ALONZO ADAMS

His pallette is dominated by the earth tones favored by Rembrandt and the American artists he admires, giving his work a poetic, pensive quality. His professional goal is to keep integrity in art, and his personal ambition is to hang in the world’s great art museums alongside the masters he reveres. For today, he remains engaged in portraying contemporary black lifestyles, inspired by everyday sights and sounds that deserve immortality in a constantly changing world.

 Alonzo Adams’ work has been featured in solo exhibitions at major public and private venues in the East, including Howard University and the Russell Senate Building in Washington , D.C. , Rutgers University , Dow Jones and Uptown Records in New York . He has received commissions from Merrill Lynch, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Motown, Ortho Pharmaceutical, Absolut Vodka and Black Enterprise, among others His works hang in the collections of Bill Cosby, Andrew Young, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Earl Graves, Maya Angelou, Patti Labelle, Jasmine Guy, Eddie Murphy and Senator Bill Bradley.

ESSUD FUNGCAP

Essud paints to excite, to calm, to stir emotion with a sensitivity to color and form influenced by a lifetime in the Caribbean . He acknowledges the contributions that a bicultural upbringing, a Chinese father and a Haitian mother, have made to his sense of wonder of the world around him. He is constantly striving to inject aspects of surrealism in his work and at the same time convey a certain quiet, peaceful tropical style that reinforces our sense of "being there". Essud believes that critical study of color and form for each individual work are essential, and consequently his work always undergoes several transformations before reaching the point where he feels that it is ready for presentation.

Music is an integral part of Essud's life and he finds many parallels in the works of great Latin, jazz and classical composers as he searches for the natural rhythm of his own work. To that end, he sees himself as a composer of sorts, bringing together different mediums, ideas and emotions to create harmony and bring "life" to his paintings. In his own words, "A life without art would bring despair, but art without the life it seeks to represent would be unbearable."

Essud was born in Port-au-Prince , Haiti . He began painting as a child and at the age of five was accepted to the Foyer des Arts plastiques. He began his studies under the supervision of such Internationally well known artists as Cedor, Nehemy Jean, Lazard, Gourgues, etc. and then went on to attend the Academie des Beaux Arts. Several years later, he opened his own studio in partnership with two renowned artists, Carol Theart and Edward Wah.

In 1970, he came to the United States where he studied at the SOHO Art Center in New York then moved on to Florida where he took courses at the Coral Gables Museum of Art. Later he decided to study visual communications and Graphic Design at the Houston Art Institute of Texas. In addition to showing his work in the United States and abroad, he maintains his strength through teachings and personalized study (Art Students League of New York). His images have been published in magazines worldwide. He recently was invited for a presentation at the Chicago cultural Center during the "Meeting of the Two Worlds" event. His new released prints have been well received at the Philadelphia and Atlanta ABC’s and New York ART EXPO Javits Center and has also received numerous national awards including the Manhattan Arts International Magazine's, the Annli's Outstanding Achievers Award in New York and the Chicago Museum of Science Honorable Mention for his creativity. In July 1998, at the National Black Art Festival, during a paint-out/ exhibit at the Atlanta Underground he was invited to appear on the NBC channel 11 "In Depth" program with Wess Sarginssen to talk about his works and his impressions. In February 1999 he exhibited at the Atlanta State Capitol where he met with Governor Georges Barnes and Mayor Bill Campbell. In March 2000 He was invited to appear on the FOX/TV program "Good Day Atlanta". In March 2001, Atlanta base NBC/TV featured him as Artist of the month on their website. As well as the Howard University ’s student website. His works are included in many prestigious private and public collections and are very well demanded among Art Lovers.

DAVID SCHLUSS

David Schluss was born in 1943. He started painting at a very early age in Israel . He attended school in the ancient city of Jaffa , the historical seaport in central Israel . It was there that the mystical walls of the city and the austere religion of the historic churches, temples and monasteries captivated him. It was during these early years in Israel that Schluss sensed his overwhelming desire to paint.

Unable to afford the necessary painting materials as a young artist, Schluss began sketching with charcoal and cheap pencils. He gave his sketches away to anyone who showed interest in his work. His main objective was the development of his craft. During his early 20's, Schluss and his family migrated to Montreal , Canada . In 1969, he enrolled in the renowned art school "Ecole des Beaux Arts." Soon after, he began teaching private lessons to other students of the school. In 1971, he pursued his interests in art education at the University of Sir George Williams in Montreal where he earned his fine arts degree.

