Panelists Mark Mitchell, Weldon Ryan, and Robert Shirk with Moderator Lynn Morgan
Mark Mitchell is an international artist and painter of Conceptual Pop Art. Mark is a graduate of PRATT Manhattan, and an alum of the School of Visual Arts, NYC. His work has exhibited during Art Basel Miami at SCOPE, been shared on SEE|ME digital displays at The Louvre and during Armory Arts Week NYC, been selected by pop-surrealism master Ron English for Baton Rouge Gallery, and has gained west coast exposure at bG GALLERY, Santa Monica. Around Tampa Bay, Mark’s paintings have received many awards at major art festivals and exhibit venues. His work is on display in public areas, such as the Hyatt House, Tampa Airport/Westshore. He is a proud recipient of the Creative Pinellas Artist Grant. By drawing on the power of pop culture, he repurposes its icons, styles, and techniques to deliver a personal artistic statement rich with social commentary. Mark explores the irony, contradictions, parallels, and harmonies found in 21st-century life. Art shown above: Information Age
Weldon Ryan was born in The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. He graduated in Art and Design 1981 and attended the State University at New Paltz (1981-82), followed with an AA from the Fashion Institute of Technology in General Illustration. Over the next years he illustrated for many Advertising Agencies. He expanded his career to include the NYC Urban Park department for development of Pelham Bay Nature Center in the Bronx and in 1989 joined the NYPD as a Detective/Police Officer and as a Forensic Artist from 1994 until his retirement in 2004. He now resides in Palm Coast, Florida, with his wife, Richlin Burnett-Ryan, who is also an artist. The Ryan’s founded Calypso Fine Art Gallery which has transitioned to virtual CalypsoFineArt.com, and they curate exhibits for Bethune Cookman University. Weldon works primarily in oils. He is the foremost painter of Caribbean Culture, featuring the works of West Indian Carnival revelers and other significant paintings about the Caribbean Diaspora. Art shown above: Ammo Galore
Robert Clayton Shirk was born in Tarrytown New York and grew up in South Florida. His parents divorced, so while he grew up in South Florida, he often visited his artist father’s Manhattan studio during holidays and summer vacations. Here he realized his love of art. As student in college, he took a course in design. This changed his life’s course and so he finished with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Robert was successful early on winning “Best in Show” in student art shows and receiving “Honorable Mention” in the 1976 “Bicentennial American Painters in Paris” show in Paris, France. For 10 years Robert enjoyed success in galleries, commission work and working as a graphic designer with advertising agencies. In 1987, he got married and took a full-time job as Art Director at a Coral Springs agency. In 1992, he and his wife built a successful marketing business which they sold in 2014. He now creates art full-time and is in several central Florida galleries. Robert, aka “dot man” currently works with acrylic on multiple layers of plexiglass and considers his current work Neo-Pointillism. Art shown above: Volto Musico
Lynn Morgan states that creating art is an integral part of her philosophy of being consciously aware of the world around her. Lynn has been creating art all of her life. She knew that when she retired from the corporate world, she would reinvent herself as an artist, and that’s what she did. By attending classes and workshops, she learned techniques that have evolved over the years from realistic renderings to a much more abstract style. Lynn loves to travel the world and is considered quite the adventurer by her friends. Her works are inspired by the sights and sounds of her travels to various parts of the world. Art shown above: