Artist Bio:
Donna Stares
Artist Donna Stares lives in Travelers Rest, South Carolina where she looks for inspiration from the beauty around her. She feels especially inspired by the natural world of flora and fauna. Donna works primarily in watercolor and Chinese brush. She was honored to receive her own stamp from master painter Baoxing Zhang. She also feels deeply inspired by various spiritual traditions. Donna recently created a divination book that includes her art entitled "Soul Vespers". Her work has been accepted into many juried shows and art galleries. It has been said that her art instills a feeling of peace and calm. Go to www.idelightart.com for a wide variety of printing options.
Contact her at [email protected]
Donna Stares
Artist Donna Stares lives in Travelers Rest, South Carolina where she looks for inspiration from the beauty around her. She feels especially inspired by the natural world of flora and fauna. Donna works primarily in watercolor and Chinese brush. She was honored to receive her own stamp from master painter Baoxing Zhang. She also feels deeply inspired by various spiritual traditions. Donna recently created a divination book that includes her art entitled "Soul Vespers". Her work has been accepted into many juried shows and art galleries. It has been said that her art instills a feeling of peace and calm. Go to www.idelightart.com for a wide variety of printing options.
Contact her at [email protected]
Artist Snapshot Bio:
Brett Noel
Brett's camera is a tool for paying attention to strong contrasts, unusual juxtapositions, and, among other things, how to memorialize the contribution flowers make in our world.
He noticed the power of photography early in life (see photo here). However, he did not pursue this path until much later in life. In the last number of years, when not in the studio, he can be found in the woods, but also in towns and cities around the world.
He has had numerous teachers and influences in the art world; and has been told his work has made the walls of homes, galleries, and businesses breathe the love and joy of living!
Veteran photographers have stated that he has his developed his own signature.
He has shown in galleries, is in private collections . as well as having been juried into various art shows including Art Ryder. He has a few images in the Museum of the Imagination in Paris, France.
Currently, in 2024, he has moved to Travelers Rest, South Carolina and his work is being prepared to be sent to galleries and museums around the world.
He can be contacted at [email protected]
Brett Noel
Brett's camera is a tool for paying attention to strong contrasts, unusual juxtapositions, and, among other things, how to memorialize the contribution flowers make in our world.
He noticed the power of photography early in life (see photo here). However, he did not pursue this path until much later in life. In the last number of years, when not in the studio, he can be found in the woods, but also in towns and cities around the world.
He has had numerous teachers and influences in the art world; and has been told his work has made the walls of homes, galleries, and businesses breathe the love and joy of living!
Veteran photographers have stated that he has his developed his own signature.
He has shown in galleries, is in private collections . as well as having been juried into various art shows including Art Ryder. He has a few images in the Museum of the Imagination in Paris, France.
Currently, in 2024, he has moved to Travelers Rest, South Carolina and his work is being prepared to be sent to galleries and museums around the world.
He can be contacted at [email protected]
Artist Statements on their collaborative work
The Creative Process of Photography and Chinese Brush Painting:
Defining the Undefinable
By Donna
Defining art or the creative process can be illusive, like trying to exemplify a sigh between lovers. So deeply personal is this endeavor, that one might be hard pressed to articulate its essence. But here, I will, in my own small way, attempt to grasp the nuances that make up both the creative process of photography and chinese brush/watercolor as it applies to my partner and me.
There is a perceptible shift in Brett when he takes camera in hand and is in some way moved by what he is witnessing. It is as if he and the camera are no longer separate as this flow of creation pulses through object and person. This interconnection quickens as just the right posture, movement and moment is selected to press the shutter. Here, in the depths of creativity, time stands still. A sacred document is created that reflects beauty, angst, juxtapositions or truth. It is with bated breath and deep anticipation that we make our way back to view on the big screen what secrets my beloved's soul has chosen to share with the world today.