Influence from great masters such as Chagall, Miro, and Botero inspired Schluss to create his own individualized style and technique of painting. He began experimenting by painting with his hands, using no paintbrush or spatula. He says, "With the palm of my hands I can get a play of light that I could never achieve with a brush. I start with the abstract, and figures emerge. "Today, Schluss paints only using his hands. Using his fingers as paintbrushes, he sculpts out images, textures and colors directly onto the canvas. It is with this unique vision that Schluss creates his whimsical and playful images. The joy and enthusiasm that David Schluss depicts in all of his works are signature to the graceful, elegance that exemplifies the beauty of his artistic style of painting.  In 1983, David Schluss opened a Studio in Fort Lauderdale , Florida where he still continues to perfect his painting technique. He travels back and forth from Florida to Tel-Aviv, drawing inspirations for his work. His paintings are currently being displayed in the Teffen Museum in Israel , The Museum of Modern Art in Fort Lauderdale , and in many private and public collections throughout the world.

R O E D E R I C K  V I N E S

Born in Toledo, Ohio in 1949, Roederick (a/k/a “Rody”) began painting at the age of four, and professionally at the age of 19. Roederick studied Fine Arts and Illustration at the Columbus College of Art and design in Columbus , OH . Roederick lived in Los Angeles , California for several years before relocating to Atlanta , Georgia with his wife Sharron in 1993.

Expression is a must for Roederick. He plays the guitar, writes lyrics and creates poetry, all at the same intensity that he paints. His goal is to blend these expressions within one frame of reference to express God’s love for man.

Diversity of expression is the key ingredient noticed when viewing a body of Roederick’s works. Many viewers express that more than one artist created the work. Roederick’s gift of multi-expression, using a variety of mediums, ranks him among the most versatile artists of this era. Here’s what art enthusiasts are saying about his work:

¨ Lyrical and rhythmic - with plenty of movement
¨ Spiritual and thought provoking
¨ Whimsical, with serious undertones
¨ Dramatic and colorful
¨ Sense of harmony
¨ Like a motion picture – the paintings tell a story

Roederick undoubtedly paints the human figure well. His goal is to unmask his skill in the three dimensionality of the human figure expressed in the form of sculpture in the near future.

Roederick’s works are on display at various galleries across the country. Collectors, both professionally and commercially agree that owning a VINES original is affordable, wise and a timeless investment.

LEROY CAMPBELL

As years go by, I see my art as a celebration of Black lifestyles. I try to capture the richness of the culture --- the dance and music.  I call it old spirit art, it represents a past, reflective of the African-American experience."

Leroy Campbell's newest series, "Black eye Peas," portrays a different view of Southern life than his previous work. Based on the life of a sharecropper, it is a painful yet noble study of the quiet strength and gripping tenacity of farmers in relentless pursuit of "a dream deferred."

The artist's work is characterized by his rich use of color and his mixing of media. Pastel, ink, acrylic, fabric, and charcoal are his favored materials. He has pursued his artistic vision for 10 years, seriously dedicating himself to creating art since 1984.

A self-taught artist, he is influenced by his birthplace, Monk's Corner, South Carolina . Campbell revisits the rural South in his "Neck bone" series, inhabited by Joe-Neck bone, Joe Neck bone, Jr., and Grandma Corrie. His subjects, proud, God-fearing, and self-reliant, are the backbone of the African-American community.

Campbell 's "Love Dance" and "Moon Glow" sets are inspired by dance and jazz, respectively. In addition to having his work shown at Phillip Morris and the Chemical Bank in New York , the Brooklyn, New York , artist has created commissioned pieces for Bacardi Rum, Seagrams, and Honey Entertainment Records.

DONOVAN MC LEAN

Donovan Mc Lean’s vision and innovative style brings a fresh approach to African-American art.  He emigrated from Jamaica with a single purpose – to establish himself as a nouveau artist, with the chief focus geared to the culture of the African-American experience.

Importantly, the style of Donovan McLean artwork breaks the mold.  For example, while some of his canvas treatment embraces a form of BAS-relief that uses contrasting colors and shapes to deceive the eye into seeing beyond what are on canvas; other offer straightforward emotion – tugging images of life, living history of African-descent people.

Donovan’s Mc Lean’s interest in art started early.  Indeed, by the age of eleven, he had a solid grounding in anatomy, plus an understanding of traditional art techniques.  His self-taught odyssey included exposure to the techniques of the masters, along with Egyptian original art.  Without the benefit of traditional teachers, Donovan was able to discover, shape and follow his own sensibilities and cultural directions as he developed his own style.

