expressions gallery
510.644.4930
2035 Ashby Ave. Berkeley, California, 94703
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Expressions Gallery Arts and Educational Center

Expressions Gallery Arts and Educational Center is a 501 (C) (3) non profit corporation. We offer workshops, seminars and classes to artists, kids and adults. For more information go to our website at: www.expressionsartsandedcenter.com or contact our Educational Coordinator: Marge Essel at 510-548-2617 You can also call the gallery at 510-644-4930 and leave a message.

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Current Show | Show Archives

Artist Biographies -
Into the Future
January 30 - April 22, 2016

Artists

Click on Thumbnails to Enlarge Artwork

Lahcen Abalil

Lahcen Abalil lives in Berkeley, Ca. He grew up in Morocco and moved to the United States in 2007. He began doing art in 2010. He is self-taught. While living at the Senior Center, his friends told him he had created unique pieces of art. He creates his artworks with wool, cotton, wood, sheets of glitter, sand, sandpaper and ink and colored paper cut and pasted to create an image. All his ideas are inspired from his imagination. He sees a bird or an animal and transforms it through his imagination into a unique composition. Recently, he has started taking classes at the Senior Center and has been in an exhibition there. He loves doing art and participating with others in doing it and he enjoys the interaction between his work and the viewer.

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Miriam Abramowitsch

Miriam Abramowitsch was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, the daughter of a concert pianist. Following in her father's footsteps, she devoted her life to music and has experienced a long and fulfilling career as a singer and teacher of voice.  She has also had a lifelong love for color, style and texture (as a child she wanted to be a clothing designer).  Three years ago, having never before attempted any visual art medium, she became interested in felting and took a number of classes at Deep Color in Kensington.  Since then she never looked back and has been creating and selling her colorful felted scarves throughout the Bay Area and beyond.  The artist states: Felt is created by the alchemy of wool fiber with warm water and pure olive oil soap to produce a versatile material that ranges from spider-fine and soft to thick and strong, depending on its intended purpose.  I design my scarves in a number of different ways.  I mostly use a blend of wool and tencel fiber, which produces a soft, crinkled, shimmery effect.  Right now I especially enjoy creating playful latticework scarves in a riot of different color combinations, and felting a variety of shapes and colors onto lengths of silk chiffon or hand dyed habotai silk.

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Sandi Adams

Sandi Adams is a longtime Berkeley resident with a lifelong interest in art. As a 9 year old she took Saturday morning classes at the Milwaukee Art Institute and continued her art training during high school and college and into adult life. Sandi has worked in various media, including watercolor, acrylic, textile arts (weaving), collage and ceramics. Since retiring from elementary school teaching in Albany, CA, she has renewed her interest and paints regularly in her “painting room”, (originally the guest room), as well as in workshops and painting classes in the East Bay. She has traveled extensively on 5 continents and often uses images from her travel photography as subject matter in paintings. Sandi exhibits work regularly at Expressions Gallery in Berkeley, at the Marin Society of Artists in Ross, and at the Frank Bette Center in Alameda. She has received various awards in shows in these venues and has had 6 solo shows in local business establishments.

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Sola Aina

Sola Aina, currently an Oakland resident, grew up in Osogbo Osun State Nigeria. He became interested in art during his childhood and the interest was further developed by a Vest Cultural Heritage. He received a Bachelor of Art Design from Osun State College of Art, training under Jimoh Buraimoh, a creator of African beads painting.  Sola’s focus includes bead-work, traditional tie dye, batik, mosaic murals and cultural dancing. He has exhibited bead-work and paintings at the American Embassy in Nigeria, American National School Abuja and the San Francisco African American Historical Society. His solo exhibit entitled Treasure View was shown at the African American Cultural University of Chicago.  That show displayed bead-work, bead-painting and tie dye clothing from Nigeria, West Africa.  The images in this show display art form indigenous parts of Africa. The artist’s intention is to record these traditional cultures in his artwork and to share them with the world in general.

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Daniel Altman

Daniel Altman was born and raised in Israel. He studied Architecture at the Israeli Institute of Technology. He transferred to the University of California in Berkeley and
graduated from UC Berkeley in Architecture. Daniel worked as an Architect in New York and Israel and California. He received his Master's Degree from the University of Florida, Gainesville. Daniel loves Visual Art. During his years as an Architect He took many classes in Oil Painting, Water Color and Drawing. Daniel believes that there is beauty in the elements surrounding us, in the water, the sky, the Landscape, in buildings. He likes to express this beauty in his paintings. He was most influenced by the Impressionists. Daniel's favorite artists are Monet, Van Gough, and John Sargent. Many of Daniels' paintings are from his travels to Venice, Tuscany, Paris, and Jerusalem. Daniel exhibits his works in various galleries, such as The Collector, The Claremont Hotel, Bay Area libraries, and in private cafes, restaurants and businesses.

