International Artist December - January 2018/ No.118

Making art comes down to an intersection of two things: your own creative imagination meeting with the proper artistic materials. These materials turn the subjective to the objective, your creative thoughts into real artistic achievements. That is why we take artist materials so seriously. We think an artist deserves the best tools out there to assist along your own creative journey. In thinking of this, we have developed a new section that will focus on artist materials. We know all artists experiment with various tools, with everything from pigment, brushes, palette knives, pastels, oils and acrylics to hardware such as panels, easels, paint boxes and frames. Our new Focus on Materials section will examine all the various materials out there to give you artists an idea of which ones to…

Grand Price Mitch Gyson New York, USA, We’ll Have ‘em Singing From the Rafters, acrylic, 15½ x 13" (39 x 33 cm) Grand Prize is a four-page editorial feature in American Art Collector magazine Innovative Improvisation When Mitch Gyson was an aspiring artist, illustrators such as Maxfield Parrish and Norman Rockwell influenced him, and he originally wanted to follow in their footsteps. However, after graduating from school and looking for work, he found, “I really didn’t have the temperament to be confined to the time limitations or stylistic preferences of an art director, so I just started creating my own universe of imagined and observed things.” In his contemporary artwork, Gyson likes to mix it up by finding new ways to innovate on his canvases. He says, “I’ll often play with…

British Columbia, Canada, TC10K, acrylic, 36 x 24" (91 x 61 cm) Second Price My Inspiration This painting was inspired by my first running race of the season: Times Columnist 10K in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. I was overwhelmed by the number of participants and the support of the community as they cheered and held up their homemade signs as I ran by. I am interested in the relationship between physical and mental health. Stress and anxiety are reduced by physical activity. How do you describe phases of physical exertion over a period? Heart rates and muscle strength can be quantified, but how do you describe your experience as you perform? I felt sheer strength, butterflies, an endorphin rush, competitive desire, metabolic burn and accomplishment. I hope my visual expressions of this…

Ontario, Canada, The Stalker, acrylic, 24 x 36" (61 x 91 cm) Third Price My Inspiration I have had a longtime fascination with the work of the abstract expressionists. As a classically trained figurative and landscape painter, it wasn’t until I tuned into the need to “free myself up” did I fully realize the allure of abstract painting. For me, the use of music, texture and movement are the most important components in the creative process, and I am most inspired when I can use them simultaneously as in my painting The Stalker. As it happens, while creating this painting, I was becoming very frustrated with social media. The constant phone alerts prompted the name of the painting and only later did a few people mention the black leg with red…

Arkansas, USA, Floral Adventure, pastel, 26 x 16" (66 x 41 cm) FINALISTS Each receives an Award Certificate and a one-year subscription to International Artist magazine PLUS having their work seen worldwide by international galleries looking for new talent. My Inspiration Much of what pays my bills as an artist is commissioned portraits. With those I am under constant pressure to do something that will please the client. In contrast, with florals I don’t have to please anyone but myself. That allows me a much-appreciated freedom. The flowers never complain that their stems are too short or their petals are the wrong color. Every spring I have a wonderful assortment of irises and lilies in my garden. Sometimes I cut a bunch and put them in a vase, sometimes I paint them just…

British Columbia, Canada, All a Flutter, acrylic, 30 x 40" (76 x 102 cm) My Inspiration Leaves lifted by a gust of wind, moths hovering around a light, a flock of birds taking off—these types of movements were the inspiration for All a Flutter. All have a delicate aspect with an underlying force of power. Time and again nature rivets my attention. The awe I have for its beauty and complexity is my main focus in painting. Bringing an abstract quality to the painting allows me to create without limitation, making the painting a journey in discovery. My Design Strategy To play on light and to create an atmosphere that at a distance shows pattern and intense activity was my intention. As the viewer approaches, I aim to draw them in…