Candace Lovely, 1953 | Impressionist painter

Candace Whittemore Lovely is an American painter known for her paintings of contemporary American life, including landscapes of treasured locales and people at play in idyllic locations. She lives and works in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

In 1991, Lovely painted the official portrait of former First Lady Barbara Bush that now hangs in the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum.

She has been called "the grand dame of Boston painters".

Domingo Alvarez Gomez, 1942

Domingo Alvarez Gomez is a world-renowned artist who was born in Barcelona, where he still lives and works.

He loved drawing and painting from an early age and was destined to become an artist. He is completely self-taught.

On completing his studies in 1966 he traveled to London before quickly becoming a highly sought-after book illustrator for many publishing houses and design studios in his native Spain.

In 1971 he became editor of a very influential Spanish art magazine. This time in his life was pivotal in shaping his future.

Alan Ayers | Cover painter for Romances

Alan Ayers is an Award winning cover artist for romance novels in the historical category by Romance Writers of America's network of published authors

A native of Gainesville, Florida, I graduated from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art with a BFA in 1981.

Although I was trained traditionally, and created images in acrylic and oil for many years, I've been working digitally since 1995.

I feel the digital world has brought a new energy to my work. I am very comfortable working with a tablet, and often forget I'm not "pushing paint around".

I’ve had the pleasure of working with some of the most talented art directors in publishing and advertising. I greatly enjoy the process of working as a team to create the strongest images possible. I live with my wife Jeanne and our spoiled whippet in Lancaster, PA.

Henry John Yeend King | Victorian genre painter

Henry John Yeend King (1855-1924) was a British artist best known for his paintings of rustic English farms and young women strolling in the countryside.

His technique was influenced by Impressionism, but is notably more restrained, detailed, and realistic in its application.

Born on August 21, 1855 in London, England, King went on to study as a glass painter, later traveling to Paris to study under Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat and Fernand Cormon where he learned Impressionist techniques.

The plein-air technique prevalent in France influenced his art, and on his return to England he chose to specialise in landscapes and depictions of rustic genre.

Yeend King lived in London for most of his life however, like many of his contemporaries his heart was 'in the country'.

Henri Matisse | Notes of a Painter, 1908

Quotes from: 'Notes d'un Peintre' (Notes of a Painter), Henri Matisse, in 'La Grande Revue', Paris, 25 December 1908; as quoted in Artists on Art - from the 14th - 20th centuries, ed. by Robert Goldwater and Marco Treves; Pantheon Books, 1972, London

"What I am after, above all, is expression. Sometimes it has been conceded that I have a certain technical ability but that, my ambition being limited, I am unable to proceed beyond a purely visual satisfaction such as can be procured from the mere sight of a picture.

But the purpose of a painter must not be conceived as separate from his pictorial means, and these pictorial means must be the more complete (I do not mean complicated) the deeper is his thought. I am unable to distinguish between the feeling I have for life and my way of expressing it".