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John Clifford Bryant lives in Oakland, Ca . He grew up in Louisiana in an extended family. At the College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, Ca, he met Professor Byron who guided and tutored him and introduced him to a European stone cutter, a Chinese master jade carver and an European wood sculptor who all spent and shared their knowledge with him. He began by creating wooden mask sculptures and learned he had interest in other art forms and mediums like miniature sculptures, fiber optics, clay, natural pigment paints on canvas, wood, metals, ivory, jade, black coral, bronze castings, textiles, metal stencils, silk screen, recycled computer wires and antique electrical wires.  He has displayed his artworks in coffee shops, libraries, churches and art galleries in the Bay Area.  A piece of his work was accepted into the collection of a museum.  Artist states: “Over the past years, I have fostered relationships with many artists of different artistic and cultural backgrounds which helped me to expand my horizons and develop an appreciation of other art forms. Being a black artist, I regard my art work as a contribution to Black History.”

Merle Burnick lives in Berkeley and grew up in San Francisco. She began making tongue drums after taking a workshop in the 1970’s. She has sold her drums at the KPFA Crafts Fair, and as a vendor on Telegraph Ave. She wrote a story about the experience, which appeared in the magazine section of the SF Chronicle (01/10/1982). Ms. Burnick has also sold her drums in a Kenyan art booth at the New York Port Authority. The tongue drum, carved in hollowed tree trunks, has its roots in Africa and Mexico.

Michael Angelo Caci, a Seattle-based artist, spent his formative years in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York where parochial schools developed a rebellious disposition and the natural world inspired a fascination for the visual intricacies of color of and light. While initially investigating this world through photography, a move to the west coast and an encounter with formal instruction in drawing, printmaking, panting and sculpture at the University of Washington expanded his range of media. Rather than working solely in one area, the artist began experimentation with synthesizing these media into a singular and often laborious process. The work included in this exhibition is one of a series of photo-transfer etchings that examines the body as a nexus of transformational powers, resulting in the sculpting of an identity associated with strength, virility, potency and uniqueness, “marching to her/his own beat” as she/he confronts aesthetic norms for the human form. 

Lois Cantor, a Berkeley resident, grew up on the east coast and spent several years in Italy. She received degrees from Sarah Lawrence College and Hartt College of Music. A child prodigy, she was a professional pianist until tendonitis ended her career several years ago. At that time she turned to composing electronic music as well as exploring computer art and painting. She has had shows in several local venues including Expressions Gallery, the Albany Library and El Cerrito City Hall.  Her acrylic paintings are mainly influenced by Matisse and the Fauves. The work in this show represents her love of color and jazz.  She states, “In painting, I improvise in much the same way I improvised with my music; I like the paintings to emerge spontaneously as I go along, and sometimes I am surprised and delighted by the outcome.”

Crystal Carrington was born and raised in Oakland California; she was about thirteen when she started to appreciate art. The paintings hanging in her aunt and father house helped stir her interest in art. Crystal is taking drawing and painting classes at Laney College. She works with senior adult artist; they continue to motivate her in the study of fine art. Max Beckman is an artist who inspires Crystal to experiment with shapes and rich colors. Crystal enjoys working with mix mediums; acrylic, oil pastels and color pencils. The oil pastels in “Distant Drums” are layered on acrylics to create its rich colors. Crystal has had her art work shown as a part of (Vanishing Acts), an art exhibit about endangered species. Crystal States: “There is no mistakes in art, only new creation.”

Aaron Carter lives in the East Bay. He works in various mediums: ceramic, drawing, sculpture, design and painting. He went to Castlemont High where his drawing teacher put one of his works in an exhibit at the Oakland Museum. This spurred his interest in learning more about different forms of art and he took classes at Laney College (drawing, design, silk screen, advertising art and art history); at San Francisco State (advanced drawing, metal arts, film, advanced ceramics, and Raku and at Merit College (advanced ceramics}.  He is continuing his studies and is very close to a degree in art. He was hired as part of the college staff doing the firing for one class and helping students as a mentor.  A teacher gave him a Raku kiln and he also bought a small kiln and started doing his work from home and selling his ceramics on Telegraph Ave and in Street Fairs and art galleries. As a Member of the Richmond art center since 2003, he had a one of his pieces displayed with the featured artist that year.  In 2006 he became one of the featured artists and won the Jan Hart-Schuyers Artistic Achievement award.  Currently, he is a member of Pro Arts and is now also showing his work at Expressions Gallery.

Elizabeth Dante was raised in the rural south and now is living and working in Richmond, Ca.  Dante has worked and traveled in Central and South America, Southeast Asia, Germany and Italy.  She has attained an affinity for the third world, and acquired the skills of the old world. This ever present influence has provided Dante with a stylistic inspiration for works ranging from classical naturalism to primitive stylistic narration. Much of her work explores the dynamics between round organic forms and hard ridges angles, and the spaces in-between.  By exaggerating this interplay, her work creates a sense of tension which is both lively and sensual.  Dante states, "My world combines ancient and modern rituals, extracting stylize motifs and archetypes, ancient and I pay homage to the many facets of the human sprit, characterized by warmth, humor and sometimes political commentary.  Her works have been showcased in "Art on The Rock At Alcatraz" and "Day of the Dead" exhibition at the Museum of Mexican Art. In 1990, The City of Oakland purchased her sculpture "Woman’s Liberation", as a gift to Nelson Mandela. She also received the Art of Peace Award the same year. Elizabeth is moved and inspired by the cubist movement and the work of Fernand Leger. She also admires Modigliani’s elongation of the human body.

