Three couples share their artworks “Side by Side” in Peninsula Gallery’s August exhibition. Showing August 5th to 27th, this collection asks viewers to compare the artistic styles of coupled artists, discovering how a personal connection between two professionals influences their creative output. “Side by Side” includes original paintings from Kristin Blanck and Dan Graziano, Jean Brinton-Jaecks and Harry Jaecks, and Emily Thompson and George Thompson.

 

   “Side by Side” is an exhibition with no specific theme, allowing the partners to decide how to represent their shared vision. Known for her highly detailed still-life paintings, Kristin Blanck’s images feature alcohol bottles that correlate with Dan Graziano’s motion-filled bar scenes. The Brinton-Jaecks both focus on waterways and landscapes. Jean opts to depict scenes across the European countryside and Harry finds inspiration in working docks and boats on the Chesapeake Bay. While the Thompsons' subjects differ from one another, with Emily painting vintage signs and architecture and George's pieces mainly showing landscapes, the pair share a similar painterly style that makes their artwork complimentary. 

 

    Kristin Blanck is a realist painter working with traditional techniques to capture the beauty of the ordinary and elevate it to the inspired. Before becoming a full-time artist, Kristin worked as an award-winning fashion designer for 25 years. Largely self-taught, she paints in a highly detailed style that is influenced by historic and contemporary Dutch artists. Working primarily in oil, Kristin finds voice in minimal compositions and familiar subjects coupled with a strong sense of light and shadow to establish a counterpoint between the classical and contemporary.

 

    Dan Graziano is an award-winning, nationally exhibited artist, whose paintings capture the hidden beauty found in the unexpected places and fleeting moments of everyday life. Incorporating dramatic light, shadow, color, and perspective, his compositions feature a diversity of subjects — from a simple still life to rugged coastlines, active urban life, lively cafes and bars, small rural towns, and forgotten roadside relics. His work has been featured in numerous publications and is in the collections of private and corporate collectors throughout the world. For “Side by Side,” Dan’s exquisite bar scenes perfectly accompany Kristin’s liquor bottle still-lives.

 

     Jean Brinton-Jaecks is a plein air landscape painter, who received an MFA from George Washington University. In 2016 Jean received the Annie Award for Fine Arts from the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County. She was a recipient of the Alfred and Trafford Klots International Program for Artists Residency in Brittany, France. Jean has taught plein air painting on the Amalfi Coast, Sonoma, San Diego, New England, and the Brandywine River Valley. She is a painting instructor for St. John’s College Annapolis, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the US Botanic Garden and Corcoran, and the National Arboretum. 

 

    Harry Lloyd Jaecks produces figure studies, landscapes, and portraits in oil, egg tempera, watercolor, and graphite. His body of work focuses on the people and landscapes of California, coastal New England, his native Chesapeake VA, and rural Piedmont. He has exhibited at various locations around the U.S. including the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Easton Maryland Academy Art Museum, the Washington Society of Landscape Painters Plein Air Exhibitions, and the Baltimore Watercolor Society Mid Atlantic Regional Watercolor Exhibitions. Original works by H.L. Jaecks are represented in corporate and private collections throughout the country. Although they both use watercolor as their primary medium, Harry and Jean’s “Side by Side” pieces showcase their contrasting vision. Jean’s landscapes capture the opulent colors and lush scenery of Europe and Harry’s embrace the brutish environment of working fishermen.

 

    Emily Thompson attended the prestigious High School of Art & Design and earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York. She is a nationally recognized, award-winning artist. Through her painting, she documents the iconic, the disappearing, and the abandoned elements of the American identity. Emily’s pieces are filled with nostalgic architectural design, taking the viewer back in time with vintage signs, classic storefronts, and quaint beach cottages.

 

    George Thompson earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Pratt Institute in New York and studied painting and drawing at The Art Students League. He specializes in landscapes, portraits, and figure painting in a transitional style. His nationally recognized, award-winning work has been exhibited at the Woodmere Museum in Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Sketch Club, and The Trenton City Museum in New Jersey. His paintings are part of the permanent collection at The Art Students League and Doylestown Hospital, as well as collections throughout the United States. While the subjects of Emily and George’s “Side by Side” paintings vary, their shared textural and graphic styles turn everyday scenes into intriguing visual stories.