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.