artist spotlight - FRank frazier

Arthur Fields is a multi-disciplinary artist working in digital  and alternative photographic media. Arthur's artistic research is based  on self-representation and social-media. Acting as both curator as well  as image-maker, he is concerned with choosing, organizing, editing, and  remixing, to better understand the collective cultural experience that  is mediated through digital processes. While most of Arthur’s work deals  with technology and social media relationships, he is currently  focusing on his love for abstraction and alternative-process  photography. Arthur grew up in Killeen, Texas.  He completed a MFA in Photography at Texas Woman's University in Denton,  Texas. He earned a BFA in Digital Imaging and Photography at Washington  University in St.Louis.  HIs prior studies included printmaking and  photography at Brookhaven College (now a campus of Dallas College).   Arthur recently completed 7 years as Associate Professor Art at  Vincennes University (Indiana) where he taugh tcourses in analog  photography, digital imaging and design.  He also served as the director  of VU’sShircliff Gallery of Art. Arthur is currently Associate Professor of Art at Dallas College (DC) where he teaches  courses in photography and design. Arthur's professional service  includes serving as National Board Chair for the Society for Photographic Education; Member of the Leadership Arts Institute of North Texas Class of 2024,  Board Member of The Cedars Union Arts Incubator and the City of Dallas  Public Art Selection Panel among other natinal organizations. His  works have been included in exhibitions at venues throughout the  country including: The University of Southern Indiana (Evansville, IN),  Box13 ArtSpace (Houston, TX), Weitman Gallery (St. Louis,MO), PhotoPlace  Gallery (Middlebury, VT), and the California Institute of Integral  Studies (San Francisco, CA). 

"My work celebrates the deep emotional and cultural connection between food and the Black experience. I explore how food brings comfort and joy, nourishing not only the body but also the soul. Rooted in traditions passed down through generations, the dishes we prepare and share are symbols of love, resilience, and community. They tell stories of survival and triumph, of family gatherings, and the rich, comforting flavors that sustain us both physically and spiritually. Food is more than sustenance; it is memory, ritual, and heritage. It connects us to our ancestors and defines our communities. Food is central to our cultural identity. In every meal, there is a memory—a link to our ancestors, to moments of joy and togetherness. My art reflects this intimate relationship with food, capturing its power to heal, uplift, and provide solace. Food sometimes becomes a form of self-medication—a way to cope with stress, trauma, and systemic inequalities." - Barbara Mason

Charles Michael Davis, is a versatile artist whose work elucidates his multidisciplinary background. He discovered his natural talent for photography during a black and white 35mm camera course at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and worked as a model for notable photographers, including Yu Tsai, Jim Jordan, and Mark Seliger. His additional expertise includes directing television episodes and music videos, as well as training in piano and dance, he has honed his artistry through a myriad of experiences and disciplines. Charles draws inspiration from the likes of Robert Longo, Brigitte Lacombe, and Henri Cartier-Bresson. His talent has been recognized through selection for director's pick at The Other Art Fair Los Angeles 2023. Charles Michael Davis debuted "Wild At Heart" in November 2023 at Pencil on Paper Gallery.

Dawn Okoro’s passion for portraiture began with flipping through fashion magazines as a child, where glossy images of striking photography became her window to the world. Her paintings are influenced by fashion visuals, punk, and hip-hop.

Okoro has collaborated with Pepsi and her work has been on set for productions at NBC, Sony Pictures and HBO. She is featured in Architectural Digest, Hyperallergic and W Magazine. Her work is collected internationally and has been exhibited at Christie’s New York and Maddox Gallery in London. Okoro’s permanent art installation “The Liberty Vault” is on view at Meow Wolf Houston.

Deborah Hartigan, is an American artist whose work is rooted in a lifelong study of nature—its elements, rhythms, and quiet power. From childhood, she has been captivated by water in motion, the structure of rocks and minerals, shifting landmasses, and the transformative forces of time. Watching waves carve the shoreline or light fracture across stone became not simply fascination, but foundation. At the age of eleven, Hartigan began formal training under a master instructor who grounded her in classical drawing and oil painting. Encouraged by her grandmother, an accomplished painter, she developed both discipline and reverence for craft at an early age. Over the years, numerous mentors reinforced her instinct to interpret the natural world—not through replication, but through abstraction and translation. Hartigan attended Boston College and continued her studies in London before earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford. Her formal education strengthened her command of composition
and material while deepening her commitment to exploring the elemental forces that first inspired her. Nature remains the core of Hartigan’s practice. Her paintings are interpretations of water, stone, mineral, atmosphere, and terrain—filtered through memory, movement, and lived experience. Whether working in oil, acrylic, or incorporating organic and reclaimed materials, her art reflects an enduring fascination with the elemental. Across decades of work, one constant remains: a devotion to nature as both subject and source. Hartigan’s paintings do not depict landscape in the traditional sense; rather, they distill its essence—erosion, tension, stillness, fluidity—into compositions that evoke the profound relationship between humanity and the natural world. For Hartigan, nature is origin, teacher, and return.

Desmond Blair, a Dallas-based artist is a problem solver and has been ever since childhood. Blair was born without fingers. Through navigating learning how to write without hands in school, Desmond discovered a love for art and animation. It was this love for animation and animated storytelling that inspired Blair to expand his artistic talents. Blair’s tenacity, determination, and drive empowered him to graduate from high school at the age of 16. Blair later earned his undergraduate degree from University of Texas at Dallas where he honed his traditional abilities and transferred them to digital media focusing on animation and computer graphics. Blair later returned to UTD where he received his MFA in Art and Technology with a concentration on the development of computer graphics and the study/analysis of emerging media trends. He now uses his art to encourage others, promote limb difference awareness and raise money for charities in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Desmond hopes to one day use his art to launch a scholarship fund that will assist graduating seniors born with limb differences in the pursuit of their academic goals. 

