About the Artists:
Chris Boyd
Under the eyes of my teachers, I developed my own skills and discipline. But it was in my early childhood during wondrous days spent at my grandparents' farm, when I was allowed to roam, to watch and to dream, that nature became a vital part of me. My connections to nature can be seen in my animal creations, but also I enjoy designing bowls that resemble seed pods and cups that have the intricate structure of a flower, mushroom or squash. Walks in the garden, along the beach and in the woods reveal new forms and new ways of seeing. There is always a new frontier. CBoydCeramics.com
Jeremy Joan Hewes
For most of my life I've taken photographs. As the sophistication of digital cameras and tools has increased, I've developed an ongoing series of photographic montages and digital compositions. Then I integrated printmaking into my art practice, and more recently added abstract painting as another element in my mixed-media art.
My work centers on color and place, with a strong graphic component. In my photography, color has always been a magnet. And my fascination with places has led to an exploration of how to express the sense of a city or a patch of woods by combining my images with other information.
As an artist, I sometimes think of myself as a prospector, digging among the images and memories I've assembled over the years and following my curiosity to learn and dream about places I have yet to visit. I try to hold those feelings of discovery and inquiry as I create each mixed-media work, weaving together my photographs, painted surfaces, and bits of maps, old pages, or even wax.
www.jeremyjoanhewes.com
My work centers on color and place, with a strong graphic component. In my photography, color has always been a magnet. And my fascination with places has led to an exploration of how to express the sense of a city or a patch of woods by combining my images with other information.
As an artist, I sometimes think of myself as a prospector, digging among the images and memories I've assembled over the years and following my curiosity to learn and dream about places I have yet to visit. I try to hold those feelings of discovery and inquiry as I create each mixed-media work, weaving together my photographs, painted surfaces, and bits of maps, old pages, or even wax.
www.jeremyjoanhewes.com
Michelle Hoting
With her love of the outdoors it is only fitting that jewelry artist Michelle Hoting’s designs are a direct reflection of nature. Her pieces reveal the beauty of the earth that created the materials she uses. Her work incorporates metalsmithing and lapidary (stone cutting) techniques utilizing silver, copper, stone, flora and antique finds.
“When I work with these materials I’m interested in how to integrate the natural world into a wearable piece of art; creating a marriage of form and function. I seek to remind the wearer of the beauty of nature and it’s inevitable fragility.”
MichelleHoting.com
“When I work with these materials I’m interested in how to integrate the natural world into a wearable piece of art; creating a marriage of form and function. I seek to remind the wearer of the beauty of nature and it’s inevitable fragility.”
MichelleHoting.com
Bert Kaplan
My paintings arise out of a lifelong fascination with the world of nature. As a child, I was continually making collections of flowers, leaves, rocks, etc., much to the consternation of my mother who could never quite understand her son’s preoccupation. Now, it is the love of looking at and experiencing viscerally the beauty that surrounds us, and the need to express and share those emotional experiences that fuel my work. “In beauty there is truth.”
Conceptually, I try to emphasize the creative process of painting as a tool for personal transformation. I always felt that art was alive in me somewhere, but for much of my life I was too blocked with self-doubt and criticism to allow it to come forth. As I worked through the layers over the years, I have gained a more positive attitude toward myself and my work, allowing me to more fully explore whatever gifts I have been given.
www.bertkaplan.com
Conceptually, I try to emphasize the creative process of painting as a tool for personal transformation. I always felt that art was alive in me somewhere, but for much of my life I was too blocked with self-doubt and criticism to allow it to come forth. As I worked through the layers over the years, I have gained a more positive attitude toward myself and my work, allowing me to more fully explore whatever gifts I have been given.
www.bertkaplan.com
Kalia Kliban
I was raised in a house full of creativity and art supplies. Though my parents were both cartoonists by trade, they spent a lot of time working with other media, making jewelry, furniture, sculpture and clothing according to whim or need. In college I decided on a career in graphic design, but after a short and unhappy stint in the advertising industry realized that I preferred making actual, physical things. I retrained as a woodworker and have been much more happily, though less lucratively, working with wood ever since. Most of my woodworking career has been spent making furniture and cabinets, with a little side trip into guitar repair and making guitar parts, but I’ve loved turning from the first time a friend plonked me down in front of his lathe and chucked in a piece of madrone. I still use the carving mallet I made that day, my first turned object, and have been extending and improving my skills ever since.