For further information please contact Daniel at daltman

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Mari Bailey

Mari Bailey grew up in a Hawaiian household full of music and pets books. But it wasn’t until she was in junior high school and fell in love with Vincent Van Gogh’s work that she knew she was meant to create. Mari studied art at The University of Hawaii, and was accepted into three juried shows while there. She eventually moved to California where she earned a BA in Creative Arts with a minor in writing from San Jose State. She had been selling crafts since the 1970’s but in 1985 sold her first short story to a magazine. This was eventually followed by fifty more, plus three novels. She still writes freelance for newspapers and other venues and still sells crafts at bazaars and online. Eventually her art turned towards collage and shadowboxes. Visit her Etsy store: etsy.com/shop/maribailey. Mari still likes music, preferably The Beatles, and lives with the world’s best boyfriend, two cats and two bunnies.

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Georgia Bassen

Georgia Bassen took her first class on "computer graphics" at San Francisco State in 1989, and has been captivated by digital art ever since. " Discovering the multiple effects of reiterating and altering a single image which digital manipulation makes freely possible, is an endless pleasure.   Objects, as well as people change their perceived personalities with changes in lighting and color. Switching a drawing of a face from positive to negative can radically alter its persona.   Duplicating, superimposing, flipping and re-joining a figure can produce a dance. Georgia Bassen lives in the woods in Oakland with her husband, 2 cats and many raccoons.

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Yvonne Brady

Yvonne Brady currently lives in Vallejo, CA. She is a California native who was raised in Oakland. Her parents were from New Orleans, Louisiana. She attended college in New Orleans and San Francisco. She has worked as an accountant at Peralta Community College System and the University of California Office of the President. She is the mother of one son. Yvonne was always interested in jewelry and she took a class at Bead Inspiration in Alameda, CA to learn how to string beads in order to repair a turquoise and sterling silver necklace. She also took a class at Studio One in Oakland, Ca to learn to make glass beads. Yvonne mostly works with gemstones using sterling silver, brass, copper, and pewter. She is greatly inspired by African and African American Art which is part of her heritage and you will see this influence in some of her work. She uses African beads from Ghana and Nigeria, and pendants from the Tuarag in the Sahara, Ethiopian Coptic Christian Crosses as well as stones from other parts of the world.The Artist gives credit for her creative spirit to her mother who taught her how to sew at an early age and continued to encourage her throughout her life. Her endeavors are also fully supported by her son who promotes her work.


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Carol Jones Brown

Carol Jones Brown began her painting career in oils, but later switched to acrylics and mixed media. She has a BS degree in journalism and a teaching certificate for adult school in fine art, crafts and communications. She taught art classes at the Adobe Art Center in Castro Valley, then 30 plus years with the Hayward Adult School. She has shown in a number of galleries, and her paintings are in many collections around the world. She is a member of several active Bay Area art organizations that display her work. Carol says, “After painting for many years, I don’t try for a particular image, such as a seascape or a floral. Now I strive to create something that is vibrant in color, fun and exciting—a surprise for me and those who view my art. Sometimes I attack my empty canvases with globs of acrylic paint in brilliant hues, dancing my brushes around the canvas for a challenging start.” Or she may add collage and interesting textures to discover a new direction. Her works are magical, stirring and exciting and Expressions Gallery is proud to present her work as part of this show.

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Lois Cantor

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 shows in several local venues including the Albany Library and El Cerrito City Hall.

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Aaron Carter

Aaron Carter lives in the East Bay.  He works in various mediums: ceramics, 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, silkscreen, advertising art, and art history); at  San Francisco State (advanced drawing, metal arts, film, advanced ceramics, and Raku); and, at Merritt College (advanced ceramics).  He continues his studies and is very close to a degree in art.  He was hired as part of the college staff, firing for one class and helping students as a mentor.  With a Raku kiln given to him by a teacher and a small kiln that he purchased, the artist started doing his work from home, selling his ceramics on Telegraph Avenue, at street fairs, and in art galleries. As a member of the Richmond Art Center since 2003, he had one of his pieces displayed with the featured artist during his first year of membership.  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.

