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Blue Tree Gallery paper lamps are created with wire and a variety of natural fiber papers. The affect of soft light, filtering through the natural fibers of the paper, creates a richly textured, colorful luminescence. |
Treescape by Yoshi and Susie Aoki |
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Acrylic Painting on stretched canvas. Expressionist motivated |
Big Al's Tulips by Lisa Barker |
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The artwork of Faducci is created by forming cement around a steel and wire armature. Natural mineral pigments are utilized to permanently color the cement as well as additives that enhance strength and frost resistance. The applied glass is opalescent, frost proof and traditionally manufactured in Italy using centuries old techniques. We also use natural stone in the mosaic process. Using handcrafted cement, steel and mosaic sculpture, all our artwork is designed to be enjoyed indoors or outside in natural settings - garden art, fountains, architectural art, public art, home installations (fireplaces, floors, walls), restaurant and hotel art, furniture and mirror. Our art brings whimsical emotive expression to both botanical and animal forms. |
Norton and the Kissosaurus by Solomon Bassoff and Dominica Mottarella |
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Haiku is poetry of deceptively simple statements that bring out the profound in ordinary scenes or events. Producing an image that creates a visual “haiku moment” is what I strive for in my work. I think the most interesting photos are those composed of simple, everyday subjects that when photographed in a peculiar light, a specific arrangement, or from an unusual perspective produce images which present unexpected emotions or thoughts.
True haiku poetry contains specific defined elements. Of these, a reference to nature (in particular a season), the juxtaposition of subjects in a surprising relationship, and something old or aged are of most interest to me. The near or close-up draws my attention more often than the far view. In landscapes, I am drawn to interesting lighting and exploring the feelings relayed by fog and haze. I also have a strong interest in searching for geometric and expressionist abstract images both in the city and in nature. Direct reference to humans is uncommon in Haiku and—although for different reasons I imagine--also absent in my photos. |
Dancing Shoes by Larry Blackwood |
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Eileen Blodgett, Nevada City artist and teacher, is known for her use of vibrant water media. Eileen has been working in watercolor, acrylic and printmaking for over 30 years. The experiences of studying art in Japan and the United States, as well as working around the world with people from over 50 different nations, have given Eileen the flexibility and inspiration to paint in both realms of Asian and Western design. She maintains a studio in Nevada City and teaches drawing, painting and printmaking locally. |
Swimmers by Eileen Blodgett |
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Deborah’s body of work spans 17 years and many mediums of sculpture. She currently has a line of limited edition bronze sculptures as well as many one-of-a-kind ceramic sculptures. |
Guardian Sweet by Deborah Bridges |
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Copper is my canvas, patinas are my pigmet. My colors are a reaction on the metal. Acid painting ! |
Sedona Sunset by
Stephen Bruce |
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Following graduation from The Art Center College of Design, John Burrows began his successful career in interior design, and remains active in this field through Burrows Design located in Newport Beach, California.
Through his art, John gives the viewer a sense of shared identity with subjects and scenes familiar to us all. John tends to paint using a larger format, as he is convinced that simplicity demands a broader canvas. One patron commented that John’s paintings look like recalled memories. John and his wife Jeni, also an artist, share a home in Newport Beach, California. |
Shopping by John Burrows |
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George has spent most of his professional career as a social worker. George, now in his mid-50s, paints almost every day. He is inspired by the beautiful northern Colorado countryside and the many people who share his life. George is a Renaissance man whose talents include furniture and cabinet making. His home is adorned with his handcrafted furniture, cabinets, two looms and numerous paintings.
“I always believed I had the ability to draw, which is the foundation of my desire to paint,” he says. George started painting with watercolors in 1986 at the Denver Art Students League. In November 1998, he focused on oil painting under the teaching of Liz Todd, an artist from Fort Collins, Colorado. During this period, he developed a passion for oils.
George works from life. His models sit for him until completion. George’s landscape paintings are composed on location to capture the essence of light. His larger landscapes are completed in the studio from his on-location field studies. George is inspired to paint subjects, mostly his friends and acquaintances.
George is known for his landscape “road trips,” taking him often to neighboring states to capture a three-hour segment of light. George enjoys surprising his painting companions by taking impromptu excursions that often end in Wyoming |
Michigan Creek by George Coll |
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Dwayne S. Cranford, a Colorado native began his career in art by applying his welding skills to create steel sculptures. His figurative sculptures are created from materials such as bike chains, concrete nails and scrap steel that had been discarded. He recently began combining stone with the metal to create durable, weatherproof furniture.
Artist Statement
My rock chairs have been compared to something found on the set of the Flintstones, but great care is given to ensure they are both aesthetically pleasing and comfortable. The stone added to discarded steel results in functional furniture inspired by Mother Nature. They are not only weatherproof, but integrate easily into landscapes and cityscapes without intruding on the surrounding beauty. |
Red Deep Seating by Dwayne and Jill Cranford |
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Born and living in New York City, Michael studies underclassical painter, Guiseippi Trotta and modernist Eugene Kurakin. His work has been published, exhibited and collected around the world. Currently working in acrylic and oil on stretched canvas, he is also widely known for his fine art photography. Michael is a full time working artist and travels the country in his Airstream, a self contained mobile art studio. |
Check and Balance by
Michael Depraida |
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Full time artist, Nancy Eckels, was born in Kingston, N.Y., and grew up in Utah. After high school she attended the U.S. International School of Performing and Visual Arts in San Diego, California where she earned a BFA degree, and concentrated on acting and musical theater.
