Crystal Orlando
Crystal Orlando is an American Artist born in, and currently residing in Texas. She has been showing and selling her drawings since she was 12 years old. Her medium of choice is graphite pencil and charcoal with a passion for hyper-realism. Her drawing techniques are mostly self- taught by trial and error and studying other master’s works. Her powerful images seem to leap off the surface of whatever she puts her pencil too.
Crystal is an accomplished Equestrian. She was a professional horse trainer in multiple disciplines including hunter jumper, dressage, reining, and cutting for several prestigious horse ranches in Texas and Oklahoma to include a 4-time World Champion Cutting Horse Facility, and a United States Polo Association Certified Umpire. Her first love being horses, she graduated with her A.A.S specializing in Equine Science in 1999. During this time, her love of travel and the outdoors overruled her desire to become an Equine Surgeon. She made the decision to leave college and take a job in Washington DC with a public relations firm for a year and a half. Her sketch book traveled with her.
Crystal is retired from horse training and is now fulfilling her dream of drawing full time. She has had gallery representation in the US since 2012 and has participated in many Solo and Group Shows from Texas to Wyoming.
In 2013 Crystal was awarded Emerging Artist of the Year from Art Galleries and Artists of the South Magazine.
The National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming sells postcards of her wildlife drawings in their official gift-shop.
Orlando was invited to participated in the auction and art Gala fundraiser for the former
First Lady of the United States Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, 3 years being among the highest bids. In 2015, She was granted a Solo show in their prestigious Carriage House during Austin, Texas, South by Southwest (SXSW) Technology, Film and Music Festivals.
In 2018, Orlando was invited to join Art London Dubai, international art company, curated by Royal artist Darren Baker.
Crystal is an accomplished Equestrian. She was a professional horse trainer in multiple disciplines including hunter jumper, dressage, reining, and cutting for several prestigious horse ranches in Texas and Oklahoma to include a 4-time World Champion Cutting Horse Facility, and a United States Polo Association Certified Umpire. Her first love being horses, she graduated with her A.A.S specializing in Equine Science in 1999. During this time, her love of travel and the outdoors overruled her desire to become an Equine Surgeon. She made the decision to leave college and take a job in Washington DC with a public relations firm for a year and a half. Her sketch book traveled with her.
Crystal is retired from horse training and is now fulfilling her dream of drawing full time. She has had gallery representation in the US since 2012 and has participated in many Solo and Group Shows from Texas to Wyoming.
In 2013 Crystal was awarded Emerging Artist of the Year from Art Galleries and Artists of the South Magazine.
The National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming sells postcards of her wildlife drawings in their official gift-shop.
Orlando was invited to participated in the auction and art Gala fundraiser for the former
First Lady of the United States Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, 3 years being among the highest bids. In 2015, She was granted a Solo show in their prestigious Carriage House during Austin, Texas, South by Southwest (SXSW) Technology, Film and Music Festivals.
In 2018, Orlando was invited to join Art London Dubai, international art company, curated by Royal artist Darren Baker.
Renie Patty
Artist- Oil Painter
Renie Patty has been painting professionally for more than twenty years.
Living on the coast of Texas has given her the opportunity to create Seascape paintings, as well as Landscapes.
Her love for nature has inspired her to capture this beauty through her oil paintings.
She identifies her style of painting as Impressionistic-Realism.
She has received numerous awards and recognition for her work. Her viewers often comment on the vibrant colors and the reality of her paintings.
She has studied with renowned instructor Simon Michael, and continues her studies with her mentor and friend, Dalhart Windberg.
The artist states:
“I am fascinated with the beauty of Nature.
There is so much wonder in this world, from
the grandeur of the mountains,
the vastness of the ocean, to the smallest flower.
My purpose is to capture and reflect this beauty
through my paintings. I want to share this experience,
and the joy I feel when painting, with all my viewers.”
Renie Patty has been painting professionally for more than twenty years.
Living on the coast of Texas has given her the opportunity to create Seascape paintings, as well as Landscapes.
Her love for nature has inspired her to capture this beauty through her oil paintings.
She identifies her style of painting as Impressionistic-Realism.
She has received numerous awards and recognition for her work. Her viewers often comment on the vibrant colors and the reality of her paintings.
She has studied with renowned instructor Simon Michael, and continues her studies with her mentor and friend, Dalhart Windberg.
The artist states:
“I am fascinated with the beauty of Nature.
There is so much wonder in this world, from
the grandeur of the mountains,
the vastness of the ocean, to the smallest flower.
My purpose is to capture and reflect this beauty
through my paintings. I want to share this experience,
and the joy I feel when painting, with all my viewers.”