The diverse subject matters of his work include jazz, religion, family, culture and sexuality.  He has created a new thought provoking “African Abstract” series.  Donovan uses oils, pastels, watercolor, mixed media, fabrics etc., to convey his messages.  His work is inspired and influenced by Louis Henry Mitchell, Stedroy Cleghorne, Willie Tolbert and Kolongi.  Donovan resided in New York City .

ANSWERD STEWART

Music, some philosophers argue, is the highest, most pure of arts because of its temporality, its fading physicality, its ephemerality as each passing note, beat and soundwave reverberates through us, moving us as no other art can.  It is this that painter Answerd Stewart has been trying to capture for the past ten years as he labors tirelessly on his latest series of bold works.

hrough his world history studies, where he read of past plights in the halls of the esteemed Brooklyn College , he learned his heavy lessons, reflected in the gravity of some of his works. He graduated with a world history degree so he could teach, to mold young people, which he did steadfastly and lovingly for many years while working on his paintings and cultivating his styles.  Also a father, Stewart’s patient teacher-fatherlike, reflective and pensive sensibilities are at work when you go to decode and appreciate his pieces.  And like playing a magnificent album over and over again, one never tires of finding new lessons which are always imparted, always embedded in the oil and acrylic swatches of brushwork, some as bright and as colorful and as alive as a Rockwell or a  Lichtenstein or a Jacob Lawrence.

Stewart has exhibited his work extensively in beautiful Brooklyn and beyond. www.stewartfineart.biz was created to share and sell to the world his latest works and for all to learn more about him and his future engagements.  Already gracing the walls of many private collectors, locally and abroad, demand for Stewart’s work is growing.

BUCHI UPJOHN AGHAJI 
 
Buchi Upjohn Aghaji is a Nigerian born artist and he dips his brush into vastly different hues when creating his works. He expresses his art through a variety of media including oil, watercolor and acrylic on cold-pressed paper, canvas, burlap, wood and pottery. The result is a refreshing change from the contemporary trend in Afro-centric painting. Aghaji says that while he was always interested in painting, his studies in the university steered him into the advertising field where he worked for a year in Nigeria . It wasn't until he moved to England that he realized that he could pursue his painting full time. The response he received from his work was so encouraging that he and an illustrator friend opened a studio. 
 
Always open to travel and new experiences, Aghaji decided to move to the United States, he spent three years in New York where he says at first his Work was met with some resistance due to its break from tradition. He has held fast to the idea that "An appreciation and enjoyment of a thing of beauty is a freeing experience in itself One must have that freedom to appreciate and interpret the beauty of art. This explains why his work take a semi-abstract quality yet possessing a vibrance that makes you stop and take notice of the rhythm of the painting.  
 
Aghaji utilizes the graphic techniques he acquired while majoring in visual communications at the University of Nigeria to introduce diversity of media to his work. He also uses the traditional "uli" motifs found in his tribe, the Igbos of Nigeria in this unique form of expression. Uli is the art of body decorations, consisting of lines and patterns that convey such admirable qualities as the strength, fertility, humility, and compassion of the individuals they adorn. He states that using uli motifs enables him to remind everyone that, these inner qualities are what we must seek to cultivate. This combining of the best of the "old" and the new come together make his work a unique and exhilarating experience.  
 
Upjohn's work has received much recognition and acclaim in Nigeria and other parts of the world. His work has been collected by the President of Nigeria and numerous private collectors in England , Germany , America and Africa .

LARRY "PONCHO" BROWN

Larry "Poncho" Brown is a native of Baltimore , Maryland . He pursued his art education at the Maryland Institute College of Art, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1984. He started his first business at the age of 17 as a signwriter, and has been a full time artist ever since. Much of his early sign work was featured on television commercials and movies including Barry Levinson's "Avalon."

His art, both fine and commercial, has been published nationally in Upscale, Ebony, Ebony Man, Essence, and Jet magazines. The young artist work adorns the walls of the likes of Dick Gregory, Anita Baker, Bill Cosby, Susan Taylor, and Bernard Bronner to name a few. His most popular artwork titled "Black is Black" and works from "Egyptian Queens" series has been featured on the former hit TV show "A Different World." "Sidesteppin" was featured on the HBO mini series " Laurie Avenue ", and "One Love" has been featured on "In The House".

He is the youngest honorary member of Art 2000, a national multi-cultural visual arts association. Among his convictions, is educating young artists. His is the founder of "The African American Youth Art Exhibition" which has been sponsored in Baltimore annually since 1990. He is also one of the founders of Artistic Legacy, which sponsors art workshops with students featuring artists nationwide. "My goal is to provide an outlet for young artists to express themselves, as well as enlighten them on the importance of art in culture."

