FEATURED ARTISTS
Natural Pigments' mission is to promote artists through a better understanding of materials, providing solutions for painting practices, and publicizing the work of artists using Natural Pigments products in their paintings.
ANTHONY ADCOCK
Anthony Adcock blends his unique experience as a Local one Ironworker, collegiate instructor, and as an artist to create works that focus on the relationship between labor and value. Using hyper representational paintings, illusionistic sculpture, and short films, he distorts the line between reality and perception to question the importance and relevancy of authorship.
MICHELE BAJONA
Michele Bajona is a contemporary figurative artist born in 1971 in Vicenza, Italy. Educated as an architect, he learned the art of painting from his hometown maestro Otello de Maria and later focused on watercolors with Frederic Wong at the Art Student League of New York. The artist has shown his work in collective and solo exhibitions winning the first prize for best video documentary at the 54th Venice Art Biennial, Padiglione Italia. He currently lives in Mexico City where he paints and teaches art.
FRANCISCO BENITEZ
Francisco Benítez was raised in New Mexico, New York, and Spain. His mother, a flamenco dancer and choreographer, and his father, a Spanish set designer, influenced his subsequent interest in tenebrist painting and baroque art. Benítez studied Classics at St. John’s College, then academic painting techniques and anatomy/figure drawing at the Art Student’s League in New York City. Benítez obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of New Mexico, during which time he studied abroad at the Facultad de Bellas Artes in Granada, Spain, through an exchange program, and later did graduate-level independent study.
MICHAEL BERGT
Michael Bergt has been in deep dialogue with art history over the course of his more than thirty-year career. Working across drawing, sculpture, and primarily egg tempera painting, Bergt has engaged art's long history of grappling with representational and abstract sensibilities. Inspired by early Renaissance classical mythology, and other diverse religious and spiritual imagery, his artwork represents his own play with expression and interpretation of the contemporary human condition.
CANDICE BOHANNON
Bohannon's artwork consists of deeply compassionate, penetrating and emotive figurative pieces along with intensely studied works from life and nature. It is contemporary yet naturalistic, soulful yet rational, and explores upon the deeply complex nature of human existence. Her body of work hums with quiet intensity, it is expressive, thoughtful, and captures the haunting beauty of the natural world.
PETER CHAN
Peter Chan was raised in Hong Kong and Canada. Chan received his BAA from Sheridan College in 2008. His paintings has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in cities such as Paris, Hawaii, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Montreal and Toronto. Peter is currently an instructor in Toronto at OCAD University, Sheridan College, and Seneca College. He regularly teaches classes in drawing and painting techniques in these institutions as well as hosts workshops in Toronto and Hong Kong.
ALIA EL-BERMANI
Internationally recognized American figurative painter Alia El-Bermani received her training from Laguna College of Art and Design in Laguna Beach CA, where she also taught for several years upon graduating in 2000. El-Bermani’s work has been featured in numerous solo exhibitions across the country with her paintings and drawings also showcased in several museum exhibitions.
ARTHUR GAIN
Arthur Gain is a Russian figurative artist currently based in Spain, near Barcelona. Though widely self-taught he attended workshops and took private tuition from internationally renowned painters and teachers. His path to become an artist was not direct. Being a passionate draftsman since childhood, he had made a successful career as a commercial illustrator and graphic designer in his youth, in his twenties he had become creative director in advertisement industry working for major international clients.
ERIC JOHNSON
Eric Johnson is a superlative Boston based Painter and instructor at The Academy of Realist Art Boston who is devoted to the preservation and growth of traditional painting. Eric was awarded a one year full scholarship to the Academy of Realist Art Boston. He later would become a full time instructor and the second person ever to graduate the rigorous and intense observational training provided in the full program at ARA Boston. Eric continues to be a strong participant in the growing appreciation of traditional art in Boston.
THOMAS KEGLER
An internationally renowned artist, Thomas is a self-taught realist painter, accomplished producer and champion of future artists, young and old(er). The wilds of New York state and a close-knit family of designers and entrepreneurs shaped an early love of the outdoors and art. Tying flies in Alaska’s backcountry cemented pursuit of a life path illuminated by sunlight more often than lamp light. His traditional oil paintings showcase the ethereal beauty of landscape, figure and still life. Drawing on the Masters’ approach to canvas, plein air techniques and a deep Catholic faith, his work celebrates creation’s grandeur and mystery through careful attention to the often-overlooked subtleties.
