Corey Barksdale's work is continually inspired by jazz. It frees me to do what I feel when I'm painting, Barksdale says. While painting, he often listens to jazz greats like Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and John Coltrane. The result has been more than 30 paintings that celebrate the jazz experience. Coltrane is at the top of my list, says Barksdale. A Coltrane recording he particularly enjoys is Africa. Coltrane is improvisational in the piece but he has structure in his sound. I like the freedom that he has when he's playing Africa. It's rhythmic and free.

His jazz paintings are stories on canvas of inspired musicians spontaneously making music of the moment. Life in the jazz age is clubs and nightlife beckoning to musicians to produce jazz art through music. R. J. creates paintings of jazz musicians, not necessarily recognized celebrities. Rather, he captures the total environment of jazz: The music, the lights, the audience, the smoke, and the jazz music. Ah, yes, the music! It is all there-- the actual creation of jazz on canvas.

Atlanta African American artist Corey’s art projects have touched the hearts of those that have come across it - as every of his artwork presents that touch & feel that connects with the body, mind and soul. When asked – ‘what makes his art works exceptional and inspiring? Barksdale says, first – an artist needs to get really inspired to be able to inspire others. To this knowledge, I ensure that I am fully motivated to produce the best works that I have been wired to create. My creative artworks in Atlanta are continually inspired by jazz and African American culture. Listening to sensational jazz tracks such as Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and John Coltrane helps free me to do what I really feel when painting. It puts in me a condition of ecstasy that seeks only to produce what the REAL lovers of art can instantly connect with. The result has produced more than 30 paintings that celebrate the jazz experience.

" Charlotte Street Foundation 2010 Visual Artist Awards Exhibition  opens Friday at Grand Arts, 1819 Grand Blvd., and continues through Oct. 30. Award-winners Ari Fish, Sonie Joi Ruffin and Caleb Taylor should make for a lively mix in the 2010 installment of the foundation annual awards exhibition. All three have been making new work for this exhibit since they received their $10,000 cash grants in February. Fish, an artist, designer and former Project Runway contestant, will show garments and a video installation. Ruffin, a fabric artist known for African-inspired quilts, has been experimenting with surface-design techniques. Taylor, who makes abstract paintings that combine gesture with the aesthetic of Color Field painting, will offer his first large-scale drawing in painted aluminum.

Diane Millsap is now a featured artist in Bed, Bath and Beyond across the South! Millsap's original paintings continue to rise in value as her following is growing at an amazing rate. She is on one of the hottest new artists in the New Orleans art scene. If you are looking for an investment that you can enjoy for many years, a Millsap original is a great choice!

1894-1978, American illustrator, b. New York City. An enormously popular illustrator, Rockwell specialized in warm and humorous scenes of everyday small-town life. The cover of The Saturday Evening Post was his showcase for over forty years, giving him an audience larger than that of any other artist in history. Over the years he depicted there a unique collection of Americana, a series of vignettes of remarkable warmth and humor. In addition, he painted a great number of pictures for story illustrations, advertising campaigns, posters, calendars, and books. As his personal contribution during World War II, Rockwell painted the famous "Four Freedoms" posters, symbolizing for millions the war aims as described by President Franklin Roosevelt. One version of his "Freedom of Speech" painting is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Rockwell left high school to attend classes at the National Academy of Design and later studied under Thomas Fogarty.

Jazz at Lincoln Center is dedicated to inspiring and growing audiences for jazz. With the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and a comprehensive array of guest artists, Jazz at Lincoln Center advances a unique vision for the continued development of the art of jazz by producing a year-round schedule of performance, education and broadcast events for audiences of all ages. These productions include concerts, national and international tours, residencies, a jazz hall of fame and concert series, weekly national radio programs, television broadcasts, recordings, publications, an annual high school jazz band competition and festival, a band director academy, jazz appreciation curriculum for students, music publishing, children s concerts and classes, lectures, adult education courses, student and educator workshops and interactive websites. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, Chairman Lisa Schiff and Executive Director, Adrian Ellis, Jazz at Lincoln Center will produce thousands of events each season in its home in New York City, Frederick P. Rose Hall, and around the world.

John Coltrane was, after Charlie Parker, the most revolutionary and widely imitated saxophonist in jazz. Coltrane grew up in High Point, North Carolina, where he learned to play E-flat alto horn, clarinet, and (at about the age of 15) alto saxophone. After moving to Philadelphia he enrolled at the Ornstein School of Music and the Granoff Studios; service in a navy band in Hawaii (1945-46) interrupted these studies. He played alto saxophone in the bands led by Joe Webb and King Kolax, then changed to the tenor to work with Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (1947-48). He performed on either instrument as circumstances demanded while in groups led by Jimmy Heath, Howard McGhee, Dizzy Gillespie (with whom he made his first recording in 1949)

The Atlanta artist, Corey Barksdale, pours his emotions into every stroke taking his audience with him on a powerfully, passionate story on canvas. Barksdale s artistic passion derives from a family of artists. His mother and grandmother both exposed him to color and form at an early age and it was destined he, too, would join the family ranks.