On the other hand, we have the creative process that transpires when producing a water color or chinese brush painting. Here, the fingers, the brush and the paint become the means by which the soul’s longings can be made manifest. There is a dreamlike soft aura in the very texture of watercolor; like one could take a photo of a flower and dress it in gossamer threads. Here, there might have been and experience or an image of such beauty, that it is in some way wanting to be documented. When working with Chinese brush, there is such an exquisite opportunity to be fully focused on the task, while simultaneously releasing all outcomes. Falling gracefully in to this illusive tension is what all artists strive to achieve. Here again in the depths of creativity, time stands still.
This creative seed dwells so deeply within each of us. It matters not what the medium. The truth is that before a photograph or painting is created, the world is a lesser place. By its very creation, a ripple of magnificence has been produced in this troubled and amazing world that did not exist before. Wow!
We hope that you view and appreciate this site with the same love and commitment that we have for the creative process.
The Creative Process of Photography and Chinese Brush Painting:
Defining the Undefinable
By Donna
Defining art or the creative process can be illusive, like trying to exemplify a sigh between lovers. So deeply personal is this endeavor, that one might be hard pressed to articulate its essence. But here, I will, in my own small way, attempt to grasp the nuances that make up both the creative process of photography and chinese brush/watercolor as it applies to my partner and me.
There is a perceptible shift in Brett when he takes camera in hand and is in some way moved by what he is witnessing. It is as if he and the camera are no longer separate as this flow of creation pulses through object and person. This interconnection quickens as just the right posture, movement and moment is selected to press the shutter. Here, in the depths of creativity, time stands still. A sacred document is created that reflects beauty, angst, juxtapositions or truth. It is with bated breath and deep anticipation that we make our way back to view on the big screen what secrets my beloved's soul has chosen to share with the world today.
On the other hand, we have the creative process that transpires when producing a water color or chinese brush painting. Here, the fingers, the brush and the paint become the means by which the soul’s longings can be made manifest. There is a dreamlike soft aura in the very texture of watercolor; like one could take a photo of a flower and dress it in gossamer threads. Here, there might have been and experience or an image of such beauty, that it is in some way wanting to be documented. When working with Chinese brush, there is such an exquisite opportunity to be fully focused on the task, while simultaneously releasing all outcomes. Falling gracefully in to this illusive tension is what all artists strive to achieve. Here again in the depths of creativity, time stands still.
This creative seed dwells so deeply within each of us. It matters not what the medium. The truth is that before a photograph or painting is created, the world is a lesser place. By its very creation, a ripple of magnificence has been produced in this troubled and amazing world that did not exist before. Wow!
We hope that you view and appreciate this site with the same love and commitment that we have for the creative process.
On the Magic of Collaboration
by Brett
To combine Chinese brush-stroke painting, Shui-mo, by Donna with my photography is the expression of our love for each other. Our dream is that you see deep love in our works.
Such painting and its medium: ink, watercolor, bamboo brush, enhances, if not stirs the texture of a photographic print.
Chinese brush painting does not set-out to reproduce a realistic portrait of an image or scene. It is the same approach I have with my camera. I seek to share how “art” is all around us, for instance, just a how a pea-green leaf draped against dark brown bark illustrates a deep connection of opposites.
Our collaboration begins in our personal and transpersonal connection, then how we can translate this connection to the tools we use.
Our work alone and together are attempts to convey beauty in its awesome manifestations on this Earth.
by Brett
To combine Chinese brush-stroke painting, Shui-mo, by Donna with my photography is the expression of our love for each other. Our dream is that you see deep love in our works.
Such painting and its medium: ink, watercolor, bamboo brush, enhances, if not stirs the texture of a photographic print.
Chinese brush painting does not set-out to reproduce a realistic portrait of an image or scene. It is the same approach I have with my camera. I seek to share how “art” is all around us, for instance, just a how a pea-green leaf draped against dark brown bark illustrates a deep connection of opposites.
Our collaboration begins in our personal and transpersonal connection, then how we can translate this connection to the tools we use.
Our work alone and together are attempts to convey beauty in its awesome manifestations on this Earth.