Barbara de Groot started her artistic interests when she was in grade school. By the time she was a teenager and had devoured the book Lust For Life, a biography about Vincent Van Gogh given to her by her nanny the dye was cast.  She was drawing whenever the opportunity arose.  In her early High school years she drew and painted from live models at the Brooklyn Museum Art School with Isaac Soyer, one of three brothers who worked with figurative imagery. She also was fortunate to study in high school with very talented and comprehensive artist/instructors. Much later in Berkeley, CA she joined a group of artists and drew weekly from live models for about 12 years.  Barbara de Groot is a local Berkeley Artist and teacher of art who works in various types of media such as monotypes; Chine Colle with other media; Wood Block prints; Linoleum Block prints; Mixed Media Collage, as shown here; Drypoint; Transfer Methods; painting and drawing. She was an Art Major in Hunter College in New York. Where she learned basic printmaking under noted printmaker, Gabor Peterdi and later attended Academic Goetz in Paris, France where she learned many of her specialized printmaking skills. She also takes photos to capture inspirations for future paintings and prints and has developed her photographic skills as well.  Her work is in many private collections and has appeared in many exhibits in various galleries here and abroad and is archived in the Women’s Museum in Washington, DC and in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.

Marge Essel lives in Berkeley.Ca. She was born in Western Pennsylvania. She became interested in fine arts at the age of 6. She took up painting & attended her 1st classes. While attending high school , she began her formal art training by studying figure drawing in preparation for an Art degree. Following graduation she took a position as a designer & artist for the Lovelace Marionette Theater. She returned to Berkeley to further her studies & became the head costume designer for a dance company. She returned to college in 1980 to attend UCB. to receive a Fine Arts credential. Marge continued her studies & in 1982 received a B.A. from New College. She began to exhibit her ceramic sculptures in the community. She studied ceramics at CAL State. She exhibited in shows there. She received a Fine Arts & Multiple Subjects credential. She has been an artist in residence with the Berkeley Arts Center & the Oakland Museum. She has studied art in London, England & Hawaii. She has exhibited ceramic sculptures, paintings & photographs in group shows in Berkeley, Oakland & Alameda. She has received several artists grants from the Academy of Art In S.F. where she studied photography & photographic processes. These along with her sculptures & paintings were exhibited in 2 one woman shows.

Debbie Fimrite is a deaf, Japanese-inspired artist with over 30 years of experience studying, creating, exhibiting and occasionally teaching art. She enjoys painting, drawing, sculpture, computer graphics, photography, origami, creating art dolls and altering Barbies. Always interested in art as a means of inspiration, self expression and healing; she was fortunate to grow up in the presence of many supportive artists including her mother who is a painter and sculptor. Over the years she has exhibited in a number of Bay Area Galleries including the Fort Mason Art Center, the Nanny Goat Hill Gallery, Gallery Sanchez, The Tea Spot Cafe,  the Japan Center, Red Ink Studios, the Market Street Gallery,  Art 94124 Gallery, Age Song Gallery and participated in San Francisco and East Bay Open Studios.

Rinna B. Flohr lives in Oakland, California. She grew up on the East Coast in New Jersey and New York. She graduated from Syracuse University with a B. A. in theatre arts and a Masters of Social Work. She also completed a Certificate in Psychodrama at the Moreno Institute of Psychodrama in New York. She received her license as a clinical social worker and for 37 years she worked as a licensed psychotherapist in private practice and as Deputy Director of Mental Health for Alameda County; Director of the Center for Special Problems, San Francisco Community Mental Health and Assistant Director for San Francisco County Behavioral Health Services. In 1991 her house burned down in the Oakland fire, which led her to study Interior Architecture and Design in order to rebuild her home. She completed the program at UC Berkeley in 2001. With an interior design degree she started Design Ideas and she began doing remodels and designing new interiors that later led her to staging and floral design. She studied floral design with Ron Morgan. Her floral designs were part of the Bouquets to Art Show at the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco in the past and she was a member of the San Francisco Museum flower committee. She also makes jewelry from recycled materials left over from interior design projects and later from other found objects such as found rubber from inner tubes of tires or cement from building sites. She was President of San Francisco Women Artists in San Francisco, one of the oldest women’s art galleries. Currently she is founder and Director of Expressions Gallery in Berkeley, Ca. (www.expressionsgallery.org ) The floral art work in this show was strongly influenced by the work of Jasper Johns icons of the American Flag.

Sue Mary Fox splits her year between her winter workroom in Berkeley, CA, and her summer workroom in the village of Robbinston, Maine.  Born and raised in a rural hamlet on the wild Maine coast, Fox spent her early summers organizing bits and pieces of nature’s “art parts” into patterns on 2- and 3- dimensional surfaces.  Much of her outdoor time was spent along beaches assembling installations of flotsam & jetsam that would become rearranged by time, tide, and weather.  Participating in the long term process of building & observing the progress of disintegrating beach installations has been a life long interest. Although she trained in ceramics at university, Fox spent 32 years in the field of design & construction using the sewing machine– at various times employed making Art to Wear clothing; costumes for theater, dance, opera, & circus; and more recently in creating site specific installations for commercial interiors.  A full time studio artist since 2001, Fox maintains a fully equipped sewing studio on each coast where she primarily produces boldly colorful quilts with an abstract contemporary edge. Her large format quilts have been exhibited across the United States and in Europe. Scarf making offers the joyful opportunity to play with color and texture.

