Until Pink Founder & Publisher, Elizabeth Millen, happened by one of Brenda Luczynski’s gallery shows last year, our December cover artist had always painted Santa Claus at Christmas. “Elizabeth pointed at my Santa painting,” Brenda recalled, “and she smiled and said this is lovely, but next year why don’t you paint Mrs. Claus? So I did.” And this month’s magazine cover is the luckier for it.

Chatting by phone from her current home base in Atlanta, the prolific oil painter, who also has a home in Palmetto Dunes and a boat in Shelter Cove Marina, is every bit as holly jolly as the subject of her cover work of art, aptly titled: “Mrs. Claus.” There’s a happy lilt in her lovely Southern accent and a joyful passion that lights up her fluttery patter. “Painting makes me happy. I just get lost in it. If my husband came home from work in the middle of the day, he might find me sitting in my little studio, still in my PJs. I’ve been in love with painting for most of my life.” 

This is the third time we have been privileged to feature the stunning portraiture of world-renowned illustrator and painter Joe Bowler (late 2016) on our cover. We spoke with his daughter Brynne Bowler, a lifelong resident of Hilton Head Island, who told us that even more powerful than her father’s prolific body of work—and the philanthropic contributions he made to the arts on Hilton Head via donations of his paintings in various charitable capacities—was the 66-year partnership he shared with his beloved wife, Marilyn. “They were shining examples of how human beings should treat each other and the world,” Brynne recalled with obvious love and pride. “That’s the most important story about Joe Bowler: What he and my mother accomplished together.”    

This is the second time in our magazine’s history that the work of illustrator Alece Birnbach has been selected to sass up our cover. “So Many Frogs So Little Time,” a part of her Sassy Halloween Collection, features a sassy witch for our October cover. We were delighted to catch up with the now San Francisco Bay City Area based artist across the coast in New York City, where she was putting her current profession as a graphic recording artist to practice.

Gayle Miller has been described as an artist who “paints in verbs rather than nouns,” and a stroll through her recent August Feature Artist exhibit at the Society of Bluffton Artists (SOBA) gallery certainly had visitors reaching for adjectives and adverbs to describe her watercolors: “Delightful, free-spirited, fun!” When asked to personally describe her style, the local painter, who is also a dedicated champion of the arts both in Bluffton and Hilton Head (She has served as SOBA’s president for the past three years.) reaches for her own pallet of adjectives: “Colorful, free, and uninhibited. That’s the way I like to paint.”

A business major in college, Gayle carved out a stellar career in the medical insurance business with State Farm, but at one point found herself hungry for a creative outlet. “I have always been a creative person,” Gayle remembers. “In high school, I was always designing and making clothes for myself and my friends, but I didn’t find painting until 2000. Living in Bloomington, Illinois, at the time, working and raising a family with her husband Tony—the now Sun City residents have been married 54 years this month!—Gayle first found that outlet by attending local parks and recreation painting classes. That led to more classes, which led the budding artist to connect with kindred spirits, which led to her finding an outlet for both her business and artistic skills, co-founding Inside Out: Accessible Art, a co-op art gallery in Bloomington. 

When it comes to her Gullah-inspired paintings, Outsider Folk Artist Saundra “Renee” Smith is actually anything but. It’s her insider’s perspective, her deep and rich Gullah family legacy, gleaned from a lifetime of living on St. Helena’s Island that has earned our August cover artist a place among America’s great outsider folk artists, according to the National Advisory Board for the Folk Society of America. “My art is a testament of “grow-in up Gullah; it captures ladies with hats pulled low to cover secrets carried softly on the waters which run so deeply through the veins of the Gullah culture.”

One of the nation’s foremost recognized Pop artists, this month’s Pink cover artist Perry Milou is best known for creating pop culture contemporary art that frequently tributes global icons, Americana — like the striking Lady Liberty that graces our July cover—and celebrities such as Madonna, Sylvester Stallone, and his iconic painting of Pope Francis’ historic visit to America. In 2016, the spontaneous, non-commissioned portrait of the pontiff won Milou recognition as official licensed portrait artist by The World Meeting of Families.

Artist Candace Whittemore Lovely, an Impressionistic painter and Copley Master, is known for her pleasing views of American scenes, especially landscapes of treasured locales and people at play in idyllic locations. Her talents have served her well in creating an opportune place in time for Candace to paint a portrait of an American “treasure”—the official White House portrait of Former First Lady Barbara Bush.

