The Artist
Born and raised in New York City, it wasn’t until college that the April’s prodigious talent and passion for the arts was revealed. After a high school art club teacher encouraged her to take art electives in college, Davis went on to earn her BA in Arts at Queens College, as well as a scholarship to the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. She earned her MFA in Fine Arts on a Teaching Assistantship Award from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
April's original acrylic paintings of iconic images create a window into nature’s landscapes, bringing the outside in and drawing attention to that world.
April hopes viewers will visually step inside her paintings of lush tropical landscapes, vivid cityscape recreations and stunning, rich seascapes. The paintings are of impressive scale, creating space and depth with a panoramic view of the scene. She has a unique talent for using light and color to create a mood that brings a sense of beauty and tranquility to every image. “By working on a large-scale, I believe it becomes easier for the viewer to visually move inside my paintings, being transported to that place or space, and perceiving the image not through thought, but through feeling,” explains the artist.
Relocating to Florida more than twenty years ago, Davis notes, “We are surrounded by beauty. It’s truly an artist’s paradise.” Her series Gateway to Paradise — Jupiter Inlet and Loxahatchee River are some of her most popular and well-known works. Davis is quick to point out that her paintings reflect both what she sees and what she feels. Those parameters are evident in the photo-like quality of her tropical landscape series, as well as the more abstract, painterly style of her sunrise/sunset series. Davis is inspired by nature. Along with the act of painting, she considers nature to be a meditative experience that connects everyone to God.
A long and illustrious career has earned Davis numerous honors and awards. Highlights include: commissioned original poster art created to represent Florida areas and attractions such as South Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Islamorada, Jupiter, Tarpon Springs, and the Fairchild Botanical Gardens; a Lincoln Motor Company commission to showcase its MKZ model in a Davis original cityscape; a large diptych installation in the Pittsburgh Steelers owner’s box at Three River Stadium; commissioned cityscapes of South Beach’s famed Lincoln Road, and Ft. Lauderdale’s Las Olas Boulevard; and acclaimed exhibitions in museums, galleries, and private and corporate collections across the nation.
Davis’ exhibition schedule includes Florida’s most prestigious and notable art festivals and she has received recognition and awards from many of them, such as: the Coconut Grove Art Festival, Vero Beach’s Under the Oaks, South Miami Art Festival, Old Island Days in Key West, Marathon’s Pigeon Key Arts Festival, SunFest in West Palm Beach, and Epcot Center’s Art in the Garden Festival. Davis was also selected to create commemorative print posters for the Hobe Sound Art Festival, St. Petersburg’s Mainsail Art Festival, and SunFest in West Palm Beach, among others.
Her teaching credits include oil painting, watercolor, drawing and design classes at the University of Pittsburgh where she received a teaching Excellence award, Indiana University and Montgomery Community College.
You can view April’s work at her gallery in Jupiter, Florida as well as through engagements at many top-ranked art festivals.