Patrick has received the VSA arts of Kentucky Young Soloists Award each year from 2001 to 2005. He has performed throughout the country and has appeared on national television. People Magazine did a feature story on him. He has received the Presidential Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement from both President Clinton and President Bush. Patrick’s fascination with the piano began at the age of nine months when his father began teaching him how to play. He is currently a freshman at the University of Louisville, where he plays in the U of L Marching Band. He continues piano studies with Julliard graduate Hinda Ordman.
Cindy Paulding who is legally blind has been exploring photography for years. Pictures provide her a way to get a close look at what the world looks like. Digital photography and computers have made taking pictures easier. “I have begun to explore some pictures as statements,” says Cindy, “as sets to create feelings or impressions and as doorways or opportunities to visit a place of calm or wonder in a hectic world.”
“I had to fall into the darkness to see the light, and from the light came my art,” says Jimmie. He’s written poetry since the age of 12, but it wasn’t until he was 49, after a breakdown, that he discovered his gifts in visual arts. Dealing with chronic depression, he finds joy in his art and in his country living. “When the worries of today or tomorrow begin to weigh upon my soul, I drift to the places of my heart. I close my eyes and I am amidst the hills, cliffs, and hollows that have molded me into a man, I am at peace.”
I travel all over Kentucky looking for unique areas to photograph. I take them home, blow them up and either use that photo for a painting or composites of several photos to create a painting. I like to evoke an emotion or mood with my work. I use mist and smoke, strong light, and reflection to achieve these feelings. I am inspired by nature and the environment. If I thought I could save the world by capturing it on canvas, I’d be painting day and night!
Art has been a dominant factor in my life since childhood. I discovered as a child the great communicative potential of art and actively pursued perfecting various media from pencil drawing to painting to poetry to the study of violin to say what I could not with regular language. My heroes were DaVinci, Degas, Picasso and Mozart. Through observation of their work, I could see reflections of myself, my dreams and my aspirations. In 1985, I professed to be a visual artist and taught myself how to draw and paint. My chosen media are graphite, oil and photography.
Painting causes me to come alive and have a passion for what I am painting. This is what I want the observer to have when looking at my paintings. Finding subjects to accomplish this igniting of intense interest in the observer can be difficult at times. It is difficult because the picture I want to paint does not occur all the time in normal life. These moments can come from nature, human beings or animals. They may show intense interest, sadness or excitement. These expressions are spontaneous and can occur when not expected.
The Kentucky Arts Council, a state agency in the Commerce Cabinet, provides operational support funding for VSA Arts Kentucky with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.
© 2006 Cindy Paulding
Enlarge Picture
© 2006 Jimmie Pennington 
© 2009 Galen Rankin
© 2008 Lukas de Saint-Clair
© 2006 John Seybold