Keri Joy Colestock, Neal McDannel & Maria Teresa Mico Martin – International Art Exhibition – Artist Portfolio Magazine

2014 International Art Exhibition – Artist Portfolio Magazine

Keri Joy Colestock – Pingree Grove, IL

I have been a professional contemporary artist since 2002. I reside in rural Illinois. My wish is to continue to create beautiful but also fun works of art fueled by passion and imagination. I am recycling found objects and having a blast! One man’s trash becomes a “Keri treasure!’ So the flea markets provide me with the items needed for my work. I specialize in creating “feel good” art sculptures but I also incorporate polymer clay in many of my pieces. Most are whimsical, unique & on the FuNkY side like me!

My artwork is also available in galleries in Illinois. One home is the 4Art Inc Gallery located within the Zhou B Art Center. Another is 317 Studio & Gallery in Rockford.  I would like to further expand my artwork into more galleries & boutiques.

I am an artist with Lyme Disease who was told “art would be impossible” 13 years ago. I now have made 1500 pieces of original art.

Neal McDannel – Hilton, NY

Neal McDannel, Artist Biography, born June 2, 1961.

Both of my parents were public school art teachers. My father was my art teacher from first through sixth grade. I spent time before and after school in his room drawing and experimenting with art supplies. In high school I took several fine art courses but decided that commercial art was the most practical application of my skill. In 1981 I Graduated Cum Laude with an A.S.S. degree in graphic art from Finger Lakes Community College. I acquired six years of experience in this profession finishing as an art director for a small printing firm. During this time I gave the commercial art field a fair chance to become my profession of choice but I came to the conclusion that I wanted to go back to school for the Fine Arts. From 1983 to 1988 I had been taking several drawing, photo, and sculpture courses at the Memorial Art Gallery, the Visual Studies Workshop and several independent art studios.

In 1989 I graduated from Buffalo State Collage Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art Printmaking. Around this time I met my muse, Meg, my wife and started a family. In 1991 I received my MFA in Printmaking from the University of Cincinnati where I received a Teaching Assistantship and Full Scholarship for both years I attended. From 1990-96 I was selected to participate in five international, twenty seven national and three regional juried exhibitions. Within these shows I have won six jurors awards including one best of show. In addition to this I had five one person exhibitions.

I have taught at the University of Cincinnati, R.I.T. (in Rochester) and the Finger Lakes Community College (NY). In 1994 I won a Special Opportunity Grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts. My work is also in seven permanent collections.

In 1997 I found that I had to leave the art profession as it was not providing an adequate income for my family of four. In 1998 I started working at L.A. Self Storage where I still work today. During this time I did not make any artwork until 2009. I had at that time, with help, come to the conclusion that I needed to make art again and that I was suffering for not doing so. Although I am not a prolific artist and my work can be very time consuming and detailed, I do plan to continue to create art for the rest of my life and to be active professionally.

Maria Teresa Miro Martin – Pullman, WA

Teresa Miró is an interdisciplinary artist from Madrid, Spain. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree in Intermedia Art at Arizona State University. Her work has been exhibited and presented at the University of California, Irvine, the National Library, Madrid, Spain, and a traditional food market (Barcelona City Hall, Spain) among others. Teresa is currently an Assistant Professor of Fine Arts at Washington State University.