I love wooden bowls and plates. They feel good. They’re useful and beautiful, and they can last a lifetime. A well-made bowl can be a wonderful way to honor the tree the wood came from, and a wonderful way to grace a table.
See a step-by-step photo story of how Kalia makes her beautiful porringers on her Facebook page.
I love wooden bowls and plates. They feel good. They’re useful and beautiful, and they can last a lifetime. A well-made bowl can be a wonderful way to honor the tree the wood came from, and a wonderful way to grace a table.
See a step-by-step photo story of how Kalia makes her beautiful porringers on her Facebook page.
Joann Lustig
Joann Lustig has been a professional jeweler for the last 30 years. Her business was originally established with her husband. After he passed away, Joann took over the designing, creating and marketing, and has been doing this one-woman operation for the past 17 years. Their original vision was to create jewelry that was unique, colorful, beautiful and long lasting--pieces that could be worn for a lifetime and then passed on to the next generation. Working only in gold, often incorporating gemstones, and using the lost-wax process, Joann creates one-of-kind rings, pendants, wedding sets and earrings.
For the past 20 years she has been showing and selling her work almost exclusively at arts and crafts shows on the East Coast. Being at Sebastopol Gallery is a new endeavor and outlet for Joann’s jewelry. She is excited about making her art jewelry available locally. Being at the Gallery also means that she is available to design new pieces with customers’ gemstones. She especially enjoys making jewelry that symbolizes and celebrates important events--weddings, birthdays and other special occasions. JoannLustigJewelry.com
For the past 20 years she has been showing and selling her work almost exclusively at arts and crafts shows on the East Coast. Being at Sebastopol Gallery is a new endeavor and outlet for Joann’s jewelry. She is excited about making her art jewelry available locally. Being at the Gallery also means that she is available to design new pieces with customers’ gemstones. She especially enjoys making jewelry that symbolizes and celebrates important events--weddings, birthdays and other special occasions. JoannLustigJewelry.com
Diana Majumdar
Since a very early age I have been exposed to art in many forms and shapes. I grew up in Estonia in the last days of the Soviet Union. Like many children, I was first introduced to art through my father. I loved watching my father draw. I loved it when he taught me the basics of watercolor. My father took me to see museums in Estonia, Russia, Armenia, and he gave me his large set of art books printed in Russian. My father had dreamed of becoming an artist, and even though his life took him in a different direction, art has stayed with him and enriched his life and mine.
So when the choice for a field of studies presented itself and I had to ask myself what I would like to learn, the choice was easy. And so, I am on my way to graduating from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. The academy offered the opportunity to explore different subject matter from traditional landscape paintings and still-life to portraiture.
Experimenting with different media was a major part of my experience at the Academy. It seems as if the wide exposure to art I had as a child is continued in many varied classes available at the university. I have been taught clay sculpture, charcoal in figure drawing, acrylics in mixed media work, and of course my favorite classes in oil and watercolor painting. My work reflects this variety of exposure and I intend to continue on the same path experimenting with different things. DianaMajumdarArt.com
So when the choice for a field of studies presented itself and I had to ask myself what I would like to learn, the choice was easy. And so, I am on my way to graduating from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. The academy offered the opportunity to explore different subject matter from traditional landscape paintings and still-life to portraiture.
Experimenting with different media was a major part of my experience at the Academy. It seems as if the wide exposure to art I had as a child is continued in many varied classes available at the university. I have been taught clay sculpture, charcoal in figure drawing, acrylics in mixed media work, and of course my favorite classes in oil and watercolor painting. My work reflects this variety of exposure and I intend to continue on the same path experimenting with different things. DianaMajumdarArt.com
Lucy Martin
Lucy Martin is mainly a botanical artist, focusing on the mysterious beauty of fungi and lichens. She finds endless fascination in the intricate details of the natural world. Her paintings evoke places, rather than isolated specimens, as in more traditional botanical art. They are small landscapes, glimpses of the hidden life of the forest.
