amy paul

A San Diego native, Amy Paul studied at the University of San Diego, receiving a degree in humanities and later her masters in art history.  In addition to her continued work as an illustrator, Amy is currently teaching at both Mesa and Southwestern Colleges where she nurtures her love of art and art history.

Her inspiration is rooted in the habitual behaviors that mark each day- fleeting moments amid the most mundane activities.  Her images stem from the ordinary and through color, composition, and abstraction become more.  Her work is a response to places she has been and people she has known, at times a narrative of her most intimate experiences.  Through a process of applying and removing paint, applying in excess and removing the unnecessary, the surface is continually reworked in many layers.  She is currently a resident of North Park, a multi-cultural artisan community of San Diego, where she maintains a commitment to art and experimentation- a search for clarity, for oneness, for meaning amid so much that is meaningless.


andy anh ha

Andy studied arts at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and received his BFA in Fine Arts with a concentration in Media Arts.  He was born and raised in Nashville, TN and moved to Los Angeles after school.  His paintings vary in style as do the artists who influence him.  He appreciates the arts from the Renaissance period to more contemporary works, specifically Rembrandt, Picasso, and Warhol.  His paintings are labeled mixed media, using a variation of styles, techniques, and mediums.  Currently his main focus is lotus flowers with the inclusion of words he places on this series relate to the beliefs of the mystical lotus flower, which to his understanding is "creative power and purity amid adverse surroundings."  Words such as "able" relate to the circumstances in which the lotus blossoms in muddy swamps, yet maintains its integrity and beauty.  This concept is similar to the saying "The rose that grew from concrete." The outcome of his work is design oriented with a painterly feel.  He believes in an overall balance in his work.  The layout is influenced by his eastern culture, very simple but strong with the technique stemming from his education.


bradford salamon

"Salamon uses the rendition of his subjects as a celebration of color and form and creates a three-way dialogue between subject, artist, and the painting process."

-Tyler Stallings
Curator of Exhibitions
Laguna Art Museum

artist's statement
As an artist I am trying to find out things I did not know.  I like to prove myself wrong and do what I never thought I would.  For me, it's that moment where I lose the argument with myself and discover something new.


brian earl


Brian Earl is a full time artist living and working in Phoenix, AZ. Originally from a small town, he is intrigued by the energy of city living and finds his inspiration from the flux and fast pace. His paintings are snippets of images speeding by, as if the moment has already passed. Oftentimes, his paintings are faded in tone, incorporating numbers and letters as compositional elements pointing towards the saturation and chaos of everyday life in the age of information.

"I enjoy riding my bike around the city and stopping to photograph the change and progress. With the new lightrail system running, there is more movement than ever towards the future."


christina ramirez

Christina Ramirez was born in Paterson, NJ in 1972. She moved out west to receive her degree in Painting from Arizona State University in 1998. After having traveled through Europe, she lived on a sailboat in Singapore, and eventually settled in downtown Phoenix with her husband where she lives and works full-time as an artist in the up and coming Historic Garfield neighborhood;  blocks away from Roosevelt Row, and home to the largest First Friday event in the country.

"I have always loved the calming effect of the ocean. It's ironic that I would settle down in the Sonoran Desert, but I have discovered something very wonderful in this place; the brilliant hues set against an arid backdrop, the intense quality of light, and alien-like plant life specific to this region are all magical. To me it is as though I am witnessing what was under the ocean thousands of years ago."


david dauncey

recently david has tried to imbue his paintings with a sense of positivity, a sense of the moment, coupled with a rhythm of colour and form.  i am always thrilled by the unintended consequences of one colour elbowing against another, and he is a big proponent of learning from ones mistakes, as mistakes seem intrinsically linked to progress.  he is still very much enamoured of a few of the abstract expressionists, Joan Mitchell and Robert Motherwell, as well as a whole fleet of other truly inspirational artists, ranging from Vincent Van Gogh to Luc Tuymans.  david very much enjoy paintings and drawing, and would have to put himself in the category of people who do what they love for a living, and he is absurdly grateful for this.

