Art Kaleidoscope

Decorative panno. Miniature painting by Gracemere Woods (artists Kimera Wachna and Yuichi Watanabe)

Miniature painting by Gracemere Woods

The creative duo of artists Kimera Wachna and Yuichi Watanabe work in their art studio “Gracemere Woods”, in Tarrytown, New York, USA. All their hand crafted art objects – home decor, illustrations, wood burned ornaments, necklaces, and jewelry are inspired by the beauty of nature and spirit of the forest.

The artists work with such materials as Wood, Quartz, Amethyst, Maple, Pine, Cedar and Acrylic Paint. Each miniature painting on a cut down tree is one-of-a-kind, the product of harmony between a man and nature, intimate experience between the artist and the natural world.

“For years I worked long monotonous hours in the city, in front of a computer, and felt like I was contradicting my very existence”, says the artist. According to the artists, not long ago, they left their boring office work to start creating home decorations. Noteworthy, their first works were miniature ink paintings and wood-burned pieces.

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Red and white cat. Christmas eve in painting by Richard Macneil

Christmas eve in painting by Richard Macneil
Born in 1958 in Worcester (England), self-taught artist Richard Macneil started at Worcester Royal Porcelain factory, where he was engaged in sculpture, ceramics and graphics. Later he moved to the USA to work in a Fine Art company, which produced exclusive sculptures. Noteworthy, one of his artworks was displayed in the Oval office of The White House.

Richard Macneil, his wife Judi and sons Daniel and Kyle travel a lot, enjoying the European architecture and traditions. Currently the artist is living in his native England, working as a freelance artist in Worcestershire, UK. Richard has created a surprising number of stunning works, mostly cityscapes, depicting London and other European cities – Paris, and Venice.

The style, in which the artist works – using wide free strokes, it is impossible, for example, to depict small details of face. But he perfectly conveys the outline of the human figure and clothes.
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Hyper realistic painting by Australian artist Michael Zavros

Australian artist Michael Zavros
Born in Brisbane in 1974, Michael Zavros graduated from Queensland College of Art in the 1990s. Michael works in various genres: portrait, fantasy and animalistic, drawing floral and still life paintings. In a short time his work has become widely known thanks to his technique.
Michael paints with watercolors or oil on canvas, working through the details of the image with a fine brush, thereby achieving stunning photographic hyper-realism and accuracy.
For his incredible talent in hyper realistic direction, Zavros has become a many awarded artist. His awards include The Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award (2002), The Robert Jacks Drawing Prize (2005), the Kedumba Prize (2007), Primavera Collex award (2004), Doug Moran National Portrait Prize (2010), annual Archibald Prize (2004, 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2013), and more.
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Winter road. Oil on canvas. Painting winter Dmitry Kolpashnikov

Painting winter Dmitry Kolpashnikov
Born in 1964 in the old Russian city of Tver, Dmitry Kolpashnikov is a talented landscape painter. In 1983, he graduated from the Tver Art College named after Venetsianov.
According to the artist, his favorite genre of painting – Russian landscapes, winter scenery, seasons and rural life. His landscapes are very calm and majestic, deep and vibrant – snow-covered trees, water mills and endless fields.
Dmitry Kolpashnikov participated in art exhibitions in his native Tver, Moscow, aas well as abroad.
The art works of internationally recognized artist are in private galleries in Russia, Germany, Belgium, France and China.
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Dance with butterfly. Oil on canvas. Vladimir Pronin decorative neo symbolism

Vladimir Pronin decorative neo symbolism
Born in 1955 in a Moscow suburb, Russian artist Vladimir Pronin graduated from legendary Fedoskino Art School of miniature painting in 1974. Then, Vladimir entered The Moscow Textile Academy, Faculty of Applied Art, from which he successfully graduated in 1982.
The painting style of Russian artist Vladimir Pronin can be determined as decorative neo symbolism. Indeed, in the modern art it’s very doubtful to find works similar to his. Most of his colorful paintings consist of emblems or symbols painted in wonderful decorative style, called by his admirers “Pronin style”.
Vladimir Pronin began participating in group and solo art exhibitions in 1991, in Moscow. Then followed a number of exhibitions in Russia and abroad.
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Two boats. Sumi-e black ink painting

Sumi-e black ink painting, also called suibokuga, is a drawing in ink. Around the seventh century, Japanese monks brought it from China. So, the original home to the sumi-e is China, although the name of this art is Japanese. Besides, Japanese Zen Buddhist monks used sumi-e as a Zen exercise. Indeed, painting in this technique is suitable for meditation, where a person concentrates on lines, shadows and inner anxiety. And single-color painting only increases concentration.
Technique of Sumi-e is simple, based only on four swabs, called Four Gentlemen. Why such a strange name? There are several versions. According to one, such a respectful name comes from the ancient artists, believing that they, these smears are all shapes and images of the universe. But the second legend is more prosaic: only the rich could have free time for classes focused on sumi-e.
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The Story and the stone. Mei Xiaohua & Zora Yin. Cloth, cotton, paper, yarn, wire, beads, paint, sewn, needle sculpted. Mei & Zora Tranquility Art

Mei & Zora Tranquility Art
In the Chinese city of Zhuhai, live Mom and daughter Mei Xiaohua and Zora Yin, who work in a creative duo. They make little unique sculptures integrating their own unique style and developing a variety of traditional Chinese-handicrafts. Mei Xiaohua and Zora Yin work in different techniques – sculpture, knitting, embroidery, and use various materials – from wire to yarn. Combining traditional Chinese crafts and fine art, they have discovered a new world of soft sculptures, forming their own unique style. Their art conveys the special atmosphere of Tranquility, giving people food for thought, based on Philosophy of life and death.
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