Admirers often site rhythm, movement, and unity, as favorite elements in his work. He primarily works in acrylic, although he uses a variety of mediums and styles to express his interests in Afro-centric themes, Ancient Egyptology and dance. Poncho's unique style combines past and present art stylizations to create a sense of realism, mysticism, and beauty, which gives his art universal appeal.

ANDREW NICHOLS

Born in Brooklyn , New York , Andrew discovered that he had a gift of drawing at an early age.  He began expressing himself through pencil on paper in elementary school, and soon began receiving formal art awards, his first being at age nine.  The signal was clear to those around him or to anyone who viewed his early work that Andrew had a true talent.  Andrew continued to win awards through junior and senior high schools.  His artwork remains on display at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn , New York .

Andrew continued his education and art expression at Kingsboro Community College .  It was during time in his life that he developed a passion for oil and canvas.  Andrew began to tour the region selling his original oils.  He was soon displaying his artwork at the Jacob Javits Center, Pratt Institute and one-man shows.  Andrew expresses positive African-American images through his artworks.  He projects his passion of the family as a strong loving unit.

Andrew often transfers his love for children to his canvas.  He expressed life beginning on a canvas painting called “Welcome to the world”.  Andrew is best known for some of his latest artwork like “Goodnight”, “Harmony”, “Sisters”, “Good Morning” just to name a few.  When asked about a heartfelt moment, Andrew cites when several members of the New Jersey Nets purchased his oil originals, it was “defining” for me.

Andrew message to the world community is “We are all role-models to each other in one way or the other, always be positive, because somebody is looking up to you, known or unknown.  Stay focused on your dream; don’t be afraid to express your passion.  Just as I transfer my feeling and inspiration to canvas, you are transferring your positive strength to others”.

CHARLES BIBBS

Charles Bibbs has always believed that we are the keepers of our culture, and as such, has spent much of his time working towards developing a cohesive, energized African American community. He is a committed activist on behalf of economic development and empowerment in the community, spending much of his free time holding seminars and workshops with young people. In his quest to preserve and develop the visual arts, Charles Bibbs has founded Art 2000, a non-profit visual art association that informs and inspires artists and art patrons alike. Out of this association has grown Images Magazine, the first national publication dedicated to ethnic art. Another one of Charles’ passions is jazz music; and by founding the Inland Empire Music and Arts Foundation, another non-profit organization, he has been able to bring an annual world class jazz and art festival to Southern California , while providing much needed funding for a number of art and music programs.

Charles Bibbs’ artwork manages to fuse African, African American and Native American cultural themes, to make powerful cross cultural statements. His work is thought provoking and capable of arousing strong emotions regardless of ethnic, gender and generational affiliation. Although he may have an idea or vision in mind when painting a particular piece, Charles prefers each individual who views his work to gain a personal vision from his artwork. Across the board, his renderings convey a deep sense of spirituality, majesty, dignity, strength and grace. It is sufficient to say, however his works are viewed, whatever individual emotions they may evoke, they remain characteristically and recognizably Bibbs.

Tim Cortes

PETER PEART 

Peter Peart was born in Kingston , Jamaica . He is a graduate of the Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts. Peter has been painting as long as he can remember, T- Shirts, Billboards, gifts for friends, wall in homes, public parks on request or where ever there is a need for beauty. The artist considers his talents a natural gift. A career artist since graduating, his favourite subjects is landscapes as he is inspired by the beauty of Jamaica . Peter has exhibited in galleries throughout Jamaica , Barbados , England , USA , Grenada and Trinidad . In 1994, he held his first solo exhibition. Peter was awarded a bronze medal in1996 for works entered in the Jamaica Festival Arts Competition. He also received an award in the JCDC Photographic Competition in 2001. He is a member of the Jamaican Guild of Artist

ALPHANSO BLAKE 

Born 1971 in Jamaica , West Indies , Alphanso originally started working in oils in 1989 but has since moved on to acrylics - which he now uses exclusively. He lives and works in the hills of St. Andrew from where he seems to get the inspiration for a lot of his stupendous landscapes.

Talent, dedication and perseverance aptly describe the virtue of Alphanso who has had numerous group exhibitions and two very successful solo showings to his credit. His most recent overseas appearances have been in Charleston , South Carolina , New York , Barbados and the Jamaican Consul in Washington D.C.
His works are constantly shown at various galleries in Jamaica and Trinidad and have held places in many distinguished private collections, both in Jamaica and overseas, among these persons is popular American singer, Roberta Flack.

