Jenny Carey put together a list of the Top Ten Artists to Watch and below is the list and links to websites where you can see their artwork.

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1. Tes One

From Leon Bedore's Website:

"Artist Statement: The work that I create is the line of demarcation between traditional art techniques and digital graphic design. From graffiti art and illustration, to vector graphics and raster images, the fusion of these contrasting elements are a direct representation of my surroundings and how I see them." From crayons to krylon, Leon “Tes One” Bedore has been creating art on walls for the majority of his life. Tes became a serious street artist in 1992, painting murals and graffiti art throughout the Tampa Bay area. In 1999, he expanded on his natural artistic abilities, with that of the computer age, to develop compelling graphic designs for a number of clients. Now, Tes One is combining all that he knows from his street-art roots and his digital design experience, to create works of art that accurately depicts his perspective and the world around him. The end result of his work demonstrates the craft of his design as well as the rawness of his stenciled street art.

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2. Diana Lucas Leavengood

From Diana's website:
"Artist's Statement: Diana Lucas Leavengood' photography reflects her family’s legacy of artist farmers, schoolteachers and entrepreneurs. Her inherited imagery, in the form of ancestral photographs and ephemera, has inspired a creative life that reflects a childhood split between rural and urban New York State. Her self-generated imagery reflects a life lived all over the world at various levels of economic stability. Dr. Jennifer Hardin, Chief Curator of the St. Petersburg Museum of Fines Arts observes: '…Diana’s work stands out strongly among work that I have seen in the last few years, and indeed, it is so much more sophisticated in terms of content and subject matter than much I have experienced since moving to Florida.'"

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3. Edgar Sanchez Cumbas

From Edgar's website:
"Poetical Observations: The exploration of identity has driven the underlying content of my work and how our differences in perspective directly relate to our own mental physiology and interpretation of our environment as living beings. While creating initial sketches for my current body of work, the foreground and background relationships of each image began to identify how the use of the circle could create visual emphasis in two ways. At times, I chose to make the image break the circular composition so the viewer could experience an intimate encounter with each piece; similar to a dioramic function. The opposite, where the image is solely defined within the circle, is used to designate a specific moment within the narrative like a peek-hole or telescope effect. With the large empty space surrounding both methods, my intent is to create a balanced counterpart of openness and potentiality. The imagery in these paintings explore our egoistic intricacies by way of personal relationships, spirituality, humanity, environment, and interaction and observation of others in a modern society. My pictures circulate in an unending narrative, a chronic state of possibility and flux that examines the human spirit and more often who I am."

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4. Jeremy Chandler

From Jeremy's website:
"Artist's Statement:Over the course of the past few years, my research has been driven by a curiosity in people's relationship with the natural environment and how social groups or communities organize within the landscape around shared ideas or forms of recreation. I am interested in nature as a culturally charged space and how people use it to assert dominance, power, and identity, while functioning as a place of escape. My work focuses on the social dynamics between people within this context, as I am interested in the psychological effects of seclusion; specifically, how human beings react whenever they are not being observed and how social norms can break down or perpetuate within the secluded spaces."

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5. Nancy Cervenka

From Nancy's Gallery's website:
"Gallery Statement: "These sculptures are made of movie film. The colors and texture are the actual characteristics of the various types of film stock, processed and unprocessed, over-exposed and under-exposed. Some of the footage has been manipulated, bleached, scraped and drawn on. Nancy discovered this process while pursuing a masters degree in cinematography (MFA-Cinematography, U. of S. Fl orida-Tampa, 1981). As a filmmaker, she shot, edited and manipulated the film for the sole purpose of projecting it on the screen, yet she was as fascinated with the material itself. She enjoyed handling the long strands of celluloid, watching the tiny images slide between her fingers, revealing blends of color, movement, patterns and flashes of light"

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6. Ernesto Piloto

From Deep Carnivale's website:
"Artist Statement: "My work as an artist is about life reflections on how we can transform our attitudes through a simple decision. I constantly reflect on how we live, the social conditioning and how it can imprint our conscience. It is also part of my work reflections how mass media influence, molds and manipulates us. Likewise, the anxiety of consumption translated into object possession that creates a negative impact in our quality of life with its consequences. I tend to utilize black and white as a symbol of balance/contrast in our interior self. It also represents life contradictions/ opposites. The use of objects as the umbrella and the hook helps me mirror different actions and conducts like protection and opportunism. I have incorporated words and newspaper clips as a way to show how reading evokes thought pondering in order to answer many of our uncertain paths in life. My work is all in all about philosophical questioning used to reflect on the elemental, and at the same time, monumental questions of who we are and where we are heading to. That is the reason why my work try to advocate for the personal initiative of taking control of our destinies staying close to who we really are, rejecting manipulation, a decision that I consider is mainly within our reach."

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7. Alex Torres

From Alex's website:
"Artist Statement: "Unlike conventional landscapes that attempt to capture a snapshot or scene from nature, my landscapes are existential imaginations born out of memory, time and vision. I do not reduce nature by abstraction. Instead, I explore color, space and history as a means to organically construct my image. These paintings are rationally analyzed twilights taken from the earth’s memory. Devoid of conventional icons, these color field works are intended as a rediscovery of the very essence of the earth’s origins. They provide the viewer with a catharses of its internal experience. Nature is romanticized and historicized so that it is analogous with one’s self or the soul, removing the structure and conventional to accommodate the spiritual or divine. A space not to be filled or simply observed, but to become something alive in itself. Color, surface and texture recreate a primordial realm of ethereal landscapes, through which the earth’s stream of consciousness is revealed sharing intimacy, pleasure and melancholy.
- Alex Espalter-Torres"

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8. Yoko Nogami

From Yoko's website:
"Artist Statement: "Yoko Nogami is an interdisciplinary artist. Her work is conceptually driven on issues of cultural displacement, gender, parenthood and identity. Many of her works incorporate a fictional character named "Toko" who is a hybrid of herself and her daughter, Tora. Toko explores, reflects, plays and portrays how the artist views the world around her."

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9. Dean Mitchell

From Dean's Gallery's website:
"Artist Statement: "Recognized as one of the finest painters in America, Mitchell has been awarded almost every major painting award in the country. His images 'retain the essence of time and the true meaning of life.'Dean Mitchell has been called a 'Virtual modern-day Vermeer,' by New York Times art critic, Michael Kimmelman. He has also been named a 'Best Bet' for collectors in ARTnews by R. Crosby Kemper Jr., founder of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art."

Dean Mitchell Wikipedia Page

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10. Marius Moore

From Marius' website:
"Artist Statement: "Marius’ current body of work explores spiritual traditions and places from the far east to the Himalayas. These are locations rich with wisdom and histories that span for millennia and continue living to this day. Even though they are ancient places, they are still imbued with a strong sense of mystery. It is this mysterious and wonderful essence that Marius shares with his images. Travel and technology have made the world a smaller place, and many of these places that were practically impossible to get to in recent times can now be visited and experienced with a little determination and good luck. Marius is often asked how he gets the images he does, which are often off limits to the casual visitor. A little respect goes a long way! Marius has also studied and practiced many eastern philosophies, which often opens doors to many of these rare venues and experiences. However,he stresses that he never makes images of subjects where it would be disrespectful or not allowed. Many of these places are changing rapidly due to globalization. Documenting many of these vanishing places is an honor that Marius takes to heart. He also gives back to these places by donating a percentage of his sales to humanitarian causes in these regions that help support the traditions of these people, while providing them with the basic necessities."

Dean Mitchell Wikipedia Page

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