WARREN W. KESSLER
Warren W. Kessler has received national recognition for his oil, watercolor, and acrylic paintings, earning multiple awards and accolades. Featured in several prominent art magazines, including American Art Collector, Fine Art Connoisseur, Professional Artist Magazine, and Acrylic Artist Magazine, he was named in “Ones to Watch” in Watercolor Artist Magazine. He studied painting and drawing at Minnesota State University Moorhead, earning his Bachelor of Fine Art Degree in 1999. Warren currently lives and works in Fargo, North Dakota.
BUTCH KRIEGER
Butch Krieger has been a professional artist for over 45 years. For 18 of those years he was a courtroom sketch artist. His credits include CBS New, CNN, USA Today, the Associated Press, and the German news magazine Neue Review. He has taught university and college courses in Art, Art History and Art Appreciation, as well as workshops across the United States.
JOSHUA LA ROCK
Joshua LaRock is internationally recognized as a preeminent figurative artist. LaRock's exquisite paintings are an ode to the past filtered through a contemporary life. His portraits and narrative pieces alike are memorable for both their emotive quality and for evoking an eerily present feeling. Inspired by Bouguereau and other masters of the past, LaRock imbues a shade of the timeless, drawing the viewer deeper into his personal interpretation of how the world ought to be.
ROBERT LIBERACE
The physical energy and dynamic rhythms of Renaissance and Baroque art has been a tremendous influence on Robert's work from the start. He is especially interested in the Renaissance ideal that the human figure is “the measure of all things” and has dedicated himself to discover its potential in capturing the spiritual and emotional complexity of the human spirit.
CARLOS LOPEZ
Carlos Lopez (b. 1975) is a Nicaraguan American, classically trained, realist painter. Born in Nicaragua, he began to show interest in drawing and painting at a very early age. In 2005, he relocated to New York City and, within a year, enrolled in classes and workshops at the Grand Central Academy of Art, where he undertook rigorous training in traditional drawing and painting for the next five years. With knowledge and confidence in his art, he set up his own studio and produced a body of work that has led to many different opportunities, including painting commissions, exhibitions, and art competitions.
GAYLE MADEIRA
Starting in 2010, Gayle began to fulfill her dream of being a fine artist. She has studied anatomy, ecorché, drawing, and painting at the Art Student’s League, School of Visual Arts, Grand Central Academy, New York Academy of Art, and Salmagundi Club. Gayle’s work has been, or is currently being, exhibited at Sotheby’s in Los Angeles, The MEAM Museum, The National Arts Club, Salmagundi Club, Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, Principle Gallery, Abend Gallery, Foundation Gallery, and the New York Hall of Science, among others.
DANIEL MIRANTE
Daniel Mirante is an internationally active painter, explorer and teacher with an interest in symbolism, archetypal psychology. sacred and esoteric art tradition and new forms of art education. Daniel Mirante was born in the north of the United Kingdom in 1980 and completed a Bachelors with Honors Fine Art Degree at Manchester Metropolitan University, where he studied conceptual and installation art. In 2012, Mirante studied Mischtechnik in Vienna with Ernst Fuchs (founder of The Vienna School of Fantastic Realism).
TERESA OAXACA
Teresa Oaxaca is an American born artist based currently in Washington D.C. She is a full time painter whose works can be seen in collections and galleries throughout the US and internationally. Her talent has been recognized by museums and institutions such as the American Museum of the Cowboy, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Art Renewal Center, Elisabeth Greenshields Foundation, Posey Foundation, and Portrait Society of America.
AIXA OLIVERAS
Aixa Oliveras is a contemporary symbolist painter working within the realm of classical realism. Originally from Puerto Rico, Aixa received her BFA in Painting from the School of Plastic Arts and Design of Puerto Rico (Magna Cum Laude). Her work has been featured in competitions and publications such as ARC International Salon, Poets & Artists Magazine, Realism Today and American Art Collector. Aixa’s work is currently collected both in Puerto Rico and the United States. She is currently teaching at Laguna College of Art and Design, offering workshops, and developing her studio practice in Laguna Beach, CA.
LAUCHIE REID
Lauchie Reid is a Toronto, Canada-based painter, illustrator, and educator. Focused primarily on portraiture, landscape, and still life, his work explores the role of traditional oil painting as a relevant and timeless method of celebrating human achievement while rejecting the notion of reserving these rites to specific social roles and classes.