Chandra Garsson lives in Oakland, California. She grew up in Los Angeles, California. She has two degrees in fine art, including a Master of Fine Arts from San Jose State University, with her B.F.A. from U. C. Santa Cruz. After making perhaps two thousand or so paintings, sculptures, etchings, and mixed media works, shown nationally and internationally, Chandra has returned to an earlier and more ornamental mode, that of jewelry making. Her work has been most recently shown at Deep Roots Tea House Gallery, in Oakland. Before that, in the last show in the old space of Pro Arts Gallery (the first solo exhibition of the gallery at the time), over two hundred of Chandra Garsson’s works were shown in the exhibit, Insomnia (Awakening).  For now, after many years of work observing problems concerned with our human condition, she finds joy in the simplicity of beauteously decorating the people of our world. Artist states: “a Google search of my name and a click on my websites will confirm the radical nature of the change I have made in my work when I began making jewelry.” Her jewelry has been exhibited at Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, The Gem Gallery and Bill’s Trading Post, Berkeley, and Itsy Bitsy, Rockridge.

Dmitry Grudsky is currently residing in Newark California. Dmitry grew up in the former Russian republic Uzbekistan showing interest in art at an early age. He got his formal training in Art College earning a Bachelor of Arts in Education. After that he graduated the Art Institute with a Master of Fine Arts specialization in design of monument and decorative art. Dmitry Grudsky was influenced by many artists including: Gustav Klimpt, Juan Miro, Marc Chagall, Amedeo Modigiliani.... Primarily Dmitry Grudsky works in watercolor medium, pastel and mosaic. The painting that he presents in this show "Tree Sitters" is painted in mixed medium: water color & collage. He had his painting "Last call for Coffee" displayed on National Watercolor Society 87th Annual Exhibition 2007 and 55th Stockton Art League Juried Exhibition "The Hagen Museum" Stockton, CA 2008. Artist states: "The art process is similar to rolling a snow ball; it builds up and develops as you are continually working". 

Rohilah Guy was born in Canada and moved to the Bay Area in 1964. Rohilah works in pastel, watercolor, acrylic and sumi-e. She has recently begun Learn, Inc. photography. Rohilah has always been interested in art, studying it as a child and in university. Encouraged by many people along the way, the artist continues to explore all facets of art.  She has been a weaver and a textile and clothing designer. Influenced by her textile design, she finds freedom to incorporate patterns and design into her paintings as did Henri Matisse. Currently she is focused on drawing.

Denise Hart began to paint full-time in 2004, first in acrylics and more recently in oils. Denise particularly enjoys exploring color as a means to express her understanding and love of the remote places she loves to frequent. Denise has shown work in juried shows in various venues in Northern California (Olive Hyde Art Gallery in Fremont, Coastal Arts League Museum in Halfmoon Bay, the Alameda Arts Center, Sacramento Fine Arts Center and the Placerville Art Association Gallery), in Southern California (Wylie and May Louise Jones Gallery at Bakersfield College) and in other states, including the Laredo Center for the Arts in Texas and the Wichita Center for the Arts in Kansas. In 2006, Denise received an Honorable Mention for her painting “North of Saddlebag” in the Yosemite Renaissance XXI juried exhibition. This will be Denise's eighth time exhibiting in Expressions Gallery. The piece in this exhibition, “Mandolin Front”, is a homage to one of Denise’s favorite musical instruments, the mandolin.

Bruce Heppler was born in Berkeley 1955 (Kaiser).  He graduated Berkeley High in 1973 and worked at Lawrence Berkeley Lab from 1975 to 1983 as a mechanical technician.  He moved to Covelo, Mendocino Country and opened a welding and repair shop.  Bruce has been working with metal all his life. He did an art sculpture for a benefit for a local music teacher whose mobile home burned (made a phoenix from trailer frame), got positive comments and started making other things.  He takes inspiration from many sources, notably Louis Armstrong, the Three Stooges, and the Marx Brothers. When he’s not working on farm equipment, he’s making art.

Melanie Hofmann graduated with a BFA in Textiles from the California College of the Arts in 1996. Her home and studio are located in Berkeley.  She first explored the joy of creating art in pre-school and she has not stopped since.  As a teenager Melanie fell in love with fiber art, specifically with weaving and dyeing fabrics. Melanie has received awards from the Taegu International Textile Design competition and from Manhattan Arts International.  Limited edition prints of her digital art are in the corporate collection of Lifescan, Inc. in Milpitas. Melanie works with both textile and digital media.  For this show, she is featuring her art of tile and Italian Charm bracelets. Her work has been inspired by a number of artists including, Jean Miro, Rene Magritte and Magdalena Abakanowicz. She was also influenced by the artwork of her maternal grandmother, Zura Young, an abstract painter. Melanie seeks to convey through her work the interactive process with her media and a visual representation of her inner world.  In addition to Italian Charm bracelets, she can make custom bracelets or tiles with photos and artwork that you provide.

Fred Holle was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and now lives in San Carlos, CA. His interest in art was stimulated by the discovery of his sister's student portfolio when he was 8 years old. The artist studied at Arizona State and San Diego State where he received his BA in 1958 and MA in 1960. Artists that Holle admires are draughtsman/painters such as Goya, Toulouse Lautrec, Egon Schiele, Francis Bacon and William Blake. Holle's primary vehicle of expression over the years has been an ongoing series of paintings and prints titled "GNOMEGAME"  where he depicts universal human attitudes ranging from foibles to the darker edges of human nature. The Artist's awareness of the particular “attitude” usually crystallizes as the work unfolds without preconception. Perhaps this approach is the result of Holle's early years as an Abstract-Expressionist.  He has the greatest faith in intuition and the truth it generates. This current show includes his work in free hand digital art and was inspired by a dream he had where the instruments kept playing after the musicians left.  The free-hand use of the computer gives a great sense of experimental freedom because one can create multiple versions or return to earlier states of any given work.

