Sculptor

“Master in Our Mist”, featured article in ElanMagazine, tells of Colorado sculptor Huberto Maestas committed to artistic expression, “a man restless in search for appropriate forms, yet never allows that search to obscure the delight he takes in creating them.”

Addressing his art to the realm of human experience, his sculptural figures are imbued with drama.  This is most evident as experienced in walking the Stations of the Cross Shrine in San Luis, CO.  Creations of the artist, these 32 figures that are both 2/3 size and life-size reveal there is nothing passive about his work.

Diversified in his art albeit sculpting the human form, wildlife, or inanimate objects, Maestas couples his artistic vision with technical skill operating his own bronze casting foundry.  After studying architecture, he received his formal art education at Adams State College with a B.A. in Sculpture and Design.

In 1991 and 1995, Maestas was awarded the rare honor of a private audience with Pope John Paul II.  Commissioned works of art included fifteen Stations of the Cross maquettes for a meditation garden on the grounds of the Vatican Museum permanent collection, and an altar cross with adoration challis for the Pope’s private collection and San Andrea Della Valle Basilica in Rome, Italy.

Ranging from maquette to heroic size, his commissions include a 22’ Resurrection for St. Francis of Assisi Church in Castle Rock, CO, a 10’ Mary Queen of Peace for Santa Maria de la Paz Church in Santa Fe, NM, and currently, a life-size sculpture of fur trapper Marcelino Baca near the Riverwalk in Pueblo, CO. 

As a Liturgical artist and consultant, Maestas’ sculptures grace churches, hospitals, schools, and private and corporate collections across the country, including Denver Bronco John Lynch, Coach Dan Reeves, Cher, Adolph Coors Foundation, Peter Coors, US West Foundation, former Colorado Governor Roy Romer, and Appellate Court Judges of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, Archbishop Charles Chaput, and Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, among others.

Awards and publications comprise the Fra Angelico Artist Award, Best of Show Manitou Springs Outdoor Sculpture, Loveland Sculpture in the Park, and Artscape Sculpture Program, Lou Willie Award for Excellence in Sculpture, Colorado Arts Co-Visions Award, National Sculpture Society fellow, with features in Tradicion Revista, the New York Times, Washington Post, Modern Masters HGN-TV, The Early Show, The Today Show, Columbia magazine, and Lutheran magazine.

“I always paint from life. I believe it to be the ultimate in representational art because it is about real experience, and demands the highest level of skill. When you paint from life, the subject, the environment and you, interact as one together.”

STEPHANIE BIRDSALL received her formal training at the City and Guilds of London Art School in England. After graduation she spent time traveling through Europe honing her skills as a plein air painter. Upon her return to the United States, Stephanie continued her study under several master artists including Richard Schmid and Nancy Guzik, David Leffel and Sherrie McGraw.

 In 2006 Stephanie was invited to join a group of painters under the tutelage of renowned artist Richard Schmid. This opportunity began an intense focus and rapid growth period. Painting for the last 15 years with Richard, and his wife Nancy Guzik and the others in this small group which has become known as the Putney Painters, has provided invaluable support and inspiration.

Stephanie and her work have been featured in publications such as International Artist Magazine, Southwest Art, Plein Air Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur, American Art Collector and The Pastel Journal. Public Broadcasting Station (PBS), station WGCU aired a special on her work as part of their ”Expressions” television series. DVD’s featuring Stephanie’s work, including “How To Paint Flowers in Oil” have more then 165,000 views on YouTube. She has 3 DVD’s available from Northlight Publishing, and recently recorded a new oil painting DVD, “Lemons and Leaves” with Lilliedahl.

Stephanie’s work is among the permanent collections of the Museum of the Everglades, Everglades National Monument: Florida Museum of Art and Culture, the Florida State Art Collection and The Sonoran Desert Museum in Tucson, AZ. She has been honored with a one woman show at the Florida Museum of Art and Culture.

Her work has garnered recognition and more than 60 major awards in national and international juried exhibitions. She has exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in London, England, Bargemon, in France, and at the National Arts Club in New York. Among the awards she has received are Best in Show at the Bridgeport Museum of Arts and Science, the Grumbacher Gold Medallion Award, first place, the Florence Gleseman Floral Exhibition Salmagundi Club, the Degas Pastel Society Exceptional Merit Award, the Connecticut Pastel Society Herman Margulies Award and the Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, John Manship Award. In 2004 her work was selected by the National Academy of the Arts for inclusion in the Arts for the Parks National Exhibition.

She is a Signature member of the Oil Painters of America, Signature member of the Salmagundi Club, a Master Pastellist with the Pastel Society of America, and Master with the International Assoc. of Pastel Societies.

Stephanie is a distinguished workshop instructor. He goal is to help her students overcome their fears and become true artists. When not traveling on location to paint plein air, or teach, she spends her time working and teaching in her studio in Redding, Ct.

Her love affair with painting is well expressed by her words:

“I am constantly inspired by the beauty of this world, each moment is precious, infused with feeling and worthy of recording. I paint the moment. The instant a subject captures my attention; it is etched in my mind. Whether I am plein air painting in the Rockies, or in my studio, I work to convey the feeling of the moment. My life and soul are dedicated to art and I have been blessed with the freedom to live my life as an artist. There has never been anything else I wanted to be or do.”

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David A Leffel’s peers not only recognize him as a painters’ painter, but he is also considered by many to be no less than the artistic reincarnation of Rembrandt. He grew up in New York City where he had a brief career in advertising, but eventually came to chiaroscuro painting at the Art Students League with Frank Mason. Soon he would become a revered instructor there, sharing his special understanding of painting with thousands of students from all over the world.

Colleagues and collectors alike recognize him as a modern master. Although his subjects range from figure and portrait to landscape and still life, his real subject matter is light flowing and drifting over surfaces. His work can be found in permanent Museum collections throughout this country as well as numerous private collections here and abroad. Leffel has written two books that have met worldwide acclaim for their ability to integrate his understanding of technical aspects of painting with his philosophy and humor. Appreciated by artists and collectors alike, An Artist Teaches and Self-Portraits: A Visual Journey of Insight have both been published under Bright Light Fine Art and Publishing.

Sherrie McGraw studied and taught painting and drawing at the famous Art Students League of New York. Recent recognitions include an honorary doctorate from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for her accomplishments in the art world and a rare medal from the Butler Institute of American Art, recognizing her Lifetime Achievement in American Art, adding her to the ranks of such distinguished awardees as Leo Castelli, Louise Nevelson and Thomas Hoving. She is widely recognized as a prominent artist of our time.

Her work has been shown in major art institutions throughout the world such as the First American Art Exhibit in Beijing, China, with the America China Oil Painting Artists League (ACOPAL); the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, The Governor’s Gallery at the State Capitol, and The Gilcrease Museum, all in Oklahoma; The Butler Institute of American Art in Ohio; and American Master’s Show at the famed Salmagundi Club of New York. She was vice president of American Women Artists, an art organization that curated a cultural exchange exhibition in Sorrento, Italy in the year 2000.

McGraw authored The Language of Drawing: From an Artist’s Viewpoint, and Then & Now onher retrospective at the Butler. She edited and wrote the foreword to The Drawings of Nicolai Fechin by Russia’s noted authority on Fechin, Galina Tuluzakova, and co-edited her new scholarly treatise on Fechin’s legacy to the art world, Nicolai Fechin—The Art and the Life.  She is presently writing an instructional book on painting.