JULIO REYES
Born in Hollywood and raised in the urban sprawls of Los Angeles, Julio’s artistic aesthetic was shaped early on by the platinum light and expansive concrete horizons of southern California. Often depicting lone figures within the context of a landscape, Reyes’ chooses his subjects carefully. His works focus on intimate dramas, revealing brief moments of unnoticed grandeur, tender souls grappling with the pressures of modern life. These sensitive portrayals are the result of careful observation, intimate knowledge of his subjects, and are executed with finesse and virtuosity. His landscapes and still lives are imbued with implied narrative and hidden meaning, and a highly personal symbolic language born of Reyes’ experience growing up in the Western United States, as the son of immigrant parents.
FRANK RYAN
Frank Ryan is a contemporary realist painter based in Los Angeles. He embraces the conventions of naturalist representation to reflect on the realities of contemporary American life. Ryan grew up in the North Bay Area. He began drawing as a boy and the sudden loss his father had a formative impact on him. As a young painter, Ryan was greatly influenced by Baroque, 19th Century French Realists, the Ashcan School and Film Noir. He studied painting, drawing, and printmaking at Sonoma State University, where he received his BFA in 2002. In 1999 he was awarded a scholarship to study in Italy at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze. Ryan received his MFA in Painting and Drawing from UCLA.
ALEX RYDLINSKI
Alex Rydlinski is a self taught painter from Fairbanks, Alaska. He spent his twenties living in Texas and traveling the country while writing and performing music, as well as making illustrations. As his interest in visual art grew he began learning to paint in oils by studying masterworks in books and museums. In 2017, he studied in Norway with the master painter Odd Nerdrum. Rydlinski continues to be possessed by the aim of joining sincere ideas with sincere craft in everything he creates. In 2019, Rydlinski moved to Alaska’s Kenai peninsula, which he considers his ideal backdrop for dramatic narrative paintings.
KOO SCHADLER
Koo Schadler graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University in 1984 with a BA in Art History. Eventually she selected egg tempera and metalpoint as her primary mediums. Koo is a master painter of the Copley Society of Boston. She is a contributing editor at The Artist’s Magazine and a board member of the Society of Tempera Painters. Her work is represented by Arden Gallery in Boston, MA and J. Cacciola Gallery, NJ; and her paintings and drawings are in more than 400 private, corporate and museum collections worldwide, including the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Currier Museum, Huntington Museum of Art, Evansville Museum, Telfair Museum, Kalamzoo Institute, and the Philadelphia Athenaeum.
Photo by Sungwon Hun
SUSAN SCHWALB
Schwalb’s oeuvre ranges from drawings and artist books on paper to paintings on wood panels. Her work is represented in most of the major public collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the National Gallery, Washington DC, The British Museum, London, The Brooklyn Museum, NY, The Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Kupferstichkabinett—Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany, The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT, Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art, and The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
LAURA SPECTOR
Laura Spector began her award winning Museum Anatomy artwork in 1996, which has included collaborating with museum curators in 16 countries while on the search for hidden, stolen, and destroyed paintings to use as inspiration. Her artwork has been exhibited in galleries internationally and has been recognized by museums and institutions including The Grand Rapids Art Museum, The Smithsonian, The American Museum of Natural History, The Sovereign Art Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Houston Art Alliance.
RAYMOND THORNTON
An accomplished painter, Raymond Thornton hails from Northwest Indiana. He began his fine art training at the age of fifteen at the Drisi Studio Academy of Fine Art and then continued his studies at The American Academy of Art of Chicago. Raymond’s work fits into the traditions of overly elaborate ornamentation with a meticulous academic process that has clear and easily interpreted details producing drama and tension. “Through the arrangement of shape, detail, form and line I attempt to capture life in a painting. I want the figures in my paintings to feel as though they can breathe and live in the space or world that is within the frame. I want the viewer to discover and feel the emotional aspects of the painting.
FRED WESSEL
Fred Wessel is now a Professor Emeritus after teaching at the Hartford Art School (University of Hartford) for 35 years. He started his career as a lithographer but, after a life changing trip to Italy in 1984, he fell in love with the Italian Renaissance and the technique of egg tempera painting. Fred Wessel’s work is included in numerous private collections and over 45 public collections including The Museum of Modern Art, NY; The Brooklyn Museum, NY; The Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA; The Library of Congress; The DeCordova and Dana Museum of Art, MA; The Wichita Museum of Art, KS; Smith College Museum, MA; The Kalamazoo Institute for the Arts; The University of Tianjin Fine Arts College, People's Republic of China.
ELIZABETH ZANZINGER
Elizabeth Zanzinger paints full-time in Oakland, California. She studied at the Aristides Atelier and Gage Academy of Fine Art in Seattle and finished her education with a fellowship at the Grand Central Academy, New York City, in 2012.
