Presented by Mena Art Gallery

Painting: Vacations End. John Bayalis won an Award of Excellence in the 2015 Art of the Heartland competition. Artist's statement: Early on I was was taken by the works of Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth and Thomas Eakins and realism became primary interest for me. "The world around me has provided an infinite variety of colors, forms and textures that I have used for the sources of my work for 30 years. I have always had a preference for drawing rather than painting in terms of control and the use of line and detail. Watercolor provided a medium that produces a transition from drawing into a painting format. I use a traditional technique, using transparent colors and the white ground of the paper to produces luminosity, and a pigment interaction to creates hues that give a lifelike quality to the painting." I earned a BFA degree and an MFA degree in painting at the Univ. of Delaware.My resume includes juried events throughout the U.S. and Europe. I received an individual artist's fellowship grant and was selected for The Watercolor Page in AMERICAN ARTIST magazine and cover artist.