13 Giant High-HEEL Shoes are being given to 13 local artists to make ART!
Why 13?
Because .... "Art is a Drag 2017" has 13 featured Drag Queens
hostessing the Art Walk and performing
in the "Art is DRAG SHOW" later that evening - where these original 'HEELS' works of art will be auctioned as a fundraiser for the Sanford Art Walk.
Come to "Art is a Drag" in historic downtown Sanford on April 15 (6-9pm) to see this amazing public art exhibit.
Artist Statement
“I create digital paintings from my photography. I typically don’t set out to capture one idea or another, but allow the moment or location to guide me. My body of work covers a wide range of topics, themes and locations. The beauty of nature in its many forms is often a dominant subject in my digital art and photography. Traveling has taken me to some extreme locations across the globe, but Iceland has got to be my favorite. I’m a self-taught digital artist and photographer. I developed my eye and techniques over my 25 year career as a Landscape Architect. I was always searching for photographs to explain themes and ideas to my clients, but I became frustrated with using other people’s images. They never really captured the right feeling, color, texture or form I wished to convey. So, I picked up a camera and began taking my own pictures."
John Sullivan is a resident artist of the Gallery On First in historic downtown Sanford, Florida
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Jeff Sonksen, a carpenter by trade, admits that he has “serious ADHD and can’t sit still for one second.” A couple of years ago, when business at the carpentry shop was especially slow, Jeff went looking for a way to put his excess time and energy to good use.
Sonsken is a self-taught painter. He'd never sold any paintings, but out of boredom, he decided to paint a fence in his parents' backyard to keep busy while unemployed.
Then, people started making requests. "It just spiraled out of control," Sonsken said.
By the Seminole Wekiva Trail near Longwood, Sonsken is now painting the path. He attaches panels to a basic fence structure already in place. The wood costs about $1.25 a panel, and the paint comes from a trash dump. "Technically, all of my paintings will be made out of garbage," Sonsken joked. (My Fox Orlando, Posted: Feb 06, 2013 10:23 AM EST)
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Using various media such as fabric, paint, PVC pipe, string, paper, Plexiglas, Styrofoam and more, he gives these seemingly ordinary objects life in a new dimension, the dimension of artistic creativity.
Through exploration and experimentation, Tom has developed a style that is uniquely his: abstract 3-dimensional tactile pieces have become his trademark. Geometrical shapes and the combination of different textures and media dominate his work.
Through exploration and experimentation, Tom has developed a style that is uniquely his: abstract 3-dimensional tactile pieces have become his trademark. Geometrical shapes and the combination of different textures and media dominate his work.
The textures range from ripped, rough, frayed-edge canvas to the smooth sensuous feel of poured paint. Tom has developed a method of pouring specially formulated paint on glass, then lifting the dry paint and applying it to a piece. With this, he creates unique dripping and running effects.
Tom Abbott is a resident artist of the Gallery On First in historic downtown Sanford, Florida
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Having spent 20 years teaching, Anne-Marie Colwell diagnosed herself with a serious case of burnout and sought a new outlet for her brimming creativity. After taking a career evaluation class in 2006, she set her sights on refining her skills as an artist.
To increase her knowledge of the visual arts, Anne-Marie looks to the old masters for inspiration and finds many opportunities for workshops and classes that teach her new skills and techniques. She has returned to college to study toward a BA in Fine Art to deepen her understanding of the arts. She continues her experiments with a wide variety of mediums, watercolors, acrylics, torn paper, oil pastels, encaustics, and even fabric to create interesting images and textures.
She was born in Paris and grew up in Morocco. After dropping out of high school, she literally ran away to the circus and spent two years under the big top before pursuing a graduate degree in literature. She now resides in Orlando with her husband and enjoys reading, following politics, and doting on her poodles Olivia and Finnegan while living vicariously through her daughter who is an actor.
Anne-Marie Colwell is a resident artist of the Gallery On First in downtown Sanford, Florida
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5) John Horrell - aka Peter Dragon
John Horrell is a self-taught artist with roots in graffiti. Born in Severna Park, Maryland, Horrell moved to Florida, attended Valencia Community College and Seminole State College.
Horrell's style is best described as a fusion of Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art.
His work is often times an assemblage of found objects or construction of various materials painted in bright colors with a gestural stroke-quality common in graffiti or splatter technique of the expressionists.
Horrell's "HEELS" project is an example of a favorite technique ~
"In my self taught style I use spray paint to deaden and mask toys and other found objects with interesting themes and textures. Then a two part polyurethane resin to assemble the items into dramatic scenes followed by acrylic or enamel paints to breath new life into the objects. Finally I sign the work in a graffiti bomb style. - #mufga
John Horrell (Peter Dragon - Instagram
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6) Mark Seppala
Mark was born in Quincy, MA and grew up in Pembroke, MA. He is a graduate of the New England School of Art and Design, majoring in Advertising Design and Animation. Served in the U.S. Navy for 6 years, and one of those years lived Keflavik, Iceland, now his favorite vacation hideaway. His dream from childhood was to work for Walt Disney. In 1989, he was hired as General Manager for Character Merchandise in Orlando, Florida. He grew the Disney Design Group, creating merchandise for Disney Parks and Resorts until his retirement in 2013. When he left Disney the team had grown to 80 people. He continues to do contract work for that group, but now at his own pace. His passion now varies from painting and illustrating, to model building, art restoration and music. He built from scratch, not a kit, a 6 foot model of the RMS Titanic which now resides in his studio at home. He also built a replica of the 36” tall Howdy Doody marionette and is sculpting his buddy on the show Dilly Dally. He currently restores vintage bass drums and turns them into coffee tables with original hand drawn custom art. He and his partner, John Sullivan have adjoining studios at the Gallery on First in Sanford, Florida.
