Jose Pardo
When he arrived in the United States, He was enthralled with the enormous size of the skyscrapers and cars in New York City. As a child he loved to travel into Manhattan with his grandfather to purchase fabrics for his custom tailor business, all the while hoping to catch a glimpse of Spiderman swinging amid the skyscrapers.
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He started learning to draw by copying comic books. At that early age, he couldn’t comprehend how it was possible for people to draw such amazing art, since his attempts to replicate the drawings were abysmal.
Being the first in his family with a serious interest in art, he has to credit his High School art teacher, Thomas Carcich with giving him his foundation in art and being instrumental in guiding him to study art in college.
After receiving a BFA from New Jersey City University in 1988, he worked in several small business to business advertising agencies in New Jersey as an artist before marrying and moving to Orlando, Florida to start a family with his wife in 1992. Here he worked as an artist for Disney, Scholastic, and Universal among others, enjoying his share of success in both commercial endeavors and Fine Arts.
He returned to his first true art-love, oil painting, in 2012 after an unintentional hiatus of well over 20 years. Wanting to give his mother a more unique Birthday present than in recent years, He decided to do a small oil painting for her. While delighted at how much he enjoyed the process, He was more than a little dismayed at how much he had forgotten about painting! Although Mom loved the painting, he immediately set out to bring his skill with oils up to where he wanted them to be. He knows he can never reach his ever advancing and evolving goal, but he strives to make progress with every painting. He’s repurposed and refurbished his home studio to paint from life. That’s where he can always be found trying to make up for the lost 20 years. With more ideas than time to paint them all, his easel is never empty. He has been fortunate to win recognition in local and regional art shows and is starting to enjoy recognition at the National Level.
He still lives and painst in Orlando with his wonderfully supportive family, and two very mischievous cats.
His Newsletter is the best way to see his process, latest paintings and news. Subscribers get all the information before he posts it on social media. He also posts occasionally about his artistic process (and his cats) on Instagram under PardoStudio.
Jay Spalding
Jay Spalding’s award-winning ceramic wheel thrown sculpture has garnered
international acclaim and is collected and featured through the southeastern United States.
As a native Floridian, he draws inspiration from the state’s natural wonders while pushing the boundaries of traditional artistic mediums.
The culture of Florida’s coastlines is well represented throughout his body of work.
Spalding is also a seasoned collegiate art educator, (distinguished professor of studio arts), of over 35 years’ experience. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Ringling School of Art and Design and a master’s degree from the University of Central Florida, Spalding is vested in continuing to support the practices of aesthetic literacy academically and in the community.
Exhibitions, workshops and demonstrations, lectures, panel discussions, and judging many festivals and competitions throughout Central Florida spanning four decades is evidence of his dedication to the arts.