deborah brenner

Deborah was born in Washington, D.C. in October 1951.  She graduated with a major in art from the University of Maryland and has studied Japanese brush stroke with Kazuaki Tanahashi.  “My art evolved from form to formless as I became more enchanted by the subtle abstractions that preceded my figurative art.  Over time, my paintings developed into two distinctive styles: my blended painting which combine spatial and linear design, and my modern asian paintings which combine a tonality of inks and textural effects.  My art consists of numerous techniques, both bold and subtle.  Even the process of dripping colors reveals a conscious exploration of controlled accident and spontaneity which is an integral part of my art.  This allows me to co-create with the painting to evolve an organic emotional content.”  It has been noted that in the East the outward appearance of a work of art is secondary to the sense of emotion or spirit it communicates to the viewer.  The success of an artwork is not only in how it looks but how it feels, how it touches one’s spirit.


didier lourenco

Didier Lourenço was born in 1968 in Premia del Mar, Barcelona.  At the age of 19 he began to work in his father's print studio, where he learned the art of lithography.  He began to paint on paper and canvas, taking over a small corner of the studio.  In 1988 he had his first solo exhibition at Vilassar de Dalt, and printed his first lithographic edition.  He dedicated himself solely to painting in the corner of his father's studio, where he had created his own mini-studio.  The corner was open to various visiting artists.  Not only was the gaze of the artists directed towards Lourenço's works, but Lourenço's gaze was directed at the works of these visiting artists.  This would be his education in the world of painting.  Lourenço was awarded Second Prize at the XXXIII Premio de Pintura Joven de la Sala Pares de Barcelona.  He also participated in some group shows in Barcelona and Valencia.  In 1992 Lourenço won the Premios Talentos of the XXXIV Premio de Pintura Joven de la Sala Pares de Barcelona.  He had his first solo show at the Galeria Art Dama de Calafell.  He also participated in numerous group shows.  In addition, he had solo exhibitions at the Vayreda de Barcelona, Gasto Sala d'Art de Terrassa, Sala Rebull de Reus, Galeria Susany de Vic and at the Minerva Galeria d'Art de Mataro.  In 1995, Lourenço left his corner in his father's studio and moved into his own studio in Premia del Mar, Barcelona.  His solo shows continued, and in-between the studio and the shows, he traveled with his friends and painters Moscardo and Praga to the north of Italy.  His days are full of travel and exhibitions.  His solo and collective shows continue, and he travels to Paris, Lisbon and New York, where he continually gains inspiration for more of his glorious oil paintings.
 


hayley gaberlavage

Hayley is inspired by a love for fashion, furniture, and modern art.  Her contemporary approach to subject matter results in a unique interpretation of figures, abstracts, and landscapes.  Oftentimes, her paintings move from the representational to the abstract; a three-dimensional object becomes a simple two-dimensional pattern.  Her experimentation with color relationships complements these abstractions.  Ultimately, each work is playful, alive, and unique.

A native of Opelika, Alabama, Hayley graduated from the University of Alabama in 2000, where she studied Interior Design.  She continued her studies at Savannah College of Art and Design in the Master of Fine Arts Program in Painting.  While in Savannah, Hayley opened OLIVE, a gallery designed for emerging artists. 

Hayley currently resides in New Orleans.


heather pieters

artist’s statement
The orchestration of color, texture and technique create images that transcend the simple identification of figure-ground relationships to provide compositions that initiate introspection and evoke memories.

Critical to the work is an exploration of color relationships.  Colors are pushed and pulled to create depth and nuance, whether it is manifested in a thirty piece study exhausting the abundant relationships of three colors, or a larger work that emphasizes the intricacy of one color on a single surface.  Color selection and composition are wedded to observations of the natural environment and the artist’s experience of object and place.

In the creative act the paint is made to dance and mingle until a distinct, harmonious composition is achieved.  Communities of color and texture are built, layer upon layer, each revealed according to variations in light.  The painted works represent the artist’s ability to filter the commotion, distraction, and excessive stimulation of daily life thus creating an atmosphere of tranquility.


jack richtman

Jack Richtman was born in 1968 in Custer County, SD, situated in the heart of the Black Hills. A pioneering spirit, he is the fourth generation of the original homestead, settled by "Great Grampa Jack" in the mid 1800's. Tied to the land by history and curiosity, he creates paintings that abstract the natural topography of the landscape around him; the hills and valleys, the lakes nestled between, and the winding roads leading to these places of beauty. As a National Park, the Black Hills forest is an isolated oasis in a world of encroaching development. The wide expanses of color in his work, speak to this isolation.