Nancy was a late bloomer when it came to the world of art. A different creative career preceded her move into painting. Always wanting to work in show business, she followed that direction and, after several years and many different television jobs, she became a director on the CBS daytime drama, "The Bold and the Beautiful". But eventually, the lack of control over her time and her life convinced her to try painting full time. Having dabbled with painting throughout her life, and given her family background, it seemed like the most natural transition she could make. Her parents met in an oil painting class, and her sister, aunts and uncles are all involved in art. Nancy considers herself a self-taught artist, and refers to the "osmosis method" when asked about her training. She obtained a wealth of art knowledge by growing up around talented, artistic family members.
Nancy’s paintings use uninhibited texture and color and are created in acrylic paint with an unplanned improvisational style, allowing them to be more about emotion and mood than tangible elements. Nancy just begins to paint and lets her instincts and emotions take her wherever they may. |
Resting Red by Nancy Eckels |
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"The impetus for my work is the desire to explore through "form imagery" the inner language of nature. To reveal continuous change and emerging patterns. To feel the flow and flux of energy and the ultimate harmony of our universe. It is my hope that the viewer will feel a sense of recognition. A connection to this visual journey." |
Earthsong by Audrey Farina |
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The colors and forms in my paintings are the result of a spiritual process for me. I often paint while listening to music in my studio, and it becomes a meditative act that removes me from the mundane concerns of everyday life.
I often use geometric shapes in my work because I find them calming. In Buddhism, the circle, square, and triangle are the shapes found in nature, they are basic elements of everything you see…you just have to look. When I paint, I’m simply breaking things down into their basic elements. Reality is in simplicity—the more complex something gets, the less real it becomes.
I believe my art comes from the Creator working through me, allowing me to get closer to spirit, calm my mind, and live in the moment. It’s that peace that I hope viewers experience when they look at my work. |
A Rare Gift by Mike Fletcher |
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Verone Flood is a landscape photographer who is addicted to cameras, computers and Diet Coke. Now living and working in Portland, Oregon, she received her BA from Boston College in 1984, and her MFA from Florida State University in 1986.
Verone typically works with a series of photographs. Each image is made up of juxtaposed photographs. The photographs are about relationships; the relationship of shapes and color, balance and tension and negative and positive space. Lines and color play an important factor to the sequence of the photographs. The viewer develops their own relationship between the photographs when viewing an image. The digital images are printed on Fuji Crystal Archive paper. |
Green Paint by Verone Flood |
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My paintings are produced in the medium of watercolor, using Winsor and Newton transparent watercolor exclusively. I work on 300 lb. Arches watercolor paper which is permanently mounted to an acid-free backing board. I use only five colors when I work: warm and cool reds, a pure blue, a pure yellow, and for my Southwestern work, burnt sienna. However, most of my colors are mixed from the primaries.
Over the years I have become a studio painter, never painting on location. I work from my photographs (I have thousands) and have the ability to reconnect on an emotional level with the scene as first experienced. I add and delete information as composition dictates, but basically attempt to give the viewer the same experience that I enjoyed.
I produce about 150 originals a year, continue to grow, and have sufficient control to express my views on a regular basis. Self-expression is my driving force and a large part of the compensation in this discipline.
I am self-taught in watercolor, but I was born to the creative process. Technique is only a part of art and creativity cannot be taught. Artists are born, not made. Keep your heart as well as your eyes open when you view art. Enjoy. Be happy. Be whole. |
Santa Rita by Tom Gavitt |
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Amber George graduated from UCLA with a degree in Fine Arts in 1994. Most notably, she studied with Don Suggs, Lari Pittman and Nancy Rubins and chose to explore contemporary art issues in drawing, painting, sculpture and installation. She also studied astrophysics and classics which still inform some of her work today. She currently lives and works in rural San Diego County with her husband David, a woodworker and furniture designer, and her 3 cats and dog Teddy. In addition to her artwork, she teaches art on behalf of the San Diego Museum of Art in schools across the San Diego City School District to encourage and nurture the next generation of artists. |
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"Gill's People" is collection of hand built sculpture constructed of copper and wood. Each wall or free-standing piece is one of a kind and depicts characters from western to sports to jazz and what ever the imagination can conceive. |
Jazz Men by Richard Gill |
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Lana Grace, Painting, Auburn,
California |
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There was something about being an air force brat, and doing a fair amount of moving around, that really sunk in as part of Kara's inner landscape. “I feel very alive when I travel. When I’m seeing new scenes, new landscapes, feeling different climates and energy I feel I’m in my element.” The ‘scenes’ captured in any painting are a slice of life. “Sometimes there’s movement, sometimes a stillness, and often both – that’s just how life is to me”
Somewhat ironically it was the fact of having landed in one place for a stretch of years that allowed the space for painting to happen. Having lived in the Sierra Foothills since 1989 and raising a family she began painting in 2003. “In January of that year I became a painter. I’d wanted to paint for a long time; I’d done a lot of other kinds of art but not painting until then.”
