Monthly Newsletter- August 2026
Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! I’m really excited about some upcoming ideas and potential exhibitions, but I’m not quite ready to share the details just yet. As these projects progress and I have a clearer timeline and a better sense of when they’ll be completed, I’ll be sure to share more.
In the meantime, I wanted to take a few moments to highlight some of the pieces currently on view in the gallery and talk a little more in depth about the stories, inspiration, and ideas behind them.
Justin Winkel
Encaustic and mixed media on wood panel
Framed size: 25 x 61in
This piece was inspired by the surface of the moon. I’ve always been fascinated by our closest celestial neighbor, especially seeing how images of it have evolved as technology has advanced. The level of detail captured in today’s photographs reveals an incredible landscape of craters, ridges, and textures that once seemed impossible to see.
With this painting, I wanted to capture that rugged, cratered surface. While it’s difficult to fully appreciate in a photograph, the painting has a heavily textured surface that echoes the moon’s terrain. It’s one of those pieces that’s best experienced in person, where the depth and texture become much more apparent.
Ricardo Roig
Spray paint on paper
Paper size: 36 x 47in
This piece was inspired by one of Claude Monet’s Water Lilies paintings, which Roig reinterprets through his signature hand-cut stencil technique.
As artists, we're all inspired by something or have a deep appreciation for the artists who came before us. The challenge is taking that inspiration and transforming it into something uniquely your own.
Roig accomplishes that beautifully here. Monet’s influence is unmistakable, yet it’s impossible to overlook the distinctive stencil technique that has become synonymous with Roig’s work. Rather than copying the original, he creates something that pays homage to Monet while remaining unmistakably his own.
“I’ve been using found ledger books as sketchbooks for painting since I was an undergraduate at the Cleveland Institute of Art. A close friend of mine was studying at RISD and often ventured into abandoned industrial buildings and warehouses to make photographs. In one of them, he discovered piles of old ledger books, rescued a few, and mailed one to me as a surprise
I’ve always kept sketchbooks, but these ledger books gave me a way to make painting studies with a little more freedom. The marks, numbers, dates, and evidence of another person’s working life were already there. I wasn’t beginning with a blank surface. I was responding to something that had existed long before me. In many ways, it mirrors my larger paintings, in which I often reference Old Master paintings and historically relevant artworks.
It’s a practice that I’ve continued for more than 30 years.”
Shawn Humes
Oil on canvas
30 x 30in
Much of Shawn’s inspiration comes from the water. Whether he’s walking from his home to Baltimore’s waterfront promenade, stopping to snap photos on his phone, or spending time at the beach, he’s constantly drawn to the quiet rhythm of the shoreline.
It’s not just the water itself that inspires him, but the sense of calm it creates, the ever-changing reflections, the shifting light, and the vibrant colors that stretch across the sky. Those moments become the foundation for many of his paintings, capturing not just a place, but the feeling of being there.
OUTSIDE THE GALLERY
What to Watch
1. The King of Color
At 96, Lawrence Herbert reflects on his life, from his Depression-era Brooklyn upbringing to creating the Pantone Matching System, which revolutionized the worldwide use of color.
Stream on Amazon Prime
2. The Jewel Thief
A heist documentary about a teenage bank robber from Omaha, Nebraska named Gerald Blanchard, who orchestrated what is thought to be the most sophisticated heist of all time — the robbery of Austria's crown Jewel, the "Sisi Star." Gerald Blanchard tells the story alongside his mother, and the two Canadian cops who brought him down.
Stream on Disney/Hulu