V-W-X-Y-Z

 Artist Bio

THE MANDALA IS BROKEN:

The pandemic managed to bring the world to its knees because it irreparably shattered the mandala that we’re all so used to living in, it disrupted the familiar patterns of our lives, it overpowered the drum beat we’ve become accustomed to.

This underlying rhythm, in some cultures is represented by various geometrically balanced circular arrangements of colors, shapes and patterns. These  arrangements are often referred to as mandalas and traditionally provide a pathway to balance, harmony and peace

I began to paint broken mandalas, patterns that have been torn apart, rhythms that have lost their beat. I’m attempting to find beauty in the chaos that’s engulfed humanity.

I see mandalas in commercials on television.  I see mandalas in my dreams. Everywhere I look, I see mandalas! And now…here they are for your viewing pleasure.

And now for your viewing pleasure, Lamar's work

Current work at Fogue Studios

Artist Statement and Bio

Every story has many sides. None are totally true.

My photography demonstrates this conviction by using multiple cameras and techniques to explore singular themes through shifting points of view.

Depending on the story I’m telling, I’ll use analog film, digital photography, historical processes or a combination of all three. Adding the element of chance, I’ll frequently subject film to the ravages of tequila, lemon juice, salt, boiling water, sandpaper, acetone and even toilet-bowl cleaner.

Originally trained as a writer, I am influenced by early 20th Century authors who told everyday tales through the eyes of multiple, conflicting narrators. My images harken back photographers of that same era who were masters at creating simple tableaus – filled with contradictory emotions – in a single black-and-white frame. At the same time, my photography references the Pop Art movement that colored every aspect of daily life as I was growing up. 

After earning a degree in creative writing from the University of Washington, I wrote newspaper articles for several years. I picked up a camera at the tail end of a decades-long career crafting stories and myths for major corporations. For the past six years, I’ve focused full-time on photography while studying at Photographic Center Northwest in Seattle.

My photography has been featured in Black and White magazine and at PhotoPlace Gallery in Vermont, Midwest Center for Photography in Kansas, Las Laguna Gallery in California, Lightbox Photographic and Studio 138 on the Oregon Coast, and Fogue Studios and Gallery in Seattle.

Chris Villiers (@christopher.m.villiers) • Instagram photos and videos 

Chris' available work at Fogue

My Job is to look.

Artist statement

I capture moments and create paintings that reflect that snapshot of emotion. Emotion leads our imagination to dream, dread, wish, regret, hope…and on & on. The richness and vitality of being alive are what I strive for in each work.  

While working on any painting, I focus on shapes, composition, value, and color. In my little corner of the world, there is nothing quite like the lusciousness of oil paint—I am in love with the lushness of paint and the colors I mix. Get up close to one of my paintings to find the details, and then, step back, to see the life in my brush strokes.

Part of the joy of being an artist is “the not” knowing…the anticipation, anxiety, eagerness, and vast problem-solving as to how the work will evolve. There are no connecting dots to follow…the journey is made by doing. 

  Susan's available work at Fogue 

Artist Bio

Here is a moment. All of the traits that sounded so good as a ‘child of the 60s’ have now come to be real for painter Susan Walker: peace, love, joy...and living in the moment. Capturing it. Painting it. Here it is. 

Walker was shy as a child and used her books, her imagination, and her drawings as a way to retreat into her own world. She remembers spending hours drawing with her younger sister. Those were moments. 

In high school, Walker excelled in math, science, literature...and art. As a high-achieving student, Walker looked forward to the one hour a day in her art class; she remembers that hour as a sanctuary and an escape from the taxing left-brain studies. 

At the University of California Davis (UCD) as a pre-med student, Walker wanted to become a surgeon; however, in her first day in Chem 1A, at UCD, in a lecture hall of over 300 students, Walker clearly remembers thinking, “I could do this, but I don’t want to.” She walked out of class. That was a moment.

