Transformations From the Heart Opens at Bean Runner Cafe

From the

Artists’ Reception: Saturday June 16, 3 to 6 p.m.

Exhibit: June 10 – July 8, 2012

Transformations: From the Heart is a group exhibition of six passionate artists ranging from a young newly minted graduate to a seasoned, long practicing octogenarian, all using their creativity to distill, interpret, and transform their personal world views. The diverse styles and materials communicate each artist's inner vision and that of their individual philosophy at large.

Paul Arts: I am a self-taught artist by choice. Three movements, the Cubist, Surrealist, and Impressionist movements, attract and inspire my work. Once I start on my way, I separate from these movements and enter into a field of frank and free creation, looking for the independence of place and time that inevitably spreads the medium. For me, the basis of art is drawing, the D ratio, and, last but not least, the pace. Drawing is invention. The D Ratio provides order, and the pace is the sound chords laying down the law of frontality. The task of the artist is to invent and compose and once the work manages to represent itself and not to be what it purports to represent, I say the piece has Spirit. See my work in www.artsconstructivism.com.

John Bartolotta: I am a Marine Vietnam Veteran. My art is an expression of self and an endless search for inner peace, and also my feelings about life and the struggles it brings. Painting releases me from the demons of the past and enables me to be forever “Chasing the Sunset.” I have participated in residencies, workshops and courses at the VA Montrose NY Art Program and Westchester Community College. I have had exhibitions at The DeWindt Gallery at Shrub Oak Custom Framing (2011), the VA Hospitals at Montrose and Castle Point, New York, and was covered in an article “Integrating the Dark and the Light”, published in the Yorktown Patch (2011). See my work at www.jsbartolotta.tumblr.com.

Monya Berg Brown I do artwork which is related to real life and my reaction to it. I like to call it “redesigned realism”. When I work with acrylics, pastels, pen and ink, I am relating to landscapes, scenes, which exist or have existed. My collages or mixed media creations begin with a concept and evolve from there out. For instance in this show "Home Alone" was based on a period of time in which my home was being rebuilt so I was living more or less in a single room, all views fromthe windows were combined into a collage to show them all at once. Another example is "Give us Your Poor" which depicts how generous our nation has always been to those who immigrated to our shores for a better life. I prefer doing collages because I can really get totally into them and really involved.

Cristin Manner Like life, my artistic style is ever changing. I received a B.A. in Studio Art & Psychology from the University of Vermont and enjoy exploring different approaches towards application, shape, line, color, and depiction, using acrylic, watercolors, pastel and collage. Having found my voice as an artist, my subject matter consists mostly of abstract trees. I admire the gifts trees give, understand their symbolic qualities, and feel complete peace when surrounded by a forest full of trees. I believe that the creative process is a therapeutic tool towards healing and self-discovery and have taught in alternative settings; museums with children, painting classes for adults with developmental disabilities, and La Cambalacha, a non-profit art school in San Marcos, Guatemala. I am currently teaching a painting class at Skyview in Croton-on-Hudson & have artwork at The Energy Movement Center in Peekskill and Sweetgrass Café in Tarrytown.

Judy Wine I have loved and created art all of my life. I obtained a B.A. in Art Education from New York University, was commissioned to paint a mural for Brooklyn College, and have been in several shows, including “Small Works” at the Paramount Theatre Art Gallery. I received a "Certificate of Merit" from the New York State Assembly for my one-woman show at the Rye Library in 2010. I studied for three years with master illustrator Alan Reingold, and have developed my own style, “oil pastel paintings.” An avid environmentalist, I seek to express the beauty of nature, to encourage people to save our wild places and animals. I also a teacher English as a Second Language. http://www.judywine.com/

Maureen Winzig I am a visual and graphic artist, as well as a prolific poet and writer. My work has been exhibited at the Peekskill Arts Council and the Garrison Art Center galleries. Currently, my work is taking on metaphysical feel transcending from scenes of everyday life to inner worlds of self realization and personal power. I have an associate’s degree in Graphic Design and have studied fine art privately from many local masters in the Westchester and Dutchess County areas. I worked for the past 12 years within corporate America as an Executive Office Coordinator focusing on high level communications and collaborating events. My website is currently under construction but you can find me on Face Book and Linkedin. http://maureenwinzig.webs.com/