Arts Barn Artists’ Reception

Gaithersburg presents an exhibit featuring portraits, ceramics and digital art by Ivanna Matsuka, Robert Talbert, Maud Taber-Thomas, Elena Tchernomazova, and Jamie Smith at the Arts Barn Gallery, January 25 through March 23.  The gallery is located at 311 Kent Square Road in Gaithersburg, with viewing hours Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, 1:30 to 5:30 p.m.  The public is invited to a free Artists’ Reception on Tuesday, February 5 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Ivanna Matsuka art work
photo | gaithersburgmd.gov

Ivanna Matsuka was born to an artistic family of singers and choir conductors in Kiev, Ukraine.  Her father, who is also an artist, inspired and tutored her at an early age.  With her great passion for the arts, Matsuka attended the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, D.C. and Repin’s Academy of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg, Russia.  She studied painting under Natasha Mokina and Victor Pakhomkin of Washington, D.C., the old world technique under Patrick Betaudier of Monflanquin, France and landscape under Howard Cohen of Gaithersburg, Maryland.  In 2011, Matsuka began completing portrait commissions with a style of romantic portraiture influenced by British School 19th Century and Italian Renaissance.

Robert Talbert, Under Her Parasol
photo | gaithersburgmd.gov

Art has engaged Robert Talbert on multiple levels throughout his life.  Like many people, he drew and painted as a child, and he regularly watched his father paint watercolor landscapes of Illinois farm and railroad scenes.  His love affair with art began when he took first place in a children’s coloring contest using tempera paints instead of color crayons.  Intrigued by the junctions between realism and abstraction in art, Talbert finds great beauty in everyday things, and these are the things he likes to paint.  He loves capturing the beauty of ordinary people living their lives and engaging in activities that display their inner emotions and inner selves.  View Talbert’s artistic works at www.talbertfineart.com.
 
 
In this exhibit of her literary oil paintings, Maud Taber-Thomas presents a collection of artwork inspired by classic literature and history.  Many of her paintings evoke a specific past time period, such as Rococo Self-Portrait, which draws on the decadent peacock feather and butterfly motifs of the late 19th Century Aesthetic Movement. Still, other paintings, such as those in her Giverny series, capture fleeting moments of pleasure in beautiful settings.  Taber-Thomas’ works in this exhibition are painted in the style of classical portraits and scenes but with the addition of imaginative and whimsical elements that evoke the charm of past time periods.  View her work at www.maudtaber-thomas.com.

Elena Tchernomazova, Einstein
photo | gaithersburgmd.gov

Elena Tchernomazova started studying art, including oil painting and printmaking, in 2001.  For the past six years she has been practicing sculptural ceramics, which she feels is the best medium to express herself.  Her surrealistic clay works are hand-built, made of white stoneware with color under-glazes, and often combine the human face or figure with architectural elements, musical instruments, and mythological or real animals.  Much of her inspiration comes from various Eurasian mythological traditions such as the art of Medieval Europe, Ancient Greece and Rome.  To view her works, visithttp://home.comcast.net/~rinat/GALLERY/.

Jamie Smith, Yue
photo | gaithersburgmd.gov

For Jamie Smith, her art defines who she is as an artist.  She loves working with digital media, especially in color and realism.  This exhibit features pieces from her AP Portfolio, Fantasy Versus Reality, as well as commissioned works.  One piece, featuring a female marine with the Chinese caption, “Water, Earth, Fire, Air,” was requested by a  U.S. Marine from across the country.  The girl with the green hair and the robot in the clouds were commissions for customers from New York and London.  Smith tries to make herself available across the country, as well as across the world.  It reminds her of how similar everyone is, in that we can all share an understanding and love of art.

 
Please note that some artwork is for sale, and all images are copyrighted by the artist.  For more information please contact Andi Rosati at 301-258-6394, email arosati@gaithersburgmd.gov, or visit the Arts Barn online at www.gaithersburgmd.gov/artsbarn.

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