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 Nancy Asbell
asbellarts<a>bellsouth.net
www.asbellarts.com
(904) 230-3510
As an artist, I try to bring a sense of calm to the viewer. Perhaps my style is inspired realism, going a step further to connect on a spiritual level. Coming from an artistic family, I was encouraged to draw and create as soon as I could hold a crayon. I was raised in Gainesville, Florida. After college, I enjoyed a career in music and art. My husband’s military career took us around the world, giving me a varied backdrop to paint and draw. I stayed busy with commissioned works, book and magazine illustrations, set designs, and creating just for the sheer joy of it. I now reside just south of Jacksonville in the Saint Johns community.
From an early age I was inspired by the classics; Gainsborough, Monet, Winslow Homer, and Van Gogh. Now as a mature artist, I am drawn to Henry VonGenk III, C. Ford Riley, A. E. Backus, Peter Pettegrew, Mary Jane Volkmann, and Sydney McKenna; all Florida landscape artists. Growing up in Florida, I have fallen in love with our beautiful skies, marshes, and wildlife. One of my current series, “Florida Horizons” celebrates this desire to call attention to the Florida that I grew up with, the Florida that is slipping away, and the Florida that is around us everyday. Other current series are “Florida Fairways,” “The Heavens,” and “Nancy Elizabeth.”
All of my paintings are originals. I like the viewer to appreciate the one of kind nature of my work in a world of prints and giclees. I paint in acrylics because of the versatility of the medium. I like the immediacy of their purest form, but I will also use various other mixing media to make the acrylics more closely mimic oil paints “Artists block” is not part of my vocabulary. There are never enough hours in the day to work on my next project. What a great profession to have.
Image forthcomming for “My St. Johns” (Acrylic)
Xavier Brunet
 John Bunker
Johnbunkerartist<a>aol.com
John Bunker’s work seduces and beckons our attention. Flowers dance and diaphanous angels soar through the vibrant paintings in rich, deep colors accented by metallic swirls and curlicues. As one art critic expressed, “The subjects of his paintings are “simmering with energy, saturated with fragments of color, and wonderfully alive.” Beyond creating an extensive and varied body of work over his 40 year career as a professional artist, John has also sustained an impressive museum career - which includes being the long-term associate director and interim director of the Jacksonville Art Museum and the director of the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens. He is a graduate of both the Smithsonian Institute’s Fundamentals of Museum Management and the J.P. Getty’s Museum Management Institute at the University of California at Berkeley.
As an active volunteer in the Jacksonville Community, John has served as President of the Riverside Fine Arts Association Concert Series, a member of JaxPride, Chairman of the Koger Gallery of Art and Gardens Advisory Committee and the curator of the JIA Arts Commission. John’s art works are included in numerous museum, corporate, public and private collections in the United States and abroad. Several corporate collectors include: A T&T Universal Card, The Mayo Clinic, First Coast Oncology Center, Nordstroms, First Union Bank, Bank of America, North Florida College, Vistakon, The Florida Senate, Riverside House, Orlando Jetpot, and the Timuquana Country Club, Stein Mart, The Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art, and the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens- to name a few. His artwork can also be seen at Winrights, and Stellars Gallery, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida and at his Jacksonville studio. John Bunker received the much deserved 2007 Individual Arts Award from the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville in recognition of three decades of leadership in the community.
Image forthcoming of John Bunker's -"Squared: Dragonfly" (Acrylic on canvas)
Eileen Corse
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www.corsegalleryatelier.com
corsegalleryatelier.blogspot.com
(904) 388-8205
Eileen Corse's artwork is full of bright and vibrant color. She strives to interpret nature with emotion. Her works reach beyond simple interpretation with bold use of brushstrokes and large quanities of paint. In just a short time, she has developed quite a following. Her workshops and classes very popular.
Sara Crooks-Flaire
Chiche Davis
 Ellen Diamond
ElDiamond<a>aol.com
www.ellendiamond.com
(904) 613-9358
As a young child, Ellen Diamond was enthralled by the beauty and imagination that artists created on their canvases. Unlike most youngsters, she grew up in a home that was totally enmeshed in the world of art. Her father, Ben Clements was a renowned portrait painter, and served as her inspiration. She found her joy and passion in the museums of New York City where the works of Matisse, Monet, Bonnard and other 19th and 20th century masters inspired her. These formative years have served her well, and enabled her to master the techniques that now place her as a leading contemporary impressionist.
