Founder - Dru Blair
Dru Blair grew up in Columbia, SC, and began studying medicine at Furman University in Greenville, SC. During his undergraduate studies he discovered his artistic ability and switched majors to fine art in his senior year, graduating with a BA in fine art in 1981. He later found employment in Myrtle Beach, SC as an airbrush artist painting shirts, where his rapid success inspired him to continue his education in art at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. He earned a Masters Degree in fine art in 1984 and went on to begin his career in commercial illustration.
In 1988 he won the National Airbrush Excellence Award, which ushered in a wave of commercial opportunities. The following year he produced his first aviation painting, "Power", which became the first of three Air Force Magazine covers and remains the number one selling aviation print in existence. Other aviation paintings followed the advent of his own publishing company, Blair Art Studios Inc. More recently, he founded the Blair School of Art in Raleigh, NC and now the Blair School of Realism in Blair, SC. He continues selling his commissions and teaching painting workshops at his school and around the world, and is regarded as the top realism painter in the world.
Dru Blair is an Air Force Association Life Member (1989), Honorary Member of the United States Air Force (since 1991), Army Aviation Association of America Life Member (since 1993), member of the North Carolina Association of Designers and Illustrators (since 1989), member of the Air Force Art Program (since 1991), member of the Graphic Artists Guild (since 1993), Artist Fellow member of the American Society of Aviation Artists (since 1994), and board member of the International Airbrush Association. He is a featured lecturer at the World Airbrush Exposition, and was the Guest of Honor at the International Airbrush Forum held in Germany which drew over 10,000 artists from around the world. Dru continues to be featured in television shows and interviews, and on dozens of magazine covers and book publications. Commercial projects have included popular themes such as the Budweiser Bullfrogs. He was the official artist for Star Trek: Voyagear book covers, as well as several of the other Star Trek licensees. Dru currently resides in his ancestral hometown of Blair, SC where he operates the Blair School of Realism.
Partial client list: Budweiser, Continental Airlines, United Airlines, Proctor & Gamble, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Nabisco, Neutrogena, Rolling Rock Beer, Rockwell International, McDonnell Douglas, McDonalds, Mattel, USA Today, Turner Broadcasting System, Automobile Magazine, American Legion Magazine Airforce Magazine, American Helicopter Pilots Association Magazine, Texaco, Paramount Theme Park, Featured Cover Artist and contributing editor for Airbrush Magazine.
Krystina Cutler
Krystina Raelynn is a Greensboro, NC native who began as a self-taught artist from early childhood, and supplemented her natural talent with art classes at different colleges in the Seattle area. After moving to Oklahoma in 2003, she studied Faux Finishing & Old World Textures at Artistic Illusions Studio in Nashville, TN, after which she began her own faux & mural business. She created works for some of the most prestigious builders in the Oklahoma City Parade of Homes. She continued commissions for both private and commercial projects all over the country and her work has been featured in Showcase of Homes Oklahoma City magazine.
In March 2006 she attended Blair School of Art’s portrait class in Raleigh, NC, taught by Dru Blair. There she discovered her passion for photorealism and became a part of the instructional staff in 2006.
Teresa Oaxaca
Teresa Oaxaca is an American born artist based currently in Washington D.C. She is a full time painter whose works can be seen in collections and galleries throughout the US and internationally. Her talent has been recognized and rewarded by museums and institutions such as the American Museum of the Cowboy, The former Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Art Renewal Center, The Elisabeth Greenshields Foundation, the Posey Foundation, and The Portrait Society of America Museu Europeu D’Art Modern in Barcelona.
Her training includes a four-year diploma at the Angel Academy of Art (Florence Italy, Graduate studies at the Florence Academy, an Apprenticeship with Odd Nerdrum in Norway, and studies at the Art League of Alexandria VA where she trained with Robert Liberace, Paul Lucchesi, and took many other courses. Currently she teaches workshops around the United States and in Europe.
In addition to her studio work she takes a variety of portrait commissions including Family Portraiture, Professional/Business, Custom and Informal arrangements. She exhibits widely and sells her work on a regular basis.
Within Washington D.C. she has participated with local groups such as The Esperanza Education Fund and the National Education Association. In 2014 she became a member of the Young Partners Circle of The National Museum of Women In The Arts. She is also a registered member of the National Art Education Association (NAEA) and an Ambassador for the newly established Da Vinci Initiative, which designs and promotes skill-based learning and lesson plans for US K-12 public school educators.
