| OUR MURAL ARTISTS |
|---|
|
Tom Graham of Punta Gorda, in 1992, was proclaimed winner in open competition in a mural contest sponsored by Commercial Properties Development Corp., President Wilbur Marvin, owners of the Punta Gorda Mall. When this endeavor failed to materialize, the Punta Gorda Historic Mural Society selected Tom to be the artist for its first mural, as he had been the people’s choice. Hotel Charlotte Harbor was the largest single mural to date in the collection. Home Page |
John Gutcher of Tampa, Florida, was born in Pembroke, Ontario, Canada. He attended a commercial and fine arts school in Hamilton. After graduation he entered the field of commercial printing and owned his own print shop in Tampa. His credits included 5 murals in Lake Placid, Florida and three here in Punta Gorda. Home Page |
|
Gary Grindell of Alva, Florida was raised in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He has been creating graphic artwork for most of his life. He was a successful architectural rendering artist and landscape artist. Assisting Grindell was renowned artist and Ft. Myers resident Molly Kelley. She created works of fine art since her childhood in Cincinnati. Gary and Molly have been applying their talents to walls throughout South Florida. |
|
Richard Currier of Micco, Florida, is a native of southwest Florida and a graduate of the Ringling School of Art & Design in 1981. His mural work began as a theatrical stage artist. He pursued a fine art career and is a recipient of many regional and national awards. He has murals in Atlanta’s Art in Public Places and one in Lake Placid. |
|
Peter Carey of Punta Gorda, Florida, is an internationally recognized muralist and scenic artist, having worked with David Hockney and the L. A. Opera, Disney, Universal Studios, PBS and Hard Rock Café. At 15, he apprenticed for 3 years with Robert Andrews, a Byzantine artist. He graduated from the New England School of Art. He has many public and private murals in our city as well as pen and ink artwork for sale at Works by Hand in Fisherman’s Village. |
|
Charles Peck of Charlotte Harbor, Florida was born in New York. His family moved to Florida when he was 12. He’s painted all over Florida and other gulf coast states plus Colombia and Ecuador. Peck taught himself sign painting while working as a traveling portrait sketch artist. He moved here in 1990 to pursue a sailor-artist lifestyle. Peck teaches figure drawing and painting at the Visual Arts Center. He and Marilyn Moss ran the Moss Gallery for four years. Peck says, “I am painting and sailing locally.” Home Page |
|
Liz
Hutchinson-Sperry
of Punta Gorda is a graduate of William and Mary. Her art education includes
the Columbus (Ohio) College of Art and Design and the Ringling School in
Sarasota.
Her work is contained in many corporate
collections including Johns Hopkins Hospital and Proctor
and Gamble. A multiple award-winning artist
with exhibitions held at the State House in Tallahassee, Edison Community
College and the Polk Museum of Art in Lakeland, Florida, her work is also held
in many private collections throughout the country.
During the summer Liz travels to Giverny, France as an Associate Instructor for ArtStudy Giverny, home of the Impressionist Master, Claude Monet. In 1999 Liz opened Red Hat Studio in downtown Punta Gorda. This private teaching studio offers classes in drawing, painting, stained glass window and mural design. Home Page |
|
Fran Hines
of Punta Gorda, studied art at Vesper George School, New England School of Art
and Boston Museum School of Art. She has her own business, Technical
Illustration, is an instructor,
|
|
Jack Reto, of Port Charlotte, Florida, attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. Before moving here, he worked in Atlantic City. There he designed and built displays and parade floats for such pageants as Miss America and the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade. Reto has his own graphic design business for all promotional printed materials (logos, brochures, menus, maps, etc.) and offers custom hand-painted murals on glass, wood, walls or canvas. |
|
Michael Vires was
born in Michael Vires is a self-taught painter and has a lifetime of experience at making pictures with all 2-D mediums. Michael is a fine art painter of portraiture, landscape, still life, wildlife and a muralist. He teaches drawing and painting in his studio and conducts demos and workshops in the fine art of making pictures. Although Michael’s work has won many awards, he has been working as a commissioned artist since 1996 and his art graces many walls of private collections across the country. |
|
Edwin Wang-Ah Yip of Coconut Creek, Florida, was born in Hong Kong, and educated in Chinese fine art. His medium of choice is oil, which he uses to bring a Chinese perspective to Western art. In the U. S. he’s been a successful mural artist, jewelry and wallpaper designer. He received his BA degree at the Hong Kong Buddhist College of Fine Art; a Higher Drawing Certificate from the Royal Drawing Society in London; and a Certificate of Achievement from the school of Visual Arts, New York City. He lived in Hong Kong, the West Indies and now the U. S. Home Page |
judges
shows, gives workshops and has served on the board at the Charlotte County
Visual Art Center. She has won numerous ribbons and awards for paintings
and her work is in several private and public collections. She is a member
of the Art Council of Southwest Florida, Charlotte County Arts and Humanities,
Charlotte County Visual Arts Center, a charter member of both the American
Portrait Society, the Southwest Florida Pastel Society and a associate
member of the Pastel Society of America.