There’s a world of playful pastels and a wise old soul in love with travel and nature living inside the imaginative mind of 18-year-old Emma Steuer.

From Pawleys Island, S.C., Emma is a Class of 2017 graduate of the Academy of Arts, Science and Technology High School in Myrtle Beach. She is currently carrying a full load of freshman classes at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, with plans for a fall transfer to the College of Charleston to pursue marine biology.

It’s a jungle out there…on this month’s cover. So much to see and discover—can you find the secret? The three enchanted birds each sharing a secret with “The Goddess,” inspired by artist Mira Scott’s daughter, are an African Grey, a White Bellied Caique and … what is the secret, you ask?
 
Alis Volat Propriis: She flies with her own wings. Surrounded by angels’ trumpets, brightly colored hibiscus, variegated ginger and monkey ball vines, can you find the motionless little observer?
A goddess has many facets, names and aspects. The worship of goddesses dates back to Paleolithic times. Evidence indicates most ancient tribes and cultures were matriarchal. Among the first human images discovered are the “Venus figures,” nude female figures dating back to the Cro-Magnons between 35,000 and 10,000 BC.

Jonathan Green, a Gardens Corner, SC native, is a nationally acclaimed and awarded professional artist, who graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1982.

“I never thought of life without art. I’ve done art all of my life and had tremendous support from the women of my family—my grandmother, my mother, aunts. I’ve always had the ability to do art within my family because it was looked upon as a special omen, if you will, the fact that someone could create something just based on looking at it. There was a tremendous sense of pride, but not from the prospective of Jonathan Green, the artist, but from the perspective of Jonathan Green having the ability and God-given talent to do these things,” said Jonathan.

Erisha Rubingh is a fashion and lifestyle illustrator. Inspired by style in every form—food, fashion and décor, her illustrations reflect her naturally effervescent and colorful personality. If Erisha had to describe her illustrations in one word, it would be, “Exuberant! Or Vivacious! It’s hard to pick just one!” she said.

Dabney Mahanes says, “I didn’t become a serious artist until my mid 50s.” Truth be told, she was a serious artist from childhood, it’s just the opportunity to fully focus on her talents didn’t present itself until later in life. She had a double dose of creativity from early on, majoring in graphic design and fashion illustration at college to divert her from her dream of being a dancer. Taking hints from society, she tried to persuade her artisanship into a practical package, which would come with the chance of a “real” career and steady salary.

In tune with the simple and sublime patterns of everyday life, such as birds, the female species, shapes and forms in nature, small and large-scale flowers, tall pointy houses and whimsical landscapes, our January cover artist is Jill Badonsky, M.Ed. Jill is one transcendent modern day “Wonder Woman”. Like the iconic comic and big screen character, Jill has the ability and wisdom to help others in finding their internal compass of truth in a variety of ways.
“’Poinsettia Dream Woman,’ the watercolor and ink medium artwork for Pink’s January cover, represents how the holidays can take us beyond the mundane and into the fabulousness available in
our imaginations.”

Internationally acclaimed musician Danny McBride is this month’s cover artist.  Being raised by a couple of artists who encouraged the arts, Danny recalls going to the symphony when he was young and being moved to tears. He grew up watching his dad sketch caricatures and his mom create watercolor and oil paintings. He and his brother both became musicians.

Danny always struggled in school, not realizing he was dyslexic. It was his English teacher who said, “Don’t you play guitar? Maybe you should be a musician.” That’s exactly what Danny did, dropping out of school at age 17, the beginning of his “invisible life in the fast lane.” That same year Toronto Star Newspaper labeled him as Canada’s No. 1 rock guitarist.

About the Cover Artist - Jimmy Lawlor

This month’s cover artist, Jimmy Lawlor, was born in Wexford, Ireland, in December 1967. He now lives in Westport, in the magnificent West of Ireland. Jimmy has been exhibiting for more than 20 years.

Like many artists, Jimmy has been drawing since he was a kid. When he was a teenager, he realized he wanted to become a full-time artist. It was a dream that seemed impossible. Ireland was in the middle of an economic depression, and art was the last thing on people’s minds.