"Every painting presents the question, how do I paint what I see? I find more and more that any ideas I have when I start are usually best put aside. My mind will probably never know beforehand what will happen in a painting; at best the ideas form a loose framework. It's a constant dance of intent and letting the mystery unfold. Usually it's the mystery, not knowing how this stroke, this line or this color will turn out but forging ahead anyway, which proves to be most intriguing and also hardest to do. My favorite paintings happen when I can let that mystery take the lead." |
Greece As I See It by Kara Gridley |
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Texture, dimension, and the love of color are exciting to me and are the basis for my artwork. The use of disparate elements are a challenge in bringing a piece together to a conclusion of good design. My paintings are non-representational and are a construction of layers of acrylic paint, washes and glazes over a textured surface. This is what my work is all about. I hope to strike a cord with my viewers so that they are intrigued and mesmerized by what they are seeing. |
Measured by Karen Hale |
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Family outings and fishing trips with my Uncle David Rich and my brother Todd led to a deep and lasting connection to the outdoors. Fishing, baseball and drawing were my primary interests.
I graduated from the State University of New York at Geneseo in 1982, majoring in business and studio art, and spent an equal amount of time chasing trout around local streams with a fly rod. It wasn't until a couple years later, during an apprenticeship with Richard Beale, a wonderful painter and teacher, that I realized I would pursue a career as a painter.
Rivers and streams first captured my imagination when fishing with my Uncle David. Fishing led to canoeing, kayaking, hiking, snowshoeing; spending as much time outside as possible. Reading the work of authors Barry Lopez, Richard Nelson, Jim Harrison, Tom McGuane, Harry Middleton, Rick Bass, David James Duncan, Cormac McCarthy and others helped me to further explore and define my relationship to the land. After years of working as an illustrator, using my free work time to paint any number of subjects, it wasn't until my mid-thirties that I began to define for myself what my work is about.
In a culture that increasingly separates us from the natural world, my interest is in how we relate to it, how it lives in our minds and memories, and can provide a sense of belonging, of connection, of home. |
Darby's Barn by Richard Harrington |
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Using traditional methods, I bind handmade papers and leather together to create personal journals.
With my artistic perspective on book binding, I fuse traditional and contemporary -- using inventive techniques to create extraordinary and beautiful works of art for function and admiration!
I cut and work several different tans of leather, create and prepare distinctive, decorative, archival, handmade papers, and bind the two together with six-ply parachute tack cord to craft durable and everlasting books for everyone to enjoy, in current and many future generations to come. The handmade paper is acid-free and archival to protect the life of everything put on and in between them. |
Snake Book by Theresa Haun |
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hand blown glass art for centerpieces, wall space and niches |
Golden Pears by Corey Hubbell |
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Mark primarily achieves his images by applying acrylics to canvas using brushes, knives, forks, fingers, dripping, etc. He has developed a unique style of painting signified by a strong use of color, composition and layered paint.
Born in Fergus Falls, Minnesota in 1976, Mark Jesinoski was compelled to paint via the combined influences of resourceful parents, a strong desire to understand the world around him and stubborn penchant for experiential learning.
Mark invariably learned by doing. By way of this development Mark’s present style and methods in painting were not gleaned in the classroom but were honed by the hands of experience. Through it all Mark has fervently sought a deeper understanding and modality for communication with himself and his environment through the looking glass of paint on canvas. |
Annabelle by Mark Jesinoski |
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Julia Kennedy, who hails from Bend, OR, has been selling her bead-woven jewelry at juried arts and crafts shows and in galleries in Oregon and Washington for several years under the name of Julia’s Jewels.
Julia uses many different bead weaving techniques to make her jewelry. Many of her necklaces and bracelets combine natural semi-precious stones, cabochons, and dichroic or Venetian glass pieces with glass seed beads, pearls, sterling silver and gold vermeil. Julia also teaches beading at Central Oregon Community College (part of Oregon State University) and has taught at retail stores in Seattle and Bend. She also does custom orders and repairs. |
Fireworks Necklace by Julia Kennedy |
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For me, artistic expression is very important in life. Art brings to the surface hidden emotions and values that we do not realize we may have. Art gives us a preciousjustification for our own existence. I make use of photographic techniques – but in the physical sense, my work is not photography. My subjects are not exposed to light, they are exposed to X-RAYS instead. No cameras are used. X-RAY images are made like “photograms”, or “shadow” images. I make them directly on large pieces of sheet film. The resulting negatives are printed and enlarged on fiber based Fine Art Photographic paper. All printing is done in my home studio by hand. The hand tinting – using a special oil based paint for fine photographs, is done by my wife Anne. By using this unusual medium of invisible rays, my images explore and visualize what normally cannot be seen with the naked eye. In my X-RAYOGRAPHS, another world opens up – a world which is different, mysterious and beautiful – a world which explores the beauty and complexity within. Life is both graceful and ephemeral. |
Iceland Poppy by Albert Koetsier |
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During the years I worked as a nature photographer, I accumulated hundreds of wild flower pictures. These photos are the inspiration for the designs on the scarves and sashes. The images have been manipulated in both the camera and the digital darkroom. I call them "Floral Abstractions." After 3 years of trial and error, I developed a way to digitally print the photos on light weight silk satin. Digital printing gives us a palette of over a million variations of colors. |
First Frost by David Kulaas |
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Born in California and raised in New York, Lisa received her art education at the New York Fashion Institute of Technology and then worked for six years as a designer of children’s clothes.
