Bonnie loves that she now has time for her Passion…..Painting. As a young girl, Bonnie grew up around a family of artists. Bonnie’s grandmother and aunt (established juried artists) were always painting and this greatly influenced her love of art. Bonnie started drawing as a young child, and her first oil painting class was with her grandmother at the age of 8. She was hooked on painting from that point on. Following high school, she pursued her desire to become an artist, attending Downtown Portland Commercial Art School. While working at Nordstrom to pay her way through school, she took a detour to the world of fashion. After 31 years and living in 3 states she ended her career with Nordstom as Vice President within Women’s Apparel. Bonnie retired in 2005 to spend more time with family and to pursue her lifelong desire as an artist.

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Andy Thomas is not only an immensely talented painter, but also a storyteller with the images he creates. His subject matter consists of a variety of images from historical events to intimate moments of everyday life. The artist’s desire to create is funneled into the area of painting realism that ranges from very loose to very tight. Thomas’s medium is primarily oil, but he also works in watercolor, pen and ink, charcoal, pencil, and ink wash. He is also a very accomplished sculptor.

Primarily self-taught, Thomas began his professional art career in 1991 after sixteen years with a major advertising agency. In his studio, the artist creates his unique paintings that tell their “stories.” Thomas says, “I never consciously ponder elements of design or principals of design…I rely on my sketches to refine a value scheme as a starting point. They also help me visualize the completed painting and consider light, painting technique, subject or object importance, and other considerations. The viewer’s eye-path is a big influence on the composition at this point and all through the painting process.” Thomas’s style has been compared to Russell and Remington, and artist says he also has been influenced by Howard Pyle, Richard Schmid, Norman Rockwell, and others.

Many of Thomas’s historical images have been used in books and as book covers, and his various paintings also have been featured in numerous magazines. The artist’s original works are in many private and corporate collections and also in the permanent collections of museums around the country.

Thomas exhibits in several shows annually, the most recent being the 2006 C. M. Russell Art Auction where he sold eight original paintings. The artist also enjoys judging art shows and teaching children and adult painting classes. He is a talented writer and published a book containing over 100 color images of his work, along with stories written by him.

The artist is a member of the famed Salmagundi Club in New York, The Portrait Society of America, and other art organizations. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Missouri Southern State University with a BS in Marketing Management.

View Andy Thomas’ complete portfolio…

Artist description courtesy of Somserset Fine Art.

Whether painting the Native Americans in a dramatic, picturesque setting, or the American cowboy in the dusty cattle-working pens, Martin Grelle captures the spirit, beauty, and vastness of the West in his historically-accurate, compelling images. Grelle studies diligently to portray the diverse cultures of the American West accurately and with sensitivity. His knowledge of the cowboy’s way of life, gained from his time spent horseback on ranches during the annual Cowboy Artists of America’s (CAA) trail ride, as well as the time spent with local ranchers and friends, is evident in his contemporary cowboy paintings. The many hours spent in museums, at historical re-enactments, in visiting with experts on Native American culture, and reading from his extensive library, have helped him to bring his vision of the Plains Indian culture to life on canvas.

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As one of today’s finest and most recognized photorealist painters, Rod Chase has earned the highest respect of his peers and the admiration of legions of collectors. Each painting from the artist’s easel is a masterpiece created from extensive research and numerous photographs of each of his subjects. This technique, along with the aid of historical photographs, results in a timeless quality in each of Chase’s works.

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Cassandra Christensen Barney was born and raised in Orem, Utah. She received her Master’s degree in Fine Arts from Brigham Young University in 2000. “I’ve had a passion for the craft of the portrait since I was a child. As a young girl, I visited museums around the world with my father, collecting postcards adorned with 16th century art. Exploring these simple images captured my imagination, unlocking a world of discovery. I love the art of storytelling, the layers of symbolism, and would create my own stories of these quiet women, making the paintings my own. Today I paint portraits that share my passion for storytelling while revealing my personal journey of transition and discovery.”

As a child, I loved that the characters in art of the 16th century were not always pretty, but looked like regular people playing dress up. They find strength in their femininity. They are not vain, not beautiful and maybe some are melancholy and even show some sadness. We might wonder what they are thinking.

- Cassandra C. Barney

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