Stan Huncilman was born in Indiana but he is a product of the San Francisco Bay Area art world.  He attended San Francisco State University where he was introduced to Funk Art and Happenings in the ‘70s.  He received his M.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1984.  S.F.A.I. is the home of the Bay Area’s leading art instructors. He has been a sculptor for more than 25 years.  Stan works in a variety of materials.  As a matter of practice he uses the material that is most expedient to creating the sculpture he wants rather than “pushing a particular material.”  His sculptures often begin from a simple sketch.  He prefers to work in a direct manner rather than making molds of models before the final sculpture. The artist states: “I combine a child-like playfulness with primitivism. This creates a wonderland of intriguing forms and convoluted messages.  When I enter my studio there is a mental sign post reading “Linear Thinking Stops Here.” Through my sculpture I create a world of nutritiously puzzling paradigms whose roots may be in religion, folk art, nineteenth century industrialisms or Greek mythology.  In this world, a whimsical sense of humor walks arm in arm with an obstinate determination to create.  The sculptures in this exhibition are part of his “All My Psyches” series, a whimsical yet intriguing observation of the complexities of consciousness.  His solo exhibits include Holy Names College in Oakland, California and the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.

Torchy Hunter is the daughter of a military family that got transferred a lot, Torchy Hunter lived all over the US. She came to San Jose in 1965, after living in Florence, Italy for the previous two years where she loved being surrounded by the overwhelming art of that city.  But it wasn't until she was 60 that  she took her first art class, fulfilling an often hidden dream. She had previously expressed her creativity in acting and writing. She began to paint realistically, in very bright color, but started to think about the old walls in Europe, covered with the remains of generations of posters glued up and then pulled off.  Then the use of bleeding tissue paper began to interest her in its ability to seep color into other color, and wash out, and transform itself. "I love color - bright, intense color.  Color has magical properties - the way light changes it, the way it speaks directly to the brain, bypassing the rational mind." she says. "Layers are built up and I let the colors slip and move and share themselves.  They merge into one another and create new colors and shapes. The discoveries are surprising, moving, and beautiful." Regarding her work in Beat of the Drum, she states: “I always marched to the beat of a different drummer, until I found art.  When I was 60, I screwed up my courage and marched into a community college painting class, and never stopped.  It just felt right, instead of a lifetime of "almost".  My paintings went through a naturalistic period rather quickly, but I left that for the abstract mixed media work of today.  Most of it is in response to the old walls of Europe, which have had posters pasted on them, and later ripped off, for generations.  It is this quality of depth and layers that I hope the viewer sees.”  The color, big, vibrant, is mine.  A world in black and white is unimaginable.  The color makes me happy.  The intensity of it makes me feel it.  Because there is no "meaning" other than the emotional response you have to the color, the viewer is free to discover if the painting makes him happy or not.  Color bypasses the logical left brain in us and communicates immediately.

Isi Ikhide moved to Berkeley, California, in August 2009. He grew up in Lagos, Nigeria and moved to the U.S. in the late ’70s to study business at Southeastern University in Washington, DC. He credits his love of art first to his family: His mother collected paintings, carvings, textiles, and pottery, and his home was and remains filled with African artifacts. Largely self-taught, Ikhide surrounded himself with artist friends, taking classes, visiting art museums and libraries, and always working on his sketches and watercolors. He is happiest standing before a canvas, with jazz playing in the background. But it was meeting his wife, Sylvia—herself a fine photographer—that forced Ikhide to see himself as a serious artist. Beyond her encouragement, she created a fully supplied studio for him and challenged him to make “real” art. Strongly influenced by Picasso’s African art—the color and distortion—and by Matisse, he works primarily in charcoal, oil, and watercolor. Influenced by his wife Sylvia, he has also taken up photography. In addition, Ikhide perfected a charcoal-on-paper technique to produce delicately textured works resembling reliefs or etchings. Ikhide has previously exhibited in the Washington, DC, area, with solo shows at the Federation of American Scientists (Bethesda, MD: 2007/ 2009); Sprint Headquarters (Reston, VA: 2009); and BB&T Bank (Herndon, VA: 2008). His group shows include the Greater Reston Arts Center (Reston, VA: 2006); Atlantis Gallery (Reston, VA: 2008/2009); and Art Space (Herndon, VA: 2009). His work is part of the permanent collection at the Herndon Free Clinic.

Diane Jacobson lives in Oakland, CA. She is a transplant from the Little League capital of the world, Williamsport, Pennsylvania. As a veteran teacher in the Oakland schools, she used many art projects and visual cues to instruct her English learners. Although she dabbled in art classes an undergraduate, her interest in glass art was not kindled until the 1990's.  Through classes at Studio One and the Crucible, she has expanded her areas of expertise to include kiln casting and working deep, as well as fusing and slumping glass.  Her pieces are represented in Pro Arts Open Studio as well as several galleries in the Bay Area.  Artist states, "What I like best about fused glass is its element of surprise.  Glass is a chameleon.  Observe the pieces as the light changes.  Glass is a fickle and somewhat undependable medium, as reactions to color and temperature cause a visual dance of light and texture.  Enjoy the dance."

Ann Jasperson lives and works in Stamford, CT but grew up north of Chicago the youngest of a large family. Always drawing, the fire that is art was started when a family friend gave her a Paint by Numbers set-then it was off to the races. Nurtured by her sister Joan and many wonderful teachers she attended the Cleveland Institute of Art and graduated in 1981 with a BFA in Drawing/illustration. Moving to New York soon after graduation, she “fell” into the toy business, then became a toy inventor which is her “day job”. But always in the background was a love of stones. Designing and creating jewelry has become a word of mouth business that has grown over the last five years. One of a kind pieces inspired by the natural beauty of stones and pearls done just Once makes for wearable art. Other interests include her internet cartoon Cranky Bears, her garden, dogs and husband G.C. Stone.