His name is renowned in Jamaica ’s national JCDC Festival of Art Competition, where he has been presented with three Certificates of Merit, two in 1996 and the other in 1998. He attended the Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts and at the Edith Dalton James High School , he was awarded "Most Outstanding Student" in Art for the year 1988-1989.

"Painting has taught me to be patient and to work carefully for what I want," Alphanso says. "One of my greatest motivators is the challenge of attaining seemingly unreachable goals." This approach he feels is largely due to his christian beliefs.

Although clearly influenced by the works of Jamaican Art professionals such as Richard Hall, Barrington Watson and George Rodney, he thinks he has largely developed his artistic ideas by individual inspiration and God-given abilities.

His subject matter ranges from Landscapes, to Seascapes, Abstracts, Semi-Abstracts and Figure Studies.  Ultimately, Alphanso wishes to be an ambassador of Caribbean art worldwide.

James Denmark 

James Denmark, born in Winter Haven , Florida in 1936, is part of an artistic family. He was exposed to color and form at an early age by his grandmother, a wire sculptor and quilt artist. His grandfather was a bricklayer noted for his unique custom designed molds and his mother was gifted with an intuitive eye for design and detail. This rich beginning is the root of James Denmark’s creative expression.

Denmark earned his Master of Fine Arts Degree at Pratt Institute of Fine Arts in New York . During this period he was heavily influenced by the abstract expressionists Jackson Pollock, Clifford Still, and William deKooning. The African-American masters Norman Lewis, Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence and Ernest Critchlow instilled in him and appreciation of African American artistic heritage.

Denmark ’s collages, watercolors, woodcuts and reproductions are consistently and eagerly sought by galleries and collectors worldwide. James Denmark lives and works in Yemassee , South Carolina . 

Frank Morrison

Born in Massachusetts then brought by his family to live in New Jersey at an early age, Frank Morrison was reared and spent his formative years there, an affable, precocious and inquisitive youngster whose curiosity about everything around him seemed limitless. Then, as an energetic pre-teen, he was interested and enthused by the youthful fads, interests and activities which marked his world: the neighborhood DJ's with their followers and fans at neighborhood parties, the colorful ‘tags’ of local characters which were splashed across fences, parks and buildings, and the loose-jointed "B" boys and break-dancers who enlivened week-end party scenes. In this setting his world was suddenly rife with possibilities and he became convinced that he, too, could DO this!

In no time, invested with a brilliant flow of creativity, his eye for and execution of colorful ‘tags’ and ‘R.I.P’ scenes began to bring him considerable ‘street recognition’ and local acclaim. But what soon pleased him more was his mounting reputation as a "B" boy--break-dancing, popping and locking with such skill and control that he became a regular on the dance crew of R & B star Sybil. After a couple of years traveling with her, he joined the touring crew of The Sugar Hill Gang, appeared on "Show Time at the Apollo", performed on the video "Rap Mania", and with the dance company of the movie, " New Jack City ".

In fact, it was while dancing and touring the nation and European continent that he chanced to visit The Louvre Museum in Paris that he "met his Muse". As he walked the halls there, he was consumed by what he saw. Looking at the work of the Masters in The Louvre, he was reminded of what he had unconsciously reached for in his sprawling graffiti pieces; he recognized realms of color, style, passionate expression and possibilities that he had never before imagined.

Upon returning to New York , Morrison became a ‘regular’ at local museums and galleries--knowing that he had to return to his art. With a renewed vision and an informed eye, the still teen-aged Morrison followed his heart, began the development of an expressive style of his own, crafted his first portfolio, and set out to market his paintings.

One need take only a cursory view/examination of his portfolio or his work ‘en gallery’ to find that his power and inspiration are products of his deeply religious grounding and his loving commitment to his family. His innate musicality, natural rhythmic bent and intrinsic understanding of physical/spiritual/emotional expression, both invade and explode from his paintings.

Notable collections of Morrison’s art are owned by former New York City School Chancellor Rudy Crew, New Orleans Senator Gregory Tarver, renowned actor/philanthropist Bill Cosby who prides himself on nurturing the talents of emerging African American artists, and Dr. Lorraine Hale among others. His work has enhanced the settings of televisions shows "Malcolm and Eddie", "New York Undercover", "Cosby" and has been a featured artist on the Home Shopping Network.

