Off-Center People's Choice Awards

I employ expressive gestures and a vivacious color palette in my paintings which embody a sense of unvarnished human emotions as a reflection of my personal understanding of the figure.

My work examines the interplay between what the body conceals and reveals. The work’s focus in its purest form, illustrates the subject’s intimate and subjective moments of attitude, fear, apprehension, solitude, social memes and at times even subtle undertones of their sexuality. 

My paintings are an homage to the woods, water, and sky that surround and sustain us. My hope is that I can capture the essence of standing in the presence of this majestic beauty and share it through my paintings.

My work centers on capturing the essence of human emotions, expressions of shared thoughts and experiences. Each piece starts with an mood, feeling or memory that compels me to document it artistically.

The process I often follow begins with a photographic reference—many of which are my own—that serve as a starting point for each.

I rely on the collage format to integrate associated images into a cohesive unit that is even more compelling because of the embedded story. Having been a playwright and technical writer, am used to delivering content with a message. Now as a visual communicator, I continue to provide meaning via the structure of the collage format, wherein the four photos offer visual richness and impact gained through the thoughtful position of them.

Danger Chair II is part of the artist's Desire Body series.

In Desire Body, I place my fat body on fragile chairs against a stark white background, exploring the tension between visibility and vulnerability. These precarious seats—symbols of exclusion and risk—become sites of endurance, defiance, and reflection on how societal expectations burden and shape our experience of embodiment. The discomfort they evoke is not only personal but inherited, passed down through generations in the form of shame, surveillance, and the quiet demand to shrink.

Having an educational background in both two- and three-dimensional creative techniques, I try to employ these foundation concepts to develop a marriage between both disciplines. Using concepts of painting, metalsmithing, and applied materials, I endeavor to develop a window into the human experience.

In my creative research to explore the human experience, I find myself often drawn to observing my own family and friends and the ways we group together, react to conflict, or places and objects that give us inner peace. Recording my observations and reactions to social and cultural change, and passing of time, gives me perspective in my life. I try to explore the relationship that we have with our environment, both natural and constructed, and how we interact and observe the spaces we alter and inhabit.

I am a experimental and intuitive artist who started at a young age with my experimental deeds.

When I was about 7 or 8 years old when I decided to repaint an oil painting my mother was working on. I mashed a banana, mixed it with baby powder and perfume, and repainted her painting. I can still remember that spanking I got.

I am a past member of ISEA, International Society of Experimental Artist.

I’m a photographer, encaustic and mixed media artist. I explore themes of identity, memory and belonging. My work is influenced by my personal experiences as an older woman, only child, citizen of the world, traveler, wife and mother.

Photography and other artforms help me keep a fresh perspective on my world. Nature plays a huge part in keeping me balanced and sane; it plays a big part in my world view.

I am a mixed media artist creating altars, shrines, and intuitive paintings that defy convention and illuminate the sacred. Using reclaimed materials, personal symbolism, and expressive brushwork, I explore themes of transformation, mystery, and memory.

My work invites reflection through layered surfaces, bold juxtapositions, and imagined spaces. By embracing the visceral and the surreal, I aim to provoke thought, stir emotion, and offer viewers an unexpected and powerful encounter with the unseen.

A stylized-realism exists in all my work. The mediums are oxide-stained clay, a variety of mediums are used on the surface to emphasize texture, add depth and contrast. All begin from my imagination but often reveal influences from my life experiences.

I look for the expressive edge that would give my characters distinctive personalities that are able to interact with the viewer and each other in their own space and perhaps tell their own stories.

My path seems to be to challenge myself always, making a habit to embrace the changes in my life and art. But in all of this change some things are constant- my passion to paint, a deep love of nature and using my surroundings as inspiration, but just as much is brought out of everyday events and the overlooked beauty in small things.

Creating a connection between the subject matter, me and you. When someone shares my love of a subject and connects to the art, this gives my work meaning.

Robert du Nord does oil paintings on linen, paper and rigid panels. Main subjects are figures, still lifes, landscapes and portraits. Inspiration comes directly from the subject in most cases. He enjoys the pleasures of looking and artmaking.

Created from bark shed by the large sycamore tree in my backyard.

Michael Farmer is a visual artist that works in mixed media, collage, and oil paintings.

The subjects of my art are the intersections of politics, philosophy, and personal histories. My background in surrealism informs my use of the familiar to express the strange in my artwork. I will often use disparate elements to create conceptual contrasts and juxtapositions.

I like to play with dichotomies and visual commentary to create works of art that challenge viewers to think about themselves and their relationship to the world around them. 

