Grey Cube Gallery proudly presents the fourth Waters online art show for the month of July 2023. The show encompassed a range of artistic styles and mediums (oil on canvas, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, charcoal, ink, collage, photography, digital). Each submission has been judged based on the following elements of artistic expression: orginality and quality of art, overall design, creativity, interpretation of the theme, demonstration of artistic ability and usage of medium. Out of all entries, 135 artworks were shortlisted for inclusion in the show. The competition attracted entries from many countries across the world: USA, Canada, Italy, Greece, Australia, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Armenia, Isreal, Japan and India. Enjoy the show and thank you for expressing an interest in our competition.

There are three things that bring me endless joy: being with my loved ones, nature and painting. I understood that I have been given the opportunity to combine my passion for painting with nature and, in this case, the ocean and I decided to dive in deep. Current environmental issues have always been my focus, but my art does not attempt to provide facts or complex data. It’s created to share my love and connection with the ocean, to capture her beauty, to bring the beach indoors for all ocean lovers and give a piece of underwater wonderland to enjoy year-round. What we fall in love with, we protect. I showcase the dazzling textures and diverse forms of coral, but they also visualize how vulnerable our reefs are. From blossoming coral to tropical fish, each captured element plays a vital part in the overall picture, just like every habitat of marine species which depend on one another to survive. Without this pillar, a major part of underwater life can become close to extinction which may entail a critical imbalance on all ecological, climate, and human levels. The ocean is an oasis of life that is under severe threat and needs our urgent attention and art can subtly send a message without appearing to do so. Staying in balance with our natural surroundings is essential to its and our own survival. It is our duty as citizens of this planet to maintain and protect it, for us and for future generations.

From Matane in Gaspésie, Academic Officer at the Mondial Art Académia and signatory member of the Institute of Figurative Arts, I am a self-taught artist working in acrylic in a style close to hyperrealism. After more than 40 years of work in drawing, graphic design, copy art, painting on furniture, specialized painting, decoration and muralism, I definitely turned to a career as an artist-painter on canvas in 2014. My creative universe is largely inspired by the environment of streams, rivers, the sea, falls and cascades. I paint the material and the textures, the currents, the transparency, the fury or the calm of the waters. Loving high contrasts, precision and abundance of details, my paintings invite you to abandon and daydream.

Cher Pruys, ASAA SCA, IGOR, AAPL, CSAA, AMS, LMS, OSA, MAA, CFA, NOAPS, PSOA, AWA., AAOA. "To take my inner visions with my hands and create a work of art for you the viewer .... That is the ultimate in self expression." I am very drawn to shiny surfaces as well as transparent objects, especially when the lighting brings them to life. Water is a subject that encompasses both movement, translucency that I find enticing. I look for beauty in everyday objects that most people take for granted or just don’t truly see them as they are. The seemingly boring and mundane subjects can truly be like magnets if portrayed in the right light. Shiny metal is one of those materials that can host endless visions….the light hits it and the reflections are captured on the smooth, sleek surface…an artists dream!

I am a primarily self-taught photographer who migrated from film to digital photography about fifteen years ago. After retiring from a professional management career, I have more actively explored the technical and creative sides of this media. I am attracted to a wide variety of subjects ranging from natural landscapes, botanicals and wildlife to images that provide either abstract expression or social commentary. I am interested in sharing images that evoke a story of some kind. Images may be simply documentary, reflect a sense of time and place, or resonate on a more abstract level of color, shape or form. Others provoke an indefinable question that does not readily yield answers without further study and reflection. Most often I am drawn back to images created while wandering through the back roads and small towns of the upper Midwest. These images of architecture, commerce and social life often reflect a mixture of nostalgia and a changing set of forces that shape life in the heartlands. Most recently I have begun exploring digital collages as a means of expression I have exhibited widely and have earned recognition in local, regional, and national exhibitions. My photographs are also included in several corporate and private collections.