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Attila Cziglenyi

Attila Cziglenyi is a contemporary artist in watercolor, acrylic and oil media. For the past two and a half decades, the subject matter of his paintings ranged from landscapes to aviation and still lifes. Always interested in art, he started his art education in Texas at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, then continued at Chabot College, Hayward and participated in workshops and classes given by well-known artists. Attila has participated in numerous juried group shows in Texas and California and was accepted in the Oshkosh EAA Air Adventure Museum exhibit. He is a member of the Hayward Arts Council and ART Inc. “With my paintings I try to express the exhilaration one feels at the sights and sounds of whirling propellers, roaring of a rocket or the moods created by the changing lights in a landscape. I am always looking for unusual shapes, lines or colors to best convey this message”


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Rita Davies

Rita Davies lives in Berkeley, CA with her wife Barbara. Rita is British and moved to California in 1980 as a teacher. She taught in the Mendocino and Berkeley schools and retired in 2007. She has always been a strong, life-long, proponent for the Arts in education as well as an artist herself. Rita works in pastel as well as graphite, colored pencil and pen, with a wide application from botanical drawing to bold, colorful pastels and drawings bordering on the abstract. She is inspired by Kandinsky, Turner, Albers, Wolf Kahn and many others including the wonderful art teachers at Merritt College She has exhibited in galleries and cafes with other artists and, recently, with a small, newly formed group of pastel painters and friends from Merritt College. The Artist states: When I'm drawing or painting I'm focused more intensely than at any other time and, as Van Gogh said, 'I'm in it with all my heart'. Or, as Ellen DeGeneres said, 'Follow your passion, stay true to yourself, never follow someone else's path unless you're in the woods and you're lost and you see a path then, by all means, you should follow that.'

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Anna Hui Dong

Still unwilling to grow up, Anna Hui Dong lives among noisy undergrads near UC Berkeley. Born in Jinan, China, she has since lived in Mississippi, New York, Alaska, and Guatemala. As a child, she was fascinated by brilliant colors and intricate shapes. Her great-grandmother, a poor, illiterate widow who raised her, taught her embroidery and paper folding. An improvisational storyteller, Great-grandma also attached a vivid narrative to every character made of thread or paper. Nowadays, while working as a dentist for community clinics, Anna continues to pursue her artistic interests: drawing, craft, writing, and dancing. She sees continuity in everything she does: Her travels and artworks often inspire her writing, and she has won intercultural-essay and fiction awards; the interest in Spanish literature and Latin dance brought her to Latin America, where she discovered the unique color combinations in indigenous clothing and crafts. These earrings, though made of Japanese origami paper, are largely inspired by the color schemes of the modern Mayan women’s dresses. 


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Kateryna Dronova

Kateryna Dronova was born and grew up in Dniprodzerzhynsk, Ukraine. Her early artistic endeavors were influenced by high contrast of industrial urban landscape and picturesque nature of Dnipropetrovsk region. She continued her education in Kyiv, where she perused a legal career. As a student, she was a member of «Antresolia» Arts Studio. Later on Kateryna’s profound interest in human rights studies has brought her to Budapest, Hungary. This period has given her a deeper insight into the modern trends in European art and culture. In 2012 Kateryna has moved to Berkeley, California. Although, Kateryna did not have any formal artistic training and was a self-taught artist, she decided to reflect and share her experience by painting. Her works are inspired by diverse and abundant nature of Northern California, as well as nostalgia for her restless motherland. Being armed with the unabated support of her sister Iryna and invaluable guidance of Prof. Charles Sullivan, she dared to get one step closer to her dream of becoming an artist and an illustrator. The range of Kateryna’s preferred media includes pencil, watercolor, ink, acrylics, oil.

Kateryna’s works that are a part of “Into the Future” show are united by the idea of nature preservation for future generations. The cultural heritage of humanity is inevitably a reflection and a product of the incredible and diverse world around us, which is commonly underappreciated and neglected. For many generations people of different cultures used symbols and images, inspired by wildlife, to interpret the future. Presented works translate our knowledge and experiences in order to preserve and honor magical, mystical and vital environment, which should galvanize the spirit of generations to come.

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Marge Essel

Marge Essel lives in Berkeley, CA. She was born in Western Pennsylvania. She became interested in fine arts at the age of six. 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 and artist for the Lovelace Marionette Theater.  She returned to Berkeley to further her studies and became the head costume designer for a dance company.  She returned to college in 1980 to attend UCB, receiving a fine arts credential. Marge continued her studies, receiving a B.A. in 1982 from New College.  She began to exhibit her ceramic sculpture in the community.  While studying ceramics at CAL State, she exhibited in shows there.  She received a Fine Arts & Multiple Subjects credential. She was an artist-in-residence with the Berkeley Arts Center and the Oakland Museum.  She studied art in London and Hawaii.  She has exhibited ceramic sculpture, painting, and photography in group shows in Berkeley, Oakland and Alameda.  She received several artist grants from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where she studied photography and photographic processes.  Along with sculpture and painting, her photographs were exhibited in two one-woman shows.

