Artist Gallery
March Featured Artists
ReginaClaudia
Marie Miller
As far back as I can remember,
I’ve loved to draw and paint. I am self-taught and
I have been experimenting with different mediums all of my
life. My paintings and drawings were primarily for family and
friends and, through life’s circumstances, I never really got
a chance to put my talent to work.
In March 2001, while living and working in western upstate New York, I
received a call from my Mother’s sister informing me that my
father was in hospital awaiting surgery and that Mother was frantic.
For six weekends in March and April of 2001, I made the 700 mile round
trip from New York to New Jersey to help as much as I could.
Then my Mother had a stroke and had to be hospitalized also.
It now became apparent that nothing short of my moving back to New
Jersey would do. As an only child, with my parents in dire
straights, I felt that this was the right thing.
I moved back to my parent’s home in April 2001 and began the
long struggle to bring my parents back to health. It was a
long process, but, miraculously, both Mom and Dad are as well today as
can be expected of people in their 80’s. When I first came
back to New Jersey, I was out of work with no prospects of finding a
job that would allow me to take 4 days a week off to take Mom and Dad
to their respective appointments. I had to do
something. Then I remembered the watercolor supplies and
began painting. When a neighbor saw some of my work, she
immediately commissioned me to do a painting of her two nieces and her
dog. Surprisingly, she loved them and began spreading the
word. Between friends and relatives, a new business was
born. Pet portraits were the bread and butter at first, but I
began branching out into new areas and refining my technique with the
paint. My cousin helped me create a website and I started
getting commissions.
Over the years, I have developed a small, but substantial client base,
many are repeat customers. I painted land and seascapes,
still life and florals, equine & wildlife and
architecturals. In September 2004, I sold 6 original works at
the Cape May Mall Show and later that month, I was invited to
participate in the prestigious Wings ‘n Water Festival in
Stone Harbor, New Jersey where I received my first award –
Honorable Mention – in the watercolor division.
Needless to say, I was thrilled. I was told that to receive
an award the first year of participation in this particular show, was
quite an accomplishment.
The style of my work has been described as
“photo-realism” or
“hyper-realism”. I really enjoy the
attention to detail that this process involves. People seem
to like the work and when someone says it looks like a photograph, I
couldn’t be more pleased. While I realize that some
may say I’m an illustrator, rather than an artist, I
don’t mind. I love what I do and am developing a
following (much to my surprise). And, because I have so much
free time on my hands, I can devote myself to improving my technique
and painting anything and everything that grabs my interest
 Rachel Bomze
Rachel Bomze received her M.F.A. in painting at the Tyler School of Art
at Temple University in Elkins Park, PA. She currently teaches drawing
courses at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ. She also
teaches art classes at the Perkins Art Center in Moorestown, NJ.
Rachel’s work was recently exhibited at the Isadore Gallery
in Lancaster, PA. She also exhibited work at Cumberland
County College in Vineland, NJ, and at Gallery 216 at Rowan
University. She currently has work up at the
D’jango Restaurant in Philadelphia, PA, organized by
inliquid.com.
Rachel’s work deals with the in-between spaces.
This happens where the imagery hovers between the process of painting
itself and a recollection of an image. In those in-between
places of reference, sometimes the work reminds her of the weaving of a
tapestry. Other times, the pieces recall artists
past. Many times they refer her to a landscape quality, like
the light reflecting across the ripples in a body of water, or the
sensation of being enveloped by a landscape space as if in a field or
underwater. Sometimes the paintings do not reveal a
recognizable image to her at all, but simply refer Rachel to her
process. There is a sense of effortless in the work, which
upon closer inspection reveals many layers. For Rachel,
layering has always been an interest of hers.
Beginning in a very direct and immediate fashion, she builds upon that
underlying structure. This immediacy in her work can be seen
in rubbings, printing, and drawing. Texture has become a
repeated theme in the work. Rachel is interested in not only
creating a low-relief texture in the work, but also trying to get the
feeling of that texture imbedded in the material itself.
There is a subtlety to the texture, where even rough materials like
sand and glass beads have a softness and beauty to them.
Rachel continues to explore these in-between spaces in her paintings,
at her studio in Marlton, NJ.
