Derek Jones, 1945 | Watercolor / Figurative painter

Derek Jones is a coal miner's son, born in County Durham, and he is currently based in Berwickshire. He went to Art College at Hartlepool and followed this by completing a degree in Fine Art at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Following a year working in a museum, Derek began to teach art. He later helped to run a gallery in Berwick upon Tweed. For the last twenty years, Derek has been concentrating on his own work, which consists mainly of figurative drawing.

António Macedo, 1955 | Magic Realism painter

António Pedro Urbano Veiga de Macedo is a Portuguese painter, born in Oporto, Portugal.
I attended the local art school, the "Escola Superior de Belas Artes" in 1973-74.
In 1975 I moved to London, where I continued to research into all kinds of painting techniques so as to develop my own style. Over the years, the close proximity to the great Art collections in the Capital, the study of so many great images, and contacts and friendships with artists in the U.K. and Portugal did much to help me learn what cannot be taught at Art School.

Bruno Di Maio, 1944 | Surrealist Figurative painter

Bruno Di Maio is an Italian painter, known for working in the new Figurative style. Di Maio, born in North Africa to Italian parents, lives and works in Tuscany, Italy.

For biographical notes -in english and italian- and other works by Di Maio see:
Bruno Di Maio, 1944 | Surrealist Figurative painter ➦
Bruno Di Maio, 1944 | Ballet dancer ➦
Bruno Di Maio / Pablo Neruda ➦
Oscar Wilde / Bruno Di Maio ➦

Romel de la Torre, 1963 | Figurative painter

"I find spiritual beauty in all the things that I paint.

The innocence of a child's face, the endless blue color of the sky, the smell of flowers in the garden, the sound of raindrops falling on the roof.

These gives joy in my heart, inspiration, and gratitude... of being an artist" - Romel de la Torre

Born in Cebu City, Philippines in a community of artists, Filipino painter Romel de la Torre's artistic interest started at a very young age.

With the encouragement of his parents he began sketching the world around him.

Remembering Steve Hanks, the Master of Watercolor

Steve Hanks (1949-2015)🎨, the Master of Watercolor and Figures passed away in Albuquerque, New Mexico on April 22 after a battle with cancer.

"Art comes from a deep inner sense of direction.It starts with a re-evaluation of your own life, from a search for the source of the impulses and mystery of it all. I think of myself as an emotional realist. Emotion is what I want to portray. Realism is just my way of doing it"- Steve Hanks

Steve Hanks is recognized as one of the best watercolor artists working today. The detail, color and realism of Steve Hanks’ paintings are unheard of in this difficult medium. A softly worn patterned quilt, the play of light on the thin veil of surf on sand, or the delicate expression of a child — Steve Hanks captures these patterns of life better than anyone.

Rafal Olbinski, 1945 | Surrealist / Visionary painter

"In front of a painting, as in front of a beautiful woman, one must revel in wonder" - Rafal Olbinski*.

- "Poetic humor is a quality rarely found in the fine arts" - says Andre Parinuad, President of the International Arts Salon in Paris.

- "Rafal Olbinski has this gift.He wants to show us that our imagination is a magical world, which we are recreating forever. He draws us into a different universe, and forces us to use our eyes to participate in a marvelous world which is the true dimension of dreams".

For biographical notes -in english and italian- and other works by Olbinski see:

• Rafal Olbinski, 1943 | Surrealist painter ➺

Jean Metzinger | Cubist painter

Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (June 24, 1883 - November 3, 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes, developed the theoretical foundations of Cubism.

His earliest works, from 1900 to 1904, were influenced by the Neo-impressionism of Georges Seurat and Henri-Edmond Cross.

Between 1904-1907 Metzinger worked in the Divisionist and Fauvist styles with a strong Cézannian component, leading to some of the first proto-Cubist works.

Miguel Avataneo, 1962 | Figurative painter

Miguel Angel Avataneo, Argentine painter, was born in the province of Cordoba in Argentina and his love of the pure form of classicism was nourished by his early interest in the Italian masters: Correggio (1489-1534), Giorgione (1478-1510), Raphael (1483-1520) and Titian (1488/90-1576).

He was also greatly influenced by the late eighteenth century french paintings of David, Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) and Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780-1867).