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Debbie Fimrite

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.

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Rinna B. Flohr

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.

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Sue Mary Fox

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 and jetsam that would become rearranged by time, tide, and weather.  Participating in the long-term process of building and observing the progress of disintegrating beach installations has been a lifelong interest. Although she trained in ceramics at university, Fox spent 32 years in the field of design and construction using the sewing machine – at various times employed making Art to Wear clothing; costumes for theater, dance, opera, and 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.

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Gwendolyn Gardner

Gwendolyn Gardner is a native New Jersey, a Singer, Dancer, Sculptress, Print- Designer, and Actress. Resided in Northern California since the early 70's.Fine Arts graduate Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA. taught and encouraged to work in several media. A force of imagination, creative openness of new challenges was the central role in art making, and this carry-over allows my entire senses and free artistic style to flourish. Sharing my vision with the viewer in mind has transcended into something quite personally and meaningful as an artist, I find a true freshness that's so passionate in Nature, which imbues vibrant colors. The every changing color formations in the skyline is electrifying. Grasping a snippet of this building of shapes, painterly art forms, rhythmic texturing of surfaces in my sculptures, 2Dimensional, an aim in making of artwork at its best. I'm motivated and positive to channel doing just that through hard work and determination. There are many talented and down to earth artists out there, whose creative works inspires me in my growing discovery of developing an unique area of storytelling. Love of humanity is profoundly magical, and handling material and improving techniques makes quality art that appealing to the eye, heart and soul.

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Evelyn Glaubman

Evelyn Glaubman currently Lives In Berkeley, CA. Grew up in New York. Evelyn Glaubman attended the Art Students League in New York, Boston Museum School of Fine Arts, holds a BA ED and BFA from the California College of Arts ;& Crafts, and did graduate work at Instituto d'Allende on a scholarship awarded through an International Competition. She has exhibited locally in galleries and at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Palace of the Legion Honor, Oakland Museum, Richmond Art Center and the Berkeley Art Center. In addition, her works have been seen nationally and internationally, in Italy and Mexico. She has been in review and publications; her work is in Art of Engagement, by Dr. Peter Selz, University of California Press, 2006. Artist statement: “The motivating force of my work has been two-fold: The expressive embodiment of joy, grief and caring; concern for and comment upon social problems we face. Intervals between are work I call "Scapes" letting the unconscious flow. Medium I work with depends on what I want to say.

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Rohilah Guy

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 studying 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. The paintings in this show combine watercolors and acrylics and aim to lift up the viewer and to bring the spiritual dimension into focus.

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Stan Huncilman

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 1970s.  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.

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Diane Jacobson

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."

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Ann Jasperson

Ann Jasperson lives and works in Stamford, CT but grew up north of Chicago the youngest of a large family. 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.

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Minal Jeswani

Minal Jeswani lives in the Bay Area. She received a BFA in pictorial art, San Jose State University, December 2009. She has exhibited her work in numerous places. My work is about chaos and order, about struggling to find balance in the ever- changing world around me, about keeping steady amidst the turbulence of a constantly altering world. Over the last three years my art made the switch from representational to non-objective. Art is a medium that allows me to be in the present moment and helps me connect with my subconscious. I’m interested more in the unseen than the seen world. I am primarily interested in the essence, the life force that connects us all, the underlying life source that inhabits every plant, animal, and human. My art is connected with my everyday world, whether perceived or conceived. My relationship with my work is a quest for getting to know myself; art is a gateway to my inner world.


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Richard Kane

Richard Kane has lived in the Bay Area since 1975, first San Francisco, then Oakland since 1990. He grew up in Minneapolis Minnesota. He has been doing various art forms since the crayons and finger paint of kindergarten, including drawing, airbrush/spray-paint, poetry, and cooking; with a current passion for masks of man made materials and Poetry. He participated in art workshops with the Walker art center in Minneapolis in High School, attended the Academy of Art in San Francisco and Laney College in Oakland. He has a certificate in culinary arts from San Francisco Community College [now part of S.F. City College]. He made and sold locally note cards done with airbrush and spray paint using found objects as templates in the 1980’s. He displayed locally in the 1980’s and 90’s and has been doing local shows the past few years. Artist states: With this art form I consider myself part of an ancient tradition of mask making using the materials at hand, I just happen to have very different material at hand. I see the face of humanity in everything we make; I love to find things and I hate to see interesting things go to waste.