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Mark was born in Quincy, MA and grew up in Pembroke, MA. He is a graduate of the New England School of Art and Design, majoring in Advertising Design and Animation. Served in the U.S. Navy for 6 years, and one of those years lived Keflavik, Iceland, now his favorite vacation hideaway. His dream from childhood was to work for Walt Disney. In 1989, he was hired as General Manager for Character Merchandise in Orlando, Florida. He grew the Disney Design Group, creating merchandise for Disney Parks and Resorts until his retirement in 2013. When he left Disney the team had grown to 80 people. He continues to do contract work for that group, but now at his own pace. His passion now varies from painting and illustrating, to model building, art restoration and music. He built from scratch, not a kit, a 6 foot model of the RMS Titanic which now resides in his studio at home. He also built a replica of the 36” tall Howdy Doody marionette and is sculpting his buddy on the show Dilly Dally. He currently restores vintage bass drums and turns them into coffee tables with original hand drawn custom art. He and his partner, John Sullivan have adjoining studios at the Gallery on First in Sanford, Florida.
Mark Seppala is a resident artist of the Gallery On First in downtown Sanford, Florida
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7) Rhonda Richley
Ronda Richley was born in Dayton, Ohio. As a small child she would watch her mother paint and wait for the gift of leftover oil paints from her palette to play with. She was fascinated by the colors and the mixing of the paints and looked forward to these times. In first grade, she had her first art lesson: trees. Upon drawing her tree with multiple branches and leafless so you could see the bird in the nest, the teacher told her it was not right, that she needed to draw a trunk and an oval to make the tree, which she now calls “the lollipop tree.”That night she expressed her dismay to her mother, who told her just to continue drawing the way she does and not let what the teacher said influence her. Later in grade school, during recess, instead of playing kickball, Ronda Richley would draw portraits of her classmates and sell them for quarter each. By the time she was in junior high, she sold her first painting, “The Little Match Girl” for $15 at the school art show.
She continued her artistic endeavors, received an early acceptance from the School of Architecture, Art and Design at the University of Cincinnati, where she received her BFA in the dual major of Art Education and Painting. After graduating from the University of Cincinnati. she worked for several newspapers and magazines as Art Director, was one of the youngest to teach art and design at Sinclair College, and opened, at the age of 24, an advertising agency, specializing in the print media.
Ronda sold her advertising agency a few years later and relocated to Los Angeles, where she worked in product design and development, giving her the authorship of 4 patents and well over 100 copyrights and trademarks. During this time period, she pursued her Master’s Degree in Visual Art with a Concentration in Painting at California State University, Northridge. She taught at the college level, worked as a Victorian Art Reproductionist, and produced her own paintings, which she exhibited in galleries across the United States.
After 12 years of the California art scene, Ronda Richley relocated to Orlando, Florida, where she continued to teach at the college and university levels, worked as a product and fashion designer, and eventually opened her own gallery, where she gave over forty local artists the opportunity to exhibit along side her and several international artists. She closed the gallery at the end of 2012 so she could pursue her own work full time, without any outside distractions or time constraints. Since then she has shown nationwide and is in private collections in the United States, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and United Kingdom.
Currently residing in Orlando, with her studio nearby, she is producing paintings, collagraphs, copper works, and book art as her full time venture.
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Kevin Abbott Blogspot
#ArtisaDrag #Art #DragQueen #Drag #PerformanceArt #Paintings #ContemporaryArt #Diversity #EqualRights #Tolerance #RiseUp #LiveandLetLive #OrlandoStrong #LGBTQ
8) Kevin Abbott
Kevin “KV” Abbott was born and raised in the mountains of
southern Vermont and was influenced at an early age by the many artists who
lived in the area. Abbott's formal training was in commercial photography and
he worked briefly as a studio photographer before enlisting in the US Army
where he served as a photojournalist.
His first fine art exhibition was in 1977 and he has
exhibited photography, paintings, collage and sculpture ever since. His work
has been included in well over 100 solo and group exhibitions in venues such as
the Monterey Museum of Art in Monterey, California, The Southern Vermont Arts
Center in Manchester, Vermont and the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York.
Abbott's work has won numerous awards and he is the
recipient of several grants including a 2008 Individual Artist's Grant from the
New York State Council on the Arts.
His work is in numerous private and public collections
including the city of Syracuse, New York.
He maintains seasonal studios in Sanford, Florida and
Bernhards Bay, New York.
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Stay tuned for images of the "HEELS" created by ...
12) Bailey Wright & Jeanine Taylor
13) Rachel Meyers
#ArtisaDrag #Art #DragQueen #Drag #PerformanceArt #Paintings #ContemporaryArt #Diversity #EqualRights #Tolerance #RiseUp #LiveandLetLive #OrlandoStrong #LGBTQ
