First the art. It’s primarily the work of Alexander Volkov. Born in Russia, Al began his painting career in high school. As he advanced, he would paint the city landscapes—tops of buildings, skylines of Leningrad. According to Heidi, “At 14, Al was in a car accident and broke his leg. Someone gave him a box of paints to stave off the boredom, and he painted a copy of William Turner’s, The Glorious Temeraire (The fighting Temeraire) and discovered he had a gift.” Leaving Russia in 1989, he settled in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, where he became influenced by the stark contrast of rural life there and throughout Bucks County. His work, whether landscape or still life, is all about light—the juxtaposition of light and dark, shadows cast in the sky, on buildings, in nature. He says, “There is no greater mystery to me than the conflict of light and darkness. In the way they clash and penetrate each other, there is the source of everything. Whether I paint a landscape, a still-life or a portrait, within it there is always a story of light traveling through darkness.” And according to Heidi, his realism is personal.  “The only pieces which are not real places are those with human form in them,” Heidi says. “They are not necessarily people he knows, but emotions evoked from within himself.”  One was from a closed New Jersey church interior where he sat for hours, just studying. Others are inspired by what ‘might be.’ Heidi pointed out one painting of the Bucks County Playhouse, titled Strangers in the Night. She says, “It an example of how Al takes reality and adds his artistic license and romantic perspective. His paintings are not about how closely he can match a given subject matter, but rather, the way he perceives it in a different light to the rest of us.”  Heidi says he noticed a tree in the forefront of the playhouse and imagined it in the moonlight. I loved it. Also ‘Buddy’—the depiction of autumn leaves swirling in front of a familiar rural scene—an automobile, in this case, an old VW bug, unattended, with sunlight dancing around it as if on a fall day. That’s just of few of the hundreds of paintings, giclee and prints by the artist. Having lived on the west coast, many of his works can be found in galleries out west, such as Park City, Sedona, Houston, Tahoe, San Antonio, and down in Florida. “Al’s work is very collectible. Al has painted about 650-700 pieces over the course of four decades. There are only ever about 40 original paintings on the market at one time because most have sold. All his paintings can be ordered as a Limited Edition Giclee on canvas, or a Limited Edition embellished giclee on canvas—if the edition has not sold out,” she says. His work is unique, growing and learning from some of the greats— Rembrandt, Edward Hopper, Maxfield Parrish and Andrew Wyeth, Nabokov and Steinbeck, Tarkovsky. He says, “If you want to learn, you will always find someone to learn from—be they dead or alive, great or unknown. You will learn from everything you see and hear around you – if you are willing to pay attention. Perhaps, during my formative years, I have made a lot of unnecessary mistakes, but at the same time I have had the enormous advantage of picking my own teachers.”