After marrying and raising a son and a daughter, she continued to strengthen her design skills by studying and working as a floral designer. Her paintings have appeared in numerous juried exhibitions and one person shows and have garnered many awards. Her work has been exhibited in prestigious galleries in Los Altos, Carmel and Half Moon Bay, CA.
Lisa now lives in the Sierra Nevada foothills with her husband. An avid gardener, she photographs her flowers and gathers ideas while working in her garden and surrounding forest. |
Foxy Lady by Lisa Lang |
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I had worked a lot of jobs but had never really found my calling until I met a glass artist at a local art festival. I walked into her booth, touched every bead in there and begged to be taught. The obsession began then. The process of melting glass, forming beads and creating little works of art everyday is very rewarding.
The best part about what I am doing is that I am always learning. Sometimes the glass behaves just like it should and sometimes I get happy accidents. As long as I have the ability, I will continue creating beautiful pieces of wearable art for you to enjoy. |
Wearable Spring by Bonny Leer |
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In non ferrous metals I form patina & otherwise abuse it to make functional beauty in a plastic world. |
Portal Wall Shrine by Kevin Loughran |
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Galina was born in Lugansk, Ukraine, in the time of the Soviet Union at its prime. She had no formal Art education in Ukraine. Russian Art History was part of her education in History.
Art had always been a passion of hers, but the opportunity to work it all into a busy schedule as a student and mother, in Ukraine, never come to pass. Coming to America finally gave Galina a chance to begin to find training in Art. She looked inside of herself and found her childhood dream.
She started with Art Books and touring Galleries. Galina then took local college courses in Fine Arts in Redding, California. In order to grow in the field of Art, she enrolled in a number of workshops, located in the Western United States, with famous artists, including Anthony Rider, David Leffel, Ray Roberts, Ned Mueller, Huihan Liu, and Dan Gerhartz.
After viewing the works of many of the European Artists of the past, in the best European Museums, that included Titian, Michelangelo, French Impressionists and others, she was inspired to use oil as her prime medium. Pencil charcoal drawings are also a prominent part of an artist preparation for Realistic Art. Galina always thought that to be an artist was like being a wizard. She wanted to be a wizard, so she entered the Masters of Fine Arts program with major in Figurative Painting from which she will graduate shortly. |
San Francisco by Galina Milton |
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Denis Minamora comes from a tradition of pictographic artists and storytellers. It is in keeping with this tradition that he creates his mixed-media paintings.
Denis combines watercolors, pen and ink, and chalk pastels to create paintings that inspire the storyteller in all of us. As the viewer approaches his paintings they experience a transition from a clear reality to a multilayered image that encourages them to see the story within.
Drawing upon his training as a professional photographer gives Denis an eye for clarity of light and proper proportion. Add to this his love of the lyric effects of watercolors and pastels and the result is art that can change appearance when viewed from different distances.
This combination of illusion and strict proportion prompts Denis to think of his work as "Romantic Realism."
Denis Minamora's work is shown in prominent galleries and juried shows. He is included in collections both public and private across Canada and the United States as well as in Europe and as far away as Japan, Korea, Israel, Indonesia, and Australia. |
Ponte Vecchio by Dennis Minamora |
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Inspiration has always come to me from nature in all its’ variations: animals of all kinds, ocean, beach, river, lake, desert, mountain and the human form. I remember when I was 11 years old my Grandmother took me to Yosemite National Park (in her new 1963 Thunderbird!). Nana knew how much I loved the beauty of nature and she wanted to share one of her favorite natural places. After entering the Park, I’ll never forget Nana pulling the car over at the scenic turnout after emerging from the tunnel. It is there that you get the first and most famous view of Yosemite Valley. As we stood together at this breathtaking vista I looked up at Nana and she was crying. I thought something terrible was wrong so I asked. She smiled and said, “I always cry when I see truly beautiful things”. Well, I can’t say I always cry, but I know where a big part of my reaction to the beauty in nature comes from!
The experience of traveling to Yosemite with Nana set an example that I would carry throughout my life: experiencing nature everywhere, from the backyard to road trips to beautiful places. My wife Kit and I love to go on scenic drives, whether it’s the local back roads or our annual two (or more) weeks trip to different areas and National Parks throughout the US and western Canada, always sketching, painting and taking lots of photos. |
Anywhere California by Bill Monaghan |
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Cyndi E. Morgan, a former professional dancer and choreographer, retired to North Idaho and focused her artistic talents into capturing the "spirit of nature dancing."
"Earth Dance sculptures are inspired by my love and experience of dance and the beauty and spirit in nature," says the Sagle, Idaho, artist. "Each sculpture is one of a kind formed with a mixed medium of wood, stone and clay, then embellished with natural fibers, glass and beads." |
Dreamweaver by Cyndi Morgan |
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Driven by the beauty of the vast world and unlimited universe in which we live, feel, work, emote and ponder in, I am compelled to image the eternal and the fleeting. Life is a communion of syntropy and entropy where creation and dissipation walk hand in hand along a long lonely beach, where love wings in touching us with angelic repose and just as often tips up and away long before the earthbound heart is ready to understand. |
Dawn Country Road
by Steven Mueller |
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Andrew Noga first started working with glass over a decade ago, at Southern Illinois University under the guidance of Bill Boysen. After college, Andrew went to study with a number of established glass artist, including Venetian goblet maker, Chuck Savoie. Andrew now teaches and shows in galleries nation wide. In his work, Andrew uses classical shape and technique and combines them with form that express the fluid nature of the glass.