 Carol Taylor-Kearney
Carol Taylor-Kearney is a life-long resident of southern New
Jersey. A graduate of Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ (BA
Art Education) and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in
Philadelphia (MFA Painting), she has exhibited her work regionally; and
her work is part of several corporate, public, and private collections
including First Union Bank (now Wachovia Bank) in Philadelphia, PA;
Morgan, Lewis, and Bockius Counselors at Law, Philadelphia, PA;
Gloucester County Library, Mullica Hill, NJ; and Queensborough College
(QCC/CUNY), Bayside, NY. In this past year Carol has
exhibited her work in a solo exhibition at ETS Connant Hall Gallery in
Princeton, NJ; and in juried group exhibitions at Creative Arts
Workshop in New Haven, CT; the Delaware Center for Creative Arts in
Wilmington, DE; and in Visions of Liberty at the National
Constitution Center in Philadelphia. In October, Carol will
be a participating artist in POST, Philadelphia Open Studio Tours
(www.philaopenstudios.com).
Carol has held several positions within the Arts. After
graduating from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, she was
named Coordinator of Graduate Studies. She later acted as an
adjunct Professor of Art at Burlington County College and Rowan
University. A former commissioner on the Gloucester County Cultural and
Heritage Commission, Carol has also served as a jurist and curator for
regional exhibitions including West Deptford Library gallery, Ocean
City Arts Center, Burlington County College, the Art Lab at Rowan
University, and the Philadelphia Sketch Club. Beginning in the 2006-07
gallery season, Carol hasbeen the associate curator for exhibitions at
StrataSphere (www.thestratasphere.com), an exhibition space
on Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia. Scheduled shows
include: In the Neighborhood (August-September, 2006);
Eternal Temporality (October-November, 2006); and The Progress of
Process (March-April, 2007). The Personal Picture Plane, her
May – June curatorial effort at StrataSphere, will be on view
from March through April at Gloucester County College’s
College Hall Gallery in Sewell, NJ. She is the Featured
Artist for the New Jersey State Council of the Arts’ Virtual
Gallery for the month of March (www. JerseyArts.com). She has lectured
on art at Kean College, East Brunswick, NJ; Gloucester County College,
Willingboro Art Alliance, and Pemberton Public Schools. In
2004 the CBC and BBC produced segments on her work while at the Pouch
Cove Foundation Artists’ Residency.
In 2003 she received a Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Grant to the
Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT; and in 2005, she received a grant
from the Artist Fellowship, Inc. in New York, NY. During 2004
through 2006 Carol has been supported by the Violette de Mazia Trust to
study at the Barnes Foundation and Villanova University. She
was selected as a resident artist at the Pouch Cove Arts Foundation,
Pouch Cove, Newfoundland, Canada in August 2004. In January of 2007,
Carol was a guest artist at Peters Valley in Layton, NJ through funding
by the NJ State Council of the Arts and the Geraldine R. Dodge
Foundation. She is a member of the Artists Guild of the
Delaware Valley, the Philadelphia Art Alliance, the Women’s
Caucus for Art, the Fellowship of PAFA, the Organization of Independent
Artists, and the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art. Her
work has been shown at Roger LaPelle Gallery in Philadelphia, Papp
Gallery in New York (SOHO), NY, and Muse Gallery Philadelphia, PA.
 Steve Kuzma
Steve Kuzma studied at the Philadelphia College of Art and Parsons The
New School of Design in New York City. He graduated with honors from
Parsons and was awarded fellowships to study overseas in Sienna, Italy
and Paris, France. Beginning his career in illustration, he worked for
clients such as KLM Airways and Salin Linbald Cruises. Art directors
were particularly fond of his work as it incorporated a strong sense of
color and motion, reflecting Steve’s strong interest in
sports and his great love of the outdoors. The New York Times, New York
Marathon, and Sport Monday commissioned his artwork and it has been
featured in numerous publications including: Sport Magazine, Art
Direction Magazine, Backpacker, Boating, and Diversion Magazine.
Steve’s work has been used internationally to most notably
commemorate the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo and the 1986 World Cup
Soccer events.
In his extensive travels overseas and throughout the continental United
States, Steve has developed a growing connection to nature and is
profoundly inspired by beauty. This love and appreciation of nature,
coupled with his deeply spiritual art, form the foundation of his
unique style and sublime message. A strong sense of color and a
free-flowing painterly method blend with a masterful use of layering
techniques, to provide the depth and dimension inherent to all of his
paintings.
Steve works professionally in the areas of illustration, graphic design
and advertising. He further accepts commissions and creates murals.
Often sought after to lecture on his experimental painting techniques,
he conducts various workshops and teaches. Active in many art
organizations, Steve continues to show in both group and solo
exhibitions. He is represented in permanent private, corporate and
museum collections.
Steve maintains a studio in Marlton, New Jersey.
See Past ArtPort Artists in
the Archives!
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