Walker went on to immerse herself in the UCD Art Department, studying under the great American artist Wayne Thiebaud. Thiebaud was a taskmaster, but also a detailed encourager. He never used a teaching assistant and showed up every day in class. Walker still has all her sketchbooks from that era, moving them across the country, and back, as a precious, endless source of inspiration and information. Through his tutelage, Walker focused her pinpoint energy on learning how to draw and paint. 

Walker’s oil paintings are recognized by her distinctive representational style that combines energetic brush strokes with a counterpoint of intricate detail. She has exhibited widely throughout the Pacific Northwest in solo and group exhibitions. Her work is on display in hospital campuses, corporate offices and private residences across the country. Walker’s commissioned work adorns the walls of personal homes in Alabama, California, Kansas, Tennessee, Texas, Montana, New Jersey, Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, Utah and Washington, capturing and preserving intimate, cherished moments in time. 

As a lifelong collaborator and educator, Walker’s involvement in her local, state, and national community of artists is part of her ‘thrive’. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Women Painters of Washington and has achieved Signature Member status with American Women Artists. Locally, Walker collaborates with three FAA certified drone pilots, a professional photographer, a studio assistant, and a frame shop owner. 

When not in the studio, Walker places high priority on spending time with her family and playing competitive tennis. A large, diverse family provides her pure joy and pride, while tennis allows unique opportunities to apply the same sense of geometry she utilizes in her artwork on the court—all while providing an important physical balance to her days standing in front of the canvas. 

Artist Bio

Michael has been a working artist for over 45 years and is a nationally recognized sculptor, living in Seattle, Washington. He has held one-man exhibitions and special installations at art galleries and public spaces throughout the country. 

“For me, since before I can remember, I have had a visual companion to that voice. Animated by seeing both the common and the rare. Stone formations in a Native American nature preserve, craft modeled hundreds of years ago in Africa, phrases, or words from that which I read or hear others say or sing.

These internal projections, sometimes immediate, often when I am separated in time and place. A flood of images, fragments, seldom whole, as multiple showings of direction. 

Each of us has a door to our inner self. My process of creation is the entry to the depths of my voice. A place of my own where exploration becomes that which manifests itself by strong motivation and energy to the realization of my sculpture with the power of focus.”

Michael's available work at Fogue 

Painting the earth we love.

 Artist Statement

My art is an expression of awe, excitement, tranquility or gratitude, particularly when painting outdoors with the weather in my face, birds waxing lyrical, sights full of color and shapes, and trees speaking in whispers. Nowhere else do I feel so alive and inspired. Ambience or mood are often critical aspects of expressing those feelings and as a result, I paint in oils for the versatility of effects it can produce. I often paint en plein air and finish work in the studio or paint in the studio from my outdoor adventures where I sketch or take photos, designing my compositions from those sources and my awareness of what will work better for the painting. Further, I usually feel a push to share my work, so I believe that there is a subconscious intention to communicate those experiences and that I can do that best through my painting. I’m sure that's about connecting to other people.

Jolyn's available work at Fogue

Jolyn Wells-Moran's landscape oil paintings combine painterly realism, impressionism and some expressionism. She is inspired by Eric Jacobson, Jill Carver, Kathryn Townsend and the Russian impressionists, to name some of her favorites. She has actively pursued learning to paint and shown in many juried shows, both locally and nationally in varied venues and solo exhibitions. She’s a signature member of the Puget Sound Group Northwest Artists (PSGNA), a long-time member of Plein Air Washington Artists (PAWA), and has participated in the National Oil and Acrylics Painters Society (NOAPS), American Impressionist society (AIS) and Women Artists of the West (WAOW). Wells-Moran practices her process daily.

Artist Biography

Wells-Moran studied at the Institute for American Universities, Marchutz School of Drawing and Painting, Aix-en-Provence, France; Gage Academy of Fine Art, Seattle, WA; in undergraduate art courses and with several well-known masters, the longest with Eric Jacobsen, a multi-award, Maine painter and member of PAPA (Plein Air Painters of America). Her work has been shown, but not limited to, as follows. 