Morrison has received commissions from the irrepressible radio/TV commentator Tom Joyner, the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, and executed serially mounted musical scenes for the compact discs "Impulsively Ellington: A Tribute to Duke Ellington. and Down-to-the-Bone’s "Crazy Vibes and Things". His artwork has been displayed in prestigious locales shows such as "The National Black Fine Arts Show" produced by Jocelyn Wainwright, at the Savacou Gallery in Manhattan , and was honored and given a one-man show at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture sponsored by ESSENCE ART and Toyota .

He earnestly declares that he is rendered speechless with pride when he finds his work displayed adjacent to and in conjunction with Romare Bearden originals.

His initiatives include publication of two illustrated children’s books "Zazzy Miz Mozetta" and "Harlem Morning" which will be readied for publication in fall 2004.

Morrison’s work is inspired, not only by his rich and varied life experiences but, by his love and gratitude for his family--his wife Connie, three sons and a daughter and the omnipresent Hand of God. Each of his paintings bears his signature, of course, accompanied by the notation "TTG" representing and reminding all of his "Thanks To God" for the blessings of his gifts--his family and his talents.

Michael Brudent

Michael Brudent was born on July 18, 1947 in Port-au-Prince , Haiti .  At a very early age he embarked on his calling into decorative art and attended L’ecole des beaux Arts.  In 1968, he was discovered by Roland Dorcely, one of the prominent Haitian artists.  Michael artistic talents were used to illustrate educational manuals for primary and secondary schools.  Michael also has a passion for calligraphy and graphic art.  In 1983, he took a refresher course in a New York School and received a certification in ancient and modern calligraphy.

Edwin Lester

Edwin Lester is a self taught artist from Philadelphia who has taken the art world by storm. His spiritual concept is unique and Edwin Lester's art work will convey a message that is evident in every stroke.  Edwin doesn't necessarily consider himself a spiritual or concept artist, he has stated that he likes to paint images which are a part of his everyday life. God, love, simply living trying to be the best he can at what ever he is trying to accomplish that day. Lester is a man that loves what he does and can simply reflect on the joy of life. "I just love what I do and when I walk out into the world each day, there is so much to see, so much to paint. For tomorrow is not promised. So today I will say what I can, do as I must and paint what I can even if it's just one stroke."

Paul Goodnight

At an early age Paul Goodnight utilized artistic expression as a means of communications. From his young life where he steadily ran into trouble avoiding school and authority to his traumatic experience in Viet Nam when he lost his ability to speak, art has been his saving grace.

Born in Chicago , Goodnight's upbringing took place primarily in New London , Connecticut and Boston , Massachusetts . He was raised in a loving and disciplined foster home by a couple he describes as his role models for proper parenting.

After returning from Vietnam , Goodnight was so traumatized by images of war that he was unable to speak. Though some thought he had lost his mind, he knew he hadn't and began to communicate with his drawings the horrors of the war. Through this catharsis he was able to heal himself and regain his voice. Shortly thereafter he enrolled in Vesper George School of Art only to face another battle - his lack of academic experience. Determined to succeed, he enrolled in English Courses at Roxbury Community College and eventually earned a Bachelor's Degree from Massachusetts College of Art in 1976.

His creative efforts were nurtured and inspired by several local artists including Dana Chandler, Gary Rickson and painting instructor Paul Rahilly. Today he continues to interact with "Master" African-American artists such as Alan Crite and John Biggers who he considers mentors who carved the path many contemporary black artists now travel.

Goodnight has developed his own unique aesthetic philosophy to document the humanity of Black people around the world. he often incorporates African themes and symbols to provide depths of history and culture. He has traveled extensively, living among the people of Russia , China , Haiti , Nicaragua and Brazil . What he finds are the universal themes for his work through diverse cultural lens

Bernard Hoyes

BSH: I have been a creator of art, symbols of ancestral echoes since a child in Jamaica ... The images I convey symbolize a culmination of these ancestral echoes brought to classical form. They are contemporary, eternal in spirit and stand as praise to our existence --past, present and future. 

Bernard Stanley Hoyes’ professional artist career began at the early age of nine in his home town of Kingston , Jamaica . Bernard's mother sold his wood carvings and watercolors to visitors at the Jamaica Tourist Board to help maintain the household and support his creative efforts.

Hoyes first exposure to professional art education was at the institute of Jamaica , Junior Art Centre.  At age 15 He moved to New York to live with his father, attend school and continue his art endeavors.  He attended evening classes at the Art Students League, excelling quickly. Hoyes matured as a painter and a sculptor under the apprenticeship of established artists such as Norman Lewis, Huie Lee Smith and John Torres.  A Ford Foundation Scholarship was received which allowed him to study with professional artists in a Summer Arts program at Vermont Academy in Saxtons River , Vermont .   Hoyes was invited by and given a Board of Trustee Grant at the College of Arts and Crafts , Oakland , California .  He set up a studio across the bay in San Francisco and became a full time artist.  