Roz Joseph's photographs have been exhibited and published since l978.  Her work has appeared in calendars, note cards, magazines and on the Web.  Her photographic book, 'DETAILS: The Architect's Art" with text by Sally B. Woodbridge, was published by Chronicle Books.  Her photos are in the corporate collections of IBM, Security Pacific Bank and Transamerica Corporation.   Roz’s work captures things we see everyday but often do not notice -- found art.  She captures the image with her creative skill, with an eye for the richness of  color and presents it in a way we can’t help but notice it. Her subject matter has varied over the years from natural subjects, to architecture, to festivals and celebrations and to detailing city scenes. She turns these images of everyday encounters with our world into modern abstractions.  Color is definitely a driving force in her photography. She says that she used to work primarily in Black and White when she lived in New York, but  since having moved to bright and colorful California, color photography has become her prime medium.

Coral Lambert, currently living in the US, was born and raised in England and studied at Central School of Art in London, Canterbury College of Art, Kent and received her MFA in Sculpture from Manchester Metropolitan University in 1990.  Since then Coral has shown her work extensively in England and America including The Barbican Center, London, Franconia Sculpture Park, MN, Convergence, in Providence, Rhode Island, Grounds for Sculpture and twice in Chicago’s International Navy Pier Walk. Coral Lambert has lectured as a visiting artist at the Royal College of Art, London and RIT, New York among many others. From 1995-1998 she held the position of International Artist/Research Fellow in cast metals at the University of Minnesota. In 2000 she was invited as the semester visiting artist at the University of North Carolina and has returned there several times since. Coral is the Founder of the US/UK Contemporary Cast Iron Sculpture Residency Program that has taken place in England and America annually since 1997. A recent recipient of the Jerome Fellowship and Gottlieb Foundation Award, she also has artwork in several private collections. She and her husband spent a brief time here in Berkeley, Ca after they were evacuated from the Gulf Coast hurricane Katrina where they lost much of their work. Coral is currently Co-Chair of the 5th International Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art. Her artwork references asteroids, standing stones and volcanoes; icons of transformation that careen between astronomy above and archaeology below. Central to her work is the exploration of concepts related to growth and form, with a particular interest to those specifically found in natural phenomena that contain some kind of metaphysical presence.

James Littles currently lives in the Millmont area of Oakland, CA, near Mills College. He grew up in the Northern suburbs of Chicago, IL. He remembers the distinct seasons, reflecting natures various range of colors and symmetry accompanying the adverse weather. He remembers the exposure to various art forms in the encyclopedias in his home and the weekly family excursions to the numerous museums in Chicago, IL. He became interested in art first through architecture, at an early age and studied anatomical drawing in college. His mediums in art expression include dance, music, photography, theatre and filmmaking.  The love for the arts led the artist to obtain a Bachelor of Arts degree in the Humanities.  His home reflects the works of various artists from botanical drawings to modern prints, as well as many statues, images, figurines and other forms of art. His work in educational research brought him to a friendship with Dr. Tommy Anderson.  Dr. Anderson traveled to Africa to teach at a university in the city of Kano, Nigeria. Which has a strong Islamic influence, but its culture always reflects its deep African roots.  When Dr. Anderson came back from Africa, he brought the artist a beautiful batik exhibited here.  The batik was made by the local tribal peoples of Nigeria.

Sandra Lo was born in china. She grew up in China and Hong Kong and immigrated to the US in 1989. She started learning drawing at a very young age.  Her father, William S. Hung a famous oil painter, has been her teacher.  Sandra took some workshops, figure drawing and painting classes but other than that, she is mostly self-taught.  She is following in her father’s footsteps, and has become a accomplished painter who works primarily in oil and pastels.  Sandra has a fill time job in paint on lunch hours, another field but still finds time to paint on lunch hours, evenings and weekends.  She is a member of San Francisco Women Arts and her paintings are exhibited at SFWA Gallery in San Francisco, every month.  Sandra’s portraits are extremely well executed and she offers commissioned portraiture through Expressions Gallery.

Charles Lucke lives in Hercules, CA. He began borrowing his father’s cameras while growing up in Stratford, CT, and has been a freelance photographer since the 1970s. He added a darkroom to each of five consecutive residences, and though he shoots mostly digital today, he continues to mine an inventory of thousands of slides and negatives for images to exhibit. His first solo exhibit, “Four Ways to Abstraction,” was on view at the XZIBTit Gallery in Hercules for two months in 2007, and in July 2008, the Hercules City Council awarded him First Place in the first annual Hercules Photography Contest. Charlie’s inspirations include Hugo Steccati and Ruth Bernhard, who, though their work is very different, were both creatively involved in photography to the end of their long and interesting lives. Regarding his interest in abstract photography, the artist states: “There’s a desire in me to create something that no one else has created (or at least, not precisely the way I have created it.) It’s a way to free the form and change it from a visual reality to an unreality. It’s a way to free the process from the precise reproduction of tone, colors, and forms and let the right brain reign.” Charles brings to us visions of nature we all wish to preserve.

Jennifer Wallace Mack has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute.  She works in various media: painting, photography, mixed media, and jewelry.  Her work is consistent in the quality and detail in each medium she applies.  She has exhibited at a number of solo and group shows, many of which were juried.  Shown at Expressions Gallery is her magnificent jewelry.  Jennifer has served on various Boards of Directors for long standing Artists Organizations such as the San Francisco Women Artists, where she was a past President and continues on the current Board as Membership Chair and The San Francisco Gem and Mineral organization where she is currently Treasurer.

