At Coastal Antiques & Art, we see a lot of talent. Now, we're focusing on five with whom to begin, or augment, your art collection - gifted artists who genuinely deserve a shove into the spotlight.

Their common thread is the ability to connect with their subject matter, whether it's Jeff Markowsky and Robert Isley interpreting the grit and glamor of a street scene; Laura Adams delicately expressing her love of vanishing wildflowers; Phil Stark coaxing the color out of a sublime landscape or Bill Zorn deftly making eye contact through a view camera, exquisitely capturing the wonder and inner spirit of a Chinese farmer.

The choices were purely subjective - no committee, we found, could agree. Difficult, yes - and by no means wholly inclusive of every artist who deserves recognition.

But, those are stories for other months, for other editions. Join with us in this New Year - celebrate the beauty and spirit of art.


Robert Isley

Little paintings, big talent



Robert Isley

A lot of painters claim a penchant for working plein aire but Robert Isley 's devotion to capturing the light, mood and feel of his subjects is inspiring. Example: Housebound by the flu, Isley turned his eye on his immediate surroundings and was moved by the composition created by his stack of lunch plates in the kitchen sink. The little oil painting that resulted now resides with a Wilmington Island collector of Isley's work.

But usually, you'll spy Isley working in Savannah's back alleys, a vacant ball park or a sunny Georgia crossroad. The small- to medium-sized canvases that result are snapshots of the environment. His paintings are little jewels that shimmer with fresh rain puddles or glow with afternoon sunlight - scenes Isley files away in his head to return to tomorrow or the next day.

Fresh off a "Best of Show" award from Telfair Art Fair, Isley, formerly a photorealist who worked in pastels, isn't resting on his laurels. He's painting every day and, in a New Year's resolution he laughs "probably won't last past the second seek of January," plans to complete one small oil work per day in 2002.

Quiet, unassuming and humble, Isley prefers to let his paint brush do the talking.

His works, usually oil on paper, can be seen at Friedman's Fine Art in Savannah and The Dolphin and The Mermaid in Thunderbolt.



"Picnic Benches; Summer Shower," oil on paper, 8.5x8.5 inches.


Laura Adams

A heart connected to nature



Laura Adams in her studio.

First, you've got to admire Laura Adams for walking aways from a law practice to pursue her love of art.

But mostly, she deserves admiration for successfully marrying her love of nature with her talent for interpreting nature's most fragile plants into colorful and painstakingly executed works of art.

She's inspired by her own backyard; not the one in Savannah but the 65-acre mountainside retreat she and husband own in North Carolina. It's there that Adams explores the diverse ecology - hardwood rain forests that foster exotic orchids and ferns, evergreen stands growign in rich greens and blues and rolling meadows awash in wifdflowers.

The plants take root in her work - carefully colored little botanicals that rely upon Polaroid transfer bases or her meticulously crafted "mosaics" of hand cut paper.

She's grown immensely as an artist since her initial work in Savannah - architectural studies that came naturally to the daughter of an architect. Color studies hang around her stuido walls, experiments for a color theory class she's been taking over the past year.

Adams appears in area juried events, or you can call her at (912) 232-8497 to see her work.



"Golden Aster I," a mixed media work by Adams won second place at the Telfair Art Fair.



Jeff Markowsky

Looking at the essence of art



Jeff Markowsky in his studio.

Canadian-born artist Jeff Markowsky loves the slow, Southern lifestyle he's found in Savannah - a marked contrast to the time he spent completing his MFA at New York City's School of Visual Arts.

Since 1995, he's been teaching drawing in the Foundations Department of the Savannah College of Art and Design. But demands on his time have not prevented him from forging a name for himself.

Markowsky showed off big, bold, urban landscapes at a mid-summer one-man show at Gallery Espresso, then teamed with fellow SCAD instructors Harry Dean and Sandra Reed for "site.sight.cite" in October at Gallery SPACE. It was there that Markowsky unveiled samples of his newest project, a 99-piece series of small studies that examine the very essence of painting - paint tubes.

"I've been drawing the figure a lot, but I'm limited by time, Markowsky explains. "So many of the landscapes were from photos, I started these to get back to observation, it's still kinda exploratory."

But the 6x6-inch little canvases are a showcase for the intellectual kind of exploration Markowsky challenges himself with.

Different palettes explore effects of paint and some compositions depict whimsical positioning of the paint tubes - others are symbolic.

To see Mar-kowsky's work, call (912) 233-8381.



One of a series of 99 small exploratory works by Jeff Markowsky, right,


Bill Zorn

Photographer with an eye for the sublime



Bill Zorn recently exhibited in a group show at the Jewish Educational Alliance.

Bill Zorn honed his eye photographing serene coastal landscapes and the characters that inhabit its docks, bait shops and swamps.

Then, he visted China's doomed Three Gorges.

Coastal Antiques & Art gave Zorn its cover for his inaugural Savannah show in September - a stunning collection of images from his first visit to China. The mesmerizing photos captured the rugged landscape and the humanity of back country Chinese natives.

Since then, the St. Simons Island photographer returned to China, producing another body of work that is equal to, if not superior, to his initial effort. The former emergency room physcian is accomplishing the perfect extension of his past life - fusing science and technology with warm bedside manner - to take us not only to the villages of his Chinese subjects, but to the very depths of their souls.

A student of Ansel Adams' complex Zone System, Zorn captures spontaniety and candor usually reserved for 35mm photographers with his clunky view camera. His South-western landscapes hypnotize with illusion; Coastal scenes drip with romance and Spanish moss and his China images take us on a guided tour of stops tourists rarely see.

Zorn's work can be seen at J. Gaul Gallery and Glynn Art Association on St. Simons Island and Glenda Cason Gallery in Brunswick. You can also view a gallery and order online, www.billzorn.com.



"Cabinetmaker Lu Jia Chun, Daxi Village."


Phil Stark

Confident strokes, bold color



B>Phil Stark

Phil Stark is no newcomer to the Savannah art scene. A "serious painter" for eight years, he has been a member of the successful co-op East End Gallery for the past four years.

In that short time, he's made a name for himself as a dead-on watercolor artist, skillfully combining just the right amounts of pigment and water to create the distinctive transparent hues of a classic watercolor.

Inspired by the sea during a stint in the Navy, Stark works by day as a boat designer. As a painter, he prefers "water scenes, docks, boats," and carefully lays down pale tints to create his colorful images.

"Other people paint a watercolor in a hour or two, but I'll spend two or three days building up layers of tints," Stark says.

Using a primary palette, Stark coaxes colors together to create rich, vibrant scenes that merge typically loose watercolor style with detail and realism.

Stark has also been creating oil on paper pieces, a challenge that he says "keeps me fresh."

Stark exhibits at Savannah's East End Gallery, where he sits on Sundays, and at the Savannah Art Association, where he occasionally teaches workshops.



Early morning light casts a shimmering reflection on this River Street scene by Phil Stark, who prefers to capture atmospheric images like this one.