Al Hopkins
Born in 1960, Hopkins has lived his entire life in Indiana. Fascinated by nature, Hopkins has a keen perspective on the land and the art within it. Hopkins spent many hours sketching and by High School his ability and subject matter were expanding. He received the annual scholarship to the Herron School of Art.With it’s farmland and rural vignettes, Hopkins grew to love the countryside. Landscapes occupied most of his interests for the next 18 years. After attending an art show by the late Frederik Grue, Hopkins’s interest turned to traditional still-life. Like Grue, Hopkins’s ancestors were from Denmark and the Danish masters captivation with shadow and intense realism is evident in both artists work. Hopkins was invited to be a charter member of the Small Painting Society of Brown County and is also a member of the Hoosier Salon and his works are held in many corporate and private collections.
AWARDS
Awarded the Bronze Medal at the 2004 Indiana Heritage Arts Show for his oil-on-board painting “LEAVES AND PEARS”.
Accepted in the 74th and 76th Annual Hoosier Salon Exhibit Winning “Jury Prize of Distinction - Still-Life” both years.
Awarded consecutive Merit awards in the 20th and 21rst Annual Indiana Heritage Art Show at the Brown County Art Gallery.
Awarded “Best of Show” in the 2000 Honeywell Nine County Art Show.Award winning entrant in the Indiana State Fair Fine Art ShowAwarded “Best of Show” in 1998 Grant Co. Art Assoc. Spring Show.
Awarded 1rst place in Watercolor, Acrylics and numerous other awards in a variety of local shows.
Original Charter Member of the Small Painting Society of Brown County (2001-2003).
Contact Al Hopkins at e-mail: indy2athens@gmail.com
Avra Economakos Hopkins
Born in Athens Greece in 1958. While still in High School she participated in art competitions in Greece, as well as in fashion designing related art shows for young artists and she has been awarded several times. After her graduation she studied fashion design and German Literature in Athens Greece. During the years 1978-1998 she worked as a fashion consultant, as well as a creative director and an illustrator in various major Greek organizations and Advertising Agencies. Her true love for fine art though, was meant to gradually take over her career as fashion consultant and creative director, throughout the years. This also happened thanks to the great encouragement she was blessed with by the late outstanding contemporary Greek fine art Master and University Professor Nikos Chatzikyriakos-Ghikas, during the time she was taking her first steps as a fine artist.
In the year 1988 she was awarded with a Certificate of Excellent Achievement in Painting at the international art competition of the Artitudes Foundation in New York, of the same year. She held a number of private fine art shows in galleries and cultural centers in Athens and on the greek island of Santorini, and she also displayed her artwork during "open studio" events she organized at her own studio for her clientele. This had as a result for her to become an official member of the Greek National Chamber of Visual Artists, in 1999.
Her artwork is widely appreciated, and she is especially recognized as a skillful portraitist. During the last few years She has been commissioned to paint portraits of Greek and American personalities and politicians.
She recently moved in the United States. She is now based and working in Indiana and she is a member of some of the major fine art groups of the State of Indiana,such as:
The Hoosier Salon
Indiana Heritage Arts
She has had solo exhibits at:
Indiana University at Kokomo
The International Festival
Indianapolis,IN
Greek Festival,
Ft. Wayne, IN
She was the featured artist at:
The Columbia Club
Indianapolis IN Aug.2004.
Many of her artwork pieces belong to private and corporate collections in Greece, the United States and Europe.
Contact: Avra Economakos at:
Athena Art Studios LLC
e-mail: indy2athens@gmail.com