Alexis Silk is a student of human form. She combines her knowledge of anatomy with her passion for fire to create female figures in cast metal and hot sculpted glass. Alexis received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she specialized in foundry. Simultaneously she independently pursued glass blowing and sculpting.
Her sculptures portray female forms as strong and sensual, emphasizing sexuality as a strength. Her work questions gender roles and stereotypes associated with American females. While making intrinsically beautiful objects, she subtly targets issues such as preconceptions limiting women’s roles in the work force in conjunction with body stereotypes.
Alexis Silk and Andrew Noga continue to show in galleries nation wide. The combination of Andrews discipline of the material reflected through Venetian techniques and Alexis' understanding of human anatomy, expressing freedom with form, allows them both to create work that continues to influence and excite each other. |
Classic Elegance by Andrew Noga and Alexis Silk |
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I am a painter, and silk is my canvas. I start with a white piece of silk from China and paint on this silk using tiny bamboo brushes. I then make these silk paintings into clothing. I design, cut, and sew each garment by hand. This is truly wearable art. All of my paintings are one of a kind and signed. There is no mass printing or silk screening.
I began my life long relationship with fiber when I was eight years old. My first projects were wool rugs and tapestries. During the last seven years I focused exclusively on silk painting. Having been fortunate to live in Hawaii and Aspen, I draw my inspiration from both of these settings. I love to create one of a kind silk clothing.
I promote my wearable art at three different locations. I wholesale to stores and boutiques. I sell on my website and I travel the county with my family doing art shows |
Hand Painted Silk Dress by Valarie Pagni |
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A self-taught photographer, Dennis has spent the second half of his life in New Mexico and feels his love of the land and the people of the American southwest is best portrayed in the black and white format. However, you will find that his subject matter traverses the entire country.
His education in the field of journalism was instrumental in shaping his philosophy that, "In every photograph there is a story being unveiled, even should that subject be an inanimate object."
He is firmly committed to his statement that, "With the sound of the camera shutter closing, in a fraction of a second, the photographer is given the gift of capturing history. And, while each image is a documentary of that moment, in tandem, the image-maker is entrusted with the ability to also expose an artistic or spiritual facet of the subject." |
Rodeo Cowboy by Dennis Parker |
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I fabricate jewelry that is minimal and modern for both men and women. I use sterling silver to create all of my work. Many of my designs feature cabochon or faceted stones.
My sterling silver chains are hand fabricated. I start by taking round and square wire and wrapping it around wooden dowels and mandrels of varying sizes to create a coil. After I cut a seam in the coil, I join the jump rings into different designs. Once assembled, I solder each seam to create a sturdy chain. Many of these chains are treated with liver of sulfur to create an antique finish.
Pendants are either carved from wax and then cast, or hand fabricated from sheet metal. Cast pendants are limited, with an edition of 99 pieces. Some designs feature faceted or cabochon stones.
Earrings are often fabricated using more than one process. I employ casting, piercing, forging, and stone setting to create a diverse variety of earrings.
All of my sterling silver scrap is recycled back into a custom series of rings called Garbage, which are large and chunky. I use casting and stretching to create spinner style rings. My combination of sweat soldering and piercing produces wide, layered bands with geometric shapes.
My metalsmithing career began at the age of 16 while I was in high school. I continued my education in college at Old Dominion University in Virginia. I graduated with my BFA in metalsmithing in 2003. Two years later I created Ply Effects, my studio jewelry line. |
Moon Print by Jennifer Pott |
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John Richter lives with his wife Dawn and kids Wyndom and Sierra in Ophir, Colorado. Although John is not native to the State of Colorado, he feels like the mountains and canyons of the Four Corners region is his spiritual home. This deep connection to the land is unmistakable when one views any of John's striking images. Born and raised in Southeastern Michigan John was magnetically attracted to the outdoors. At a young age he became acutely aware of the interconnection of all life and the subtle beauty which surrounded him. To this day his passion for landscape photography and the conservation of wild places is deeply rooted in that connection.
Having studied visual arts throughout his education, making the step to landscape photography came naturally. John's only technical training came in an introductory class to photography his senior year of High School. At that moment, the future became clear. John had found the perfect artistic medium to express his love and devotion to the natural world, landscape photography.
For the past ten years John has traveled throughout the western U.S. and beyond to fulfill that dream. He has studied many master photographers work as well as technical text to continually improve his work and better illustrate his vision. His published work can be seen in the regionally famous Telluride Calendar; Telluride Visitor's Guide; Patagonia Catalogs and on the cover of The Valley Floor Anthology. John regularly contributes to local, state and national environmental campaigns including: Sheep Mtn. Alliance; The Telluride Valley Floor Fund; The Trust for Public Land; Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project; The Ophir Valley Project; and the San Miguel Conservation Foundation respectively. |
Mystical Mirror by John Richter |
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Lisa Roche is an award winning artist who loves to use vibrant color to express bold passion, energy, and soulful light!
