Artist Profile: Paula Allen

Illustrator and poet Paula Allen, was born in Watertown, NY as the granddaughter of Italian and Russian Immigrants. Paula's early years were spent living on the St. Lawrence River in upstate New York. Paula moved to Florida 10 years ago from New York state. Her life has been dedicated to the education of children in the arts.

A former public and private school art and drama teacher, Paula has always worked with students while having her own professional career as an artist. Currently the director of the Children's Gallery at the Children's Board of Hillsborough County, Paula created an international mural exchange in 2008 with the Children's Museum in Amman Jordan. Paula's own illustrations and paintings were in international galleries in Tokyo and London in 2008. Additionally, she was nominated Woman of the Year in Community Service in 2008 by the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce.

Paula created Pollyzoom LLC in 2005 which is the name for her Art and her performance artworks. You can view her work at www.pollyzoom.com

Artist Profile: Dylan Marvin

Artist Dylan Marvin's life is a list of non-sequiturs. After growing up in Iowa, Maryland, and Florida, he studied music performance and composition in college, traveled abroad, worked at sea, jumped from planes, studied ikebana, made commercials and websites, fell in love with photography, and landed in St. Pete to play music again and create art, his very first love.

His goal is to draw from his range of interest and add a little absurdity to the world. Dylan is currently procrastinating with several projects, including a graphic novel.

Artist Statement:

I want to bring a smile to your face, sometimes with references to pop culture, oddities, sensuality, horror, or just plain silliness. The detailed approach comes from a background in digital illustration, and I'd like to think it creates a sense of familiarity--something that forces the viewer to put themselves in these worlds. I'm not comfortable with genre labels; "Daydreams" is the only word I've liked so far, since most of the art is born from them.

The final artwork is digital. All pieces start as pencil sketches and evolve from there with the help of magic pixies living inside my computer. The high-quality archival prints are limited runs on matte paper, signed and numbered. Canvas prints can be made to order.

Artist Profile: Bluelucy

Bluelucy is the creative partnership of Chad Mize and Phillip Clark. Together since 2001, we’ve infused our world and our art with love and positivity. Everyday we create toward a clean, vibrant and stylish aesthetic that mirrors our life. Which is why...“Our Life is Our Brand.” The Bluelucy Boys specialize in web development and design, building brands, print and multimedia.

Chad Mize
Born July 1974 · New Orleans, LA
My purpose for creating art is to inspire and uplift the viewer. I consistently saturate my work with colors and concepts that radiate happiness. This originates from my endless desire to produce optimistic imagery in various forms. I find great pleasure in sharing my vision and leaving my mark on modern culture.

Phillip Clark
Born December 1974 · Raleigh, NC
My inspiration for making art comes from an intense appreciation of all life. When I create, I project positive energy into my work. Through many styles and techniques I express ideas that reflect what I love. My message is always clear – Life is precious, dreams are powerful and imagination fuels the future.

Contact Bluelucy at info@bluelucy.net or view more of their work at:

http://www.bluelucy.net/

Artist Profile: Suzanne Williamson

Photographic artist Suzanne Williamson grew up in the northeast and lives in New York City and Tampa, Florida. She has received several fellowships to the pre-eminent artist colonies, MacDowell and Yaddo, and served on the Board of The MacDowell Colony.

Williamson received an award for her pictures of a Midwest drought, published in Ohio magazine. Her photographs, made primarily in black & white, are in museum and private collections, and have been published in American Archaeology, Harpers, Ohio Magazine and Texas Monthly. Currently Williamson is photographing remnants of early history in the Florida landscape for her series, Sacred Land and Shelter.

The Photo Editor of ARTnews magazine until early 2008, Williamson also worked at The New Yorker and Newsweek magazines. Williamson has managed photography galleries and collections in New York City, and was part of a collective that launched a photographic exhibition of the events and our response to 9/11. The show was entitled “Here is New York,” was installed in downtown SoHo, and traveled in the U.S. and overseas. The show came to Tampa and was exhibited at International Plaza. This year Williamson was Director of the 2009 Self Employment in the Arts Conference, a regional artist-led event supporting arts entrepreneurship, held at The University of Tampa.

Contact Suzanne Williamson at swilliamsonphoto@gmail.com or view more of her work at: http://www.suzannewilliamsonphoto.com/.