"South Dakota is a special place for me. There is a strong sense of history tied to the land in my family. The state is filled with an array of differing landscapes; reducing the shape of this land in its purest form is the focus of my work.”



jeff bowser

The son of an artist, Jeff was born and raised in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. After graduating high school, Jeff moved to Los Angeles to attend the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts and to pursue a career in acting, something he has been doing professionally now for over ten years. A self-taught artist, he began painting as an alternative form of creative expression.

"In the film and television industry, I'm always told what to do, when to do it, and where to stand while I do it. With my art, all of that is left up to me. I find the independence of painting incredibly liberating."

jeff iorillo


jennifer strasenburgh

Jennifer Strasenburgh attended the Savannah College of Art and Design from 1990 to 1992; and graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a B.F.A. in 1997.

Strasenburgh creates her artwork from her own designs and sketches. All of her works are created on paper and panel within the flexible environment of her home studio. Some of the materials are applied with brushes in a painterly fashion, while others are applied by hand and smoothed onto the surface with her fingers. She enjoys a very intimate creative process in which she’s able to handle the materials and manipulate them in an immediate way. Strasenburgh’s intimacy with her medium is what allows her to create artwork that most accurately represents her intentions as an artist and to portray strength, beauty and balance.

Strasenburgh’s work has been exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions, including the Lancaster Museum of Art in Lancaster, PA; Show of Hands in Philadelphia, PA; Arvada Center for the Arts in Arvada, CO; Groundworks Art Gallery in Denver, CO; and the Parade of Homes, Talon’s Reach in Aurora, CO. Her works also appear in several permanent corporate collections. In addition, her works have appeared in the book Going Over East, by Linda Hasselstrom (Fulcrum Publishing).

joel ganucheau

Joel's work blends sharp graphics of familiar forms with rich color fields, texture and abstract geometrics.  Working with acrylic, oil pastels, and mixed media collage, he draws on the urban environment and mixes it with natural form and a color pallet of clean blues, rich reds, taupes and browns that border on earthy.  Despite his long history of producing art, Joel had taken years off to focus on his music, briefly running a record label, and touring Europe and the US with several music projects he was involved with.  However, he's scaled back his involvement with the music scene and turning his attention back to his art career.


laurel morley

Laurel morley was born in Boston, Massachusetts but spent her early years in the sunlit desert climate of Phoenix, Arizona.  As the child of an engineer and an artist, she developed an intrinsic understanding of the nature of opposites and the forces of attraction in the world that form communication and affect the creation of art.
 
“I was raised by very creative people” laurel explains, “from my father, I inherited an analytical mind, a love of architecture and clean, straight lines.  From my mother, i learned an appreciation for the more organic painterly approach to light and color.  I think the most interesting aesthetic explorations occur in the territory where these ideas begin to interact.”  As a result of this philosophy, laurel’s paintings skillfully blend complex yet ordered spatial relations with vibrant layered color, creating atmospheric works which are sometimes evocative of landscape and figure, yet ultimately remain mysterious.
 
After considering careers in both education and architecture, laurel chose to follow her passion and studied art, graduating with honors from Arizona State University with a bachelor of fine Arts degree in painting.  while an undergraduate she found herself profoundly influenced by the playful abstract painting of Richard Diebenkorn as well as the vibrant interplay of light and color in the figurative paintings of Wayne Thiebaud.  laurel also draws her inspiration from observing the intricacies of real life, and often travels the world in search of new and stimulating sights.  Laurel  strives to create works which evoke the sensual and unfathomable nature of the world around us: our perceptions, our interactions with others, our own unique experiences.  as each layer is glimpsed, another seems to shimmer just beneath it, inviting further exploration of the world within.


matt priebe

Matt Priebe’s work is an examination of constructing and de-constructing layers to achieve both balance and disorder.  Matt commits himself to an organic process in which his reactions are exploited and explored with his color palette.  The color is in his voice, and he uses his vocabulary of color to capture the viewer between twilight and darkness.  Privately schooled on abstract expressionism at an early age, his work remains true to his teachings yet embraces his own experiences and self-introspection.