Lisa’s rich paintings are renowned for their daring style, always making her audience smile as they sense the importance of fun that her subjects emote. Collectors of her work love color and are not afraid to display it. Her primary and preferred medium is oil, as she also loves to play with texture; all in an effort to make the encounter with her pieces more striking and memorable.
No stranger to Wine Country, Lisa was just recently the exclusive featured artist at the 2007 Paso Robles Zinfandel Festival. One of her paintings, Jammy, was not only the promotional piece for the festival, but was auctioned for a record setting price within the 14 year history of the event’s Live Auction/Grand Tasting.
Grass Valley locals may also recognize Lisa’s work, as four of Lisa’s paintings have been used on the labels at Luccheshi Vineyards as part of their Masque red table wine series, and their newly released champagne!
Lisa resides in Carlsbad, California. Paintings by Lisa are in private collections throughout the United States, and can be seen at her website. |
Concealing Spice by Lisa Roche |
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I use transparent watercolors (quinacridones)on 300 lb rag paper and watercolor canvas. |
The Gathering by David Rojas |
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wheel thrown and altered porcelain, high fired, crystalline glazes. |
Earth's Crust by Hong and Adam Rubinstein |
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Laurie Schendel Lane learned to draw early on from her father who was also a fine artist. She received a BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design with an emphasis in photography. For many years Laurie shot commercially for Target, ad agencies and other corporations garnering her a keen eye and proficiency within the medium. Thirteen years ago Laurie and her family moved to Missoula, Montana to pursue her love of fly fishing and photography. This effort has cumulated in very original and fresh art of the aesthetic trout and its habitat resulting in many people collecting this beautifully unusual art. Because the elusive trout is difficult to photograph at best, most people mistake her photographs as paintings making her art even more engaging. Most recently Laurie won another award for a book proposal on her "Trout Series" from the IPA (International Photography Awards). Her work can be seen in many publications including a photo feature in Delta's Skywest July/August issue. |
Surface by Laurie Schende Lanel |
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My intention in painting is simply to be a contributor of beauty to this world. I wish to create images which express in form the subtle moods of nature, images which call forth the entire range of human emotional aliveness, which express perspectives that bring freshness to the familiar, which provide cultural access to normally unfelt sensitivities, and which chronicle the human spiritual journey.
To fulfill this intention, I work to achieve what I call following the beauty. The art of this, while actually painting, is in an active surrender to the constant choices that arise. And then, to know when to stop. Like finding focus in a fog, to evoke with my medium just enough form, just enough definition, just enough Art to cause an embrace of the emotions or trigger original perception... whatever my styling or subject matter, it is for this I labor. |
Peacockness by David Seacord |
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"I design and make jewelry that is a blend of the modern and traditional. My inspiration is drawn from nature, which I enjoy putting on a personal level. I find that designing jewelry is not only a wonderful way to use all of my skills, but also a great way to express my thoughts.
"The incorporation of natural elements into my pieces was first inspired by Rene Lalique's work. Since I find it almost impossible to improve on nature, I decided to have real branches and leaves cast in 18kt gold and sterling, once it is in metal I can then fabricate it into the shape and form I'm looking for. Then my challenge is to put them together to form a piece that is not only beautiful, but wearable." |
Waterfall necklace by
Majorie Shachnow |
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Innovative contemporary Moebius rings in various sizes and media such as ceramic, steel and Lucite. |
Infinity Ring with Twisted Tower by Charles Sherman |
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Carolanne Stalteri is largely a self taught artist who is driven and inspired by color, form and texture. Born in Northern California, art is no stranger to her family. Her great Grandmother was a mural painter in French Belgium, her father a cellist, mother a musician and painter, grandmother a painter, sister a hot glass artist, and her son is a prototype machinist attending UC, pursuing a degree in engineering. “Working with our hands seems to be a family trait.” Carolanne currently resides in North West Montana, but has lived and worked in Taos New Mexico, Jackson Hole, Wyoming and the Mountains of Colorado. “I feel very lucky to live and work in some of the most beautiful places in the world.”
“It seems to me that I receive a lot of my artistic energy from the landscape around me. I continually try to combine mixed metals and semi precious stones in forms that convey nature’s artistry.” Each piece Carolanne makes is a one of a kind, hand fabricated piece of functional art, using traditional metalsmithing methods. She recently took a class in Seattle from an artist from Japan, learning to make Shibuichi, the very metal that the Samurai Swordsmen made their armor out of. “It’s a beautiful color, and so unique in its texture, as I combine the different combinations of metals to create a completely new metal, each batch is exciting and it gives my work that very uniqueness you see constantly in nature.” Combining bold color, form and texture along with ancient techniques including scrimshaw on fossilized ivory, Carolanne’s work truly sets a style all its own. |
Selected pieces by Carolanne Stalteri |
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Starting in grade school I did a lot of writing; expository, fiction, poetry, speeches. In high school too. I earned a BA in English with an emphasis on poetry and modern American literature at Colorado College, a terrific small liberal arts college nestled at the foot of Pikes Peak in the Rocky Mountains.
While working on a MA in film at the University of Texas, in Austin, I developed a passion for still photography, shifted gears and enrolled at Brooks Institute of Photographic Arts and Sciences, the rigorous technical school in Santa Barbara, California, where I earned a second BA (Commercial Photography) in 1984.