2023 -- 2024 – Open theme winter juried show, University House, ERA Living, Seattle, WA, November - February

2015 – 2020 Represented by Mangos Galeria, Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, MX.

2022 - "The Great Annual NW Art Exhibition," a juried show at Matzke Design and Sculpture on Camano Island, WA.

2022 - "Hello! Summer," a juried Puget Sound Group show at Gallery North in Edmonds, WA, October - November.

2021 - 2022 - "Through a Tunnel," juried show at University House Wallingford, Seattle, WA. December - February.

2021 - “Great Annual NW Art Exhibition 2021,” a show juried and judged by Elizabeth Pollie, Puget Sound Group, Parklane Gallery, Kirkland, WA. September - October.

2021 - “Guest Artists Invitational Show,” Gallery North, Edmonds, WA. May.

2021 - Honorable Mention, “Northwest Beauty”, North Beach Artists’ Guild, Gallery at Ocean Shores.

2021 - Honorable Mention, “Allied Artists Annual Juried Show,” Art in the Park Gallery, Richland, WA.

2021 - “Florals,” Online Juried Show, Women Artists of the West

2019 – Guest Artist, Women Artists of Washington

2019 - “Yellow”, Annual Online Juried Show. by Colors of Humanity Art Gallery

2019 - “Little Gems Annual Juried Show,” Plein Air Washington Artists, Scott Milo Gallery, Anacortes, WA.

2017 - Honorable Mention, "Annual Roslyn Art Festival," a juried show, Roslyn, WA, July.

2017, 2018, 2019 - Excellence in Art Award from "Landscapes" at Light, Space and Time, online.

2014 - Honorable Mention of 7,300 applicants in "Artistic Excellence", a juried show by Artists Network, and article in Southwest Art.

Artist Bio

Nelson is a contemporary artist, who lives and works in Bellevue, WA.  Seattle artist with an architectural background: in search of and aspiring 2 revive the spirit of mid-century splendor through the edification of art.

Nelson’s collages reflect architectural principles and design aesthetic.   Growing up in Juneau, AK, he gained his architecture degree from Montana State.  Nelson has always had a passion for drawing and painting—often spending time as a child creating art from nature and discarded items.

His artwork is inspired by a mixture of the natural world, vintage ephemera and mid-century design. Due to the pandemic, Nelson’s artwork helped him escape and reinvigorate his imagination—through “dreamscape” collages.  His artwork is created from all original items and mixed media for one-of-a-kind pieces incorporating an encaustic finish. 

 Current work at Fogue Studios 

Artist Statement and Bio 

I land my brush with the force of a giant rock splashing into the ocean.  I am not looking for a beautiful painting, but to express Life itself.

Painting is just like a stacking of passions. Painting is a method of striping myself naked and facing the truth of my inner emotion.

I invite the viewer to experience through my paintings the joy of being alive right at this moment.

I don’t know what else I can do but paint.

Originally from Shanghai, China, Yuming Zhu began to study under the painting masters at his early age.  Later he started to write poems and joined college poetry society.  In 1991, Yuming earned his MA from Sonoma State University in US.

Yuming blends the styles of the East and West, poetry and life phenomenon into his art.  Capturing the light and darkness of the European masters while combining the familiar and textured brush strokes found in Sumi watercolors, Yuming likes to leave white spaces as background painting and emphasis on Spiritual Charming in his painting. “Sometimes I don’t know I am painting or writing a poem.” “When people ask me, what I paint, I say I paint Music.”

Yuming describes his style as “Trans-ism”. It is emotive Transformation of Lyrical Impression and Idealistic Expression. “Through my art, I am trying to portray, be more accurate, to question and search the truth of our spiritual and earthly world by creation a poetic language of emotional expression.”

He held several solo and group exhibitions in the States.  He also teaches at Bellevue College and is an active member in several artists’ associations in the area.

Yuming had been selected as 50 Emerging artists by Art Business Magazine.