John Mallon grew up in the East Bay Area being born in Oakland, his present residence. Arts and crafts have been an interest since early childhood. While in the Navy, pencil portraits were a hobby. From there sculpture and painting became an interest as time went by, resulting in private painting instruction from a bay area teacher. A long list of “How To” art books have helped along the way with sculpture and pencil drawing, as well as a teacher in woodcarving. Awards came from Art shows presented by the Oakland and Alameda Art Associations the past 20 years.  Mallon is still a Member of both and has been President of both Associations. Mallon states: “Monet, Dali and CA painter George Otis are an inspiration to me.  Color and graphite pencil is my favorite and best mediums. In this show he presents artwork that uses dots of acrylic paint to build up texture and create a landscape. This method is similar to pointillism a technique used by George Seurat but unlike Seurat, he does not stick to combining the primary colors to create the image, rather his work is also similar to Australian Aboriginal work that uses large dots of paint to create the image.  I also have fun decorating hats and t-shirts using fabric paints and making fun clocks.”

Susan Matthews is a painter and percussionist from Oakland, California. Her current paintings are based on experiences in traditional communities of Cuba and Niger. She has traveled to Cuba often since 1995 to study music and folklore. Inspired by the flourishing traditions on the island, she has created a series of paintings on the subject of folkloric music and dance. In the summer of 2004 she spent three weeks in Niger, West Africa where she was impressed by the beauty and energy of the people she met.  From snap shots, she created a series of gilded portraits of Hausa and Fulani farmers and herdsmen from the Sahel, just south of the Sahara. Because of their formal, idealized poses and gold, copper and silver leaf backgrounds, the portraits recall the Byzantine icons of Russia and Greece.  Susan has a BFA from UC Berkeley, and an MFA from San Francisco State University. Her work has been exhibited throughout the greater Bay Area, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Havana. She teaches Drawing and Painting at the College of San Mateo, and at Maybeck High School in Berkeley. She is also a member of an all female vocal and percussion ensemble called Ojala.

Ehi Will Obinyan currently lives in Richmond, CA. Ehi is part Nigerian, Ghanaian and Liberian was born in 1964 in Monrovia, Liberia. He grew up drawing comic books and making puppets.  He attended the famous Federal Polytechnic in Auchi, Edo State where he graduated in 1992 with Distinctions in General Art and Painting. After graduation, he worked as an illustrator/visualizer at one of the top advertising agencies in Lagos before going into full time studio practice in 1995. Passion and zeal rule his brushes as he works with gouache, acrylic and oil media. Ehi's current works are symbols, portraits and mask paintings, attires, aquatic surroundings and figures of all tribes and cultures of Africa. In particular, his experimentation with the human faces has given birth to a series of works in which he underscores the diversity of facial expressions, including their hidden meanings. He has had several exhibitions to his credit including the Garage Gallery, San Francisco. Ehi is an energetic free spirit with an infectious enthusiasm for life. He is eclectic in his chosen theme and distinct in style.

Deborah Robins is a real live folksinger who lives in Berkeley, CA.  She makes fun and wearable jewelry out of repurposed and found objects like paper clips, safety pins, and sea glass, with the addition of colorful vintage buttons gathered from flea markets around the worlds.  Originally from Chicago, she was exposed to fine art through innumerable trips to the Art Institute of Chicago, where the colors and shapes from several Grant Wood landscapes, captured her imagination.  For two years in a row, Deborah has been selected to participate in the unique Maker Faire as “Folkiedokies: Repurposing with a Purpose”.  Deborah Robins is the Executive Producer of a PBS/WETA television series about the history of American folk music, “THE MUSIC OF AMERICA: History Through Musical Traditions”. www.themusicofamerica.org  Deborah is the sister of Laura Olear.

Terrie Rockwell is artist-in-residence at the Arts Building, 808 Lincoln Way, Auburn California. She grew up in New York State and started college as a math major in Plattsburgh. She moved to California where she first became interested in art through the figure drawing classes at Sacramento City College. She worked as a silkscreen printer as a young woman and became very interested in the medium for fine art prints. She worked as a text book artist while raising two daughters in the Sierra foothills. When her girls were grown she went back to school and completed a Bachelors degree in Art Studio at UC Davis with Honors. She won several scholarships including a Summer Session Abroad where she studied art in the South of France (later taking her daughter back to Europe for an extended trip through ten countries). Her initial artistic inspirations come from the impressionists Degas, and Lautrec, and also Picasso. She is primarily a figurative artist and lately has been working on several paintings of musicians (from night club sketches done over several years). Some of her art teachers include, Fred Dalkey, Dave Hollowell, Wayne Theibaud, Dick Hotchkiss and good friend Troy Dalton (who sadly passed away recently). Her website: www.terrierockwellart.com

Rosie Rosenthal lives in Berkeley and grew up in the Bay Area. Her grandfather was a rock hound, her grandmother crocheted and painted china and watercolors; her mother was an artist – she painted and made jewelry. As a child she took classes at Studio One. As a young adult, she did jewelry and batik before pursuing a BFA in Fine Arts at the California College of Arts and Crafts in 1975. She states, “Alexander Calden’s Jewelry and Faberge inspire me.” She has received a number of awards for her printmaking, and is in Arthur Murray’s collection. Her current modality is unique jewelry with handmade beads, semi-precious stones, and pearls, that is whimsical and elegant which she is showing at Expressions Gallery.

Christine M. Rossi lives in Berkeley California but originally comes from a rural area in up-state New York. Christine Began exploring art at an early age winning several art competitions while in high school. She was influenced by Japanese art and theater while on an exchange program to Japan. Christine later studied costume design at SUNY Binghamton, illustration, oil painting and color theory through the University of California Extension Programs and has also explored the mediums of Casein and Encaustic paint.  She recently branched into photography to include original photographic images within her pieces through the use of collage, transfer and digital manipulation. The images in this show are a part of a continuing project of paintings, collages and photographs developed around the central theme of family heritage. “I explore the roots of family life through ancestral family imagery and their working lives. Farmers, coal miners, craftsmen all contribute in the genetic makeup of who I am and who chose to be.”  Christine exhibits in galleries in the San Francisco Bay Area and has artwork displayed on http://www.mesart.com. as well as her blog http://christinerossiart.blogspot.com/ Prints of these works are available upon reservation through this gallery.You may contact Christine at cmaerossi@gmail.com.