I've made my way as a professional photographer ever since and now focus on creating photographic artwork I show and sell on the fine art festival circuit, in select galleries nation wide and by teaching photography and digital printmaking workshops at the Palm Springs Art Museum.
In 1994 I moved from downtown Los Angeles' artist district to the small rural community of Sky Valley, California (not far from Palm Springs). My home and studio sit on six acres of pristine desert with lots of wildlife (quail, dove, coyote, fox, hawk, owl, snake, squirrel) and stunning views of San Gorgonio and San Jacinto, the first and second tallest peaks in southern California. |
Messenger III by Mark Stephenson |
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What started as a hobby for a child has developed into a successful career now spanning some eighteen years. I was 12 years old when I learned how to develop black & white film and make my own prints. My darkroom was the kitchen, a bathroom, my bedroom - anywhere I could find to make a room dark. I took photos of everything, but my favorite subjects were wildlife and nature photography.
A childhood hobby eventually turned into a career in photojournalism. My love for nature photography notwithstanding, I realized the way for me to support myself with photography was to work for newspapers, then magazines. I started working for newspapers in 1990. Small weekly newspapers at first, then eventually large dailies. I worked either as a freelancer or staff photographer and became quite successful, receiving numerous awards and recognitions for my work.
In 1999, we moved to the coastal community of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where I resumed my freelance photography career working for local and national newspapers and magazines. I also provided corporate and advertising photography, some stock photography, and even portrait and wedding photography to clients as well.
In 2003 I was awarded the New England Press Association's Photographer of the Year Award. By that time my photos had appeared worldwide in newsprint, magazines, books, textbooks and other publications. It was also at that time when I started craving a new challenge. I was tiring of covering depressing news stories and the same old thing year after year. Living in beautiful Cape Cod, I started going back to my roots in photography and began photographing nature again. It seemed like the time was right to switch career paths.
Marci and I did our very first art show in 2003 on Cape Cod. We set up my new booth tent, displayed my photos of the shoreline, and opened up for business. Customers purchased my work because they admired the photos I had taken on my own time. Soon after that show, I found myself doing more art shows and less newspaper/magazine work, and photographing nature more and more.
The fall of 2006 found us trading the sands of the ocean for the sands of the desert. The Sonoran Desert in Phoenix, Arizona to be exact. We both fell in love with the landscape on a photo trip there the year prior, and by the time we moved the majority of my income was from the sale of my fine art prints. In the short time we have lived in Arizona, both my career and the work I produce have grown tremendously. For me it is in the printing process where my creativity and vision really shine and take focus. My creative process has only just begun the moment the camera snaps an image. The majority of work occurs in my now digital darkroom, and the process is not complete until I have created the perfect print. |
Sedona Varnish by Matt Suess |
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San Francisco artist, Todd R Thompson, puts a new stroke on landscape paintings, steering them somewhere between traditional and contemporary. His soft palette brings a peaceful warmth, and his simplicity of composition leaves viewers wondering what's just over the next hill.....
The majority of influence and reference in Todd's landscapes comes from spending many years hiking the mountains of Utah, walking the wooded trails of Wisconsin and currently, spending time enveloped in the rolling hills of Northern California.
Todd began his appreciation for art at a young age spending his early years in different areas of Europe living and traveling with his family. In visiting new cities and countries, works of art were purchased from local artists; thereby amassing a collection of precious art and memories that would serve him, not only as visual inspiration, but also as stepping stones to his unique style of painting, which began in 1986 with the completion of his first work in oil.
In search of an inspiring arts community, where he could continue to develop his style, Todd found himself in San Francisco and earned his Master of Fine Arts while attending the Academy of Art College. While experimenting in various mediums and styles, the majority of his current work consists of series of both landscape and abstract paintings.
“Painting in different styles keeps imagery fresh, not only for me, but also for those who view my work, and enables my paintings to evolve along with me as an artist." |
Through the Mist X by Todd Thompson |
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Phil Thum's stone work has been exhibited in the top juried Art Festivals through the southwest since 1989. The artist's work has also been displayed in several galleries in Zion National Park and Southwest Utah.
Stone Carver and Painter the artist works with a hammer and chisels. The art is based around primitive styles of archaic Native Americans. Each stone is original and remains true to the base elements of the style. |
Phil Thum at work |
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From the first, whimsy and fantasy have inflected, even driven, Jeff Tritel’s sculpture. There is nothing irrational in Tritel’s exuberance, but everything irreverent. You could compare Tritel’s menagerie, human and otherwise, with that of Dr. Seuss, but the beloved doctor charmed us precisely because his universe was his own; Tritel operates in and comments upon our universe, our memories, our mythologies, our follies. It’s tempting to call Tritel a modern-day Aesop, except that, being modern-day, not all Tritel’s fables end in moral lessons. Z |
Hot Jazz by Jeff Tritel |
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I've enjoyed living in the Portland area since the mid-1970s. The natural beauty of the region inspired my return to art to better share my wonder and delight with others. I studied photography and worked with clay as an undergraduate, but the lure of fresh clean color and the apparent simplicity inspired me try watercolor painting. After several years of learning the basics I was juried into the Watercolor Society of Oregon. This opened my eyes to the many possibilities of water media and creativity. WSO has given me the opportunity to learn and grow by studying with national and regional artists. Over the years I have received awards at many of WSO's biannual juried shows, in addition to having paintings selected and awarded by regional and national shows.
