Featured Artists: Phil Starke and Beverly Carrick

Known for his strong use of light and color, Phil Starke has gained attention among galleries, museums, and invitational exhibitions.    Now being collected on an international level, Phil continually strives for the excellence his collectors have become accustomed to.  His formal studies covered seven years, attending the Art Institute of Chicago and the American Academy of Art, in Chicago, where he received his degree in 1981.  Traveling several times a year to paint has allowed Phil to grow and mature as an artist.  From early on his interest took him to many parts of the West and Southwest, where he soon grew to love the culture and the landscape.  "The goal is to paint so the viewer can appreciate the beauty of the scene and "see" it through the artist's eyes," says Starke.  "If I've done my job right, anyone looking at my work will be able to feel the emotion and mood of the moment and will want to spend some time with the piece -- taking in all the things I had to say." His first appearance in a PaintAmerica show is this wonderful oil painting, "Sycamores and Snow" (20" x 24", $4,500).


Beverly Carrick is an artist with a unique sense of color and light. Whether a desert landscape, or a vibrant seascape, Carrick's eye for color, and wonderful mastery of light and reflection, touch your senses and emotions. A native Californian, Carrick was well on her way to becoming an outstanding ballerina when she lost her leg to bone cancer at the early age of twelve. She turned to art as therapy, and soon discovered her talent for oil painting. Her fame as a painter of Southern California seascapes characterized by rolling waves, frosted surf, distant hills, and rugged rocks, soon spread. Today her work encompasses a wide range of vistas and themes. A founding Signature member of the American Academy of Women Artists, her work can be seen in established galleries throughout the West and Southwest and in many celebrity collections. This painting, "Dreamy Shore" (16" x 20", $2,400) was juried into the 2009 PaintAmerica Top100.

These and all  other paintings by many of the most notable artists in the country are available for viewing and purchase at www.paintamerica.org  PaintAmerica is a non-profit organization to support the visual arts and artists.