Rio SaressRio Saress
I have been drawn to color my entire life. I was the kid who wanted to use every color of the rainbow in every project I did. I learned to draw at an early age and took every art class offered in school. As part of my development, I majored in art in college. Three years in I left because I did not feel I was being adequately prepared for a career as a professional artist. I wanted to grow as an artist. I was young and thought I knew it all.
Life had a way of twisting my path. The natural progression of it led me to marriage and kids. I chose to set my art aside to raise my family. During that time, I never wholly quit painting, but I never fully embraced it.
Years later, when my children were older and independent, I turned back to my first love, creating art. In 2010, I opened a 3700 square foot gallery and began representing artists from all over the world. As I filled the walls with my own works, I was encouraged by a friend to enter my first professional art show. It was so successful that I decided to do more. Subsequently, I closed the gallery to pursue art shows full time. I was creating over 300 works per year and spending nearly 25 weeks on the road. I was very good with the public and even better at closing sales. I thought I was on top of the world until I was invited to my first gallery show.
In 2014, I was told by a gallery owner that my paintings were paper dolls and that it was apparent I knew nothing about color. I had been making neatly 100K per year at that point, so of course, I challenged her position on my paintings. After a much needed, extensive, and brutally honest critique, I was finally humbled. At that moment, I knew she was right. My pieces were not technically correct. Since you can’t undo or voluntarily forget what you know, I was faced with a tough decision. Either continue doing what I was doing with sub-par work or shut down my entire operation and dedicate my time to mastering color. There was no question that I had to come off the road. I shut down my website, and ultimately stopped selling art. I put the retail portion of my career on hold and accepted the challenge to wholeheartedly commit to learning how to paint again under the guidance of the Internationally ranked contemporary Master, Kay Griffith.
In the middle of my training with Kay, I was invited to go snorkeling with the Humpback Whales of the Silverbanks. Although I had been an avid fisherman for years, I have never been IN the water with the fish. Upon making eye contact with an adult Humpback Whale I was changed in ways I never knew were possible. I went on to trade fishing gear for scuba gear and have found a deep passion for reef and all of its inhabitants.
For the last 5 years I have trained with my mentor Kay for this very moment. Additionally, to studying pigments extensively, I have developed my own personal style of painting. I incorporate realism, impressionism, impasto, carving mediums, and fluid paint to float layers upon layers of color. The goal is to showcase the natural beauty that all creatures possess. To create the illusion of movement as if time were not frozen on the panel. I strive to show the color vapors permeating the areas around the subject matter, inviting it to fill the room with its essence and to reflect the fact that some of these species are endangered and quietly slipping away.
I feel that I have mastered color and developed my own personal style. It is time to use my voice to tell the story of the creatures of this planet in the universal language of color. I am driven to spend the rest of my life creating one body of work after another to showcase the beauty of our great planet in hopes it will inspire generation after generation to fall in love and ultimately become good stewards and protect what we have here. I am ready for the international stage.
Life had a way of twisting my path. The natural progression of it led me to marriage and kids. I chose to set my art aside to raise my family. During that time, I never wholly quit painting, but I never fully embraced it.
Years later, when my children were older and independent, I turned back to my first love, creating art. In 2010, I opened a 3700 square foot gallery and began representing artists from all over the world. As I filled the walls with my own works, I was encouraged by a friend to enter my first professional art show. It was so successful that I decided to do more. Subsequently, I closed the gallery to pursue art shows full time. I was creating over 300 works per year and spending nearly 25 weeks on the road. I was very good with the public and even better at closing sales. I thought I was on top of the world until I was invited to my first gallery show.
In 2014, I was told by a gallery owner that my paintings were paper dolls and that it was apparent I knew nothing about color. I had been making neatly 100K per year at that point, so of course, I challenged her position on my paintings. After a much needed, extensive, and brutally honest critique, I was finally humbled. At that moment, I knew she was right. My pieces were not technically correct. Since you can’t undo or voluntarily forget what you know, I was faced with a tough decision. Either continue doing what I was doing with sub-par work or shut down my entire operation and dedicate my time to mastering color. There was no question that I had to come off the road. I shut down my website, and ultimately stopped selling art. I put the retail portion of my career on hold and accepted the challenge to wholeheartedly commit to learning how to paint again under the guidance of the Internationally ranked contemporary Master, Kay Griffith.
In the middle of my training with Kay, I was invited to go snorkeling with the Humpback Whales of the Silverbanks. Although I had been an avid fisherman for years, I have never been IN the water with the fish. Upon making eye contact with an adult Humpback Whale I was changed in ways I never knew were possible. I went on to trade fishing gear for scuba gear and have found a deep passion for reef and all of its inhabitants.
