Author: Iris

Last week in the Times Square area, I attended the Design + Real Estate Networking Night—and it turned out to be one of the most productive and enjoyable professional events I’ve been to in a while. Hosted at Sir Henry’s, the night brought together a thoughtful mix of professionals from across the home and property world: interior designers, real estate agents, stagers, architects, contractors, photographers, and more. Whether you came looking for referrals, collaborators, or just fresh industry insight, this event delivered. 🕕 Friday, August 22 | 6:30 – 9:00 PM Aug 21https://www.eventbrite.com/e/design-real-estate-networking-night-times-square-tickets-1497759050639?aff=oddtdtcreatorAug 22https://www.eventbrite.com/e/design-real-estate-networking-night-times-square-tickets-1511050224899?aff=oddtdtcreator A Professional Atmosphere That Encouraged Genuine Exchange…

Adamo Macri is a Montreal-born multimedia artist who has spent decades working at the crossroads of discipline, culture, and meaning. Born in 1964, he studied at Dawson College, where his foundation was laid in commercial art, photography, graphic design, art history, and fine arts. That breadth of training still shows. Macri is often referred to as a sculptor, but he resists easy categorization. His practice stretches across photography, video, drawing, painting, and installation. What connects it all is a need to push past the surface. Macri isn’t interested in producing beautiful things for their own sake. His work is conceptual,…

John Gardner’s sculptures aren’t about perfection or polish—they’re about presence. Working from his studio in South Africa, Gardner approaches clay and bronze like a conversation. He isn’t trying to copy a face. He’s trying to catch a moment—a pause, a grin, a flicker of thought. His work moves between portraits of well-known public figures and quiet, abstracted forms, but the goal remains steady: to make something that feels lived in. For Gardner, a sculpture is successful when it feels familiar. Not necessarily in its features, but in its energy. Something you don’t just look at—you feel like you know it.…

Eva Lemay doesn’t map out her paintings in advance. Her process begins in the body—through a feeling, a trace of memory, something sensed before it’s seen. What she paints doesn’t come from close study of the landscape, but from a long, personal relationship with it. Her connection to the land is emotional, physical, intuitive. She paints with oils, allowing the paint to remain loose and alive. Her colors—soft greens, ocean blues, sun-washed yellows—don’t illustrate what’s there. They respond to it. Her canvases aren’t fixed moments. They hover. Nothing is clearly drawn. Everything breathes. In one piece, the sea and sky…

Samaj X doesn’t make art for spectacle. His work moves differently—quiet, sure-footed, and full of intent. It doesn’t lean on explanation. It doesn’t ask for approval. Instead, it sits with you, builds over time. His visual vocabulary isn’t tied to trends or movements. It comes from lived experience, from the body, from culture, from something older than paint. Samaj X creates from instinct. He listens inward, lets the forms rise up through process. What results are works that feel unearthed, not made. These aren’t images designed to impress—they’re constructions of presence. The kind of presence that doesn’t need to be…

Born in Košice, Slovakia, and now living in Switzerland, Libuša Němcová moves between two very different worlds. She spends her days as a full-time caregiver, supporting others in their most vulnerable moments. But in the quieter pockets of time—late at night or between tasks—she turns to painting. That’s where something else takes shape. Not a career built on noise or spotlight, but a steady, grounded creative path that began with childhood doodles and grew quietly over the years. Her first public sales exhibition opened in July 2024 at the Beautiful Art Gallery in Levoča. It marked a turning point—not just…

Jane Gottlieb has spent a lifetime chasing boldness through pigment. She started in Los Angeles with brushes and paint, but over time, her creative path shifted. Photography caught her attention, and eventually, she found her rhythm by combining the two. More than thirty years ago, she began painting directly on Cibachrome photo prints—an intense, hands-on process that blended photography with the energy of painting. That work laid the foundation for what came next. When digital tools arrived, she didn’t hesitate. She began scanning her hand-painted prints and refining them in Photoshop, creating vibrant works printed on aluminum, canvas, or paper.…

Lidia Paladino’s approach is steady, almost contemplative. Based in Argentina, she’s recognized for her engraving and drawing, but her first steps as an artist were grounded in textile work. Needle, thread, fabric—those early materials taught her how to slow down and pay attention. The rhythm of stitching helped shape her eye. That quiet start gave her an instinct for texture, for layering, for what builds over time. Eventually, she turned her focus back to engraving. It wasn’t just a shift in tools—it was a deeper return. A decision to pursue printmaking with the same patience she brought to fabric. That…

Alan Brown’s art doesn’t make a scene. It invites a pause. His compositions are measured—sometimes witty, often quiet—but there’s always something deeper just under the surface. You don’t look at his pieces and move on. They stick around in your head. Take A Flutter. It’s an image with a sense of humor at first glance: a laid-back dog in sunglasses, posed like it’s on vacation. Next to it, a butterfly flits inside a locked jar. They share a frame, but not the same kind of freedom. One is a beloved pet, living within the bounds of affection. The other is trapped…

Derrick Bullard found painting before he knew what to call it. He was a restless teenager, bouncing between distractions, struggling to stay still long enough for anything to take root. But the moment he started painting, something clicked. It wasn’t about rules or results—it was about getting quiet enough to make something. And that was rare. It gave him a rhythm. Something to return to. Something that stuck. He never trained formally. No art school, no gallery mentorships, no roadmap. Just a slow, steady pull toward the canvas—over and over again. What started as a teenage habit grew into a…