Her formal training at New York University included experimentation with abstraction as well as the more traditional approaches to art. She ultimately developed her own special technique in which shape, color and light became the central theme of her works. The harmonious interconnection of these elements led her to a style that has been heralded by critics and art collectors alike.
Her works took on significant meaning when she made her first trip to Provence where she was mesmerized by the landscape filled with light, replete with colors and shapes that quickly inspired her to translate the breathtaking scenery of Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, Les Baux, Antibes and other Provencal towns into masterful works of art in her unique contemporary impressionistic style. Her love of Provence has taken her back to that dreamlike setting summer after summer where every breath she takes inspires her to make her palette come alive. During her time at home in Northern Florida, she is inspired by similar light, color and shape that captivates her in the Provencal towns. The marshes of this area have given her yet another setting in which her artistic talents can be realized. Although these landscapes are totally different, her imaginative work with color have made each an integral part of the other.
An art critic recently wrote, “ Anyone who has experienced the French countryside firsthand will immediately see Diamond has captured the compelling Provencal ‘je ne sais quoi’ quality of light and life, a landscape luring artists and tourists for centuries.”
"Florida Marsh"
Jim Draper
draperj<a>bellsouth.net
www.jimdraper.net
Jim Draper grew up in Kosciusko, Mississippi, the geographical center of the state and midpoint between the birthplaces of Eudora Welty,William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams. He attended the University of Mississippi where he earned a BFA in 1974. He received a MFA from the University of Georgia at Athens in 1978 then lived and worked in Beaufort, SC, before making his home in Jacksonville, FL.
Draper’s work is a direct extension of his life’s philosophy and values. His motivation is to open windows to another world. “Art takes us through the gamut of emotions, and it’s in these emotions where the genius happens. Art is like a magic act. One takes nothing and makes something out of it. It’s my vehicle for taking people out of the mundane to another place.” Inspired by local flora and fauna Jim records the vanishing florida landscape articulating a dialogue between indigenous and invasive species. "I try my best to catalog natures regenerative qualities, many places in Florida, Cumberland Island for example you can see nature slowing taking back terrain man failed to conquer, plants and animals belonging or not morph in to an unstoppable force that pulsates up and down the peninsula."
Draper maintains a studio in Historic Springfield near downtown Jacksonville, Florida. His work has been the subject of countless gallery exhibitions, and today his work can be found in hundreds of collections include: Johnson & Johnson, Vistacon, Aetna, Vescor, Baptist Memorial Hospital Jacksonville, AmSouth Bank and The Vickers Collection.
Jim has also worked extensively in the field of public installations. Most recently he has been involved in the creation of a 48 glass panel installation for the Jacksonville International Airport. As well as a 180 foot undulating canvas installation(The River of Life) depicting a Florida nature walk, at Baptist Memorial Hospital.
Draper is currently an instructor at The University of North Florida and also gives private painting lessons and group workshops upon request.
 Andrew Manry Kenyon
Kenyonstudios1<a>mac.com
Amkstudios<a>bellsouth.net
www.andrewkenyonportraits.com
www.kenyonstudios.com
(904) 463-3386
Andrew Manry Kenyon was born in Jacksonville Florida. Tree Hill Nature Center seemed like the perfect place to share his scenic paintings of the surrounding area in which the St. John’s River is the focal point. He has been a full time portrait artist specializing in portraits of children in Oils, Pastels, and Charcoals for nearly 15 years and still maintains a client waiting list for his unique style of portraiture.
Recently Andrew has pointed his career in a new direction working with his mother Ann Manry Kenyon and sister Dawn Kenyon Sims in a new endeavor they call Kenyon Studios, Inc. All three artist’s sell giclée prints of their own work as well as Fine Art Giclée Note Cards and instructional DVD’s and books. They also offer the following services to Artists: Building digital portfolios for marketing purposes, producing instructional videos, designing web sites, and producing Giclée prints.
Ann Manry Kenyon
Paul Ladnier
Suzanne Magee
Shawn Meharg
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www.shawnmeharg.com
(904) 608-1590
For fifteen years, Shawn Meharg worked in the entertainment industry as a scenic artist and designer. He co-owned and operated a successful scenic art business, which he sold in 2001, allowing his focus to change to fine art. Accordingly, his work shows a diversity of style and subject, all involving the reflection and absorption of light by forms both real and imagined. In his rudimentary series, Meharg comments on industrialization and its effects on nature through a clever use of color and technique.
