Danyi Hong is an artist who resides in Arlington, VA. Her creativity in art is shown with portraits painted on stones, rice paper, and silkwood boards, mostly materials from China.
Artist statement:
A chair can invite someone to take a seat and rest or join a group. These chair paintings, in the style of New Romanticism, invite you, the viewer, to consider something unfamiliar, and to imagine how it might feel to be sitting in someone else's place. Placed in an unexpected setting the chairs now have a chance to unravel their own story.
Artist Statement:
My work celebrates the ocean’s aqua blue waters and the sun.
My scenes depict island life and Creole culture in the Caribbean with a hint of fantasy.
My 1st motto is: "Give me Ocean, give me life"
My painting techniques are a blend of illustration, realism, naive art and painterly approaches.
My work is bright, colorful and rich in details.
It aims to uplift the viewer’s spirit and to share energies of triumph.
Art should bring joy and peace. Life has enough challenges to paint anything else.
My 2nd motto is: "Dream a beautiful dream"
For you cast your future with your thoughts, so feed your soul with joy.
Learn more at https://www.kcatiacreoleart.com/
Artist statement:
To me, Art is a universal language. From the beginning of human history, man has always conveyed his life experience through drawings. Even today, as we look at the prehistoric cave drawings and the Egyptian hieroglyphics, they bring out the story of how humans used to live thousands of years ago. They show us their day-to-day routines, their struggles with their environment and their communal bonding. This story telling aspect is what fascinates me as it gives me a sense of confidence that no matter the background of the observer, they will be able to comprehend some part of the story I am trying to tell through my paintings.
My road down the Art world started about 20 years ago, when I volunteered to make various dioramas from Indian mythology for our community events. People really appreciated my work, and I enjoyed working with like-minded folks coming up with creative ideas to display the ‘larger than life’ scenes from those stories. This eventually rekindled my passion for painting, and I decided to spread my joy via teaching kids this fun filled activity.
A few years back I got interested in the Indian folk-arts. These paintings are not only visually appealing because of their vibrant colors, but also are rich in cultural history. They gave me an avenue to display India’s vast cultural heritage in a unique way through different styles, each related to different regions of the country. My hope through this exhibition is to inspire our younger generation to appreciate cultural diversity, no matter where they live and what their background is. I believe Art has the power to bring people closer together and these paintings is my humble contribution towards it. These painting are also a tribute to all the Folk art artists who have kept this art form alive for thousands of years so that successive generations may get to enjoy it’s beauty.
Steve Fleckenstein creates art characterized by flat solid shapes, using either cut paper or acrylic paint. His work abstracts and simplifies tangible objects, situations and concepts to focus on shapes, colors, values and negative space. He explores patterns, layers, and the relationships between the two and uses color to convey either vibrancy or tranquility.
About the Ghost Houses Project
I started the Ghost Houses project to explore my interests in precision paper cutting, use of negative space, and changes that are happening in my community of Arlington, Virginia.
The houses in these images were actual houses in Arlington that were torn down in 2023 to make way for new houses. Many people view the disappearance of these old houses, most of which were built in the 1940s and 1950s, with sadness or dismay.
I view it differently. To me, this is an opportunity to reflect on how the built environment shaped (and was shaped by) life in Arlington and to imagine how changes to the built environment will continue to shape the community I’ve called home for over 30 years.
Contact the artist:
Instagram: @steve_fleckenstein
Email: srfleckenstein@icloud.com
Artist's Reception: October 22, 6-8 p.m.
Artist statement:
I enjoy painting in different mediums and styles, working in both traditional impressionism and abstract working in acrylic, oil and pastel. My traditional work consists of landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes, floral works and portraits of youth sports. My abstracts are particularly influenced by street art and graffiti, done in vibrant colors that frequently feature inspirational words or quotes.
Artist statement:
I am an abstract and fluid artist based in Arlington, VA. Creating art has become my personal outlet to evoke creativity and to find beauty through exploring color, movement and texture. My work is inspired by emulating patterns often found in nature.
Utilizing fluid forms of acrylic paint, fluid art is created through various techniques of pouring or flowing paint to create intricate and abstract patterns on surfaces. I have been dabbling in abstract art since 2018 and work primarily on canvas and mixed media paper.
Artist Talk: Tuesday, Oct. 29, 6-7 p.m.
Regina Chua is a Filipino-American artist whose work featured here explores the complexities of the immigrant experience—from holding onto one’s roots like a prayer; to the bittersweet reality of being seen as a perpetual outsider; and to the somber feeling of homesickness. Through her work, she invites the viewer to reflect on the universal struggle of finding one’s place in the world.
2023 brought the publication of so many new and exciting books. Arlington loved hot titles like "Happy Place" by Emily Henry and Prince Harry's "Spare," but while we were working our way through the 700+ pages of "Covenant of Water" by Abraham Verghese, there were also hundreds of great books we missed!
We curated this list from 2023 titles in our catalog that received rave reviews but flew beneath Arlington’s radar. The books are sorted into subcategories: fiction, nonfiction, graphic, teen, elementary/middle grade, and picture books/early readers. And much like browsing the library’s shelves, you're sure to find something unexpected and delightful!
To see which books Arlington readers checked out the most this year, click here.
2023 was another excellent year for Arlington readers. Here is a breakdown of the top adult, kids and young adult titles.
This year, we saw six titles rising above the 3,000 checkout mark including with "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" by Gabrielle Zevin, "Spare" by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver, "Fourth Wing" by Rebecca Yarros and "Happy Place" by Emily Henry. Our most in-demand title that reached over 5,000 checkouts is "Lessons in Chemistry" by Bonnie Garmus.
Like last year, Arlington loved books by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Emily Henry and Sarah J. Maas. These authors still dominate checkouts heading into the new year. Maas' new title, “House of Flame and Shadow,” comes out in January 2024.
“The Summer I Turned Pretty: A Summer Novel” by Jenny Han was our young adult readers' #1 title for the most checked-out book in 2023. Our young readers continue to be blown away by Dav Pilkey’s “Dog Man” series.
In addition to Maas’ new book, we’re looking forward to the debut of “City of Laughter” by Temim Fruchter and “The Expectant Detectives” by Kat Ailes.
"I'm always impressed when I look at the list of most requested and checked out books by patrons," said Library Division Chief Peter Petruski. "It shows the continued diversity with our collection and proclaims Arlington is a community of readers."
As we celebrate our collective reading in 2023, we are grateful to be of service to you with our exciting book services, author programs, storytimes and ever-expanding diverse collections.
Curious about which releases you might have missed this year? We have a curated list from our 2023 catalog of great titles that should be included on your reading list.
Always free. Always open. Always reading!
Remember, our collection goes beyond books—including many eResources that you can access from anywhere free with your library card!
Arlington's favorites for 2023 included O'Reilly's technology and business resources, online courses from LinkedIn Learning, Mango Languages, and digital newspaper and magazine access from PressReader and Flipster.