Paintings by Fox Elementary Kind Club

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"MY PAINTINGS ARE MOST OFTEN CREATED WITH PALETTE KNIFE AND BRUSH.  USING MIXED MEDIA, I DEVELOP A STRONG CONTRAST OF VIBRANT, SATURATED COLORS, OFTEN IN LAYERS AND WITH A VARIETY OF TEXTURES.   THROUGH MY  CHOICES IN COLOR PALETTE, I ATTEMPT TO BRING MY PAINTINGS A VOICE THAT IS BOTH REFLECTIVE AND APPEALING"

Born in Richmond, Virginia, Ron Courtney was given a small box of Weber oil paints and brushes at age five by his Aunt Marguerite, and together they began to learn how to paint. He is a graduate from VCU with a BFA degree in painting and printmaking.

Ron continued to draw and paint in the decade following art school. Moving to Urbanna, Va. in the 1980’s, he did free lance work as a comic book colorist working on titles such as Mighty Mouse and Miracleman.

 In 2004, he began painting again, this time in watercolor, using local images as inspiration.His figurative work is often derived from old family photos from 1910 to 1950.  In 2010 he began his first serious foray into abstracts, large acrylics he calls “nonscapes” because they are somewhat like landscapes but not actually landscapes.

Ron’s paintings have appeared in many juried shows, he has had several one-man shows, and his work is in a number of private collections.

"My art reflects the memories of sunlight at various stages in my life.” These words describe a lifelong relationship between Herb Pulliam and the love of nature and all its wonders interpreted from his subconscious onto canvas. 

 “These paintings are actually a collage of different elements as seen throughout my traveling experiences melded with emotional imagery of those recollections.” From childhood, being raised in Appomattox, Virginia near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Herb has a respect and awe of the sun’s influence on different moods. Whether the vista is daybreak or twilight, clear sky or overcast, the presence of sunlight in his work is always powerful. Mountains are reduced to abstract lines dwarfed by the brilliance of light. A seascape emits motion not in the water, but above it. “My purpose is to create enough of an image on canvas to allow viewers to insert their own imagination and experience. Therefore the emotion is an intimate one comprised of the ethereal depiction on canvas coupled with the personal memories evoked by the viewer." 

As a retired English teacher, I now spend time playing tennis, mowing five acres and gardening at our Powhatan County, Virginia, historic home, and painting watercolors. 

People often ask, "What do you paint?" to which I have no answer. I remain intrigued by old houses and barns, slowly disappearing from the rural landscape, but beauty abounds in subject matter from a delicate flower, to humble mushrooms under a tree, to a rough hand-hewn barn with a story to tell.

Interesting shapes and shadows invite the artist to discover a different approach to often mundane subjects. Shape repetition and intensity of natural light create scenes forartist exploration.

The watercolor medium is frequently undervalued, although the process of watercolor painting requires a great deal of thought, planning, and careful execution. This medium presents a constant challenge but rewards the artist with great depth, delicacy, and luminosity of studied subjects. I once painted with oils but became a convert!

I am a Signature Member of the Virginia Watercolor Society, a past president of the James River Artists,  and have shown my paintings in Alabama and throughout Virginia.

Tomas Ehrenberger Plein Air Paintings

Mr. Ehrenberger’s exhibited works in Chez Republic have found a place in the home and hearts of those in Bohemia.

Tomas loves the challenge of plein air painting.  He believes that the joy of working in the open air comes through on the canvas imparting a special energy to his work.  ”To sense the mood of a given scene, feel the nuances in color; and capture the whole experience on canvas. This is living to its fullest; this is being present. My hope is to awaken the same experience in people through my paintings."

Currently exhibited in Brno, Czech Republic and also available from Oxide Gallery, Denton Texas and Bradshaw Gallery, Blackstone VA.

Watercolors by Margaret S. Bucher

An artist and art teacher living in Petersburg Va.  She has won many awards for her watercolors and oil paintings, and is a signature member of the Virginia Watercolor Society.  Her paintings can be seen in private and public collections around the country. She is also the director of Wee Little Arts, Richmond, a groundbreaking preschool visual arts program, founded in Charleston, S.C.

Places are very important to me… they have defined my life as an artist.  I am drawn to buildings… they have personalities to me and they represent certain places that evoke feelings in me. The challenge to me is painting the light as it plays on the surfaces of the buildings.  The buildings in these paintings are from different places… Richmond, Charleston, S.C., Maine.

The still life florals also define place for me in that they represent home… are very special place to me.