The Smithtown Township Arts Council is pleased to announce Winners Showcase 2015, an exhibition featuring the work of award-winning artists from STAC’s juried exhibitions, to be held January 16 – February 13 at The Mills Pond House Gallery in St. James. The public is invited to an opening reception Saturday, January 16, 2-4 pm to meet exhibiting artists and view their work. Regular Gallery hours are Wednesday-Friday, 10 am-4pm; Saturday and Sunday, 12-4pm. Closed January 18. Call 631-862-6575 for more information. Admission to the gallery is free.

Greg Sand/Billy Renkl (1st Place Juried Photo 2014) Ali Miller1st Place; Charles Yoder 2nd Place – Juried Fine Art 2014; Sang-Heon Lee (1stPlace) Cesar Delos Santos (2nd Place)- Childhood Memories 2013; E. Craig Marcin, Shawn Sullivan – Artist Work is Never Done 2013;Justin Greenwald, Barbara Jones, Pokey Park, Daniel van Benthuysen: Member Artist Showcase 2013

Greg Sand is an artist and photographer from Clarksville, TN who explores the issues of existence, time and death. He primarily produces work that addresses the nature of photography and its role in defining reality. The work in this exhibit are collaborations with artist Billy Renkl, Professor of art, drawing and illustration at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN.

Raised on Long Island, Ali Miller’s work “weaves personal fantasies and anxieties about the unknown into surreal staged scenes. Through saturated colors, high contrast, theatrical lighting, and varied surface textures, I create exaggerated, romantic worlds gone awry. I use these extremes to convey a confliction of emotional truths. The cornucopia opulence is sometimes ecstatic and sometimes a choking, suffocating illusion.”

New York City artist Charles Yoder sees each piece he makes “as a meditation on a glimpse.” “Until ten years ago I was an abstract painter. I began painting large scale woodland scenes after noticing the light and shadows cast by a full moon onto the snow covered forest floor one winter’s night. This was the beginning of my investigations of nature. An endless source that gently insists on my attention.

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.

Sculptor Sang-heon Lee lives in Daegu, South Korea. His realistic wood carvings are multi-dimensional…depicting both real and surreal attributes. The artist’s works evoke memories of life…from childhood to old age. His subjects often hold or wear objects…symbols that become threads of connection sometimes to the past, sometimes to the present.

Shawn Sullivan is a still life painter from Long Island, New York. He works with oil paints on linen canvas to paint unique arrangements directly from life. “Each one of my paintings represents an extended moment in time indicating the slow fade of light as it travels across the canvas… I want my colors to sing in the light and murmur in the shadows. I find that extremely satisfying.”

Watercolor artist E. Craig Marcin “I don’t set out to produce art about one subject or another although my tendencies are towards landscapes and objects within them. As an artist I find myself constantly aware of my surroundings. The process of painting is like taking deep cleansing, breaths … a calming part of my life. The technical aspects of mixing colors and utilization of different brush and paper types allows me choices for each piece of art I create.”

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Smithtown Township Arts Council
Mills Pond House Gallery
660 Route 25A St. James, NY 11780 Page 2 of 2
www.stacarts.org 631-862-6575
Contact: [email protected]

Winning Artists Showcase at Mills Pond House Gallery January 16 – February 13, 2015

Long Island oil Painter Justin Greenwald’s artwork presents randomness with a very ordered, methodical, impressionistic brushstroke. His new crane and freight series was inspired by driving trips down the coast. Justin was in awe as he passed the ports with their expanse of ships and freight containers. This series uses a flattened perspective and subtle shifts in color. “I believe there are many reasons people become artists…the lack of words to describe our feelings…the therapeutic value of art-making…or that we just have to!”

Pokey Park (Marie Whittle-Webb Park) is a sculptor and artist whose early and endearing love of both nature and art are the foundation for her whimsical, magical creations. Her kinship and communion with nature and its inhabitants results in uniquely stylized bronzes of animals of every size, shape and species. Each has human characteristics that bring them to life in an arresting, playful manner.

Long Island painter Daniel van Benthuysen enjoys portraiture as well as still life and landscape painting. “I do enjoy the way late afternoon or early evening light plays on the tops of buildings or against the faces of my friends. These seem like appealing subjects for paintings as well as fitting venues for meditation on what really matters. Isn’t that what art is supposed to be?”

Primarily a self-taught artist, Barbara V Jones works in several mediums including oil, pastel, and watercolor and on surfaces as diverse as wood, paper, canvas, and metal. “My recent works focus on utilizing transparent plastics as a ground. It is a unique experience which allows for a freer movement and blending of the colors on the surface.”

STAC, a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. Public funding is provided by Town of Smithtown.