Im just a normal-interesting student whos dying to be the cutest artist in the world! :) I love to draw dubjects related to nature and be close with them. I maybe not so good at it, but I enjoy drawing and coloring more than anything in my life. I did not have many chances to compete in any competitions but I did get a first place award of Duck Stamp Contest in Maryland state. I've been willing to be a cartoonist since I was 7years old. I'm still willing to be a great artist and very excited to become one.

Mandala: (Sanskrit: “circle”) in Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism, a symbolic diagram used in the performance of sacred rites and as an instrument of meditation. The mandala is basically a representation of the universe, a consecrated area that serves as a receptacle for the gods and as a collection point of universal forces. Man (the microcosm), by mentally “entering” the mandala and “proceeding” toward its center, is by analogy guided through the cosmic processes of disintegration and reintegration.

I use my Holga camera as a way of digging deeper beneath the surface of my environment. By overlapping multiple images in a single frame of film, I am able to make connections that are not otherwise apparent, and was able to uncover a spirit in a city that I initially viewed as cold, corporate, and soulless.

The initial body of work I created using this method depicts areas in and around Washington DC and show a city that I do not often see portrayed anywhere else. When most people think of the District, they think of the memorials, government, or other textbook accounts of the area. As with every place I have ever lived, the details are what make a place unique. Therefore the details are where I choose to focus my attention when making my urban Holga photographic images.

I have since taken my Holga camera on many trips to a wide variety of locations across the United States and beyond to make photos in this style while visiting, and have found success with incorporating my travel images into my overall portfolio. I have also incorporated more human portraits, forms, and elements into my work style since the origination of my DC series. This manner of making images is essential to me because it has allowed me to carve out a space for myself where before there was none. It reflects the way I see and feel in the world, as well as in the place that I call home.

This year's Artomatic exhibit will consist of Holga images I made while traveling along Historic Route 66 this past summer. The images are linked to the place on the map where they were taken for visual reference.

THE SANCTUARY OF THE SHIVA OF THE 5 ELEMENTS OF HIP-HOP is inspired by the historical monuments of Washington. The shiva figure is sculpted to fit into two cupped hands (as if holding water) + is displayed on two vintage audio speakers, with a prayer pillow on an area of artificial grass. A monument to the dying art of the cultural relevance of Hip-Hop due to continued commercialization. A sign asks the viewer to "pray for the salvation of Hip-Hop culture" + a sign-book is located in the woofer's hole in the bottom audio speaker for the hopeful to write their thoughts.

(S-F) A + D = O.G.P.
(Sucker-Free) Art + Design = Organic.Graphic.Phanatics

I’m a Lebanese Asylum Seeker in UK. My professional background is Architecture but I jilted it to focus on Art.

I use art to express issues that concerns most such Diaspora, Forced Migration, the definition of “Home” and love.
To express these emotions I use digital photography, digital image manipulation, Arabic Calligraphy and films.
I made my first documentary in the summer of 2008 to mark my 7 years in the UK (www.cvp.org,uk)

I work closely with my wife who is also a keen photographer. The Fatherhood shot is a collaboration work between us.

We are looking for more venues to express ourselves and very excited for being in Washington exhibiting the art work.

This is was only possible due to the hard work and the support of the Sunderland Council team

I began using power tools and wood, and then covering the wood with multiple media to express my thoughts about specific words such as "Weight," "Empathy," "Grounded," "Unite," and "Deserve." Most of the pieces hang on the wall, but are three dimensional.

Recently I've begun branching out into digital art as well.

The Recycled Art Project
-Something Cool for Your Walls, Something Cool for Humanity-

I always feel like I do not do enough when it comes to charitable giving.
Holidays like Christmas are usually the obvious chance to help others, since it is made easier by being able to add a donation at cash registers, offices organizing presents for kids, etc. I decided to make an affordable line of work with the aim of donating a portion to a good cause.
These digital paintings are separate to the paintings found on my website. Each quarter or so, I'll pick a different cause to donate to.
Bottom line: something cool for your wall, something cool for humanity.

The artwork is non-representational/abstract-- unlike the majority of the work on my website. If you see something familiar, however, I am actually taking some of my paintings, then poking, prodding, pushing, and pulling... until they become something quite different. In a sense, it is recycled art—but while it has double the value (I’ve worked on it twice), it is not double the price.

(If you know of any causes you think need a little more exposure, email me, so I can consider them.)

Selections from "Ed Contradictory," my very serious absurdist meta webcomic, which deals with ruminations on life, panda bears, robots, and antiquing.

Things Change Everyday....
And so I have learned to ride that wave...
My works are usually derived from a visionary process until they are created and finished.
For me, that is part of fulfillment in the piece itself..until it's finally out for show...and then, it's usually time to move on to the next vision...the next show...

Karin Walland is a visual artist originally from Denmark but now based in the North East of England. She holds a BA in Fine Art and an MA in Glass

Always searching for the right medium and technique, she frequently transfers techniques from one medium to another or invents one if none is available. While she now mainly uses recycled glass to express themes of memory, loss, brokenness, death and new life, both relating to the human condition and nature, her extensive knowledge results in other materials being incorporated in the work. Her highly individual pieces employ techniques of layering and collaging glass as well as fusing and casting to form a new whole.
The nature of glass in its fragility, strength and brokenness, its ability to be fused and cast into a new whole through kiln firing, is symbolically and conceptually important for the work. The recycled element also links to the concept of giving new life to the material as well as being environmentally friendly.