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Ferydoon Kholousi

Ferydoon Kholousi paintings are in Optic style which have been influenced by Victor Vasarely’s art work. Over forty years ago, Ferydoon saw one of the Vasarely's paintings in Tehran and was fascinated by his style. Since then he has been painting in Optic style. In recent years, he has been able to spend more time on his lifetime passion, creating art. In his paintings, Ferydoon creates a visual space for calmness and tranquility in the world of continuous transformation with color, light, and shadow. Some Remarks on Optic Art: Optical art is a method of painting concerning the interaction between illusion and picture plane, between understanding and seeing. Op art works are abstract, with many of the better known pieces made in only black and white. When the viewer looks at them, the impression is given of movement, hidden images, flashing and vibration, patterns, or alternatively, of swelling or warping.


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Constance Kirk

Constance  Kirk lives in San Anselmo, Ca. where she also has her art studio.  Connie was raised in Mendocino County and her fondest memories as a child were when she was drawing, coloring, painting and creating.  Connie’s early painting influences were the Fauves, Post Impressionist, Abstract Expressionists and the Bay Area Figurative painters.  Connie’s formal art training began at Rhode Island School of Design in Rhode Island and continued in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980’s.  Connie has been showing her paintings  in solo and group shows since 1997 to the present.  She has exhibited her artwork in galleries nationally and at the Florence Bienalle in Florence, Italy.  Connie’s artwork is in the collection of the Triton Museum in Santa Clara, Ca. and in many private collections nationally and internationally.   Artist states: “I love to paint with oils…the rich pigments allow me to convey with color the message in my paintings, and my brushes and palette knife help me build the story with brushstrokes and texture”.


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Coral Lambert

Coral Lambert, currently living in the Aok, was born and raised in England and studied at Central School of Art, London, Canterbury College of Art, Kent, and received her M.F.A. 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 during 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.

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Jannie Ledard

Jannie Ledard's glass art studio is located in Talent, Oregon, where she creates fused glass jewelry and stained glass windows and art objects including glass mandalas, suncatchers, and more. Jannie was born and raised in the beautiful town of Rouen, France, known for Monet's paintings of its cathedral and cradle of writers Pierre Corneille and Gustave Flaubert. After graduating from the University of Rouen, she started a teaching career in France, then teaching in Martinique, New York City and San Francisco. She retired from teaching in Berkeley, California. Her friend Duane Sample, a mosaic artist, opened the doors of the luminous world of glass art to her. She then studied the techniques of stained glass with John Peterson in Santa Barbara and attended many workshops. When Duane offered her a kiln, she discovered the multi-faceted realm of fusing and kiln-forming which brought a new dimension to her art. She now enjoys challenging herself with new experimentations and techniques of making glass into extraordinary art objects to accent your home or office decor. Jannie attends numerous Southern Oregon art shows and exhibits in many galleries and special events. Please scroll down to see her current schedule!

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Silvia Ledezma

Silvia Ledezma was born in San Francisco, California, lived and traveled throughout Mexico. She is bilingual in English and Spanish and holds an M.A.in Design / Visual Studies from the University of California at Berkeley.  The artist attended the California College of the Arts in Oakland California and received a B.F.A. in Interdisciplinary Fine Arts.  Ledezma currently serves as an Art Commissioner for the City of Richmond.  She also became a Journeyman Carpenter and Scaffold builder. Currently the artist is interested in Photography and Jewelry making. She states: “As a Visual Artist, the way I create a piece of jewelry is by choosing color and form or sometimes current events and trends or by Ancient Civilizations aesthetic. I combine my skills with new inspirations; sometimes by a spiritual moment or the urge to assemble pieces of stones or metal and or found objects that have a meaning to me.” These jewelry pieces at times depict a story or just serve as an aesthetic piece of work.

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Charles Lucke

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.

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Jennifer Wallace Mack

Jennifer Wallace Mack held a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute.  She worked in various media: painting, photography, mixed media, and jewelry.  Her work was consistent in the quality and detail in each medium she applied.  She exhibited at a number of solo and group shows, many of which were juried.  Shown at Expressions Gallery is her magnificent jewelry. Jennifer also 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 Vice Treasurer, and The San Francisco Gem and Mineral organization, as a Treasurer. "We are sorry to say that Jennifer Wallace Mack passed away in May, 2013. Her family knows we are pleased to continue to show her amazing work at our gallery.

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John Mallon

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 was a Member 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 are my favorite and best mediums. At the beginning of 2000, he states: “ I was inspired by the dot paintings of the Australian Aboriginals, somewhat similar to Seurat’s pointillism, using dots of acrylic paint to build texture.” For ten years, he focused on dot painting and then discovered the color combinations that create 3-D seen with 3-D glasses. Many of his dot paintings created during the 10 years period were 3-D, he discovered as he just happened to use colors that create the 3-D effect without realizing it. Most of his work now is in 3-D deliberately. Another interest has been in fun projects decorating hats using fabric paint and making fun clocks and masks.

