Saturday was the official ribbon cutting for the new Joe Burger park in Fate, TX.

We have created three separate galleries for the images at the event. One for the park & equipment, taken just before the ribbon cutting, and two galleries for the people: color and selected black and white.

If you find yourself in a portrait and would like a high-resolution .jpg, please send an email to editor@fatetribune.com. Please do not ask for pictures of which you are not a part. As always, if you find yourself in a picture that you don’t want to be published, send us an email and we will remove it.

Note: all images are Copyright Michael E. Pipkins

People – Black & White Creative

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People – In Color

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Park.

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Angie Strader knows what it is like to narrowly escape death. As she and her husband lie sleeping in a hotel room, death began to appear in the form of a silent, odorless gas from the water heater. As the carbon monoxide reached critical mass an early morning alarm set by her husband saved their lives… but not without a price.

Angie’s husband awoke from the alarm, groggy and confused by the deadly gas. Angie was still alive but unresponsive.  Her husband managed to call an ambulance, and both were immediately rushed to the hospital. There, Angie and her husband would remain in critical care for several days.

Carbon monoxide poisoning, coupled with the associated hypoxia wreak havoc on the body’s organs, muscles, and brain. Angle’s physical recovery would take over two years and include countless visits to a claustrophobic inducing hyperbaric chamber.

Angie Strader 2.0

One’s personality is a delicate mixture of life experience coupled with biochemical reactions to the cells in our brain. Recovery from a tragedy such as this consists not only of the physical but also of the mental awareness of one’s “self”. Many of the synaptic connections that existed before Angie’s tragedy would not return and Angie would spend the next phase in her life merging the remaining connections with new.

She discovered that the analytical Angie who was the CEO of a successful company began to be replaced with a more artistic, creative Angie. She initially started working with Fluid Acrylics as a form of therapy, but it soon became an expression of her new ‘self’. The flow of the paint is soothing to the mind and spirit. “Looking back, I can see that in my early fluid art there was a clearly defined yet unconsciously created line through each of the art pieces,” says Angie.

Angie now believes that the line was a subconscious representation of her “self” separating the Angie from before the incident from that of the Angie after the incident. “As time goes on, and my ‘self’ became more unified, the divisional line began to disappear.”

Now she describes her flow art as, “Flow Art with Intention”. In her interview with the Trophy Club Journal Angie says, “It’s a bit of a contradiction, which fits me and my personality. As I began to understand the paint and how it generally responds, I began to create pieces with more of an intention than by chance. I lean towards creating pieces that elicit a sense of calm, peace, and serenity. Occasionally, a random piece will evolve that strikes a more bold or striking vibe.”

Angie 2.0 also developed a keen eye for photography. “Up until then, my photography consisted of iPhone shots. I picked up my first “real” camera which gave me an incentive to get out of the house to explore nature. In the beginning, I couldn’t walk further than my front yard.”

In time, Angie was able to walk further so she started exploring beyond her front yard. Angie’s photography style is vibrant and detailed. “I go against the current trend in photography which is to washout the colors and soften the details. My goal is to catch the attention of the viewer through the rich vibrant colors to then get drawn in to get a closer look at the fine details I’ve captured.” From grand landscapes to close up macro shots, Angie’s perspective is fresh, intriguing, and inspiring. 

“With both the flow acrylics and photography, the story is about change, growth, peace, joy, surrender, and acceptance. “Flow with intention” is my life. I have learned to go with the flow and while living my life with intention.”

Visit Angie’s website at: https://angiestradercreations.com to see her remarkable expressions or contact her at angie@angiestrader.com to set up a commission piece.

Nature, in all its forms, gives inspiration to Shraddha Kataria. Her unique impressionism stems from an observation of the world around us and guides her brush to not just recreate a scene, but to transcribe emotion and feeling in order to tell a complete story.

Even with still life, Shraddha’s brush seems to convey a sense of movement. Perhaps this stems from her frequent relocations as a child growing up in many different locations. Her family moved frequently as her father switched his job from location to location for his work.

“Every art piece that I have made has a story to tell and that story has a correlation to my life’s ups and downs” says Shraddha in an interview with the Trophy Club Journal. “For example, my Buddha painting is the proclamation of the peace in my mind at the time.

Shraddha met Naveen in 1999 at her first job. They got married in 2003 and moved to the US in 2012 with two loving kids.

“Painting is a medium that gives me a sense of serenity to keep my own emotions in check” says Shraddha. “But for others, it will depend on you how you see the story. It can be completely different than how I interpreted it to be, and that is fine.”

We at the TCJ agree. Shraddha’s paintings beckon you to reach into them and touch the objects. Her still life pots, cups & bowels seem to call out for you to pick them up. You feel as though the fruit and vegetables are ripe, ready to be eaten and you want desperately to reach in and grab one. To convey this type of wanting in oil, especially through impressionism, is no easy task. Yet Shraddha has mastered it beautifully.

Visit Shraddha’s Etsy shop at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ASHKARTZ?ref=shop_sugg