Meet the Artists Reception at Arts for ACT

Hoffman, Chicken man Join Arts for ACT Gallery, located at 2265 First Street in downtown Fort Myers, from 7-10 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 3 for a "Meet the Artists" opening reception, featuring Ken Hoffman, Peter Gaztambide and Caroline Krieger Comings.

Hoffman, professor emeritus of art from Bradley University in Peoria, has had his paintings exhibited in Paris, Germany, Poland, Australia, Ireland, and Argentina. He is currently represented by Walter Wickiser Gallery and Amos Eno Gallery, both in New York City. For the past 15 years, the anthropomorphic subject matter of his animal portrait paintings has been the central focus of his work; he strives to convey animal-people expressions, revealing to the viewer how close humans are to animals.

Gaztambide born in Miami, started as a young, self-taught artist, but later went back to school to earn his BFA at the University of South Florida. He exhibits and is in public and private collections throughout the world, including Puerto Rico, London, Venezuela, Berlin, New York City, Dominican Republic, Japan, France and Florida. Gaztambide starts out making marks of all kinds on the surface of the paper or canvas with a multitude of media. He then collages paper, fabric or other material onto the surface. Then using other more traditional material, he applies more layers, and the work takes its direction and his concept starts to take hold of the image. Come explore the "Many Layers of Peter Gaztambide."

Gaztambide, 4 Comings was raised in New Jersey just outside of Manhattan and has been studying and producing art since 1959. She studied with Marius Schneiderman and Elizabeth Turner before leaving home to live and work in

San Francisco, Aix-en- Provence, Antwerp and New York City. As an expressive impressionist, she mainly focuses on documenting a fast disappearing Olde Florida while actively volunteering in the preservation of Southwest Florida's natural waterways with the Caloosahatchee River Citizens' Association. Community volunteering with ACT, the CRCA, photography and teaching adults artistic-drawing techniques enhance the expression of her heartfelt passion for the visual arts. She was a finalist in the 2008 ArtKudos International Juried Art Competition & Exhibition.

Comings, East West