Masha Aptekar silver level member 847-863-2764 m_aptekar@yahoo.com

My art has to do with family. Concentrating on specific, personally familiar subjects has shaped and engaging process for me. I've depicted members of family, myself, and the domestic spaces we've shared dozens of times and the subject doesn't get tired. The people and relationships change over time and the work exists as a record of this. The pictures submitted for your show are portraits of my grandfather, whose optimism and strength have been guiding in my life. With the series I set out to honor him with "muse treatment" and explore aspects of his presence. Formal visual elements are used to convey its major attributes. I pay a lot of mind to line, color, texture, and composition. Preliminary rounds of test sketches are integral to making each work. I have no preferred medium and try to use the inherent qualities of different ones—watercolors, oils, photography—to most effectively put forth the ideas. Stance 3