Summer Colors, now in its 10th year, was an idea born out of passion for both art and the patients of Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. Founded in 2009 by Jenny and Loren Koziol and Jill and Dupree Scovell, this silent art auction raises awareness about the hospital, while also exposing the Dallas community to up and coming local artists. Each year, local artists donate original pieces of art to be featured in the auction, with all the proceeds benefiting our hospital. Over the next few weeks, we will be introducing you to all of the artists. This year’s event will be held on Thursday, July 26, at Scottish Rite Hospital. Additional information and tickets can be found at scottishritehospital.org/summercolors
Christina Mitchella
Dallas native, Christina Mitchella, is an accomplished and award-winning artist specializing in impressionistic drawings and abstract oil paintings. Her life-long zeal for the arts transitioned from passion to career. After graduating with a Bachelors in Fine Arts, Christina began actively showing her works in galleries, competing in art shows, auctions and completing commissioned pieces for her growing base of followers and supporters.
Christina’s art is remarkably inspired and contemplative, spanning many different artistic mediums. Whether she is creating a portrait, painting in still life, or transforming a canvas with abstract expressionism, her impeccable attention to detail and vibrant use of color breathes life into every stroke and sketch.
It is Christina’s hope that her works will emit joy, stir inspiration and spread enthusiasm for the arts in all who view them. Her works can be viewed in galleries throughout Texas, and she is currently available for commissioned work.
ERIKA KRIVDA
I believe that there is no one “thing” that inspires me. My inspiration comes from an accumulation of three things: my past, present, and future. Coming from a family of artists, I have been painting and creating since I was a child. I’ve watched my artwork evolve over the years and I love finding new ways to create. Painting is my way of understanding myself and everything around me.
Lydia Abigail
Lydia Abigail has been heavily involved in the art industry for nearly 7 years. She has participated art shows with the North East Art Association, Texas Woman’s University, the 101 Gallery, and many local shops. Lydia loves to connect with other artists and has completed many art shows, pop-up galleries, or craft markets with other artists in her area. Not only does Lydia show her work locally, but she also has completed live art drawings for coffee shop events and lead therapeutic art workshops. She has completed commissioned jobs with work in oil paint, pencil, charcoal, ink, and chalk. Lydia has been trained in oil, acrylic, watercolor, charcoal, pencil, woodwork, and clay and is always continuing her study of these mediums. Lydia Abigail is currently involved in many local creative organizations which give her inspiration and encouragement!
Lydia Abigail is inspired by this magnificently beautiful world around her. Many of her works of art are based off of or are impressions of nature. Natural sources and images are often incorporated into each of her pieces, whether by pictures, scientific studies, or the simple observation of earthly-details. Overall, she finds the outdoors to be her main source of inspiration for her creative journey.
ALLYSON HALL
Allyson Hall happily tabled her career as a journalist for the adventures of motherhood almost nine years ago. Four babies later, the youngest finally on board the “potty train,” she finally figured out what she wanted to be when she grew up. Allyson followed the pull to turn her creativity into a professional pursuit that excited her every day. It started with photography. She loves capturing the unexpected moment, the unposed expression on faces. Her Nikon is like a fifth child — it goes everywhere with her.
About face silhouettes is an extension of Allyson’s passion for photography, a new use for the thousands of .jpgs that were building up in her photo library. She was looking for a fresh medium to capture the images of her children and remembered the great black and white silhouettes of Allyson as a kid.
By first photographing her subjects’ profiles, she has a fixed moment from which she can trace a detailed silhouette. Allyson takes her time, putting great care into precisely cutting the slope of a nose, the pout of the lips or the curl in the hair. This is what sets an “about face” original apart from many other silhouettes. The greatest compliment she has received comes from clients who say they can fill in the rest of the silhouetted face’s features with their mind’s eye.
Allyson uses sturdy colored cardstock to give her silhouettes a modern vibe and to provide her clients another opportunity to express their individuality. So that’s what Allyson is about. She hopes that her work adds a splash of color to your walls and makes you smile.
Jenn Thatcher
Jenn Thatcher has always has a love for color and design. After moving to Texas from Chicago 10 years ago, she was working for a Wall Street firm with a demanding travel schedule and long hours. Being a wife and mother of three, with two of the children being Scottish rite patients, she finally decided to leave her corporate career to pursue painting full time. Jenn believes that creating art is a gift from God, and a blank canvas is a metaphor for life. It can be anything you want it to be. And if you don’t like the direction it’s going, it’s never too late to start over or change direction.
It’s so important to remember that everyone and everything can be beautiful at some point in time, it’s all a matter of how you look at it. Jenn’s work is featured in stores through the US and works directly with designers and clients in the Dallas area. Some of her work can be viewed on Instagram @Jenn_Thatcher_Art or on her website at www.jennthatcher.com.
Helen Doty
Helen was born and raised in Manchester, England. As a teenager she lived with my parents in Singapore for 4 years, before moving with them to Chicago IL. Helen was working as a computer programmer when she met her husband. After marrying her American, we moved down to Texas, where they have lived happily for over 10 years. The two are now raising our two daughters here in Frisco, Texas. Helen has only been painting for a year. Purely for just the pleasure of creating at first. Then as gifts for friends and family. She is excited to have just sold her first commissioned piece!
Helens art is inspired and gets ideas by chatting with the person that is looking to add something to a space or room, with photos, or a certain color palette. To View more of Helen Doty’s paintings, visit her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/HelenDotyArt/
Anita Felix
Anita is renowned for her interpretations of ballerinas, churches, barns and of course, angels.
Her current surroundings in east Texas inspire her modern paintings of quaint historic barns and churches.
After living by the ocean for many years, you can see the influence of water in many of her contemporary pieces.
Mione Plant
Mixing things that don’t formally go together can be a great trick in design and fashion, and most certainly in life. I love the things about myself that are incongruous, at odds with each other, not a natural combo.
My parents come from the East (Middle East and Eastern Europe), yet I was raised in the heart of West Texas. I’m an engineer by training, but am real cozy with my right brain. I’ve biked from Texas to Alaska, but am feminine and delicate. I’m a mom to a two year old vibrant son, but act like a kid delighting in spontaneous moments of joy. I love deep personal connections with my friends and family, but re-energize alone with a piping hot cup of tea. I’m a perfectionist, but take pleasure in synchronous missteps. I’m serious about my work, but playful with my creations.
I’m inspired by flashes of beauty in my environment, bringing life to the small things, as well as the big ideas. I work with multiple forms of expression including abstract art and illustrative work.
My abstract artwork is inspired by contemplative moments and a desire for deep meaning and connection, while I apply freedom of brushstroke and allow a sense of flow in the direction taken.
In contrast, my illustrative artwork is inspired by a child-like sense of wonder, and created with visions of bringing a smile or even laughter to viewers of all ages. This work entails finely detailed imagery, developed over the course of many weeks.
Leida A. Bartmess
Constantly pushing the edge, LeidaB presses in her work for discovery and celebration. Her compositions are fluid, with color and dimension setting the pace for a unique painting every time with a new journey. Viewing a LeidaB painting is a rich experience that drips with color and emotion. Her passionate works are alive with movement, boldly created with brushes and a palette knife. She loves working with acrylics, heavy mediums, resin and found objects, dramatically transferring her vision to the canvas and ultimately on to the viewer.
My inspirations comes from JD Miller and my mentor is Cynthia Chartier.
My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.
