Best New Artist – Alex Ramos (www.alexramosstudio.com)Alex Ramos is a painter specializing in realist and photo realist depictions of landscapes, buildings, and still life. He uses acrylic paints on canvas and paper, using small brushes to execute lifelike depictions of places and items in the artist’s encounters. Alex draws especially from the places he has lived and regularly visits, such as Philadelphia and coastal Maine, as well as décor and furnishings from his parents’ home. Many of these paintings combine minute detail with small canvas sizes, resulting in works that are often mistaken for photos at first glance. In addition to these subjects, he has a popular series portraying popular science fiction characters as Byzantine saint icons. Alex is self-taught and has had no formal art training.
I am the designer and fabricator of all of this jewelry. Many of these pieces are one of a kind. All of my work is hammered. I work in sterling silver, brass, copper, 12-Karat gold filled and nickel silver with semiprecious stones. I have been creating jewelry in a primitive way for nearly twenty years. I traveled up and down the East Coast for many years showing and selling my work, winning several awards along the way. All of this work is silver soldered. My one of a kind pieces will not be duplicated. The stones can be changed in some of the pieces if necessary. Most of this work has been clear coated with a product called Incralic. The pieces are totally immersed in this material, so that no polishing is necessary. It is possible to remove this coating if you should prefer to polish the pieces, or let them oxidize naturally. The ear wires on the earrings are sterling silver or 12-Karat gold filled. Earrings also come with clear rubber stops, these help prevent the possible loss of one of your favorites.
I am a watercolor artist practicing in the little village of Fivepointville, PA. I am mostly self-taught, but I have taken classes from the artists listed in my artist’s statement. I’ve always enjoyed artistic challenges since childhood. I drew sketches and doodles when young and won numerous Scholastic awards in High School. I took art all through High School and several art courses in college, even while studying Biology and Medical Technology. Fast forward through several years of working in the medical field and then homeschooling for about 15 years. I taught art classes to various groups of homeschoolers for about 7 years and created paintings and sculptures for our church’s Vacation Bible Schools. I also painted scenery on backdrops for plays. Now I paint mostly watercolors, a few acrylics and some ink sketches. I take my art to juried shows and festivals in PA and neighboring states. I also enjoy flowers and gardening, hiking, and travelling to interesting places and historical sites whenever I can. I have 2 grown children, a daughter who also travels and a son who follows in his Dad’s footsteps.
Committee’s Choice – Richard Kent (www.kentcarver.com)Richard Kent is a third generation wood carver from Western Pennsylvania making hand carved artwork from reindeer and elk antlers.