[My work is] equal parts multimedia curiosity and the fear of missing out. Sometimes it works out.

After developing an image for a wood block print, using discarded furniture for the wood, I adjust the image to make a matboard cutout that I then space and juxtapose over the woodcut to make additional depth, as in Winter Woods.

Am I talking to myself or others?
For the first three lines, it depends on the day.

But “Go”? That’s all me.

Paint-by-numbers, coupons and clip art…. just a few ingredients often found in our popular culture land fill. I am fascinated with each individual ingredient and the infinite messages that can be expressed by combining and juxtaposing them. It is through this process that I discover meaning and express thought. Allusion, suggestion and investigation become an important part of the viewing experience.

Everyone's point of view may be different depending on one's viewpoint.

A self-taught artist, I create imaginative works using acrylic and mixed media on canvas as well as acrylic monotypes. My art is colorful, energetic, and whimsical. 

I am often amazed with the beauty around us -- people with a story, the splendid light casting on a landscape, the hustle and bustle of the city life... I strive to capture impressions of these moments with my brushes. It is perpetually fascinating to me how an object of art could speak to us without any language barrier. I would like my paintings to speak of life, of love, and of humanity.

Mother Nature creates her artistry using colors, textures, shapes and patterns to produce ever changing tapestries which provide an antidotes to our stress and worry.

This piece forgoes the traditional composition of colorful flowers, instead focusing on a variety of other natural elements, including branches, mushrooms, seed pods, dried leaves and flower heads, Mi. rocks and fossils, vines and mosses. Please take a look, a deep breath and enjoy!

Encaustics is a painting method using hot bees wax and pigments resulting in layers of rich color and is perfect for incorporating other materials like paper and fabric into the wax. “It's the perfect medium for a thrift/antique store "junkie" because I can embed paper, fabric and embellishments in the layers of wax.

In my recent work I find myself using textile imagery like dresses, stitching and the look of dyed fabric in the tactile and rich surfaces of encaustic painting as well vintage cookbook pages and food imagery. At the same time I've always been inspired by insects, bees and beetles, especially because the wax I use is made by bees.

My work is a reflection and reaction to my environment and to events about me. Experimentation and having fun are key elements. Color is another aspect of my work which I then can incorporate with the textures.
 

This piece is my way of expressing sadness. The image tells a story, though not complete, and I leave the interpretation to the viewer.

The medium is casein based paint. This is a way that I push myself “Off Center”, by using an old fashion medium that is not used that much today.

I liked the challenge of making this one in trying to maintain the color balance as I went, create textures, and keep my focus. It only took 4 full days to complete..

My Photozaics are inspired by where Van Gogh’s textures meet Ansel Adam’s simplicity near the intersection of Bob Ross’ healing vibes.

This work is personal but, I think, universal: my brother of tender memory playing on the rocky stretch we called a beach.

While I've made stuff for forever...I'm new to the idea of making or creating ‘art.’ I’ve always said, “I can't draw a straight line or a round circle, but I can make something neat out of nothing.” My knowledge, (dare I say skills...) primarily has come from life, a love of science and just trying ideas out; deconstructing light bulbs and resin preserving bugs/critters.

My work is rooted in architecture, where I first explored light, shadow, and materiality. I create contemporary abstract acrylic paintings and upcycled glass sculptures that examine the balance between solid and void, blending human-made structures with natural rhythms.

Through layered textures and dynamic compositions, I explore the tension between control and spontaneity, structure and movement, reflecting the complex dialogue between nature and design.

The artist produces music, videography, and physical artworks. Sometimes combining all disciplines in one piece. A genre he calls, ‘mixed multimedia’. The pseudonym "Neurowaxx" reflects a fusion of 'neuro', the connective tissue that transmits conscious experience; with the malleability of 'wax'.

All works aim to connect emotionally with the audience while being less concerned about establishing a ‘signature’ creative style or technique.

My recent work is an attempt to look back for simple moments. These are not captured like a photograph; beautifully staged and centered with perfect smiles. Memories don’t hold still and recall is fuzzy, placing focus only on pieces of the story which impact us the most.

I attempt to tell each memory with blurred edges, covered faces or turned away from the viewer, and objects - even spaces that are not in line with reality.

I am a photographer. I see the world in a fraction of a millisecond. It not what I see, but how I see it. My photography is not a business, not a hobby, but a passion.

To make art - and push boundaries - we often have to go back and examine what we think we know. Start at the beginning. How can the animals we see around us today inform our portrayals of animals that have been dead for millions of years? Or never even existed. Dinosaurs are just big birds. Dragons are lizards with wings.