“My work is about pleasing the eye. I paint light and the way it falls. Simple observation reveals beauty; often it is found in the unconventional. Because of this I have learned to take particular delight in unusual pairings of subject matter. Frequently my compositions are spontaneous. When a person comes to me, they occupy a space my mind. Arrangements form from there until with excitement I see and have the idea. The design is both planned and subconscious. For this reason I surround myself with Victorian and Baroque costume, bones, and other things which I find fascinating- I want subject matter to always be at handMy paintings are created with oil paint on canvas. I am conscious of the traditional craftsmanship I have attained in Florence. While my interest in new pigments and tools may cause minor alterations in my materials, these really remain fundamentally the same. All my evolution is taking place on the canvas and in my head; in what I see in nature and interpret in two dimensions on the picture plan. I have the fundamentals of design to work with when planning a painting. I make preparatory studies. I use multiple layers to build an illusion of light and form. When this illusion is convincing and to my taste, the painting is done.”.
Professional Awards
Selected for solo show in 2010, The Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA; selected for solo show at NoVa Schlesinger Performance Center art gallery 2009
Best in Show awards, The Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA, All-Media Membership shows: May 2008 (Juror, Brandon Fortune, Curator, National Portrait Gallery), and December 2008 (Juror Fritz Briggs, Schuler School of Fine Arts MD) Honorable Mention, June All-Media Membership Show, The Art League, (June 2008) Art Renewal Center International 2nd place scholarship winner (2007 and 2008) Arlington County Fair Outstanding Exhibitor award (2006)
ARC Salon Finalist and Chairman's Choice Award 2014
Portrait Society of America "Certificate of Merit" Award 2013
ARC Salon Award for Best Social Commentary and Finalist 2012
2nd Place Award Portrait Society of America, 2011, Buckhead, Georgia.
Chairman's Choice Award, Art Renewal Center 2011
Art Renewal Center International Salon, Finalist in three categories (2008, 2009)
Selected for solo show in 2010, The Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA. 2010
Art Renewal Center International 2nd Place Scholarship Winner (2007 and 2008)
Education
Angel Academy of Art, Florence, Italy, 2008-present (graduate program in composition)
Angel Academy of Art, Florence Italy, 2005-2008 (core program degree graduate)
Studio of Odd Nerdrum, Stavern, Norway
Simon Pasini
Simon Pasini was born in Genoa, Italy. . In 1984 he moved with his family to South Africa, where he began studying art and began to cultivate a passion for painting and art. His early works watercolors are characterized by attention to detail and the use of light with dramatic cuts. He returned to Italy in 1992, he attended the Art School "James and Pio Manzu" of Bergamo. After his studies he worked initially as a restorer, then specializing in the realization of the frescoes, dedicated in particular to the decoration.
Having finished his art studies, which began in South Africa and continued at the Architectural Art School of Italy, he immediately began working in art - first as a restorer, then for a major Italian company specializing in the creation of murals. Passionate about the techniques of trompe l'oeil, Simon started his own business in 2002. He sees every job as a new opportunity for study, reflection and academic painting.
With the fresco he has created numerous paintings and pictorial cycles for public and private clients in Italy, America, Arabia, China and Japan.The years of decoration, for Pasini are important with regard to the learning of techniques and materials, and especially for the ability to relate reached with a space always different. Curiosity and continuous research led him to experiment with different materials and techniques, including digital painting.In recent years he has dedicated himself to paintings painting with oil, with which investigates and studies the landscape and the portrait. But are the scenes of daily life his main source of inspiration.
He prefers this technique because it allows him to better understand the relationship between man and his environment. What you trying to express with painting is that we are at one with our surroundings, "nature and things are intertwined and continually create new balances and situations". "When a picture is" hard, "it is because you can not understand the bond that exists between all the elements that compose it: first floor, people, objects, background ..." said Pasini, and adds: "...we all one, connected by the light: if only move a single element within the composition, it will change the whole picture". His painting is made of gestures "... I'd like a gesture to express a feeling, a gesture equivalent to a note; if I were to compare my work to a book, I would imagine those who use few words and then let free their imagination to create the context..." Gestures so evocative, that they have no intention of heading to the hyper-realism but rather towards abstraction ... the space between the strokes is tried and liked as a place in which ideally lies the atmosphere of the painting. The last few years he has been engaged in numerous solo and group exhibitions, mainly in Italy and Northern Europe.
Simon's keen aesthetic sense and handling of color have caused many to hail him as a modern day John Singer Sargent, although his work goes beyond his predecessors work in both ambition and scope. Each brush stroke is purposeful and designed to enhance the painting, with perfect economy of style.
Angus McEwan
Angus McEwan was born in Dundee, Scotland. He studied at the Duncan Jordanstone College of Art from 1985 to 1988. In 1995, he was elected a member of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolours (RSW). Since 1997, he has been a part-time lecturer at Dundee College. In 2000, he was a founding fellow of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Scotland and a member of the Arts Committee. Angus’s awards include the Latimer Award at the Royal Scottish Academy and the Alexander Graham Munro Award. A two-time winner of the Elizabeth Greenshields Award, in 2001, he was awarded the Glasgow Art Club Prize by the RSW, leading to a one-man show at Art Club itself. More information about Angus and his work visit his website at www.angusmcewan.com
Marcus Eisenhuth
Marcus Eisenhuth was born in Berlin, Germany during the year 1981 and was addicted to drawing and painting ever since his early childhood years.
