Keeping up with... RANDALL STOLTZFUS

Laura and I had a great opportunity to catch up with Randy Stoltzfus over the holidays. Randy was down from his home in Brooklyn visiting his parents (not too far from Charlottesville). Big bonus: he brought his girlfriend Callie too. We shared a beautiful dinner with the Stoltzfus family – great hospitality.

Randy had recently returned from South Korea where he was one of 100 artists invited to show his work at the 2007 Sosabeol International Art Expo held in Pyongtaek. Invited artists came from China, France, Holland, India, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippine, Thailand, Vietnam and, of course, the US. The organizers’ goal for the expo was to introduce Pyongtaek City as an international city by showcasing many artists from all around the world and allowing them to interact and share their vision and philosophy through their art. It was quite an honor for Randy to be a representative of the US and a big step towards the development of Randy’s international exposure.

Randy mentioned the Korean’s challenge of synthesizing western styles with the historical Korean ways. Fascinating stories of cultural differences and the Koreans’ attitude towards the visual arts.

We featured Randy’s paintings this past April in the exhibit Unseen at Migration.

Go here for a link to a videoed interview of Randy by Theodore Bouloukos at a recent exhibit of Randy's paintings in New York.

Image: Slip by Randall Stoltzfus (oil on canvas)