For the last 5 years I have trained with my mentor Kay for this very moment. Additionally, to studying pigments extensively, I have developed my own personal style of painting. I incorporate realism, impressionism, impasto, carving mediums, and fluid paint to float layers upon layers of color. The goal is to showcase the natural beauty that all creatures possess. To create the illusion of movement as if time were not frozen on the panel. I strive to show the color vapors permeating the areas around the subject matter, inviting it to fill the room with its essence and to reflect the fact that some of these species are endangered and quietly slipping away.
I feel that I have mastered color and developed my own personal style. It is time to use my voice to tell the story of the creatures of this planet in the universal language of color. I am driven to spend the rest of my life creating one body of work after another to showcase the beauty of our great planet in hopes it will inspire generation after generation to fall in love and ultimately become good stewards and protect what we have here. I am ready for the international stage.
Jill ShipmanJill Shipman
A native of Winnesboro, Texas, Jill spent a twenty-five year career in Interior Decorating and Set Design which included teaching color harmony classes, design, shape and form. Those skills now translate into her rich landscapes and sky scapes of vivid colors, moods, and soft abstract forms.
As a child, her mother, an artist, fed her creative nature and her father took her out to lie on a blanket to view the unfolding majesty of the night skies as millions of stars filler her eyes. That began a lifelong infatuation with the amazing skies that are different, not just every day, but moment by moment.
She began her art career at Brookhaven Community College and has studied under several nationally and internationally known artists: Kay Griffith, Bob Rohm, Vicky McMurry, Jill Carver, Ann Templeton, Ellie Taylor, Donna Bland, Becky Joy, Jim Woodward, Albert Handel and Cheri Christensen, who are all painters in Plein Air, impressionist, or abstract style,
She has traveled widely to lectures, shows and demonstrations with Lorie Putman, Don Sahli, and many others. She spent six months studying weekkly with Phil Bob Boren as he created his magnificent sky scapes.
She is intrigued by the array of colors produced by the moving light and the wonderful reflections light creates in water. Her quest is to capture the shapes, color, and light of the incredible skies and landscapes in Salado, Texas where she resides with her husband, Johnny.
She is inspired by the never ending "Art Show" God puts on everyday as she looks up and wants to capture that emotion in her work and communicate it, so others will experience that same feeling and be drawn into her paintings. She loves to leave out details so the viewer can finish the painting.
As she paints, she is telling the story of God's creative nature and reflecting that nature on canvas.
A native of Winnesboro, Texas, Jill spent a twenty-five year career in Interior Decorating and Set Design which included teaching color harmony classes, design, shape and form. Those skills now translate into her rich landscapes and sky scapes of vivid colors, moods, and soft abstract forms.
As a child, her mother, an artist, fed her creative nature and her father took her out to lie on a blanket to view the unfolding majesty of the night skies as millions of stars filler her eyes. That began a lifelong infatuation with the amazing skies that are different, not just every day, but moment by moment.
She began her art career at Brookhaven Community College and has studied under several nationally and internationally known artists: Kay Griffith, Bob Rohm, Vicky McMurry, Jill Carver, Ann Templeton, Ellie Taylor, Donna Bland, Becky Joy, Jim Woodward, Albert Handel and Cheri Christensen, who are all painters in Plein Air, impressionist, or abstract style,
She has traveled widely to lectures, shows and demonstrations with Lorie Putman, Don Sahli, and many others. She spent six months studying weekkly with Phil Bob Boren as he created his magnificent sky scapes.
She is intrigued by the array of colors produced by the moving light and the wonderful reflections light creates in water. Her quest is to capture the shapes, color, and light of the incredible skies and landscapes in Salado, Texas where she resides with her husband, Johnny.
She is inspired by the never ending "Art Show" God puts on everyday as she looks up and wants to capture that emotion in her work and communicate it, so others will experience that same feeling and be drawn into her paintings. She loves to leave out details so the viewer can finish the painting.
As she paints, she is telling the story of God's creative nature and reflecting that nature on canvas.
Kay Griffith
Becoming an Abstract Expressionist Painter
It is not enough to say that I was born in Texas, U.S.A. and to continue to recite details of my life’s journey. While you would know some facts, you would hardly have an understanding of me as an abstract expressionist. So, I have decided to share some facts that are important. From the beginning I was taught to appreciate life and to always treat it with care and respect. As a very young child I was taught how to sit, be still, be silent, to listen, and to observe with all my senses. I was taught to be acutely aware of my surroundings at all times, to pay attention to every detail, and to notice even the slightest change in temperature, movement, smell, or sound.
Work was valued, and adversity or setbacks were never cause to quit or to give up on attaining a goal. Assigned tasks were to be efficiently and accurately completed, even if I did not want to do them. Self discipline, honesty, and integrity were instilled. There was a time to work and a time to play.
