Grey Cube Gallery proudly presents the first Painting & Photography online art show for the month of December 2021. The show encompassed a range of artistic styles and mediums (oil on canvas, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, photography, digital, pen & ink, iron, copper, bronze). Each submission has been judged based on the following elements of artistic expression: orginality and quality of art, overall design, creativity, interpretation of the theme, demonstration of artistic ability and usage of medium. Out of all entries, 68 artworks were shortlisted for inclusion in the show. The competition attracted entries from many countries across the world: Austria, Australia, USA, Germany, Sweden, Italy, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, Taiwan, Japan and United Kingdom. Enjoy the show and thank you for expressing an interest in our competition.

Within my art I strive to capture moments—whether it be through oil painting, watercolors or photography. I capture sunsets and clouds on long drives, the way light reflects on glass, and candid photos of people I love. Some of my first memories were of creating art, from making my own shoes out of paper to wall murals in crayon. I love to create because when I am in the middle of creating, all time seems to stop. The inspiration for my art is generally based around nature, people and my surroundings. Each of my works is an expression of how I see the world. In college I began my first formal training which would develop my skill as well as challenge and grow how I think about and create art. College classes exposed me to new media, I discovered a love for oils and it quickly became my favorite medium. My imagery leans toward photorealism and minimalism. A lot of my paintings are based from my own photography and still lives. I tend to paint from my photographs, which make my paintings have a more photo-like style. The majority of my art has a neutral color scheme with pops of color. I use minimalism within my works, creating a calming and serene impression. Each project is a new challenge from which I learn and discover more about art as well as myself.

Mark Weller – Artist Statement: I use my camera like a painter uses a brush. Weather I capture a traditional landscape or a timestacked image, my central theme is the fourth dimension: Time. I move, linger, explore, and dance with my subjects. The results are either representational landscapes or painterly like creations that evolves traditional photography. The element of time may be a literal representation of million-year-old rocks, perhaps the subtle change of the seasons, or the movement of clouds overhead. But all my images are of real places captured and draped in time. My representational art seeks explore time in a traditional sense. But I also use a process called “Timestacking” whereby some of my images are transformed into an alternative way to view reality. My images are usually multiple exposures – oftentimes up to 100 – that are then intermingled into a final frame. This allows my images to accentuate movement and results in bold shapes. It bends traditional photography and uses new technologies to give my images a unique and signatory appearance. These painterly creations seek to alter the way one looks and experiences the familiar. How we see things fundamentally influences our perception of our surroundings, our attitudes, our understanding of who we are and how we fit into the cosmos.

Raised by his artist-father in Oakland, California, portrait artist Jay Johansen, began his journey into the art world at a very young age. Painting ballerinas, matadors, and Hawaiian dancers, Jay established an international collector base, ultimately leading to commissioned paintings of music icons, world dignitaries, as well as a long list of celebrity collectors. After a brief hiatus, Jay returned to painting full-time in his studio with an interest in creating nearly photo-realistic figurative paintings. Today, Jay enlivens monochromatic faces of women with vivid colors that bring life to the canvas. Using broad strokes, as distinct from his previous style, Jay enjoys a freedom he's never felt as a professional artist. Imbued with an energy of renewal, Jay is creating art with the verve he had as a child in his father's studio. He refers to his work as Pop Fusion Art.

“Car Show” is a series of paintings all about reflections. The cars are simply a surface for the reflections and the story they tell. More recently, I have become fascinated with motors. As I did the drawings for the paintings, I discovered all kinds of little surprises in the reflections that I did not notice at first glance. I hope the viewer is drawn in to take a closer look at all the smaller elements and my discoveries as I created these.