Fred Smilde is the definition of a well-rounded artist. Not only he is a contemporary artist, he also has a "Masters in piano performance from Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University." During his Doctoral program "...amidst teaching and the good fortune of recording a CD, I decided it was in my best interest to leave. In October of 2008, after roughly 10 years of creative inactivity, I decided to paint. In the past 4 years I have found the challenges and problems one faces in the two mediums (music and painting) are the same though the technical means are different. One is faced with the utilization of space to make a comprehensible whole. So in many ways painting is just a continuation of my education." We are excited to have Smilde as a featured artist on ArtCrasher.

To learn more about Smilde and his work, you can check out his Facebook page.

Grégoire Devin is a mixed media artists whose artwork makes viewers stop in their tracks. He is the true definition of a mixed media artist with his use of photography,street art,painting and sculpture. As a native of Nantes,France,his artistic talent was fostered by the environment of his home; A home that was a safe haven for artistic development and experimentation. This opportunity to be exposed to multiple art mediums is what led to him being a multifaceted artist.

The idea of "environment" and how it can shape one as a person and artist is a truly reflected in Devin's work. As he transitioned out of his childhood home, the world because Devin's new refuge and canvas."As he grew older, he became fascinated with the contrasting charm and allure of the dark alleys of Brooklyn and Harlem. Grégoire Devin’s travels and insights on the distinctive street culture in these different locations across the globe, are conveyed in his works. In this sense, his works speak to real life, and what it feels like to live right now."

Devin's work is his personal narrative, a gift he shares with audiences. "My work is both a personal journal and my reflection of society that I observe each day through family, friends and media. In a way, I am revealing my secrets while at the same time giving my own interpretation of what I see around me by using words, symbols, humor, and provocation. Each artwork is like a page of a newspaper, and it can be turned one after another. That’s why I can’t seem to work on several artworks at the same time. I need to finish one before starting another."

We are proud to have Devin as a featured artist on ArtCrasher. Witnessing his narrative in his artwork enables viewers to reflect on their personal thoughts on the world around them. It provokes conversation and, in some cases, debate. As a result Devin's work creates community and we think that is a beautiful thing.

To learn more about Devin and his work, you can check out his website,Instagram,or Twitter.

British artist Ellie Mawby is an artist whose artwork reflects her interest in surfaces, or to be more specific, the skin's surface. " Observing skin discolouring and bruises, marks left by clothes, scars and birthmarks, the variations of tones and the many connotations of skin have become the bases of my ideas and concepts", she explains.

"My practice as an artist revolves around finding qualities that are pleasing to the aesthetic senses and pondering over the ideas of what is ‘beauty’ and the subjectivity that surrounds it, working against the typical and common definitions of what is beautiful by focusing on the decay/damage of nature and the body."

Her artwork is "based on the serendipitous, the accidental and the elapsed. My thoughts mirror my practice – using found objects and materials, embracing the fortuitous marks in which ink creates, allowing my hands to sculpt the clay before my mind has a chance to envision an outcome – and my processes and techniques are a significant part of my making, allowing me to show a transition and development between works and to create work which holds ambiguity – forms, drawings, photographs that have been created by my subconscious and are visually confusing and compelling. Made up of fragments, I juxtapose a variation of materials that are either a metaphorical representation of the body or traces of my own touch; applying latex to hand-made ceramics, lifeless flowers with used make-up wipes, collages with stones and coral - the contrast between materials are symbolic of the body’s elements."

We are happy to have Ellie Mawby as a featured artist on ArtCrasher. To learn more about Mawby and her artwork, you can check out her website and Twitter.

The work of photographer Brian Everett Miller mirrors reality and the complexities of the different perspectives it can generate. The portraits created by the Pittsburgh born artist are the product of three art mediums; Sculpture, Painting, and Photography.

"The conventional goal of photography is too limiting", Miller shares. "My aim is not to record the object as sculpture, but to filter and transform through this other medium, and so the focus can no longer be about representing most accurately what is seen through the lens, but on securing through more inventive means an image that captures a new reality."

Miller discovered his interest in art when he was nearly thirty "after seeing a documentary about twentieth century painting. He subsequently began studying art and photography in depth both formally and informally over next several years."

He began painting "...but quickly developed an interest in the creative possibilities present in photography and decided on it as a primary means of expression. His study of photography covers the genres of street, still-life, fashion, and portraiture, but his artistic sensibilities also have root in many other things such as music, painting, literature, sculpture, and film. As such, his photography is influenced as much by other art-forms as it is by the work of photographers."

We are excited to have Brian Everett Miller as a featured artist on ArtCrasher. To learn more about Miller and his work,you can check out his website and Twitter.

Fred Smilde

Grégoire Devin

Ellie Mawby

Brian Everett Miller

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