“Florida: Paradise Found” at The Center for the Arts

What a rare treat! Currently on display through March 1, 2022, the Marco Island Center for the Arts has exhibits by four award winning female artists: Emily James, Rachel Pierce, Phyllis Pransky and Jo-Ann Sanborn. The “Florida: Paradise Found” Exhibit focuses on the people and landscapes that make up the natural beauty of Southwest Florida. 

This dynamic foursome of female artists brings to life our Southwest Florida surroundings. Known as the Paradise Coast, it encompasses the people, wildlife, and landscapes from the Everglades to the Gulf coast shoreline.

Emily James, a native Floridian, has received recognition of her talent through numerous awards and honors including having been selected as the official artist of the Masters golf tournament held in Georgia each spring. Emily is the only artist in the United States selected by the top three fine art publishers, and two of her images have been among the top 50 selling prints worldwide. Known for her versatility in both subject and style, Emily enjoys painting landscapes, seascapes, abstracts, and contemporary work. In her Florida paintings, Emily creates tropical scenes as well as sea and beach paintings.

Rachel Pierce is a lifelong artist and longtime TV journalist who recently left the anchor desk to focus full time on her artwork. Rachel paints bright, modern original art in oil and acrylic reflecting the natural beauty and abundant wildlife found only in tropical Southwest Florida. From her abstract beachscapes to her joyful underwater tableaus, Rachel’s colorful coastal creations feature swimming sea creatures like loggerhead turtles, manatee, jellyfish, sharks, seahorses and octopi; soaring shorebirds and wading flamingos; technicolor palm trees and florals; gators mollusks, mermaids, and more.

Phyllis Pransky uses the natural light on Marco Island to inspire her work. Through her oil paints, she captures this romantic, opalescent and healing light on Marco that can even appear prismatic at night. Phyllis’ work is a conglomeration of her background of 40 years as an artist. Her paintings in oil are textured and sculptural as her goal is to present her subject matter as three dimensional and alive to the viewer.

 Jo-Ann Sanborn focuses her work on bringing attention to the fragile landscape of the Everglades with strong expressionist compositions rich with uncommon color. The images in her paintings are ancient and familiar palms, prairie, water, and skies. Jo-Ann’s bold brush strokes take you deep into the Everglades and invite you to fall in love with the landscape.

La Petite Galerie will be featuring the works of Claire Keery during January. Keery is a native of Switzerland who makes her home in Marco Island. The exhibition will feature Keery’s pieces using the specialized techniques of encaustic painting and collage. All pieces are for sale and 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Center for the Arts.

Encaustic painting is an ancient art form that dates back 3,000 years. It employs molten colored wax. Encaustic paintings seem to light within, the colors are exceptionally bright because the surface does not reflect all the light thus allowing it to penetrate the different layers.

Please save the date: January 19, 2022 6:00 PM in the Main Gallery - “Florida: Paradise Found” artist panel discussion with Emily James, Rachel Pierce, Phyllis Pransky and Jo-Ann Sanborn

February 5, 2022: Marco Island Center for the Arts invites the community to join them for the 2022 New Beginnings Gala being held at the Island Country Club. The event is hosted by 2022 Gala Chairs, Aldo and Mary Pat Palombo, in an elegant outdoor tent for a magical evening under the stars. Tickets are on sale at the www.marcoislandart.org/annual-gala.