New Artist: Bix Mannion

NIK WALLENDA

NIK WALLENDA

oil on canvas

30″ H x 24″ W

Art Uptown Would like to welcome Bix Mannion as a new resident artist to the gallery!

Artist Bio:

Bix is a contemporary impressionist painter who focuses on the portrait, the figure and its relationship to its environment.

His first patron was his grandmother who with her husband, Jack Dorrance, had one of the finest

impressionist art collections in the world. Having carefully observed Bix’s interest and talent in art, she arranged for his first private lesson at the age of ten from Madame Magat one of the premier french painting instructors in the Philadelphia area at the time.

Bix went on to focus on his art at The Hotchkiss School and Middlebury College. Hearing the turmoils of the starving artist, Bix opted for a career in finance where he spent twenty five years of his life. All through his career as a mortgage banker Bix found time to feed his passion which is painting. Bix, now a full artist, has studied privately and academically in the United States and abroad. He has received instruction and guidance from likes of Everette Raymond Kinstler, Peter Van Dyck, Peter Paone, Ellen Cooper, Gene Costanza and Charles Miano.

SIESTA oil on canvas 22" H x 26" W

SIESTA
oil on canvas
22″ H x 26″ W

His work can be found in many personal and corporate collections throughout the United States. He was awarded 1st Place in Art Uptown Gallery’s “Dog Days of Summer” juried art show in Sarasota Florida.

He is a member of The Portrait Society of America and served as a Board of Director for Main Line Art Center in Haverford PA.

Bix and his wife, Gretchen, live with their eleven year old daughter, Grace, in Sarasota Florida while their adult children live in the Philadelphia area where they all grew up.

Stop by the gallery on Main Street, in Downtown Sarasota, and experience the work of Bix Mannion and our other talented resident artists!

New Artist: James Gabbert

Art Uptown James Gabbert

“Into The Wind 2”

Art Uptown James Gabbert

“Sunniva”

Art Uptown would like to announce Bronze Sculptor James Gabbert  as a new member of our gallery Co-op ! James Gabbert was born in Minneapolis Minnesota and now lives most of the year in Anna Maria Florida. He is a sculptor and has had a passion for three dimensions all his life. James graduated from Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado with a Degree in Fine Arts. However, throughout most of his adult life his creativity was channeled into a career as a retail entrepreneur. Late in 2008, with the sale of his businesses and he and his wife, Barb, becoming empty nesters, he took the opportunity to return to his passion. James’ works have won awards in Minnesota, Florida and New York.

“I create art to lift and enlighten the spirit, to touch the heart, to awaken the intellect; to be provocative, that is, to provoke the mind, heart or spirit to experience something new or rekindle

something forgotten. I believe art should be beautiful. Its proportion, balance, and aesthetics should draw the heart and spirit into it and leave with something more. I strive for my art to be a unique contribution to our collective understanding of humankind.”-James Gabbert

You can find more information about James at www.artuptown.com !

New Artist: Clara Ricker

Art Uptown would like to welcome their new member: jewelry artist Clara Ricker to the gallery!

Clara Ricker‘s jewelry career began to blossom in 2007 after she retired from a 36-year career in the construction/ engineering industry. Believing that education is a lifelong process, Ricker has taken many jewelry workshops, classes and courses over the last 15 years. Her most influential master to date is silversmith, John Cogswell. Although she has learned many metal forming and stone setting techniques from Cogswell, most importantly, he taught her to give back by teaching.

Ricker currently teaches jewelry making at Art Center Manatee in Bradenton, Florida. She has also taught at the Morean Art Center and as an artist in residence for the Youth Arts Program in St Petersburg, Florida.  She has served on the Board of Directors of the West Coast Chapter of the Florida Society of Goldsmiths since 2007and served as its President from January 2010 until January 2013.

Ricker is frequently commissioned for her nature inspired, one of a kind artisan jewelry. Birds, turtles, butterflies and flowers come alive in her studio as she forms silver and gold by hand and hammer sometimes adding precious stones or patina to the metal. Ricker firmly believes she leaves a part of herself in each of the unique pieces of art jewelry that she creates. She sells her workat craft shows and galleries in the US and especially enjoys her commission work.

Clara Ricker lives and works on Florida’s Gulf Coast in Bradenton, Florida with her husband Mike. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada she became a US citizen in 2001.

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“Photography as Art” Exhibit

Richard Stewart Art Uptown

NEFERTITI IN CACTUS

As the month of October comes to a close, we will be showcasing works by one of Art Uptown‘s artists, Tampa Photographer, Richard Stewart.

The  Exhibit will feature his newest Photographs from Mexico, Costa Rica, and Italy.

We will also be featuring his other works dating back to 1968 from his travels throughout Europe.

The show opens this Saturday October 26th and continues through November 30th.

Come Experience this event and meet the Richard at the opening reception that will be held at Art Uptown in Downtown Sarasota on Friday November 8th from 6-9pm!

Hope to see you there!

Click here to see Richard Stewart’s full artist bio and previous works.