Some of my first words were, “Why?” and “How does it work?” This quest for knowledge was cultivated. I was always encouraged to question, research, analyze, and to never be afraid to repeat the sequence. There were times when I would ask “What would it be like to be________? The blank would be filled in with anything from a tree, leaf, insect, rock etc. My questions were endless.
Color always captivated me. I was born with the ability to see values and intensities of colors, without knowing the proper nomenclature. While an undergraduate at Texas Tech University, I took a course in color and design that was rigorous and very instructive.
Music stirred something deep within me. At age 7 piano lessons began at my request, and continued for a few years. Participation in highly competitive team sports and other youth activities was helpful.
Much later in my life, I decided to learn the basics of oil painting and participated in weekly oil painting classes for a few months. In the mid 1990's I started to paint full time and began to sell my paintings in the local area. The focus for the next few years was on learning how to execute highly detailed oil paintings, both with brushes and with palette knives.
From time to time I painted abstracts. Having no specific training in painting them, I simply did what came natural to me and made no effort to sell them. By early 2012 the desire to paint abstracts dominated. A fire that had started small had spread and burned brightly inside me. I became aware that I will paint abstracts until the day I die. The decision was made to submit abstracts for an upcoming international show in Las Vegas. My work was juried into the show, and the paintings were well received by both art critics and collectors. In retrospect, the international show in Las Vegas in December, 2012, marked the beginning of my career as an abstract expressionist painter.
Shortly after the Las Vegas show I received an invitation to submit a portfolio for a show at a gallery in New York City. I flew to New York for the opening of the show. While I was there, the gallery owner visited with me about my work. She said she had had some additional experts look my paintings, and that they all agreed that my work was superior quality abstract expressionism. Prior to that moment, I had never referred to my abstracts as abstract expressionism.
Sometime later, I came to the realization that I was born an abstract expressionist painter; I am an abstract expressionist; and I will always be an abstract expressionist painter. My paintings celebrate colors of the earth and natural rhythms. They reflect the poetic, the awareness of experience felt in spirit, and the unknowable in physical reality.
Kay Griffith
It is not enough to say that I was born in Texas, U.S.A. and to continue to recite details of my life’s journey. While you would know some facts, you would hardly have an understanding of me as an abstract expressionist. So, I have decided to share some facts that are important. From the beginning I was taught to appreciate life and to always treat it with care and respect. As a very young child I was taught how to sit, be still, be silent, to listen, and to observe with all my senses. I was taught to be acutely aware of my surroundings at all times, to pay attention to every detail, and to notice even the slightest change in temperature, movement, smell, or sound.
Work was valued, and adversity or setbacks were never cause to quit or to give up on attaining a goal. Assigned tasks were to be efficiently and accurately completed, even if I did not want to do them. Self discipline, honesty, and integrity were instilled. There was a time to work and a time to play.
Some of my first words were, “Why?” and “How does it work?” This quest for knowledge was cultivated. I was always encouraged to question, research, analyze, and to never be afraid to repeat the sequence. There were times when I would ask “What would it be like to be________? The blank would be filled in with anything from a tree, leaf, insect, rock etc. My questions were endless.
Color always captivated me. I was born with the ability to see values and intensities of colors, without knowing the proper nomenclature. While an undergraduate at Texas Tech University, I took a course in color and design that was rigorous and very instructive.
Music stirred something deep within me. At age 7 piano lessons began at my request, and continued for a few years. Participation in highly competitive team sports and other youth activities was helpful.
Much later in my life, I decided to learn the basics of oil painting and participated in weekly oil painting classes for a few months. In the mid 1990's I started to paint full time and began to sell my paintings in the local area. The focus for the next few years was on learning how to execute highly detailed oil paintings, both with brushes and with palette knives.
From time to time I painted abstracts. Having no specific training in painting them, I simply did what came natural to me and made no effort to sell them. By early 2012 the desire to paint abstracts dominated. A fire that had started small had spread and burned brightly inside me. I became aware that I will paint abstracts until the day I die. The decision was made to submit abstracts for an upcoming international show in Las Vegas. My work was juried into the show, and the paintings were well received by both art critics and collectors. In retrospect, the international show in Las Vegas in December, 2012, marked the beginning of my career as an abstract expressionist painter.
Shortly after the Las Vegas show I received an invitation to submit a portfolio for a show at a gallery in New York City. I flew to New York for the opening of the show. While I was there, the gallery owner visited with me about my work. She said she had had some additional experts look my paintings, and that they all agreed that my work was superior quality abstract expressionism. Prior to that moment, I had never referred to my abstracts as abstract expressionism.
Sometime later, I came to the realization that I was born an abstract expressionist painter; I am an abstract expressionist; and I will always be an abstract expressionist painter. My paintings celebrate colors of the earth and natural rhythms. They reflect the poetic, the awareness of experience felt in spirit, and the unknowable in physical reality.
Kay Griffith