At the age of 7 he received his first airbrush gun as a birthday present but at that current time his interest in this new art tool was not that big.
However, at 9 years of age he started discovering his interest and love for spray cans. Only after two decades of painting walls did he rediscover his interest for the airbrush arts.
In 2008 he started to use the airbrush on a daily basis and became a part time independent airbrush artist after only 3 years in 2011. Since then he has been focusing his work solely on the airbrush.
In 2013 he enthusiastically started to introduce that airbrush topic to other artists by doing exhibitions in local graffiti and artist stores with only one goal – to show them what is possible with an airbrush. In the same year he became a member of the Airbrushfachverband and since 2014 he is doing exhibitions at boesner-artist store
His biggest dream came true in 2015 when he started his own atelier and classroom in Berlin. Close teamwork with Createx Europe and Iwata Germany Airbrushworkshops in Germany and Europe are another way to constantly improve his image and artistry in the airbrush world.
Tina Garrett
b. 1974
In 2012, based on her self-taught pastel portraiture, the Scottsdale Artists’ School awarded Tina the first of two merit scholarships and she began working in oil immediately falling in love. And that is precisely what happens to Tina with every face she paints.
Tina’s subjects represent a broad palette but regardless of subject, partakers are often caught leaning in nose to canvas to adore each brush stroke. Tina’s process also involves an infusion of color studies, practice from life and photography combined with photo editing software. With her computer monitor beside her easel, she has millions of colors from which to draw.
Tina is a three-time finalist in Scottsdale’s The Best and The Brightest Show 2013, 2014, and 2015. She earned a National Oil and Acrylic Painter’s Society 2013 Best of America Merit Award, 2014 Best of America Most Innovative Award, 2014 NOAPS Spring and Fall Online International Excellence Awards, and an Oil Painters of America 2014 Spring Online Showcase 1st Prize and OPA 2015
National Exhibition finalist. Tina is proud to accept a 2015 ARC Salon Purchase Award and have her work “City Blues” exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, Barcelona. Featured as an Artist To Watch in the December 2014 issue of Southwest Art Magazine, Tina is proud to earn Signature Status within the National Oil and Acrylic Painter’s Society in 2015.
In the few short years since Tina’s introduction to oil she has studied intently the Selective Start Method described in Alla Prima by Living Master Artist and Author Richard Schmid, studied in workshops and/or private lessons with Romel de la Torre, Casey Baugh, Aaron Westerberg, Lisa Gloria, and Jeremy Lipking. In the course of her serious pursuit of fine art mastery, the love Tina pours into each work pervades her imagery, helping Tina create a growing family of private collectors and commissioned clients throughout the U.S. and U.K.
Tina teaches one annual workshop at her home studio in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, but also hosts up to three annual master level workshops at her studio with artists such as Romel de la Torre, Michelle Dunaway and Stanka Kordic.
Tina Garrett & Co. 601 Southeast Douglas Street, Lee’s Summit, MO 64063-4222 www.tinagarrett.com 816-739-5508
WORKSHOP IMAGES AND TESTIMONIALS
“ Absolutely loved your enthusiasm and approachability! Very generous with your knowledge and patience with (particularly) my lack of painting experience! Very encouraging to me! Especially at my advanced age. I can learn this if given enough time.
Cheryln Claman
“ Tina is a very generous teacher, patient with all questions and so willing to share her knowledge. We had various skill levels in our group an she was able to accommodate all of us at the same time. Everyone benefited.
Debbie Wagner
“ Extremely helpful critique. Lots of practical advice. Helped me get past long-time blocks with my oil painting.
Rachel Larson
“ I can’t express how wonderful it is to have an artist who is so capable of simplifying techniques into an understandable format. Tina is an amazing artist and incredible teacher. I learned so much!
Terri Horner
“ I really think the workshop helped me turn a
corner. Tina, you were unbelievably energetic, friendly, supportive, and informative! Thank you!
Michael Claman
Michael Rose
Michael Rose was born in the year 1976, in North London, England. Michael set up his first registered tattoo studio at the young age of 18 in 1994. Michael's artwork has progressed over the years through lots of hard work & his work has been published in magazines & books all around the world. Michael's name has also been featured on the front cover of magazines such as Skin Deep, Total Tattoo, Tatu Arte, Tattz, Tattoos Downunder, Tattoo Revival & Scandinavian Tattoo Magazine to name a few.
To add to his attributes he is a multi "Award Winning Artist" with awards won in the UK & abroad. When asked to describe himself he simply says '"Husband, Father, Aspiring Artist, Tea drinking biscuit lover"