God Says I Love You by LTRW begins not with intentional creation, but with automatic writing — words received through spirit, guides, and loved ones. This message from beyond reminds us that we are deeply loved, and calls us to wrap ourselves like a blanket and shareits warmth with others.

Embellished with shimmering metallics and layered mediums, the piece reflects the light within us all.

By blending word, spirit, and image, LTRW expands the boundaries of art itself — revealing otherworldly communication as a living work of art.

The artist can document the truth or try to create it… The computer allows me to play not only the traditional role of the photographer, capturing and analyzing reality, but also that of a painter and sculptor interpreting and contorting my subjects. This permits me to explore both the real and the unreal.

The Wizard of Oz has always felt like home to me—a connection to my childhood and family. I wanted to capture that feeling in something personal. Inspired by the ruby slippers, I began sculpting high heels from clay and created a series reflecting each character.

My There’s No Place Like Home collection is more than just shoes—it’s about memory, love, courage, and finding your way back home to yourself through the things that shaped you.

Miss Gnomer came about in response tto a friendly challenge called "As I See It," which asked artists to create an arrangement using the same 5 obkects. A green gnome, a red mug, a white candle, a blue box, and a yellow frame.

Miss Gnomer took first place (braggng rights).

I paint with vivid acrylic colors using a wet paper palette technique to keep my paints workable longer. This process subsequently leaves a unique mix of paint colors, brush strokes and textures on the palette paper. When finished I save these otherwise discarded papers that are filled with striking color combinations. From these random texture and color passages, I select, cut to shape, and integrate these pieces into my paintings. This experimental process reveals and re-purposes these small beauties, creating distinctive effects to my painting style. ​

My favorite subjects come from nature— the enormous variety of landscapes, plants and trees coupled with the changing seasons makes for an endless number of beautiful, ever-changing things to photograph.

I am a realist. Traditionally drawing black and white art of Americana with a BiC Cristal pen, lately I have been experimenting with adding color. I like people to take the time to really study them and appreciate the detail that goes into each drawing.

Each diorama is designed to entertain as well as educate. Through the delicate art of taxidermy, I preserve insects as living sculptures, allowing them to be studied and appreciated in a new context. Through these whimsical worlds, I aim to foster an appreciation for the intricate beauty and complexity of life, and encourage a deeper understanding of the ecosystems that sustain us all.

Laura "Cleo" Sedoryk is creative in several mediums such as watercolor, pastels, acrylics, oils and glass. She loves to do reverse glass painting and her favorite medium is hand cut glass mosaics where she "paints with glass."

The term “encaustic” comes from the Greek “enkaustikos” which means to “burn-in.“ Heat is used to both create and fuse the paint medium – a mixture of beeswax and damar resin crystals. This technique was used in early Egyptian funereal portraits, so portraiture and encaustics have a long history. I use this same encaustic mixture on paper and birch panel. The pigmented wax layers are burned in low relief modeling, using both inlay and collage.

I combine various artistic techniques, both digital and traditional, in an attempt to create an aura that feels at once both antiquated and modern, present-day and memory. Reflecting themes of decay and renewal, I frequently repurpose old frames to give them a second life. This not only literally integrates the past with the present but also creates unique, one-of-a-kind pieces.

I have been doing artwork for as long as I can remember. I am inspired by nature, color, textures and design.

I find things and look for interesting ways to combine them.

A symbiosis relationship is a close, prolonged interaction between two different species where at least one benefits. There are three types,   mutualism, as seen here (where both benefit), commensalism (where one benefits, one is unaffected), and parasitism (one benefits, one is harmed).

This work is from my "Emotional Currency" series. The emotions I am transferring from my mind/hand/pallet knife may not be the same emotions the viewer feels. Each individual will experience a different reaction. Through the medium of paint, along with found objects, I am offering my feelings in exchange for the viewers’ reactions.

My work is rooted in emotional honesty and catharsis. I place a particular interest in trash found from street corners. Thematically, this serves two purposes. The first is to raise attention to how cycles of consumption and waste can be disrupted through visibility and creativity. The second and more personal of the two is the idea of transforming materials deemed unwanted or unworthy into valuable assemblages rich with meaning.

As a fiber artist I have been highly involved in photo weaving and mini macrame. Both give me the flexibility to work anytime and anywhere. Both are labor intensive but the repetitive nature of knotting and weaving is meditative and allows me to immerse myself in the work.

My art making explores the process of play and experimentation. Each piece, while I might respond to a concept or prompt, tries to answer the questions “what if?” and “what do I feel?” by tapping into my intuition and curiosity.

I invite the viewer to answer these questions for themselves, creating a conversation and appreciation for the work.