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Noel Marsh

Noel Marsh lives in Berkeley, CA but was born in San Francisco and moved to New Zealand with his parents as a child. He returned to the U.S. as a young adult and has remained so ever since, despite being educated at UC Berkeley and Harvard and having a 25-year career in the U.S. State Department. Noel retired from the Foreign Service in 1984 after enjoying the excitement of living in different parts of the world serving in Asia, Latin America and Africa. He became a freelance international management consultant working in public health, child survival and population programs. This second career took him back to Africa and Asia as well as Egypt, Russia and Kazakhstan. When he quit consulting, he took up cartooning because he always liked to draw and joke. He was self-taught but took drawing and cartoon classes, including a seminar from Phil Frank, the well-known SF Chronicle cartoonist and creator of “Farley”. Phil became his friend and mentor and helped edit his first book: “Irreverent Ink for the Laughing Crowd”. Noel considers himself an internationalist. The cartoons emerging from his pen are definitely influenced by his exposure to diverse cultures and their humor. He believes laughing is always a good way to cope with grim realities of the developing world. His objective is find humor in life's absurdities and common situations.

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Maura McMichael

Maura McMichael is a bay area artist.  Art is the medium that she translates her experiences through.  She was raised on a small farm in Indiana and moved to the bay area to obtain her BFA from the Academy of Art University.  She is explorative in her art, working in many mediums and subject matters.  Her art has been shown all over the bay area in cafes and galleries.  Art is her passion and inspiring is her vocation.  She is also an art instructor and enjoys working with the youth community to inspire children to find their creative voice.  You might also find her playing with animals around Lake Merritt.  For more information on Maura’s art you can visit www.gimmemaura.com

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David Mintim

David Mintim graduated from the California College of the Arts in 1990 with a BFA in Painting. In 1998, he began to work in the medium Glass Fusion. He works out of Studio One Art Center (part of Oakland Parks & Recreation) as a Glass Fusion Lab Monitor since 2000. Now he is influenced by documentary films of Jean-Michel Basquiat, and British graffiti artist Banksy. His work represents a spontaneity and transition of abstract expressionism spawned from oil painting onto glass fusion. Cutting and assembling a collage of changing colors and textures of compatible glass allows him to express forms at a different approach from painting. Glass has an unpredictability when high firing several times, which gives David new vision on how to proceed between each firing. David is also a member of the Firehouse Art Collective and respectfully shows his artwork through public events of the collective and at Firehouseartcollective.blogspot.com. The body of Davis’s work is a consistent twenty five year span of some personal experience and free spirited thought that reflects art for art’s sake.

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Maj-Britt Mobrand

Maj-Britt Mobrand lives in Berkeley, CA, but was born and grew up in Stockholm, Sweden.  As a little girl, she saw her grandmother’s loom in the attic and was very intrigued by it and knew she wanted to master one of those.  She has taken weaving classes both in Sweden and the U.S., but is for the most part self-taught.  She has been teaching weaving here in Berkeley since 1968.  Some of the juried shows she has participated in are U.C. Berkeley and Live Oak Art Galleries in Berkeley (1969); Artist League of Vallejo Gallery (1975); Olive Hyde Art Gallery in Fremont (1988); and, Pro Arts Gallery in Oakland (2006 and 2008).  She has also participated in many Open Studios and has shown her work at various local venues and as a result has weavings in many private collections.  The artist states: “I enjoy using traditional weaves and patterns in a non-traditional manner and am striving to find a harmonious balance between the natural and the artificial or planned.  My inspiration is derived from music, nature, travels, my grandchildren, and from my students.  It’s wonderful to see the enthusiasm of my students as they develop their projects on their looms after I’ve given them the ‘know how’.”

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Julia Montrond

Julia Lauren Montrond grew up in New York City with the arts in her blood. In that stimulating environment she enjoyed frequent trips to its wonderful museums. She also enjoyed accessibility to world- class artists, studying ballet with Maria Tallchief and modern dance with Martha Graham. Majoring in theater at Hunter College, she performed as an actor and dancer at The New School, Greenwich Village and Off-Broadway. Having taught and lived on five continents, her sensibilities are multicultural. She studied art and painted in Spain, Mexico and extensively in Italy. Currently residing in Berkeley, her paintings have received awards in numerous juried shows and have been exhibited in numerous galleries. Her poems have won awards in the International Poetry and Dance Festival in San Francisco. In retirement from a 35-year teaching career, art continues to energize, inspire, give purpose, and even heal. Julia can’t imagine her life without it.

