The Smithtown Township Arts Council is pleased to announce Winners Showcase 2018, an exhibition featuring the work of five award-winning artists from 2016 juried exhibitions, to be held February 3 – March 11 at Mills Pond Gallery in St. James. Regular Gallery hours are Wednesday-Friday, 10 am-4pm; Saturday and Sunday, 12-4pm. Visit www.millspondgallery.org or call 631-862-6575 for directions or information. Admission to the gallery is free. Heidi Younger was first place winner of The Fine Art of Illustration juried by Artist/Illustrator William Low. The four other exhibiting artists were winners of Member Artist Showcase 2016 juried by Harlan Fischer.

Chris Ann Ambery is a multi-disciplinary artist from Hauppauge who continually explores different techniques and media, often combining and finding non-traditional ways to employ them. The concept of perpetual motion and momentum is inherent in her work. Through the utilization of opaque and transparent layers of line, shape, color and texture she creates dimension and movement within her pieces. Her work explores the figurative as well as the abstract and she is continually inspired by the organic forms and textures found in nature.

Watercolor artist Joyce Bressler from Commack paints “alia prima:’ that is, directly without pencil. “I want the colors to have spontaneity and crispness. Having been a textile designer at one time, I bring fabric into play, along with natural forms, such as plants, flowers or still life subjects. I am always after repetition, fluidity of design and unusual color combinations. My landscapes attempt to capture light, mood and atmosphere found in the endless number of beautiful Long Island scenes.”

Elmhurst artist Cesar Delos Santos III is known for his realist renderings of ordinary life. His “simple drama of shadow and light”. His works do not aim at social messages or statements…they focus instead on capturing the beauty in everyday realities. Although Cesar is best known for his New York Cityscapes & Landscapes, he has a passion for painting human figures and faces as well as clay pots, woven baskets and indigenous objects from his native Philippines. The artist brings his subjects to life in both watercolor and oils.

Approaching her 30th year as a freelance Illustrator, Heidi Younger is a native of Smithtown. Currently a full-time professor at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art), Heidi currently illustrates a weekly column for NY Times titled The Sweet Spot, where the web version allows her to use animated gifs to illustrate the idea, as well as old fashion print versions. Heidi’s illustrations have been recognized by Communication Arts Magazine, Society of Illustrators NYC and Society of Illustrators West among many others.

For Constance Sloggatt Wolf of Huntington, abstract painting is a way of exploring the invisible—the unknowable or indefinable aspects of Life as she perceives it. “Instead of words or sound, I use colors, angles, shapes and forms. I strive to bring forth the archetypal and essential in a painting through the repetitive use of the triangle, the circle, and the square. “I study Nature first, searching for primary, universal forms and ideas, symbols that all human beings may relate to. Inspired by the physical beauty of my materials, I approach the work openly tapping into this understanding of the natural world and allowing the act of painting to transform knowledge into a visual dialogue.”