meghan henley

Meghan Henley received a B.A. in Studio Art with a concentration in painting from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Her experience with faux finish and mural painting along with her background in interior design greatly influences her style.  Her abstract compositions of fabric swatches and textile designs coupled with her sgraffito style of painting is the current focus of her studio work.


nicole landau

The "Portals" series (2007-2008) transforms commonplace architectural elements, such as a doorknob and the elements that surround it, into a study of geometry, color, and the terrain of life. This work showcases the role of incidentals found either in the photograph itself or created by the act of layering.

Each doorknob is unique and holds the memory of life coming and going. Layers of paint, stray marks imparted to the object over time, and patinas from weather and quality of use, tell the story of the object's life.

Nicole Landau digitally produces a translucent layering of a single original photograph to reveal inherent patterns, geometry, or a new landscape. She uses the entire photograph to create the composition. The crisp vertical lines are the edges of the digital image. This lends an "architectural line" to the already organic shapes and movement.

The "Florist" series (2006) takes photographs primarily of flora or fauna and translucently layers these images in a reverse archeological dig to find geometry pattern and a new beauty. This series provides a vibrant abstraction that still holds a hint of the original photograph.

Nicole Landau's formal training is in Architecture and Interior Design. She received her degree in Architecture from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1993. She now currently works and lives in Los Angeles, California.


patricia oblack

artist's statement
I love what I do. There is nothing but the act of painting itself that brings more satisfaction to my soul.  There is no anger or frustration, only the emotional output of creative energy being guided through my hand.

Each board, like a fresh page to an author, begins with the layering of colors that has become the trademark of my work.  Strings of paint are applied to the surface with a palette knife & drawn one through another to explore the assemblage of reconstructed colors & hues.  During this process, texture and depth is achieved as the layers become distressed by various techniques, which I have created through exploration of the surface.

The energy captured in my work is reliant upon music.  While not considered a tool as such, music is an integrated part of the entire process.  For example, the series called Middle-Earth was done entirely while listening to David Arkenstone.

While painting, I aim to create and unify dissimilar elements that might not otherwise stand alone  I keep watch on the evolution, encouraging it to grow while allowing for balance.  In the end, it’s all about controlled magic!


patrizia martiradonna

Born in Rome, Italy in 1969, Patrizia moved to California at the age of 22 to study English and photography.  Her attention immediately focused on a unique and abstract representation which took inspiration from the essential lines of an ideal photo image.  To this day, her passion for photography definitely influences her perception of reality and her representation of it.

In her paintings, Patrizia’s focus is spiritual narrating of interior landscapes in soft color palettes and unique visual forms.  Structures, organic shapes and geometric forms are the subjects she chooses to represent, like a photo reporter documents his impressions of an impermanent reality.  This cultural approach has become Patrizia’s methodology of work, which motivates her towards new horizons of self discovered expression.

Patrizia lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their son.


robert charon

Born in 1958, artist Robert Charon grew up in the metro Phoenix area of Arizona. Robert began to cultivate his creative mind at a very early age. In fact, his first private show was held at a local private library when he was only twelve years old. In high school, Charon developed a love of watercolors, and continued to pursue his education through art scholarships to colleges in both Arizona and Utah. During a break in his undergraduate years, Robert spent two years in Taiwan where he acquired an impassioned fondness of oriental tradition and art. Charon draws from his experiences in Taiwan and the influence of eastern culture for inspiration as an artist. For Robert, the splendor of nature and wonder of the world itself leaves an impression that long outlasts any one artistic movement. Charon is passionate about depicting the worth in brilliant subtleties of everyday life. He does not rely on specific movements or periods in art history to drive his own unique style, but does appreciate the fluidity of present day watercolorists. Robert's work can best be described as an all-embracing balance of converse yet connected imagery. It is an anecdote of light and dark; from translucent to opaque; from abstract to realism. His style is diverse and captures life's nuances in both subtle and dramatic ways. Whether it be a graceful landscape or a resonant color field abstract, Charon's work evokes a felling of peace and tranquility. The depth of his paintings calls viewers to reflection; an uninterrupted moment kept for inner thoughts and deeper meanings.