Elyse Hradecky is a Dallas born artist living and working in Manhattan, New York. Her training, based on traditional techniques, has led her to create work with a classical foundation, based on contemporary subjects. Working in both 2D and 3D, her figurative work focuses on the quiet connections created between the art and viewer. Whether through direct gaze or voyeuristic observation, she creates spaces encouraging contemplation about her subjects. Her still life paintings show the often-overlooked beauty of everyday and discarded items. While earning a BFA in Printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design, she was accepted to the European Honors program in Rome, Italy. Afterward, she earned an MFA with honors in sculpture, with a concentration in anatomy, from the New York Academy of Art. She has been awarded a Terra Foundation residency in Giverny, France and the Distinguished Artist Scholarship and Full Fellowship from the Art Students League Residency at Vyt. Her work has been shown at Dacia Gallery in New York City, The Lyme Art Association Gallery in Old Lyme, The New York Academy of Art in New York City, The Edward Hopper House Museum in Nyack, Neoteric Fine Art in Amagansett, Union Arts Center in Sparkhill, Frontrunner Gallery in New York City, and Wayfarers Gallery in Brooklyn. Elyse had her first solo exhibition at Pencil on Paper Gallery in October of 2023.

Emmanuel Gillespie, was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He received his BFA from the University of North Texas and later earned a Master of Art from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Gillespie works with mixed media in both 2D and 3D forms. He has worked on several Public Art projects in Dallas, Texas including specific work for the Bexar Street Corridor project and the DART Green Line project. As the former curator for the African American Museum of Dallas, Emmanuel worked to bring the beauty of the Arts to our Dallas community. Most recently, Emmanuel Gillespie was commissioned to create the Ernie Banks Statue in Dallas for the Booker T. Washington School of the Performing and Visual Arts. In addition, two new statues by Emmanuel now reside at the Cedar Crest Golf Course in Southern Dallas. Bronze statues of Dr. Charles Sifford and Walter Hagen, commissioned by I Am A Golfer Foundation grace the entrance to the golf course. 

Frank Frazier, a Nationally acclaimed artist, has been creating art for over 60 years. A New York native, but home to Dallas visual artist, Frazier has inspired many artists and art enthusiasts through his exhibitions across the United States. His legacy not only resides in his art, but also through his passion for assisting and guiding artists.  A veteran and a supporter of museums, galleries, and organizations, Frazier continually creates bodies of work that illustrate historical moments and present Black experiences that not only educate but unite communities at large. 

Katie McKay Jones, is a painter residing in Fort Worth, Texas. She graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with BA in Studio Arts. While there, she emphasized in painting and printmaking. Jones has had the opportunity to participate in several group shows in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for the past three years. “Little Monsters Everywhere” at Pencil on Paper Gallery was her first solo exhibition. Katie's work was featured for the second time in a row at the Fort Worth Art Fair at the Pencil on Paper Gallery booth, and continues to be a favorite amongst collectors. New work can be seen in Gallery II at Pencil on Paper Gallery.

Murielle White, was born and raised in Paris, France, where her early exposure to art and culture shaped the foundation of her creative practice. She later moved to Tampa, Florida, earning a BFA in Studio Art, magna cum laude, from the University of South Florida in 2006. That same year, she traveled to China with the University of West Virginia to study traditional landscape painting at the Nanjing Art Institute, where she also participated in her first international group exhibition. In 2007, White relocated to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and went on to receive her MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of North Texas in 2010. She remained there as a faculty member from 2010 to 2018, teaching painting while continuing to develop her own studio practice. Her work has been presented in solo exhibitions at Dallas Contemporary, Cris Worley Fine Arts (Dallas), McMurtrey Gallery (Houston), and Stella Jones Gallery (New Orleans). In 2016, she was commissioned to create a 4-by-92-foot mural for the Student Union building at the University of North Texas. In 2018, White returned to Europe, spending four years in Naples, Italy, followed by extended time in Paris and Marseille, France. Immersed in the Mediterranean environment, its light, sea, and atmosphere, her work underwent a significant transformation, evolving both materially and conceptually. She returned to Dallas, Texas, in November 2025, where she is currently based. Her practice centers on a sustained exploration of landscape, translating lived environments into layered, abstract compositions that reflect place, time, and inner transformation.

Rapheal Crump, was born in the Bronx New York in December of 1984, Rapheal grew up in a household that strongly believed in the importance of the arts and education. He was influenced by his mother who was an illustrator and his father, a painter. When he was only 5 years old, he was bitten by the entrepreneur bug when a woman offered him money for his drawings. These early influences and events lead him to open a boutique clothing store, selling customizable clothing and shoes by the time he was in high school. After receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts from School of Visual Arts in 2007, he began to work as a graphic artist and animator for a major media network in Times Square. After numerous years in the media field, Rapheal relocated to Dallas, Texas where he began his career as a full-time artist in 2017. Rapheal's work varies from oil paint, acrylic and mixed media, mostly focused on the culture of the urban city living. His visions derive from memories and experiences which connects the viewer and their own nostalgia. The evoked emotion from each viewer gives Rapheal a push to continuously create meaningful and thought-provoking bodies of work. “Above Us” provides viewers with a breathtaking glimpse of the beauty in our world, provided we take the time to stop and look up.