Lucy Martin’s paintings reflect her lifelong, deep connection with nature. Her hope is to communicate her delight in the myriad worlds waiting to be discovered right at our feet, if we'd only stop and look. Her belief is that it is this close attention to nature, and the love and respect for nature this attention will generate, that will lead us to save our wonderful planet. A true connection with nature is what we must pass on to our children and grandchildren. LucyMartinArt.com
Lucy Martin’s paintings reflect her lifelong, deep connection with nature. Her hope is to communicate her delight in the myriad worlds waiting to be discovered right at our feet, if we'd only stop and look. Her belief is that it is this close attention to nature, and the love and respect for nature this attention will generate, that will lead us to save our wonderful planet. A true connection with nature is what we must pass on to our children and grandchildren. LucyMartinArt.com
Paula Matzinger
Brightly hued California landscapes are a favorite subject of mine, reminiscent of my grandfather’s early California plein air paintings. I paint in oils when outside, enjoying the Sonoma County countryside. I also use acrylics in my studio, painting from digital photos.
My mother’s artwork also influences my landscape, portrait, figure and still-lifes. I share her desire to paint everyday objects, and the people, animals and landscapes that spark my emotional or aesthetic interest. Like her, I prefer a loose, impressionistic style.
I sometimes wander into abstraction, influenced by contemporary and abstract painting studies at UC Berkeley. Perspective is often a strong element in my compositions, reflecting my past experience in architecture and graphics.
I constantly experiment and learn as I paint. Each new painting I start seems to emerge, as if on its own. I am often surprised by what happens on the canvas in front of me.
www.paulamatzinger.com
My mother’s artwork also influences my landscape, portrait, figure and still-lifes. I share her desire to paint everyday objects, and the people, animals and landscapes that spark my emotional or aesthetic interest. Like her, I prefer a loose, impressionistic style.
I sometimes wander into abstraction, influenced by contemporary and abstract painting studies at UC Berkeley. Perspective is often a strong element in my compositions, reflecting my past experience in architecture and graphics.
I constantly experiment and learn as I paint. Each new painting I start seems to emerge, as if on its own. I am often surprised by what happens on the canvas in front of me.
www.paulamatzinger.com
James Reynolds
I absolutely love to paint. There is no greater challenge in my life, and no greater satisfaction. Creating a piece of art is a fascinating puzzle to solve intellectually, but we artists are also called upon to integrate our most profound emotional and spiritual responses into the work.
I have come to believe that artists provide an important role in awakening a sense of appreciation, not simply of beauty, but of the fragile nature of this fabulous landscape. It is easy to feel depressed and overwhelmed about the direction our species has taken, and being lectured about the need for change rarely inspires us to act. But if our hearts are touched by poetry, if we can connect with a deep sense of the perfection that is the Earth, and the tragedy of its loss, perhaps we will begin to act with greater care and wisdom. A new painting emerges on my easel - a prayer going out into the universe, my song of joy and hope. www.JamesRReynolds.net
I have come to believe that artists provide an important role in awakening a sense of appreciation, not simply of beauty, but of the fragile nature of this fabulous landscape. It is easy to feel depressed and overwhelmed about the direction our species has taken, and being lectured about the need for change rarely inspires us to act. But if our hearts are touched by poetry, if we can connect with a deep sense of the perfection that is the Earth, and the tragedy of its loss, perhaps we will begin to act with greater care and wisdom. A new painting emerges on my easel - a prayer going out into the universe, my song of joy and hope. www.JamesRReynolds.net
Susan St Thomas
Susan St. Thomas draws her inspiration from dreams, myths and the unseen realm of the natural world. She is devoted to creating images which touch the spirit, evoke a sense of peace and harmony and remind us of the multi-dimensional world in which we live. Her unique paintings have been exhibited extensively in the U.S. and Europe including shows in Beverly Hills, Amsterdam and San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral. Her work has been featured in several books and widely published as art cards, calendars and prints.
