Wil Talk with Artists

Wil Talk Episode #86

Marcia Babler

This digital discussion is with artist Marcia Babler. “‘Your Move’ is all about patience and waiting. To create a holding pattern in time, I use figures on a series of cubes mimicking one another in anticipation of the next move. Staircases faded in the background provide a way out. The gray and black color scheme adds to a visual tension. “As an artist, I am a visual storyteller. Art is my voice where I create visual puzzles with purposeful ambiguity. The intent is for the viewer to become involved and react. A curator has described my artwork as smart and thoughtful and dense with information; gorgeous with color. Mysterious and challenging…puzzles for the viewer to solve.”

Wil Talk Episode #85

Sandra Emme

This digital discussion is with mixed media artist, Sandra Emme. SANDRA EMME is a mixed media artist, studying and exhibiting in Maryland and Virginia. An interest in aeronautical history took her to New Mexico and the annual balloon fiestas. While touring the area, the unique landscapes caught her attention and many of her works reflect American Southwestern themes. Her art life began after retirement from the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System. Her journey to abstraction began with a workshop at Solomon’s Island, Maryland taught by Marsha Staiger, an instructor at the Art League School, Alexandria, Virginia. Her recent studies at the Art League have yielded art-changing impetus. Classes in composition and design and numerous abstract painting processes provided the courage to be “different.” She is an Exhibiting Artist at the Art League, Alexandria, Virginia. Her works have appeared in numerous juried shows at the Art League and the Maryland Federation of Art. She exhibits at Gallery 75 at the Torpedo Factory Arts Center in Alexandria, Virginia. She is also a member of the Annapolis Arts Alliance and the Hyattsville Community Arts Alliance. She earned degrees from West Virginia Wesleyan College (BA) and the University of Maryland (MA, MLS). She has studied at the Montpelier Arts Center and the Art League School, Alexandria Virginia. She continues to study and explore new art media.

Wil Talk Episode #84

Leslie Nolan

Leslie Nolan is an American contemporary painter best known for her emotionally charged figurative artworks. Born in Portland, Oregon, and currently based near Washington, DC, she creates raw, expressionistic portraits that reflect internal conflict, power, and vulnerability. Her signature aesthetic combines bold brushwork, gestural lines, and impasto surfaces, resulting in intense, psychologically complex figures caught between appearance and reality.

A former U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Officer and Special Agent, Nolan’s decades-long national security career deeply informs her art. Her firsthand experiences in high-stakes, multicultural environments shape recurring themes of identity, secrecy, and emotional ambiguity. Since retiring in 2004 to pursue art full-time, she has transformed personal and professional insight into a singular visual language that is both confrontational and introspective.

Her work has been exhibited extensively across the United States and internationally, with 28 solo exhibitions including the Arts Club of Washington, Athenaeum Gallery (VA), Calloway Fine Art & Consulting (DC), and Artifact Gallery (NYC). Museum exhibitions include the Masur Museum of Art (LA), Marin Museum of Contemporary Art (CA), Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (South Korea), and Susquehanna University’s Lore Degenstein Gallery (PA). She exhibited at Brick Lane Gallery, London (UK) and at American Embassy Luanda (Malawi). Nolan has also been featured in prominent art fairs such as SCOPE Miami, Red Dot Miami, Los Angeles Art Show, ArtExpo New York, and (e)merge Art Fair in Washington, DC.

Her paintings have appeared in publications including American Psychologist (cover, September 2020), Elan Magazine (cover and feature, 2006), and The Washington Post, which has reviewed several of her exhibitions. Notably, the National Museum of Women in the Arts selected her for a virtual studio tour in 2020, and she has presented with Dr. Erich Keel, Head of Education (emeritus), the Kreeger Museum.

Nolan holds degrees from Portland State University (BA), The George Washington University (MS), and National Defense University (MS), and studied art at The Art League School in Virginia, as well as in Italy. She also attended the University of Madrid, Spain. Represented by Calloway Fine Art & Consulting since 2014 and affiliated with Artifact Gallery (NYC) for art fairs, she continues to explore the emotional tensions of modern life through paint.

Wil Talk Episode #83

Esperanza Alzona

“My work in sculpture focuses on representations of concepts and qualities of humanness—the characterization of various emotions, sensations, thought processes, the embodiment of self-identity and manifestations of spirituality. Having a background as a professional dancer, choreographer and competitive athlete, I am used to employing the language of the human body as a means of creative expression, and in sculpture I often use aspects and parts of the human anatomy to convey ideas in physical form. Working primarily in metal renders a certain weight and material presence that I find particularly engaging, and the physicality and three-dimensional visual aspect that comes from being a dancer are what attract me to this medium. Seeing my work I wish the viewer to find resonance and relevance of “being human” as I explore and express in physical form various facets, abstractions and iterations centering around the mind-body connection and the human experience.”

