Allison Swan

Ellen Sinclair is a native of  Virginia Beach, Virginia. She received her BA from  Hollins University and spent a year abroad studying and painting in France. She is greatly influenced by the Impressionists and shares their love of color and light. After college she continued her studies with other notable artists. She attended workshops in Maine with Colin Page, Janet Fish, and Charles Souvek; in Maryland at the Chesapeake Fine Arts Studio with Larry Moore, and in Virginia with Charles Kello, Andras Bality, and Renata Keep.

"Art is my passion. The thrill of experiencing something beautiful and sharing it with others is magic and the joy for me is in the creation. In my work I seek to portray the beauty in everyday scenes. I encourage viewers to take a moment to see and appreciate the way the light falls on a country road, or the brilliant colors of freshly arranged flowers in a vase, or the aftermath of a delicious meal shared with others. Color excites me! I paint what I love with all my heart. My hope is that my paintings will ring true and touch the lives of others in a meaningful way." 

LIVING ON A SALT MARSH

Virginia Beach, Virginia artist Bobbi Gunn specializes in coastal landscape and bird paintings.

She has grown up painting, but, living with a salt marsh in her backyard has given her and her art a new, exciting perspective on the beauty of nature. This is her inspiration.

Whether kayaking the river, observing the wildlife from the pier behind her home, or hiking through the beautiful nearby state park, she is aware of the countless ways that our natural world changes. Using a camera she tries to capture the fleeting moments and use these as references for her paintings. Working with oil, pastel and gouache, a painting is usually a composition of many source photos as well as her own sketches as well as a lifetime of observation.

The artists that have inspired her are John Singer Sargent, Degas, Turner and Winslow Homer.  She also goes way back to the wonderful watercolors and gouache paintings of Albrecht Durer.  The beauty and skill of "The Large Tuft of Grass" and "A Hare" have always been favorites. But, when she went to the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming and saw the amazing wildlife art

there, she was hooked.  The paintings of Carl Rungius, Robert Bateman, Michael Coleman, and Jamie Wyeth were unforgetable.  Trying to combine the realism of Durer to depict an animal, but also use the  colors and brushwork of Sargent for a landscape is a challenge, but one that keeps her painting.

A native of Asheville, North Carolina, my father's work took us north and to the midwest but we always returned.  My interest in art began when I was 10 years old and has been continuous . I took classes at the Kansas City's Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Later, while pursuing my nursing degree at Wake Forest University I took classes at University of North Carolina Greensboro.  Marriage and career brought me to Virginia Beach VA in 1968.  I changed my career from nursing to real estate, raised a family and continued my interest in painting.  I took classes at the Museum of  Contemporary Art, Virginia Wesleyan, and local notaries such a Reitha  Sedel, Suzanne Stevens, Barclay Sheaks, Robert Burnell, Charles Kello , various workshops in Pleine Air  here and California.

I often begin on a black canvas, inspired by nature and bring the light to  the dark.  Kindred voices are  easy to find.  I work mainly in oils but also paint in acrylics, watercolor and mixed media.  I continue to experiment with different approaches and subjects.  I am currently exploring a technique of painting on copper using oil and gold or silver leaf, combining "pour painting "and oils.  The last few years I have discovered Pleine Air painting and have had the luxury of traveling with fellow artist to paint outside not only locally but across the country. and I will continue this endeavor as well as studio painting. 

Throughout my career  my paintings have been featured in local galleries and shows.  Currently pieces are available at  Town Center City Club Art Gallery, , Beach Gallery, Baker's Fine Jewelry and Gifts, Virginia Beach  and upcoming shows, Norfolk Academy , Nansmond Suffolk Academy , Garden Club of Virginia Board of Governor's" Cultural Reflowering" art show in Lynchburg, VA  ;"  Paint the Shore" which will have their opening is November 12 ,2021 6-8 at the Historic Palace Theater in Cape Charles, VA , The :Painted Garden at

Beach Gallery during Historic Garden Week and  other local venues.

 I have grown up in Virginia and come from a long line of family Artists. I love to paint, while time just disappears with each brush stroke.  To view the world in colors and hues with shades of imaginable light and darkness is a passion for each painting. People and places inspire my choices of subjects.  The memories I create or bring back is what I strive for as an artist.  To paint a picture in time that lasts forever.

I have been painting for the past 16 years.  Having taken art classes in college and attending many workshops over time with amazing artists, Andras Bality, Sara Linda Poly, Laura Loe, and Carole Boggemann Peirson. Always learning and growing as an artist, as well as attending the first Plein Air Live & Realism Live Conference with Eric Rhodes and learning from a number of well-known artists from around our world. 

To show my art for others to view and collect is a true privilege, whether on my website, an art gallery, a local show or a plein air event.  

Val M B Parnell

Memberships

Oil Painters of America

CBAA - Chesapeake Bay Art Association 

Plein Air Painters of Virginia