Linda Sims lives in Bel Marin Keys.  She is 5th generation Californian, born and raised in Alameda. From 5 to 15, she studied with her great uncle, George Demont Otis, American impressionist. Both George Otis and Chester Arnold, her teacher of 8 years, are represented in major museums, and are inspirational in her life. Linda has had 18 solo shows, was an art therapist, had an interior design business for 15 years, and renovated real estate. Linda is grateful for her travels, for the San Francisco Bay Area, and for always having had passion in her work. Her inner landscapes are seldom what she has seen.  Feelings, thought, color and response rapidly compose on the canvas.  She takes joy in freedom, color and boldness, and hopes it's contagious.

Arlene Risi Streich, grew up and lives in Oakland, Ca. and cannot remember a time that she has not been interested in art. She received her B.A. ED and A.B. F. A. (Painting) from California College of Arts and Crafts (Now CCA) and has lived and spent much time in Mexico doing painting and photography. She has taught in the Oakland Public Schools, Diablo Valley College (Painting, drawing and fashion illustration) and CCAC (Children’s classes). She is presently exhibiting her glass jewelry, a medium started four years ago, and her painting. Her Jewelry work is influenced by her background in painting incorporating a bold use of color and line. Her painting and jewelry work has been shown in numerous exhibits around the country and in private collections. Artist states: “Our role as artists is to continue to amaze, provoke, stimulate, delight and agitate the senses. The fact that we continue to do so is a testimonial to not being complacent, while trying to process the internal/external creative dialogue.”

Terry Telles is a native of Oakland whose art has been influenced by the multicultural atmosphere of the bay area.  He took art classes at Laney college, worked with local artists and developed his own personal images and style. He started painting Mandalas, drums and music related images and has recently expanded to other visual areas.  He has exhibited his work at the Alameda Art Center (Members exhibitions & Sacred Images), Alameda Art Association (Museum show, Art In the Park, Cross  Currants), Javarama Coffee House, new Alameda library, Frank Bette Center. for the Arts, and has had solo shows at Market Place (Mandalas) Coffee For Thought, Julies coffee & tea shop in Alameda. He has also participated in Festivals at Montclair Art-Wine & Jazz Festival, Laurel District World Music, Festival and his works are in private collections. He is a member of Frank Bette Center, Alameda Art Association, and is now showing his work here at Expressions Gallery

Lawanda Ultan lives in Berkeley California.  She was born Oklahoma, and grew up in California. She became interested in art to express herself. Her brother was the natural artist in the family, and it was his influence that gave her the courage to pursue artistic interests, which ranged from music, to clay, to painting. She traveled in Europe and states: “I saw at first hand the magnificence of Rembrandt, Picasso, and all the painters that touched me, making me hope that I could speak the same language”. She graduated in art from Berkeley, and has taken many workshops and courses. She says: “My statement is stolen from a great poet.  ‘This shaking keeps me steady this I know. I go by going where I have to go.’ "

Patricia Walsh lives in Oakland, California and grew up in Cleveland Ohio. She has a BA from the College of Mt. St. Joseph in Cincinnati and an MFA from Syracuse University with study at the Art Students League, New York; University of the Americas, Mexico City; Catholic University, Washington, D.C.  She works exclusively now in oils because they offer the chance to discover images and color that reflect an inner rightness.  Last solo show was at the Mepkin Abbey near Charleston, S.C.

Irby Walton lives in Vallejo, but grew up in Virginia. His interest in art began in grammar school, but he did not take a formal art class until he was a junior in college. During that time he happened to see a painting by Richard Diebenkorn, a well known California artist, and came out to the San Francisco Art Institute to study under him and earned a MFA degree. He then won a Fulbright grant to study art in Florence, Italy. Once out of school, he vigorously explored ways of painting and surfaces to paint on in an ongoing search for a more authentic statement of self. What evolved was a kind of primitive abstract expressionism. Every now and then he has participated in group shows, including the San Francisco Museum of Art, the Oakland Museum, the Crocker Museum in Sacramento, the gallery at Holy Names College. To be honest, he has hauled a lot more paintings to city dumps than to gallery walls. The artist states: “The mystery of art lies in the in-between. It is in the in-between where energy is exchanged, a connection felt between the object and the viewer. In the wonder of this we are reminded deeply of our connection to all that is.

Emmryss Wren currently lives in Berkeley and was raised in London, England.  She has received no formal training in art, but has always considered herself creative, making art out of things that were available, at the time.  Her current art uses hubcaps and sticky backed vinyl sheets of color, old jewelry etc:  The artist states that she always starts at the rim and works inward, with no actual conception of the finished outcome. She says the pleasure, for her, is in the end surprise. One could say she is a Pop Artist who takes the hub cap (an article from popular culture) from its natural context, solates it, merges it with other materials and presents it in a new context for contemplation as an art piece –an icon of contemporary life.

Jane Ormerod was born on the south coast of England and now lives in New York City. She is the author of Recreational Vehicles on Fire (Three Rooms Press, 2009), 11 Films (Modern Metrics, 2008), and the spoken word CD Nashville Invades Manhattan, and her work also appears in numerous print and online publications.. Jane performs throughout the United States and Europe , and is a founding editor at Uphook Press. Her appearance on Princeton’s live-performance television show, Café Improv, was chosen as one of the best of 2009. Discover more at www.janeormerod.com.