Wil Talk Episode #82

Crystal Moll

Crystal Moll, originally from Virginia Beach, earned her BFA from Moore College of Art & Design. Baltimore has been her home since the late 80’s. Since that time, she has been a full-time fine artist. Crystal paints mostly cityscapes and works directly from life. She may complete a small work in one sitting, but she also loves to take these small and large works back to the location for many sittings—sometimes over weeks, sometimes not until the following season. Crystal is drawn to color especially as it is bathed in light. Investigating the colors’ reaction as it is warmed in sunlight or cooled in shadows draws her to the subjects she paints.

In 2009 she opened her gallery in Federal Hill. 2023 the gallery moved to the Arts District in Highlandtown. Enjoying the new and different part of Baltimore, especially the 1st Friday Art Walks which draws art lovers from all over the region.

Wil Talk Episode #81

Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Hudson is an award winning Maryland based cut paper artist and painter. She began her career as a painter with an emphasis on realistic nature scenes and fantasy-based illustrations. She graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts in 2014 with a concentration in painting. After graduating Hudson became intrigued by the world of contemporary paper art. She uses various sized knives to hand cut delicate works that display movement, texture and dimension. She combines several layers of cut paper to attain highly detailed three-dimensional works. Hudson’s love of the natural world is evident in the use of flora and animals in her work. She specializes in wild life art. Continuing motifs include foxes, birds, horses and delicate lace-like structures.

She became a member of the Guild of American Paper cutters in 2020 and a member of the International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists in 2024. Hudson is also a signature member of the Society of Animal Artists. She has shown her work in numerous galleries and museums across the United States. She has sold over 200 pieces of original work. When she is not creating Hudson enjoys spending time with her two dogs.

Wil Talk Episode #80

Palden Hamilton

Palden Hamilton was born in 1980 in Baltimore, and raised in Monkton MD. He was encouraged from an early age to pursue art by his parents and his Great Aunt, the abstract expressionist Elaine Hamilton O’neal (1920 –2010). He attended the Gilman School, where he studied under Betsey Heuisler. After receiving his B.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2002, he continued his education at the Art Students League of New York, where he studied under Ron Sherr, Harvey Dinnerstein, and Mary Beth Mckenzie. There he was awarded a Merit Award in Realism and the Phylis T. Mason Grant.

Hamilton has done a range of commissioned portrait work since returning to his hometown of Baltimore. He was notably commissioned to paint Maestro Yuri Temirkanov, the musical director of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra in Russia. In 2008, 2017, and 2018, he was awarded Certificates of Excellence from the Portrait Society of America, for placing in the top 30 entries in their international portrait competition.

Hamilton has painted landscapes extensively on location in his native Maryland, and on travels to his mother’s homeland, the Himalayan kingdom of Sikkim. As a landscape artist, he has participated in and received honors from Plein Air Easton, Olmsted Plein Air Invitational, Wayne Plein Air, Solomons Plein Air, and Cape Ann Plein Air.

Wil Talk Episode #78

Martin Kotler

“My art is intensely personal, and I believe a true expression of my artistic vision. When I arrived in D.C. in 1978, I was lured toward Washington’s fading industrial landscape and its unique architectural subjects. Today, the cityscapes that I create echo many of the formal elements found in the great precisionist painters of the early 20th century. At the same time, I strive to retain a painterly style reminiscent of the “direct technique” evident in the paintings by George Bellows and Edwin Dickinson. My paintings seek to capture the light and forms of Washington’s 21st century dynamic urban environment.”

“Counter to my streetscapes are the many premier coup paintings of varied subjects. Whether I am capturing a winter scene of light and life unfolding along the Potomac River, or the train tracks and catenary behind Union Station, these are the things that draw my interest all painted en plein air.”

“I have studied, taught, and traveled throughout my career, always striving to elevate my artistry and uniqueness.”

Wil Talk Episode #77

Kathy Daywalt

Kathy Daywalt is a prolific working artist with over 40 years of successful experience in a variety of mediums. Her award-winning works have been included in numerous juried exhibitions and one-person shows. These works are in private collections from New York to California. Kathy began following her calling as a child. Working full time while being a wife and mother, she continued to make time for art. She graduated Suma Cum Laude from Anne Arundel Community College with an AA Degree in Fine Art in 1995 and has continued in serious study with a variety of professional artists. Kathy’s work may be seen at Gallery C, Raleigh, NC; Benfield Gallery, Severna Park, MD, and McBride Gallery, Annapolis, MD; Studio 2, Saint Michaels, MD. She is a Master Signature Member as well as a former Board Member of the Baltimore Watercolor Society, and a member of Maryland Federation of Art and Baltimore Creative Alliance.