Tamara D. Kontrimas has been drawing and painting in various mediums for pleasure and personal expression since childhood. She graduated from Louisiana State University Law School in 1987 and practiced labor law at a large Houston firm until the birth of her first child. Inspired by PBS art shows, she took advantage of her children’s naptime and began experimenting with watercolor.
My paintings are visual representations of every obscure and idiosyncratic detail of my life. I create work out of the desire to take an ocean of emptiness that is the blank canvas and turn it into a representation of the totality of my temperament. Juxtaposing different viewpoints and images on a single piece, along with a richness of layers and colors, allows me to move through various subject matter while staying true to the forms and themes that are crucial to my work.
I consider myself a self taught artist if the art class I took in sixth grade does not disqualify me. My art continues to improve and evolve with time. My most popular paintings are watercolor on paper. Although some of my pastel drawings and acrylics on canvas are considered some of my best work. I reside in a small fishing community on the Texas coast where the boats outnumber the people.
When Penny was little, she would lay in bed at nap time tracing every object in her room with her eyes. She would draw them in her mind so she would never forget what they were. This drawing without pen or pencil was invaluable to the future artist.
Reg Stark was born in Beaumont, Texas and began to receive awards for his art as early as the third grade and continued to do so in local exhibits such as the Art League of Houston, the Jewish Community Center and the Hunting Prize Art show. He studied two years at the Texas Academy of Art before receiving his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Houston. He has exhibited in Chicago and Houston with several solo shows and lives just outside of Houston in Sugar Land. His creativity has been passed down to his son, Jeff, a graphic designer, and he dedicates all of his paintings to the memory of his late wife, Linda.
As a fresh, Houston artist, Ms. Whitley is starting to make an impact on her own with her startlingly beautiful and emotionally expressive use of color and theme.
