Category: Uncategorized

A Wildlife Artist, Kelli Bechtel creates realistic renderings of wild animals. She uses paint, graphite, watercolor and ink, but favors the intricate quality of colored pencil. She focuses on endangered species, to promote their conservation through art.

Kelli has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing from Kendall College of Art and Design. Passionate about animals from a young age, her academic career has always looked to representing them well through her artwork. She is skilled in “bringing her artwork to life and making it jump off the page.” She enjoys creating themes based on groups of animals, such as big cats. Kelli also likes to feature creatures that may not be popularly known. Educational and stunning, her art reflects on the importance of wildlife in our world.

Kelli Bechtel currently lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her colorful, detailed illustrations remind viewers of the beauty of wildlife. You can find her on facebook, instagram, and her website.

Rob Penning, an art educator of 33 years, creates surreal paintings and three-dimensional works that the mind of the viewer. He creates geometric worlds in his paintings that alter reality in a way that viewers immerse themselves into the canvas.

With a Undergrad and Masters Degree from Calvin College, Penning is the master of his medium. Featured in ArtPrize, the three-dimensional works he creates involve mixed media and influence of Pop Art and Metarealism. From the artist statement for The Odd Magic of Albert and Myna, the artwork “plays with the relationships between banality and truth”. Penning explores the human condition through his art. Topics include forgiveness, love, joy, loss, and time.

Rob’s paintings are of great magnitude, inviting the viewer to almost fall into them. The way he distorts perspective and uses bold colors to attract the eye create a world between reality and abstraction.

You can find Rob Penning’s work at Sleeping Bear Gallery, as well as numerous galleries across Michigan.

Self-taught and self-made, Amelia Polder is an up-and-coming acrylic and watercolor painter, whose style and color reflect the bright happiness her content emulates. Living on a farm in Lee County, Virginia, she draws much of her painting inspiration from the environment around her. 

Primarily painting images of nature, farm life, and even coastal settings, Amelia’s paintings contain a serene quality in the impressionistic brushstrokes of her work. Her acrylic paintings appear textured and contain depth, while her watercolor takes on a quality that takes advantage of the lightness that watercolor demands. Her favorite subjects are farms, animals, seascapes and children, expressing the lighthearted quality these subjects contain in her painting style.

Amelia sells both originals and fine art prints globally, as well as takes on commissions and custom paintings. You can find Amelia on Instagram and on Etsy.

Ever wondered just what it is we do all day at Grand River Giclee? Look no further! Documented here is our process of how we create framed canvas prints! Our framed canvases are always made with care, just for you! Many thanks to Copper Corners Art for their lovely paintings!

Using bright, bold colors as vibrant as her personality, Carla Bank paints in a way that expresses pure joy. Born in Mexico City and raised in Cancun, she incorporates her Mexican identity into her work, as well as experiments with “geometric abstraction and a return to paintings that are highly detailed and recall a sense of place”. 

Carla has a background in Graphic Design, trained in Guadalajara, Mexico. Exhibiting nationwide, she shares her work with the masses, and finds happiness in meeting those who love her art. “I attribute my success to genuine passion and the tireless pursuit of excellence”. Traveling nationally to attend her art shows, Carla also travels internationally, allowing herself to “experience art from every continent,” constantly learning and growing from her experiences, and translating them into her art.

Carla can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and through her website.

Neela Ahmed recently graduated from Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas. She graduated with a bachelor degree in communications as well as a degree in digital art. Neela used our fine art printing services as she was developing her BFA solo exhibition “Colored Landscapes.”

The inspiration behind the exhibition was the landscape of her home. Each illustration suggested a certain time of day, similar to Monet’s Rouen Cathedral series. Her intention was to present one continuous day exploring time of day through color. Neela was heavily influenced by Thomas Danthony, whose illustrations use color and shadows to suggest form. She was also influenced by WPA style posters.

Acording Neela, “My favorite part of my design process is scouting. I work from photographs, so going out hiking and exploring the outdoors is fun to get the perfect photo to use for my designs. I mainly work with Adobe Illustrator, but will use Adobe Photoshop on occasion. I use the photograph to create the lines and shapes in the program, and find that using exaggerated color makes for a more interesting composition.”

“Balanced Rock is an illustration that comes from a trip to Big Bend National Park I took in the summer of 2019. I’ve always loved hiking and great views, and when I hiked to this spot it was my first time visiting it. I was in awe at the beauty of nature’s formations.”

“Kokernot is a semi-pro baseball stadium in Alpine, Texas. It has been called the ”Yankee Stadium of Texas.” It hosts the Alpine Cowboys semi-pro team, as well as Sul Ross’ Lobo baseball team. The venue has a rich history, and has a special place in my heart as one of Alpine’s best views.”

You can find Neela Ahmed’s artwork for sale here. And you can follow her instagram and facebook pages to keep updated on her work!

Mary-Catheryn is the founder of Copper Corners Art in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She creates her work with a focus on how art can influence a home. Coming from a background of artists in her family, she began painting with the intention to enhance her own home with artwork that she felt a connection to. Her paintings consist of bold brushstrokes and bright colors that evoke emotion or meaning to the viewer. One could say the positive energy of these paintings reflects her own personality! The subjects of her work are primarily animals, as she shares a strong connection to nature from her upbringing in South America. 

Here is what Mary-Catheryn says of her own work:

“I paint the cows that roamed our sidewalks, blocking our car in the garage and making me late to school. I paint the moody pigs that napped under our neighbor’s mango trees. I paint the chickens that slept at night, snuggled in the trees. Each painting that I create is vibrant, colorful, textured, and intricately layered. Countless hours are dedicated to crafting each piece of art. I strive to portray a balance of realism combined with loose abstraction, causing one to compliment the other. My goal is for people to feel a connection with my paintings in a meaningful and unique way.”

Bridgette McGee is a talented young artist with a diverse set of skills. Both her incredibly detailed ink drawings and her colorful and stylized illustrations show deep understanding and control of her media. Add to that an impressive command of textile design and the demanding medium of batik and you’ve got an extraordinarily well-rounded artist!

Michael Montgomery is a photographic artist from Yuba City, California. His work is influenced by the Post-Impressionist Art he studied in college. Here’s how he describes the process he uses to create his compelling and ethereal landscapes and portraits:

I begin by taking numerous photographs and studying what I have captured. I look closely at the form and composition and begin to manipulate the work into a semblance of balance and slowly merge the photographs together. When I am satisfied, I then begin the brushwork and blend and form the photograph away from its beginnings and towards the art I bring to it. “Work at the same time on sky, water, branches, ground, keeping everything going on an equal basis… Don’t be afraid of putting on color… Paint generously and unhesitatingly, for it is best not to lose the first impression. (Camille Pissarro (1830–1903))”

You can see more of Michael’s work at urbanunearthed.com

 

 

 

 

 

Ryan Hay is a Grand Rapids, Michigan, based musician, poet, and abstract painter. He needed six prints quick for a pop-up exhibit at the Neighbor Gallery. The event will be on Friday, November 6, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and will include music, readings and critical discussion. We turned his order around in less than a day!