Reared on a tiny Danish island, the sea features large in her work both for its malevolent and benign aspects and as a symbol of life and death.
Her work finds application both indoors and outdoors, ranging as it does from small jewellery items to large sculptural installations and commissions.
She exhibits widely throughout the UK and is branching out into Europe and further afield. In 2010 she is planning to take part in an artists exchange with the Gracia gallery in Barcelona, Spain.

Lauren Kotkin is an early childhood educator living in Washington, DC. She has a masters degree in using the arts in education and formerly was the education director at a creative childrens museum. For many years, Lauren had a business sewing fabric baby gifts. She recently put the sewing machine away and turned to collage because after working with young children, paper and glue seem to have stuck.

Artwork in The Leaves Project was created from photos taken in Prague of the intricate mosaic sidewalks. A native of the city ignores them the way a District native nonchalantly passes the White House. But a tourist sees the beauty and creates art...from art.

Renaissance Man: A man who excels at a variety of things.

Puleeze.
Ramon Bonzon, who is relatively new to painting with acrylic and oil mediums, has made time during his public health career to create a handful of works in the past several years. His first love is creating music (singer/songwriter), but Ramon has always been fascinated and inspired by artist like Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet and Rothko (Who isn’t, right?). Ramon’s simple goal is to create pieces that are visually pleasing. He believes that art can transform a space and contains the power to generate emotion unlike anything else, transforming life itself. His work can be described as having simple broad strokes, layers of color and organic subject matter. Expressionist, realist, colorist or modernist? You decide. Ramon Bonzon would argue that although he may be capable in a number of areas, he wouldn’t necessarily say he “excels” in them. Come visit his very first exhibit on the 3rd floor of Artomatic’s 10th Anniversary during the summer of 2009 and you can decide if he’s a Renaissance Man or at least if he can paint.

You can also listen to one of Ramon’s recorded songs in Artomatic’s Artist Catalog online.

I am fascinated by the connections we find in our everyday experiences: from the isolation of communities on the subway, to the solitary experience of introspection, to the feelings of deep communion. How do we think of our place in this world? How do we fit in it?

My work is about levels of connectedness. I paint, draw, and knit to represent these moments. We are all connected somehow.

This series started because of my fascination with knitting, love for painting, and intrigue in the community I've found online with knitters from around the world. I think about how it links me to my mother, her mother, and all the generations of women who came before them.

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Awarded the 'Craft Award of Distinction' for Fiber by the James Renwick Alliance

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Pairs within the installation are priced separately. Available works may be purchased by contacting me directly at darnknit [at] gmail.com, or by visiting my shop: http://tr.im/4

My exhibition of paintings at Artomatic this year are expressions and interpretations of my religious observations which are best described as atheistic agnosticism. This means that although I have no personal belief in the existence of any deity, I do not claim to have definitive knowledge that one does not exist.

I grew up being told I was ‘½ Jewish and ½ Catholic’ but was not taught anything about either religion. My parents never brought me to church or synagogue. When I was 16, I heard my father say he believed in god and I was befuddled because the subject of belief was not discussed at any time before that. In my confusion, I would sometimes look up apologetically at the sky and say “if there is a god up there, you must understand why I don’t believe in you, right? Nobody ever told me you existed!”

Throughout my 20’s and 30’s, I continued my personal quest to learn more about religion and come to terms with my own belief – or lack thereof. Now, I am finally fully comfortable with painting (and talking about) where I stand on religion. My paintings are not meant to offend. Instead, I hope they foster open-minded discussions. And perhaps induce a giggle or two along the way.

i paint

Anything is interesting if I look at it long enough. So I use a 4x5 view camera. Its cumbersome body, heavy tripod, cape, external light meter, and all the knobs, tilts, and shifts requires me to slow down and take my time. During the lengthy set up of a shot the subject has a chance to reveal itself to me. A spoon, a ceiling, a boy in bed— with the 4x5 I have time to see how strange and beautiful they can be.

The work I am exhibiting at Artomatic are photographs I've taken over the past year and a half. Originally the photographs had nothing to do with each other. But as I arranged them for this show I realized that they come together into some kind of evidence, like snapshots from the scene of a crime.

I grew up in New York City, and I graduated from Yale University in 2008 where I studied Chinese and Photography. I now live and work in Washington DC.

If you are interested in buying my photographs please contact me at lisbeth.kaufman@gmail.com.

Nabila Isa-Odidi is an attorney and artist based in Washington, D.C. Born in Kano, Nigeria, Nabila speaks fluent Hausa (a Northern Nigerian dialect spoken throughout West Africa), and has lived in various countries including England, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Canada.

Nabila began painting in 2008. Her art is primarily inspired by her love of the human form, particularly the face. She also draws inspiration from her travel experiences. Nabila's Artomatic exhibit is a mixed bag of "first" paintings completed from 2008 to 2009.

...I'm writing this to show that you can perform contrary actions at the same time, in one single, fresh breath; I am against action; as for continual contradiction, and affirmation too, I am neither for nor against them, and I won't explain myself because I hate common sense...