I am excited to announce that one of my new cold wax portraits will be featured in "Un-Masked" Contemporary Portraiture, a National Juried Competition and Exhibition at the Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts & Sciences (LBIF) in Long Beach Island, New Jersey. The show will be up from July 16th through August 14th.

“Noone can live on the edge of possibility forever…” -Gail Godwin is cold wax and oil on wood panels. The properties of cold wax fascinate me and keep me curious; how the underlying layers inform and alter the layers applied over them, how incising and scraping and glazing make more changes. I know I am wielding the palette knife and mixing the colors, but what happens on the panel is beyond my control. I’m learning how to be fine with the state of ‘not knowing’.

We wear many masks, both literal and figurative. In this exhibition LBIF wants to remove those masks and go beyond the surface to reveal a deeper vision of the subject, thus extending the ongoing tradition of portraiture.

The Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts & Sciences (LBIF) was established in 1948 as a non-profit institution by artist Boris Blai to provide arts and educational opportunities to the surrounding communities. Blai, a sculptor and founding Dean of Tyler School of Art, Temple University, had a vision that through exceptional art exhibitions, classes, and cultural activities the LBIF could provide visitors an opportunity to experience and share quality arts and cultural programming. For more than seventy-three years the LBIF has delivered this mission through its Exhibition programs, Art Classes, Visiting Artists programs, Artist Residency and Retreat Program.

Learn more about the show and LBIF here.