Since 1990, Susan has been an adjunct faculty member in the graduate arts program at John F. Kennedy University in Berkeley. She currently teaches at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Mendocino Arts Center, Schoolhouse Studio and leads other healing arts workshops in the Bay Area.
Susan lives with her husband, Joel, also an artist, and their 4 cat friends in a 100 year old remodeled schoolhouse in the redwoods of Occidental where they have a studio, gallery and garden with stone labyrinth.
Come visit the Schoolhouse Studio/Gallery. Open by appointment, 707 874-9462.
www.stthomassart.com.
Since 1990, Susan has been an adjunct faculty member in the graduate arts program at John F. Kennedy University in Berkeley. She currently teaches at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Mendocino Arts Center, Schoolhouse Studio and leads other healing arts workshops in the Bay Area.
Susan lives with her husband, Joel, also an artist, and their 4 cat friends in a 100 year old remodeled schoolhouse in the redwoods of Occidental where they have a studio, gallery and garden with stone labyrinth.
Come visit the Schoolhouse Studio/Gallery. Open by appointment, 707 874-9462.
www.stthomassart.com.
Teri Sloat
Teri Sloat taught for several years in the bush in Alaska, then helped create children’s literature and curriculum with Alaska’s native peoples. This started her career in writing and illustrating trade books for children--twenty-some so far. Now she tells stories as wall pieces, using a variety of mediums. She finds that people are hungry for folklore told through images.
Teri enjoys speaking to artists and writers of all ages, from local groups to international audiences. I feel our jobs as artists is to encourage the imagination of everyone. Most of my talks are on the importance of telling our own stories.
Teri studied at Oregon State and Sonoma State Universities. Her clients include Dutton, Putnam, Simon & Schuster, Sesame Street, Children’s Television Workshop, and International Reading Association. Her galleries include L’Attitude (Boston) and Stephans Fine Arts (Anchorage).
Landscape is Teri’s new passion: I am a plein air painter and have painted from the Rockies west. I am in love with the hills we live in, from pasture to sea. You will find me parked somewhere, on a narrow road or someone’s ranch, painting, with gratitude, once or twice a week.
www.terisloatfineart.com
www.terisloat.blogspot.com
Teri enjoys speaking to artists and writers of all ages, from local groups to international audiences. I feel our jobs as artists is to encourage the imagination of everyone. Most of my talks are on the importance of telling our own stories.
Teri studied at Oregon State and Sonoma State Universities. Her clients include Dutton, Putnam, Simon & Schuster, Sesame Street, Children’s Television Workshop, and International Reading Association. Her galleries include L’Attitude (Boston) and Stephans Fine Arts (Anchorage).
Landscape is Teri’s new passion: I am a plein air painter and have painted from the Rockies west. I am in love with the hills we live in, from pasture to sea. You will find me parked somewhere, on a narrow road or someone’s ranch, painting, with gratitude, once or twice a week.
www.terisloatfineart.com
www.terisloat.blogspot.com
Rebeca Trevino
I call what I do "OBTAINIUM ART". . . made from art materials not bought new, but obtained in other ways, such as second-hand, dumpster diving, chance findings or donations”
trebeca04@yahoo.com
http://rebecatrevino.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ObtainiumArt
trebeca04@yahoo.com
http://rebecatrevino.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ObtainiumArt
Jeff Watts
My name is Jeff Watts. I’m an artist living in Forestville, California.
Whether it’s an animal, a person or a flower, I consider all of my paintings to be portraits. I’m inspired by the techniques of the old masters and like to take advantage of the movement of the paint and the visible brush marks.
While I strive for a sense of realism in my paintings, I always want the viewer to know they are looking at a painting. NoGoatHill.com
Whether it’s an animal, a person or a flower, I consider all of my paintings to be portraits. I’m inspired by the techniques of the old masters and like to take advantage of the movement of the paint and the visible brush marks.
While I strive for a sense of realism in my paintings, I always want the viewer to know they are looking at a painting. NoGoatHill.com