be able to create and draw things that have never been seen in the real world.  How do they get their ideas?  Some simply have great imaginative skills.  Others get ideas by manipulating things from the real world.  For example, distorting and combining parts of a lizard, a bat and a bird can lead to a picture of a frightening feathered dragon.  Playing around with elements from ancient architecture helps to create a vision of the lost world of Atlantis. 

     If you’d like to try creating fantasy art, you could begin by inventing a strange and exotic creature.  For inspiration, go through the house and pick up a few items — pliers, scissors, screwdrivers, teapots, etc.  First sketch each piece separately to get familiar with them.  Then try combining them into an animal or bird.  Screwdriver legs, a teapot body, and a pliers head, perhaps!  Make several sketches of your found-object creature, smoothing lines and changing details, adding scales, spikes, or feathers, until you are satisfied.  Voila!  You’ve made fantasy art!

By Kay Sluterbeck/AAPJ

Continued – click on PDF for complete feature – and looking forward to your comments.

Norma Baker Flying Horse feature

Maine has always been traditionally linked to American art. The natural resources of wood and gems were first traced to Native Americans and later to the early Colonial days. However, the fertile ground that lies as a backdrop for picture-perfect summers and dreamy hushed winters has a magnetic attraction to many area artists.

     Eileen Patten Oliver has been painting in Maine and Massachusetts for over 50 years, but her time in Cape Ann in 2010 brought her skill to new heights. The Down East Maine coast and Cape Ann artists such as, Emile Gruppe, Frederick Mulhaupt and Aldro Hibbard offered uniqueness apart from her Massachusetts upbringing.  Eileen’s oil paintings have a crisp and natural depth that takes you on a journey through the best of how the world appears. Whether the landscape painting is one of Acadia in October or a small child creating ripples in a summer pond, Oliver is able to capture the essence of beauty as seen through her eyes.

Going to high school in Boston allowed Eileen to recognize her gift in painting by being exposed to great art teachers, colleges and museums of fine arts. She was particularly taken in by an exhibit of Monet’s haystacks. The brush strokes had an almost hypnotic focus on Eileen, one that she remembers to this day.

In addition to the influence of Monet, Oliver studied at Massachusetts College of Art and learned from Paul Shea, Peter Nyren and Constantine Sgouras. She was manager of the art gallery at West Quoddy Head Light Visitor’s Center in Lubec, Maine and taught Adult Education Painting at Lubec Consolidated School. Her background in solo and group shows have delivered many awards. Many framed originals can be seen in private homes and public buildings as an honor to the natural beauty of the East Coast.

Today, Oliver is still deeply influenced by the special feeling that the East Coast delivers and is considered a fine oil artist that has been able to capture and display the very qualities of Maine and Massachusetts. She is married to James Oliver, an award winning graphic artist from Cape Ann. They reside in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

For more information on this artist, see: www.eileenpattenoliver.com or view her works at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=35&v=CzWF32ZdAHE

Click on – Portrait of Eileen Patten Oliver-The Spirit of Cape Ann – to view the print edition format

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Robin Antar feature