Mel C. Thompson started Mel Thompson Publishing in the early 90s under the labels of Cyborg Productions, Blue Beetle Press and Citi-Voice Magazine, where he published such literary figures as Michael McClure, Alan Kaufman and Bruce Isaacson. At that time his poetry was also published in such magazines as The Chiron Review, The Bay Area Guardian, Wordwrights and the The Haight Ashbury Literary Review. Currently he is anthologized in the Beatitude Golden Anniversary Issue (1959-2009), The Las Positas College Anthology and Poets From Hell (New American Underground Poetry). Recently his poem, "On The Search For God In Detroit" was translated into Chinese and published in The World Poets Journal (China). He has been written about or interviewed by media outlets ranging from USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, Canadian Public Broadcasting and Geo (France).

Daniel Yaryan is a devout disciple of the late poet, "Beat Friar" Brother Antoninus (William Everson). Yaryan is also the grandson of Big Ray Yaryan (founder of the original Ghost Riders Motorcycle Club in 1938). Book ended between these two key influential figures in his life are a plethora of literary spines emblazoned with names, familiar and unfamiliar to the world at-large, who have prompted him to scribble his galactic love graffiti. Yaryan produces the popular poetry series “Sparring With Beatnik Ghosts.” He currently lives in his hometown of Santa Cruz, CA.

Carolyn C.J. Jones lives in the Bay Area and is an artist and poet and a recent winner of two Honorable Mentions, Opening the Gates of the Heart: A Journey of Healing received one award in the spirituality genre from the New York 2010 Book Festival, and one in the photography/art category from the San Francisco 2010 Book Festival.  Opening the Gates of the Heart: A Journey of Healing is a book of 42 photographs of wrought-iron gates that reflects the author’s journey in sobriety from feelings of worthlessness and deep despair to joy and peace. This book speaks directly to those on a journey of self-awareness and healing. If you are searching for light, but are blocked from experiencing parts of your heart or mind, Opening the Gates of the Heart: A Journey of Healing offers the courage to keep going on your journey. For those of you who have already walked through gates in your life, this book serves as a tender reminder of where you have been, where you are now and where you wish to go in the future.

Jan Dederick has been writing poetry since her nest emptied. Now instead of fixing dinner, she writes sonnets and rants.  Instead of hanging clothes on the line, she hangs participles and splits infinitives. Rather than sweeping floors, she can be found to be shooing skeletons out of her family's closet.  She has produced two chap books (Ear to the Rail,2004, and Between a Rock and a Soft Place, 2007).  Her most recent work, Hammer It Into Horseshoes, is a poetic memoir of a young girl's journey through untimely loss.  Jan's work has been acknowledged by prizes from BAPC Contest, Poet's Dinner Contest, California Federation of Chaparall Poets Contest, and Ina Coolbrith Circle contest.  

John Rowe, a native of the East Bay Area, is a poet with a reputation for whimsical wordplay and off-leash ideas, as evidenced in his first chapbook At My Wit's Beginning (Eventuality Press, 2003/2007). Continuing in that vein, his new chapbook Winsome Losesome aims to elicit grins and laughter whenever possible. JR’s poems have appeared in a fair share of journals and anthologies. He’s been an award-winner in Artists Embassy International's Annual Dancing Poetry Festival Contests, including a Grand Prize (2002) and a First Prize (2010). He received the Grand Prize in the first Bay Area Poets Seasonal Review Contest 2010. JR is actively involved in the organization and leadership of community poetry events. He’s a co-host of the monthly (2nd Fridays) Last Word Poetry Reading Series, held at Nefeli Caffe in Berkeley. For many years he’s served as president of the Bay Area Poets Coalition and associate editor of Poetalk magazine.  Website: www.rowepoet.com

Steve Martinot lives in the East Bay. He has been a human rights activist most of his life. He has worked as a machinist and truck driver, and been involved in union and community organizing as well as unending anti-war activities. He has written extensively on the structures of racism and white supremacy in the US, and on the corporate culture and economics, and has led seminars on these subjects in the Bay Area. He has taught at the University of Colorado, and at San Francisco State University. He is the author of "The Rule of Racialization," which was published by Temple University. Press in 2003, his first book on the structures of racialization in the US, for which "The Machinery of Whiteness" is an extension.

Kenny McElroy, of BIG Ken’s Jazz Trio wasborn in Berkeley but raised in Richmond, Ca.  This self-taught, “pocket” drummer devotes most of his time to developing his craft for the music ministry in the church. His musical styles are both gospel and jazz. Influenced and inspired by drummers such as Terreon Gully, Brian Blades, Maurice Miles, John Blackwell, and “Big” Thomas McCree, Kenny is one of the few drummers who doesn’t own his own set (yet). Since the age of eight, he learned drums by sitting in front rows of churches and intently watching other local drummers. Kenny put his musical ambitions on hold to pursue other interests, such as sports and bodybuilding. Decades later, he rekindled his passion for drums by visiting a local church and decided to re-enter the highly competitive and demanding world of musical dilettantes. Though not quite known for his “chops”, he is welcomed by most because of his humility and accommodating skills. Kenny is viewed as a “worship drummer” and has networked with various musicians mostly through church. Between church gigs, Kenny can usually be found either in his room practicing either drums or keyboards, listening to music while twirling his own drumsticks in thought, or spending time with his fiancée (Melanie). For several months in 2007, he was privileged to play with this trio band for a homeless citizen’s out-reach program called “City Team” in San Francisco. He occasionally connects with fellow musician friends to rehearse at local music studios. He states “Playing for people is one thing….but playing unto GOD is his HIGHEST privilege.”