In 1982 Hoyes returned to Jamaica and became a lecturer and assessor for the Jamaica School of Art under the direction of Cecil Cooper.  By this time, Hoyes had developed into a master of colorful and rhythmical compositions. 

Hoyes mural works and other special projects demonstrate his commitment to the public good. He worked with First A.M.E. Church’s "In The Spirit Of Contribution," which employed community youth, including African-American and Latino gang members, to get together to recognize each other’s contributions to the spiritual and peaceful unity of Los Angeles, California and the U.S. he developed a student art completion with the Jamaica Awareness Association and the California Afro-American Museum; founded the First Annual Jamaican Art Seminar & Gallery Tour sponsored by California Afro-American Museum; founded the Caribbean Cultural Institute and Caribbean Arts, Inc. a publishing and distribution company in 1982.

Alfred Alexander Gockel

An artist who can't sit still. While his paintings show a fluidity of color, character, and setting, the man himself likes to keep the creative process going by not even taking the time out to let one canvas dry before working on another. In fact, he regularly works on four paintings at the same time. All are displayed before him and he moves from one to the next to the next and back again. "My aim is to paint harmony," he says. And many would agree that symmetry is something that Gockel is very good at.

Born in 1952 in the coal mining community of Lüdinghausen in Germany , Gockel lived with his parents and younger brother. At age four, his father bought him a watercolor set for Christmas after noticing that he was sketching a lot. While the surroundings may have been dark, and somewhat grim, his father knew that through art his son could put his dreams down onto paper. Both of his parents were creative, his father being a designer and his mother making lots of crafts. By age eight, he had his first release of artwork by a German publisher. "We did not have a lot of money when I was growing up," Gockel says. "My parents would take me to the zoo and I would sit down and paint for hours. They really inspired me to be an artist."

At the age of 16, Gockel started working in the coalmines, and was focusing on becoming an engineer. Then, the mining industry collapsed leaving Gockel's family and neighbors without a livelihood. The widespread unemployment forced him into the army where he spent two-and-a-half years. He then went on to study art and design at the Polytechnic Academy in Münster where he specialized in the printing process of silk-screens and lithographs. Freelance work as a designer after graduation led to working with some of Germany 's major advertising agencies, all the while painting and making silk-screens.

By 1985, Gockel had stopped teaching and focused on his art fulltime. He also realized that he wanted to see more of the world. "I decided I wanted to work outside of Germany as well," he says. "I started out doing a show in England , then one in New York ."  Gockel started participating in more art shows to paint and interact with the audience. Working at almost break-neck speed, Gockel has been known to create up to 400 originals a year.

In his travels, Gockel has had the opportunity to meet Salvador Dali and Antonio Tàpies, and has been influenced by the work of Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso. Upon traveling to the U.S. , he became aware of the work of Jasper Johns and Jackson Pollock. "It's very important to see the other side of this art. I like the Americans' work because it seemed more open. In my paintings, I try to combine the language of the Old Masters with the language of what we have developed today."

And as far as inspiration for his paintings, Gockel merely gets on a plane and visits a new location. "I travel a lot in a year and that's how I get most of my ideas. It's like when you got to an Indian restaurant, you get a different taste and smell, and you also get to meet different people."

Steven N. Meyers

“By using x-rays instead of light, an unusual innervision can be revealed, and Nature shows us textures, details, and shadows that would otherwise not be seen. Visible light is just a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum, and falls between x-rays and infrared. My x-ray images are a collection of negatives, positives, and solarized images - solarized being partly negative and partly positive at the same time. Black and white images have been a part of my daily life since 1971. In my 25+ years as a radiology technologist, I have experimented with this art form many times. Having been involved with traditional landscape photography for many years, the challenges of this alternative technique were many. Although most of my photography work was in color, I've always loved the impact of a nice black and white landscape print. I've attempted to create radiographic still life compositions and to produce images that are quite different from the work of other floral radiographers before me. I am a native of Washington state and I currently work full time as a radiology tech doing Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Even though I work in the radiology field I did not have access to the type of equipment to make quality floral radiographs, so I went out and bought my own specimen radiography unit to get the best detail. Just in the last year I've made over 700 exposures. Now I'm taking time to print and show the images but I often get sidetracked and spend my free time making new images. I'm sometimes shocked at how I see things in my own neighborhood that I've never noticed before. Even the grocery store is a different experience now that I am looking for radiographic subjects.”