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Rose Moore

Rose Moore was born in Nashville, TN and majored in Studio Arts at the University of Minnesota where she grew up.  After marrying fine art painter Jose Vidal of Barcelona Spain in 2005 she launched her line of hand painted natural shell jewelry.  She currently makes her home in various locales, the Mission District of San Francisco being one.  An avid traveler and one time recording artist, Rose draws her inspiration for her painting from nature.  She says:  "I find the intrinsic beauty of nature to be a key element in what allows me to create.  Light and texture influence my choice of colors whether painting flowers or abstracts.  Working with mother of pearl shell is especially captivating as it possesses its own natural light.  The bend of curve of every shell in its pristine state is of itself a work of art."

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Christine Mulder

Christine Mulder Born and raised in the Bay Area, Christine has been exhibiting primarily watercolors for the past several years.  After earning degrees from UC Berkeley and San Francisco State, she studied locally with Dorcas Moulton, and has taken workshops with Jane Hofstetter, Dick Cole, and Carole Maddox, among others. She also paints in acrylics and oils, but always returns to what she calls the 'deceptive simplicity' of watercolors. She states "My paintings are often inspired by the local scenes when I'm out plein air painting with the El Cerrito Art Assn. group, or things in my everyday surroundings. As an artist I'm drawn to texture and contrast: fiery oranges against cool blues, soft mist against craggy rocks, the splash of sunlight again deep shadows".  She has exhibited work with the California Watercolor Assn., and more recently has won first place awards for her watercolors in the El Cerrito Art Assn. and Oakland Art Assn. shows. She is currently at the Expressions Gallery show "Into the Future". Mixed media of watercolor and acrylic, “Sunlight or Blight” suggests future possibilities.

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Narcisse Jewelry

Narcisse Jewelry, Italian finished handmade jewelry, are all handmade with Natural Gemstones from around the world, and are held to the highest level of quality and craftsmanship. These bold fashion forward pieces caught the eye of a handful of celebrities and clothing designers and found themselves worn on the runway by designers and models for 2014/2015 fashion week Paris, NY, and Milan. Since then, celebrity clientele have included Beyonce, Victoria Beckham, Jennifer Lawrence, and more.

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Malcolm Nicoll

Malcolm Nicoll was born at the foot of the Rockies in Colorado on September 26, 1959.  He earned a B.F.A. in Art History from University of Northern Colorado and a B.A. in Art Education from Colorado State University.  He lived in and traveled extensively through Europe and is now based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has been exhibiting his large-scale paintings and fused mosaic glassworks in Europe and the Bay Area for over fifteen years. He is currently creating highly colorful and expressive glass bowls, plates and jewelry and looks forward to showing his new works in the coming year.  The artist states: “George Bernard Shaw once said, ‘without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.’  To deal with this crudeness we can either engage creation or destruction; to walk the artist’s path is to engage creation.  Through painting and working with glass, I am supported by dreams and visions that steer me toward existence beyond the ordinary.  Whether I’m creating in two or three dimensions, I have a heartfelt, spiritual connection that takes the work beyond beauty, dreams and aesthetic visions, beyond color and line on a surface into deep unity.  From this place, humanity’s inherent potential becomes visible, reminding viewers of their own divinity and the promises of their creativity.”

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Danute E. Nitecki

Danute E. Nitecki was born in Lithuania. Her family fled the second Soviet occupation at the end of the Second World War and spent the next six years as Displaced Persons in Austria and Germany.  In 1950, they immigrated to Chicago, where she attended the University of Chicago, and received a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1961.  She worked for 20 years at the UCSF Medical School doing research in immunochemistry.  In 1982, she left UCSF to work on pharmaceutical research with a biotechnology firm.  She contributed to over one hundred scientific publications, has forty patents, and has contributed chapters to several scientific research books.  She started drawing and painting for her own amusement in 1987. Since then, her work has been shown in a number of juried art exhibitions and has won awards and ribbons.  One of her botanical paintings of Heracleum lanthanum (22 x 26) was selected for the bi-annual California Species exhibition at the Oakland Museum.  She contributed to a book on unusual backgrounds in Color Pencil Explorations (North Light, 2002; J. Gildow, editor).  Her contribution describes a somewhat novel use of colored pencil imagery painted on watercolor backgrounds on sheets of polyester vellum (drafting film).  She has always enjoyed painting botanicals with colored pencils (CP), but covering large background areas with CP is very painful, hence the combination of WC/CP on drafting film. Currently she works mostly with watercolor (CP requires very acute vision, which she is losing).