Meharg’s works are in numerous corporate and private collections throughout the United States and have been exhibited in individual and group shows throughout the Southeast.Meharg was born in Ontario, Canada and received his BFA from the University of Mississippi. He now resides in Florida with his wife, Gina, and their two children.
Image forthcoming for "Current" (Mixed media on wood)
Sydney McKenna
 Joanelle Mulrain
jmulrain<a>comcast.net
www.greatblueheronstudios.com
www.florencenightingaleexhibit.com
www.thenursinginspirationproject.com
Through a myriad of experiences and travels that have broadened my mind and pleased my soul, I am now back to my roots. I have always wanted to go back to painting and photography, and write a book. So, this trilogy of work has begun. Through my painting, I express the beautiful cattails in their wild and willowy manner in the swamps and tributaries of the St. Johns River. Cattails serve as sentinels for our environment. My range of color is exciting to work with and my tools are decades old, recently found and now reused. Through my photography I capture in a very simple way what I see with my eye and now am able to share with others. Through my words in my book I am able to touch those in the midst of change and support their move forward. I have found my place for a while and am blessed to be able to share my passion.
"Spoonbill & Shard" (Acrylic on canvas)
SOLD, Private Collection
Alan Phillips
alan<a>phillipsartstudio.com
www.phillipsartstudio.com
(904) 642-7040
Jacksonville Beach, Florida resident Alan Phillips is an artist/illustrator working on a National level for Magazines, Book Publishers and Advertising Agencies. His work has graced the pages of The New York Times, Boston Globe, National Geographic, Tennis, Golf Illustrated, Snow Country, Polo, Field & Stream, Reader’s Digest, Shooting Sportsman and regional publications such as Boston Metro, Connecticut Magazine, Folio, Jacksonville Magazine, Water's Edge, Jacksonville Luxury Living and commissions from private clients.
Alan has created over 100 book jacket covers working for Random House, Doubleday, Easton Press, Western Publishing, GK Hall which included the story of "My Dog Skip" which then made it to the big screen and Children of the Dust made for TV movie.Among the artist’s favorites have been an ongoing commission of classic edition series book illustration that ranges from Frost to Faulkner, Kipling to Kerouac along with the children’s book he illustrated, Kittens Need Someone To Love which is cataloged at The Library of Congress.
Locally Alan has worked to create art for promotions with The Wolfsons Childrens Hospital and The Jacksonville Jaguars,The Rick Wilkins Cerebral Palsy Organization and The Beaches Fine Art Series. He has lectured at The Cummer Museum and taught advertising design at The University of North Florida and is currently coach of his daughter's seventh grade basketball team. His paintings have twice been selected for group juried shows at The American Museum of Illustration in New York City. Alan continues to fulfill illustration assignments while working on a new series for a gallery show embracing the shoreline.
Images forthcoming for "River Rhythm" (Oil on canvas) and "Remains of the day" (Oil on canvas)
Dawn Kenyon Sims
dawnkenyonsims<a>verizon.net
www.KenyonStudios.com
(813) 546-0762 cell
In July of 2008 three generations, Dawn, her daughter, Emma, and mother, Ann, traveled to France to attend a pastel workshop led by renowned artist, Judith Carducci. Intending only to watch as the painters depicted the colorful countryside she ventured to paint alongside them and experienced a life-changing revelation that she had been gifted as an artist herself.
On returning home with her plein air pastel paintings, she was to discover that sketches she sold in France had been published in the Fall 2008 issue of American Artist Workshop magazine. Since then she has completed several commissions and been featured in a one woman show at a gallery in Tampa, Florida, the city in which she resides.
A graduate of Florida State University with a degree in Interior Design, Dawn has always been interested in the arts. She is the daughter of the late Dana B. Kenyon and the accomplished, practicing artist, Ann Manry Kenyon. Dawn can now be found studying with master artist, Charles Miano, at The Southern Atelier in Sarasota, Florida. When time permits, she paints in Jacksonville with her mother, Ann, and her brother, Andrew Kenyon.
Image forthcoming “Summer Morning in Mandarin” (Past el on Kitty Wallis sanded paper)
Mary St. Germain
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www.marystgermain.com
Mary St. Germain is a Northeast Florida oil painter who resides and works in Jacksonville, Fl. She is a member of Oil Painters of America, Landscape Artists International, and The National League of American Pen Women. Marys work incorporates energetic brushstrokes and the use of vivid color. Her subject matter is varied and includes the marshes, seascapes, and vegetation that connect her to her environment. In addition St. Germains still lifes incorporate personal objects collected through the years. Marys work is her personal response to her everyday environment.
