Francois Fressinier was born in Cognac, France in 1968. He attributes much of his passion for the human figure to the fact that both of his parents were professional portrait photographers. He studied advertising and fine art at the Ecole Brassart Technique et Privee in Tours, near Paris. He also received a strong academic training in art from his father, to whom he gives credit for teaching him not to paint, but to see. That unique sight, colored with an esteem for the expressive linear drawing of Egon Schiele, has evolved into a personal style that is fluid, truly lovely, and classical in nature. It is his mastery of light and shadow and the delicate economy of his line which call to mind the exquisite conte drawings of Leonardo or sketches done by Ingres or Raphael. He even states his favorite time in history as being In a time period where time, speed and productivity were not the number one occupation of our days.

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    Alexander Volkov was born in St. Petersburg (then Leningrad), Russia in 1960. He started painting with oil as a high school student. From the age of 7 to 17 he attended a special English school and in 1986 graduated from the Department of Physics at Leningrad State University. Following graduation Alexander worked as an animator at Leningrad Studio of Science Films and later as a stage artist in a small Leningrad theatre.

In 1981 he began to exhibit his paintings with a group of 200 Leningrad artists known as the "Brotherhood of Experimental Arts", a conglomeration of "underground" artgroups active in Leningrad at the time. Later, he joined a splinter group called "Ostrov" or "Island" which united 30 artists who felt that, ideologically their work was neither socialist realism nor extreme avant garde.

Since moving to the U.S. in 1990 he has worked as a teacher and exhibited his paintings in Princeton and Lambertville, New Jersey, New hope, Pennsylvania, Carmel, Laguna Beach and San-Francisco, California and Finland.

http://www.novate.ru/blogs/060708/9702/

    Master landscape photographer James Randklev has diligently pursued his unique portrayals of nature for 30 years. He is recognized as one of America’s finest photographers. After a career in biological science and medicine, he turned to photography concentrating on landscapes as his subject and color as his medium. Photographing primarily with large format cameras Randklev’s explorations have led him to travel throughout America. The richness and subtlety of his images, as well as his unique vision to find and capture vivid patterns of color and forms, has earned him the recognition and esteem of both his peers and publishers. Editor Dan Richards of Popular Photography Magazine quotes: “If photography could be thought of as music, James Randklev’s work might well be considered baroque: thoroughly grounded in traditional elements, but with a further layering of complexity and variety to intrigue us. And for all their lush profusion, there are no superfluous notes”.

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