Wayland House

Wayland House uses walnut, birch and pine wood for his color block print process.  He first sketches the drawing on the surface of the wood and carves it out with a blade.  Next he uses a brayer (roller) to apply oil base ink; then he applies Chinese or Japanese printing paper, rubbing the carved image in a circular movement with a round flexible object.  The lightest colors are printed first and work towards the darker colors.  The wood is cleaned and reworked as more wood is carved out.  The same process is used for the next color, layering the second color on top of the previous one and this process is repeated, depending on the number of colors used in the print.  All prints are limited editions. Wayland is a graduate of Avila University in Kansas City , MO and also hold a master of Fine Arts degree from Howard University in Washington , DC .  He learned the wood block printing process while studying in the University of Guanajuato in Mexico in 1973.  Later, during a two year stint as a peace corps volunteer in Sierra Leone , West Africa , he observed imagery in masks used in various rituals which to him portrayed deep human emotions, feelings and spirituality. Jonathon Romain Peer into Jonathon Romain's paintings and you'll feel the shifty movement that pulsates in his art. Stumble onto 1478 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park, an eclectic neighborhood on Chicago's North Side, and you stumble onto the 'Mecca' of the artist's creativity--Gallery Romain. The 4000 square foot facility is the latest in a string of sites that date back to a small 500 square foot studio in Peoria. Romain has had to meander his way through the complex world of art-dealing. He started by selling his art to several galleries and eventually obtained employment at one. His experience with the gallery's owner provided the artist with the confidence to start a gallery of his own. Upon the acquisition of his own showroom, Romain's eye shifted from strictly art, to the business of art. He quickly established himself as one of the city's premier businessmen, garnering a New Business of the Year Award in 1997. Jump several gaping years following the 1997 award and the events between form a panorama of commissions, awards, newspaper articles, national television appearances, and the event that Romain believes to be the pinnacle of his career thus far. In 2002, the National Black Prosecutors' Association commissioned the artist to compose a work of art that would symbolize its mission. In addition to presenting his commissioned piece, Romain presented Bill Clinton, the keynote speaker at the painting's unveiling, with an original oil portrait of the President soulfully blowing his trademark saxophone. "While in high school Igot a letter, from a guy named 'Bud', that changed my life," says Romain. John 'Bud' Allen wrote presciently in 1982, "1 write this as a blue collar worker who enjoys pictures." Admiration and praise for the young artist's work preceded Bud Allens request to be included on Romain's mailing list and invited to his first private showing. Allen's significance in Romain's development is ironic, for he is the very subject, the model, the imaginative well from which the artisan draws. And there are thousands more, throngs of acolytes-black and white-who are touched by the authenticity of the Chicago artist's vision, his blessed life, his godsend. Children playing in a water hydrant; a grandmother retired on a porch; a jazzman with trumpet grasped tightly in his hands, poised to sound off; a moping boy in overalls brilliantly suspended, thrust onto the viewer by the propulsion of a stark white background; A portrait of Romain himself, walking to paint perhaps, to further blemish the line between subject and artist, life and art, black and white, to paint our universal story. So the 'Buds' come and buy, in part persuaded by the businessman's appealing lingo, by Romain's weathered street salesman's way with words, but in larger part, sold by the 'Bud' effect-the interesting way in which they see themselves on canvas, their struggle illumined, brightened, enlivened, made beautiful.

ELTON OWUSU

Elton Owusu was born in Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean .  He spent his early years both in Trinidad and Brooklyn , New York .  He began drawing since his early childhood and later he attended Fordham University in New York and the Sorbonne in Paris .  His interest in art has led to visits to the Ivory Coast , Mali and Nigeria in West Africa and several countries in Western Europe . 

Working mainly with oils and acrylics, his paintings reflect the harmony between color and form; space and motion; light and nature.  He describes his work as a form of “linearism” whereby the subject determines the way of the line.  The way of the line is abundant because of the presence of form, color and motion.  In analysis, the way of the line as applied to his work is the pathway between colors or tones.  It is through this pathway that images and ideas come to form the chosen subject.

His works have appeared in “Street Art by Black Americans” which toured the nation, and in exhibitions at museums, universities and galleries, including the Brooklyn Muse, the City University of New York, the Great Neck Public Library and Brooklyn ’s Restoration Corporation.“My paintings should always reflect a study of society.  From this basis, I hope to raise the level of art, and to do so in the direction in which people are advancing.”