My art reflects a spiritual and physical response to the environment. The imagery used in my work is derived from a communion with the natural world, stimulating my creativity and a sense of wellbeing. While painting, I lose conscious thought as a personal dialogue develops between my inner spiritual being and the canvas. Using line, space, color and other tools I work to draw the viewer into my painting to establish a dialogue of their own.
My goal is to reflect the beauty and peace which I experience during the painting process. I strive to provide the viewer with a sense of tranquility and the opportunity to feel a stillness and quiet in the soul ~ a refuge from the frenetic pace of todays world.
 Allison Watson
awatsonart<a>aol.com
www.allisonwatson.com
(904)398-7145
Allison Watson’s work is represented in more than five hundred private, public and corporate collections nationally. She began her professional career as a studio artist in her early twenties. She has also worked as an animator, illustrator, textile artist, art teacher and as a licensed interior designer.
She has had over thirty solo exhibitions including shows at major Universities and Museums and many group shows. Some collectors include the Jacksonville Office of the Mayor, Baptist Medical Centers (3 works). Amazon Exhibitions, The U.S. Embassy in Panama, Bell South, The Jacksonville Libraries, Marriot Hotels, South Trust Bank, The Haskell and the Vickers collections as well as many others.
Ms. Watson is a life long resident of Florida and her painting reflect her life long love and passion for the environment. She works from her own photography taken throughout Florida as well as many international locations.
"Cypress Cove" (Giclee on canvas)
 Steve Williams
stevewilliamsstudio<a>comcast.net
www.stevewilliamsstudio.com
(904) 535-7252
Steve Williams grew up with his family owning and operating a electrical sign manufacturing company in Jacksonville, Florida. He focused his artistic inclination into a graphic design degree, which led him to a ten-year stint, working with his family, selling and designing signs and environmental graphics. During his tenure with the family business he found that he could no longer find fulfillment within the parameters of applied design. Williams began pursuing the drawing, painting and sculpture that he had started during his college days.
Williams decided to begin working towards a career in fine arts. As he worked, he took long, thoughtful looks at himself and his work. He realized that his intent and passion still gravitated toward signs. These creations, which he thought, were meaningless were actually very meaningful symbols, explaining his existence, directing his soul on its journey through life. “I find myself being led to act as a storyteller creating a visual vocabulary with these signs and symbols providing a narrative through my paintings of some meaningful, enigmatic language that is common to all even though it is obscure, Williams confers.
“This journey has brought me to a very interesting point in my work. I find myself obsessed with symbols and signs. The subjects set in motion a series of attitudes that we as human beings find to be inseparable, universal components of our existence.” “In my paintings, these forms find a place along with other symbols whose meanings are more obscure in a matrix of compelling color and texture. My desire is to draw the viewer in with color, texture and other decorative elements giving him place to linger, investigating and questioning his position in life, possibly finding validation amidst the signs.”
These days, one can find Williams going back and forth between painting and the family’s sign business. The combination is an inspiring mix, one which becomes evident as the body of work develops.
Image forthcoming for "Empty Bathtub, Full Power Meter" (Mixed on canvas)
Russ Wilson
russdwilson<a>yahoo.com
RussWilsonStudios.com
(904) 705-3122
A 1985 BFA graduate of Florida State University, Russ Wilson has been earning a living with art his entire career.
From airbrushing T-shirts in a Gulf Coast surf shop, to a rewarding career as a nationally recognized illustrator,
Wilson's life has revolved around his art.
His commercial work can be seen around the nation, and has been included in the awards annuals of the New York
Society of Illustrators, Step by Step Graphic, Communication Arts, Print Magazine's Regional Design Annual,
and many others.
He works in oil and pastel and focuses special attention on the design and craftsmanship involved in creating a
piece of artwork. Wilson's influences are many and varied, but he admits a fondness for American art from the
first half of the 20th century, especially the works of Ashcan School artists and Edward Hopper. Wilson's art
strives for that same combination of realism and modernism found in their work. The sense of light and
immediacy of the moment is something he tries to emphasize in his own images.
From his birth on California's Monterey Peninsula to his present studio on Florida's east coast, Russ Wilson's
entire life has been spent around the water — surfing, fishing or simply wandering its shores. His imagery naturally
follows those things that have influenced him throughout his life. With a focus on the coastal south and its quiet
beauty, Wilson's art celebrates the beauty of the commonplace.
"Big River"
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