"Courtyard in Naples Italy," by Luciano D'Aria. His photography of Italy and the Outer Banks has been very popular at Visual Art Studio. Please visit the gallery to see more of his work.

LUCIANO D'ARIA - Artist Statement
In this great and yet complicated world we live in, we are surrounded by many beautiful and colorful things which very often go unnoticed. Not for lack of interest or care, but because they are shadowed by our busy daily life. We spend most of our precious time indoors, seeing the world through our computer screen and, when we walk outdoors, we hardly glance at things around us or notice the miracles happening above us like the display of colors found in a Midlothian sunset; a tree that bends with the weight of the first snowfall; a Canadian Geese sliding on a frozen pond; ocean waves racing to shore. Life is a constant process of changes. Some of them just come and go in a blink of an eye. Luciano D'Aria strives to be there to capture these changes through his camera’s lens and to display them for everyone to enjoy. The end result makes the efforts worthwhile. It is satisfying and rewarding for him to know that a simple ripple caused by a rock when it hits the water or the motionless reflection of pine trees in a nearby lake at early morning will not go unnoticed. BIOGRAPHY Luciano D'Aria was born in Naples, Italy. At the age of 21 he moved to the United States where he lived in Queens, New York. Photography had always been a passion of D'Aria's while growing up in Italy, but unfortunately, because of the busy life style in New York, he had to put it aside for awhile. In 1986, D'Aria, his lovely wife and three children relocated to Midlothian, Virginia. He has not stopped taking pictures. Particularly during his various trips abroad, D'Aria has always found the time to use his camera. D'Aria plans to keep exhibiting and sharing his work so perhaps some day soon, he will be able to further pursue his photography on a full time basis.
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MAY 2006
Both Mattox and Lipscomb have concerns with the juxtaposition of physical versus mental spaces and encourage their audience to Enter their world. Mattox uses color shapes and hard edge lines, with botanical references, to define her paintings. Her places, whether of the mind or body, are intense, energetic and mysterious. Lipscomb's surfaces are constructed by merging color layers against individual marks. She strives to create a visual environment ... like a door, enticing the viewer to enter and experience.
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SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2005
"Christo’s Gates" was a City wide exhibition of fine art photographs and paintings of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's Central Park Gates Project. Painters and Photographers of the Blue Ridge Photographic Arts Society of Lynchburg Tammy Bryant, Kathy Cudlin, George Edwards, Margie Hatcher, Kelly Mattox, Ginny Schmidt of Lynchburg, Andrew Wilds of Hendersonville, North Carolina, and Jim Hopkins of Manhattan were in Central Park at various times during the two week duration of the Gates project. They each bring their personal vision, their unique way of seeing, to a lighthearted and exciting photography and painting exhibit. SELECTED PRINTS CURRENTLY ON SALE AT VISUAL ART STUDIO.

STATEMENT
On the morning of February 12, in New York City’s Central Park, over 7,500 steel gates stood ready to have their bright saffron-colored fabric unfurled by eager volunteer workers. The Gates, a temporary installation art project of enormous scope and impact, was the long-held dream of the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who had begun thinking about the project in 1979.

As the morning got underway, the panels of orange fabric were loosened to float in the wind, to glow with the morning sun, and each unfurling was met with the cheers and encouragement of a joyful crowd. After all the sadness of 9/11, New York City was proving it was alive and exciting, full of hope and happiness, art, eccentricity, brilliance, and tremendous enterprise.

One art critic, writing for the New Yorker magazine, called the project an experience “pitiable to be missed.” However, no one in the Richmond area need miss a personal viewing of the Gates, because eight fine artists brought the experience to Visual Art Studio and Bank of America through December 31, 2005.

The story of the Gates is a joyful one. It is a celebration of Christo and Jeanne-Claude and their combined creative genius, perseverance, and admirable philanthropy. And it is a celebration of New York City. No public funds went into the creation of the Gates, and all proceeds from merchandise were donated to the Central Park Nature Conservancy and the charitable foundation, Nurture New York. The removal of the Gates began on February 28 and was completed on March 11, 2005. Between opening day and the final dismantling, thousands of New Yorkers and thousands of tourists made their way under the bright orange arches that ran through 23 miles of Central Park pathways.

The eight artists in Christ's Gates capture the scope of the project, the landscape-altering patches of bright orange in a winter scene, the expressions on the faces in the crowds, the Gates in sun, rain, and snow—and they have brought all those memorable images home with them to share.

Orange Translucence by Wally Turfboer on display until sold in the Holiday Exhibition Artistic Gifts at Visual Art Studio. 

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DODIE ORTLAND
Former Miss Richmond 1969 and practicing nudist Dodie Ortland is an unpredictable and gregarious artist that loves creating art that stimulates people each time they look at it. Her acrylic paintings presented in shadow box frames ranging from nudes to her neighbor's dog are vivid in color, dimension, movement and sparkle in a meticulously graphic style. Her work is collected by people throughout the U.S., Great Britain and Canada. These wonderfully imaginative paintings are created in her home-art studio in beautiful Lake Como Nudist Resort, Lutz, Fl.