AARON BROWN
October 2005: Aaron Brown has been involved in our Realism Invitational since 2002. This year, we are proud to announce that he has recently received a Pollock-Krasner Grant. Aaron is currently an Instructor at Emporia State University, Emporia, KS.

MYRA SCHUETTER
June 2005: Myra Schuetter’s immensely impressive grand scale watercolors are on display from June 10 – July 23, 2005 in her solo exhibit at the Sheldon Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana. This mid-career retrospective shows 30 landmark paintings that were created over the past 23 years of the artist’s distinguished career.

Schuetter creates vibrant, photo-realistic watercolor paintings, rendered in painstaking detail. Perhaps equally or more impressive are the watercolors’ size - some more than 6 ft. square. Her works are mainly still lifes that feature mesmerizing realistic flowers, fabrics, and personal mementos.

Laura Orchard
June 2005: Laura Orchard's work is featured in the June issue of the Santa Fean Magazine. Orchard's drawings and sculptures are marked by grace, soul, and great skill; her next solo exhibit is scheduled for 2006.

Ada Medina
June 2005: Ada Medina was awarded $8,000 from the Tanne Foundation in Boston for her outstanding achievement in art.

JAIME PERANDONES
2004: The paintings “Over Your Shoulders” (courtesy Lynn and George Goldstein Collection) and “Water and Skin” by Spanish artist Jaime Perandones will be on view at the exhibition “Redefining Georgia: Perspectivas en Arte Contemporáneo” from May 2 - August 22, 2004 at the Hardaway Gallery in conjunction with The Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA. The exhibit examines the work of several artists from Cuba and Latin America who now reside in Georgia. Representing one of the state's most rapidly growing constituencies, the exhibition includes a broad range of objects-paintings, installations, sculptures, videos and collage-by some of the most respected artists in Georgia. These diverse works powerfully express the artists' personal narratives, perspectives and experiences.

Perandones is also the proud recipient of the XVIII BMW Painting Award, which is the highlight of Spain's most prestigious juried competition with over 700 artists participating this year. His painting "Lights at Night", 33 by 72 inches, is a study of light reflecting on a young woman emerged in water. The president of the jury and director of the Fine Arts Royal Academy of San Fernando, Ramón González de Amezúa, said that the piece was elected with a near unanimous vote. The jury agreed that the chromatic and compositional solution was “perfect”. They also stated that his work reflects Pre-Raphaelite influences, especially as seen in the painting “Ofelia” by Sir John Everett Millais.

This award was presented to Perandones by Her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain on November 24, 2003. His painting along with other selected artists will be on display at the awards presentation, and then moved to the Fine Arts Royal Academy of San Fernando, one of the city’s historic landmarks located in the heart of Madrid. Following this venue, the show will travel throughout Spain and then on to other countries in Europe in 2004. Jaime’s painting will then become part of the BMW collection.

Steve Smulka
2004: Photo-Realist painter Steve Smulka has been the recipient of a 2004 Pollock-Krasner Grant. The Pollock-Krasner Foundation‘s dual criteria for grants are recognizable artistic merit and demonstrable financial need, whether professional, personal or both. The Foundation‘s mission is to aid, internationally, those individuals who have worked as professional artists over a significant period of time. The grant is considered one of the highest awards among artists, collectors and admirers alike.