Oils

When Ampersand President/CEO Elaine Salazar visited The United States and Mexico: A Powerful Past, A Shared Future, a U.S. State Department Art in Embassies exhibition in Mexico, she was struck by a powerful painting titled Primordial Conversations. Upon closer look, she realized it had been painted on Ampersand Gessobord. That moment of recognition led to a full-circle connection: the artist behind the piece was Elsa Muñoz, a former studio mate of Louise LeBourgeois, who had first introduced her to Ampersand panels years earlier.

Once a PhD economist, Christina Kent is now a full-time figurative oil painter, inspired by the understanding that art captures the richness of human experience in ways that numbers cannot.

Jess Wathen is a unique talent whose glowing oil paintings of wildlife blend masterful brushwork and texture. Inspired by comic book, video games, and metal music, Jess's work captures the balance between reality and imagination.

Artist Natalie Featherston works exclusively in the centuries-old realm of trompe l’oeil, creating dazzling paintings that combine the virtuosity of a Dutch master with a thoroughly modern mind. The Chicago Sun-Times has described her work as “Artful beyond just illusion and trickery, they are truly masterful still lifes made with both craft and wit.”

Much of Jivan Lee’s work arises from an intensive process of repeatedly painting at the same locations over months, seasons, and years. Each day on location contributes to larger arcs of work that borrow from his previous career in science and almost empirically investigate time, change, and human perception.

Nationally renowned colorist and painting instructor, Camille Przewodek, is noted for her ability to see and use color relationships to effectively express the “light key” or “envelope of light” that nature presents to us outdoors at different times of the day or under different types of weather conditions.

Paul Batch is a nationally represented contemporary painter best known for his atmospheric landscapes.