A variety of subjects, themes and 'isms' inspire my paintings, I enjoy working in more than one style. In my landscapes, it is the quality of light, the time of day, and the mood that intrigues me and makes me want to create. When it is painted on location there are extra risks and rewards to the process. The excitement and challenge of working from the model is getting it down fast, catching the gesture, the attitude, and doing it all in 20 to 30 minutes. I enjoy people-watching; and observe folks eating, drinking and having fun. My figurative paintings hint at a story but the larger challenge is conveying my enjoyment of good food, good friends, and fine conversations with the viewer. The sketchbook habit and a camera are great tools to help create these works. Painting in the studio allows time for reflection and combining many elements, and designing the painting to convey one idea or mood.
For me painting is a joyful creative activity using the elements of color, line, texture, shape and pattern to build a mood and make a pleasing image. The excitement of what will happen this time makes getting started on a new painting an endless delight. It is my hope that you will share the joy and energy in these works. To share an unusual point of view, a unique texture, a beautiful color combination, or a specific time of day is all the motivation I need for picking up a brush to begin an other painting. |
Reflections on Endings by
Bruce Ulrich |
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Linda Ann Vorobik, botanist, editor, and illustrator of numerous botanical publications, cherishes all three west coast states as home. She holds a PhD from the University of Oregon, Eugene, conducts field research and teaches in the Siskiyou Mountains of southwestern Oregon, and is a Research Associate at both the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Washington, Seattle. She lives at her family home on Lopez Island, Washington.
Dr. Vorobik is a Visiting Scholar at the University Herbarium, University of California, Berkeley, and at the Herbarium, University of Washington, Berkeley. She specializes in botanical illustration and plant systematics.
Dr. Vorobik is currently editor of Fremontia, the journal of the California Native Plant Society, and conducts research on the genus Arabis (rock cress, Brassicaceae; ITS analysis to determine taxonomic relationships between species in the A. macdonaldiana group).
Dr. Vorobik is principal illustrator for several books, including Flora North America Volume 25 (Grasses), The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California, The Jepson Desert Manual, and A Flora of Santa Cruz Island.
She has taught numerous courses, including An Introduction to California Plant Life (plant communities and plant taxonomy) and Botanical Illustration through several universities and field institutes. |
Western Sword Fern by Linda Vorobik |
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Carole Wade is accustomed to a bold and adventurous lifestyle. Carole has returned from a 4-year single-handed circumnavigation of the Atlantic Ocean in her 30' Allied Seawind ketch, Italic.
Her major ports of call were Bermuda, the Azores, Spain, Portugal, Madeira and the Canary Islands. In June, 2003, she completed the final passage nonstop from Puerto Rico to Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Having had a successful, award-winning career as a graphic designer, Wade has made the transition to fine art. She notes, “It takes more courage for me to put brush to canvas than it took to set sail on the ocean alone.” But desire to interpret her personal surroundings in a passionate, colorful style has won out.
Wade won the prestigious Juror’s Choice award at the 2003 Summer Juried Show and Best of Show in the Autumn Juried Show of the Falmouth (Cape Cod) Artists’ Guild. She won the $1000 prize in a Canary Islands competition in 2002 and First Prize in the Tubac Arizona juried show in spring, 2004. In 2006 Wade won first prize for painting in the Evergreen (Colorado) art festival and had a one-woman show in Connecticut in the fall. She will be featured in the Phoenix Gallery in Park City, Utah, in March 2007. |
Waiting for the Cut by Carole Wade |
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Oil on canvas using black gesso, often my base painting is a color negative to achieve vibrancy. |
Studio Dancers by Russ Wagner |
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bold application of pastel strokes and color creating vivid representational images |
Winter Moment by Karen Watson |
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Aoki, Yoshi and Susie
Barker, Lisa
Bassoff , Solomon
Blackwood, Larry
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Bridges, Deborah
Bruce, Stephen
Burrows, John
Coll, Geoge
Cranford, Dwayne and Jill
Depraida, Michael
Eckels, Nancy
Farina, Audrey
Fletcher, Mike "Satch"
Flood, Verone
Gavitt, Tom
George, Amber
Gill, Richard
Grace, Lana
Gridley, Kara
Hale, Karen
Harrington, Richard
Haun, Theresa
Hubbell, Corey
Jesinoski, Mark
Kennedy, Julia
Koetsier, Albert
Kulaas, David
Lang, Lisa
Leer, Bonny
Loughran, Kevin
Milton, Galina
Minamora, Dennis
Monaghan, Bill
Morgan, Cyndi
Mueller, Steven
Noga & Silk, Andrew & Alexis
Pagni, Valarie
Parker, Dennis
Pott, Jennifer
Richter, John
Roche, Lisa
Rojas, David
Rubinstein, Hong and Adam
Schendel Lane, Laurie
Seacord, David
Shachnow, Marjorie
Sherman, Charles
Stalteri, Carolanne
Stephenson, Mark
Suess, Matt
Thompson, Todd
Thum, Phil
Tritel, Jeff
Ulrich, Bruce
Vorobik, Linda
Wade, Carole
Wagner, Russ
Watson, Karen
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