     Robert's work can be found in corporate and private collections around the world. His work can be seen in galleries on both the west and east coast of the United States.


shawn camp
Shawn Camp was born in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. He attended the University of Idaho where he studied a wide range of disciplines, finally deciding on degrees in Art and Psychology.

In 1997 he completed work on his MFA in Painting and Printmaking at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. He later moved to Tokyo for a one-year residence. Now Shawn Camp resides in Austin, where he is developing his painting career, playing lots of music, and teaching at Concordia University, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, and Austin Community College.

Shawn has presented his paintings, drawings, and collages in many solo and group exhibitions around the world.


silvia vassileva

Silvia Vassileva took her first art class when she was twelve years old in her native Bulgaria. From that time she knew where her destiny would lead and she never waivered, “After my first lesson, there was no doubt what I wanted to do. I never changed my mind!”. Silvia pursued her love of art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia where she attained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. She then spent six years painting and exhibiting her work in Japan before moving to California. Influenced by the Japanese woodblock prints,Renaissance Masters, French Impressionist and Picaso.

Silvia describes her style as very free and bold. ”I love contrast, sudden changes of color, unusual color pallets; everything that makes paintings ALIVE."
The result is an irresistible sense of exuberance and joie de vivre in her work. Over the past fifteen years Silvia has had many solo exibitions and group shows. Her work is available on an extensive collections of home accessories. Her paintings are part of the permanent collections of galleries, corporate buildings and residencies worldwide.

Silvia's light filled studio is a easy commute from her kitchen, yet worlds apart from anything to do with everyday living. Vibrantly painted images abound, and Silvia's seemingly limitless energy radiates throughout the room. it is here, to the melodies of Mozart and Vivaldi, that this prolific artist transforms blank canvasses into vivid still lifes, street scenes, interiors and landscapes.

stephanie han windham

Stephanie was born on June 10, 1971 in Seoul, S. Korea, and emigrated to the U.S. in 1978.  She showed artistic aptitude early on and was always "the kid who can draw," but it was drilled into her head that good smart Korean girls did not become artists.  It wasn't until her senior year in high school that she learned that art school could be a viable option.  She attended the Laguna College of Art & Design and graduated with a BFA degree in Illustration in 1995.  After graduating, she found a job in the marketing department at Canon Computer Systems in Costa Mesa.  She enjoyed her time there, learning a lot and making great friends (including her now-husband Curtis), but after two years it was time for her to move on; working for a large corporation just wasn't for her.  She always wanted to get a master's degree, so she attended the MFA Illustration program at the School of Visual Arts in NYC.  It was chaired by an Illustration legend named Marshall Arisman who had made a big impression on her during a talk he gave in Laguna, CA.  She spent two great years in New York and recieved her MFA degree in 1999. After graduation, she returned to CA to settle down with her long-suffering fiance.  She is currently a full-time art director at JDA Inc. in Long Beach and spends her free time drawing and painting. 


steve jackson

Steve is a Los Angeles based artist, whose mixed media abstractions are often described as “calming” or “meditative”.  He is directly influenced by the chaos and madness of the sprawling metropolis he calls home.
       “The non-stop sensory stimulation of Los Angeles/the city is a vital source of creative energy for me.  Sights, sounds and happenings of everyday life fuel a creative reaction that converts the disorder from around me into inspiration. Sometimes I only need to walk out my front door to find the creative seeds right in front of me.”
       Steve is also a set painter, having worked on such film and television productions as “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”, “Their Eyes are Watching God”, “How I met your Mother”, and “Reba”.  A member of The Los Angeles Art Association, Gallery 825, L.A.’s oldest artist collective, Steve’s work has joined collections in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Denver, and Columbus.


tony zeh

Tony is inspired by the people and environment he comes into contact with everyday.  The colors he chooses for each piece represent the emotions he feels.  The work is created based upon the interactions with people and his environment.  His moods can affect can work as can the weather.  He expresses himself through the color and movement of the paint.  Sometimes there are strong colors which may be layer upon layer, and other times the colors are more subtle with less layers, or some variations of the two.