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Heli Perrett

Heli Perrett is a sculptor, photographer, and the creator of the geo Jewels line of “wearable wood art.” A resident of Rockridge, she has lived in Estonia, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Australia, Turkey, Peru, Venezuela, Canada, and England, and has worked in many more as a “poverty expert” for the UN and the World Bank. She holds a Ph.D from the University of Pennsylvania. Art studies have taken place in New York, Istanbul, and Oakland. Her involvement in creating, exhibiting and selling sculpture spans over 20 years. As a sculptor, Heli has created works of art in a variety of media, including stone, sheet metal, scrap metal, multi-media combinations and limited edition bronzes. She agrees with Paul Cezanne, who said, “A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art.” Each sculpture expresses feeling through soft, sensuous shapes, movement, and negative space. But to quote Francis Bacon, “The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery.” The materials employed in the sculpture filter the artist’s emotion and enhance mystery. Heli Perrett has exhibited in galleries not only in California, but also in New York, Turkey, and Venezuela. Buyers include corporations, museums, and private collectors in several countries.


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Vicki Pierpont

Vicki Pierpont was born in California and raised in the Bay Area.  She presently lives in the Lamorinda area, where she paints weekly with a group in Walnut Creek and Orinda.  She graduated from the University of Oregon with a major in Art Education.  She has always had a deep interest in the arts but only started painting seriously five years ago as a diversion to caring for gravely ill family members.  Her primary medium is oil, and she paints a variety of subject matter, including the abstract paintings on display.  She has work in private collections throughout the greater Bay Area, the wine country, Lake Tahoe, Southern California, and in Coeur d'Alene and Sun Valley, Idaho.  She has also displayed her work in galleries in Palm Desert and Soquel, California, and in Ketchum, Idaho.

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Rene Pinchuk

Rene Pinchuk has been drawing and painting since he was a child and considered it his life’s work ever since. The amazing Art department at Cass Tech high school in Detroit gave him an excellent grounding in techniques, followed by a number of art schools, including a year at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy and a summer Art Institute at Black Mountain College, NC, and a Masters in Drawing and Painting at the University of Michigan. His art work derives principally from early 20th century Expressionism and its relation to things seen and experienced without being bound to their literal representation. Of the many artists that have influenced him, he would name Max Beckmann, De Chirico and Matisse.

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Winthrop Prince

Winthrop Prince has lived in Berkeley for about 30 years. He grew up in the Boston Area and is part of a family of artists. He has drawn since he was a child and always admired artists who had a certain humor to their approach. He graduated with a B.F.A. in Illustration from the Art Academy of San Francisco, and has made a living as an illustrator, a nationally syndicated newspaper cartoonist, and a fine artist showing his art at galleries and cafes. Certain artists he admires are: Kay Sage, David Park, Robert Crumb, Moebius, Phillip Guston and Saul Steinberg. He is presently involved in a graphic novel that aspires to add an element of fine art to the comic book form.

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Mark Ray

Mark Ray now resides in San Pablo, California but was born in Brooklyn, NYC, raised in the Bronx, schooled in Manhattan, in the 60’s. Music was his chief artistic interest for many years and after years of travel and incomprehension, he came to the Bay Area in 1978. Subsequently, he discovered the practice of Buddhist meditation and with this, he began to draw. “Seeing” as a metaphor for understanding played a part. He began figurative style but was drawn to the free form, non-objective yet also organic that have become what he calls “organoabstracts.” They are able to cultivate a field of pure color, line, shape, etc. without the necessity of a fixed identity. His initial artist love was Van Gogh; then the three closest influences were Escher, Kandinsky and Klee. He mostly works in pen, markers and watercolors. This show offers three from a large collection of organoabstract designs.

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Karen Redgreene

Karen Redgreene currently resides in Emeryville close to where she grew up. Her childhood affinity for the arts eventually led her to the San Francisco Art Institute where she earned an MFA in Performance/New Genres. She has worked in the mediums of performance and video and exhibited work at the Kitchen, the Knitting Factory, and the International Center of Photography in New York as well as in international film festivals. Currently she is concentrating on painting expressionistic mixed media portraits and other two dimensional works. 

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Ernest and Lois Rich

Ernest and Lois Rich are metal artists who operate as an artist team, for 35 years they have designed and created sculptural and functional art for private and public spaces. Their move to California from North Carolina four years ago has been inspirational. The medium they prefer is mild steel. Initial shaping is done using traditional methods of fire, anvil, and hammer. The pieces are then joined for final shaping and finishing. The themes they enjoy most nature, music, and human form are a joy to watch evolve from the flat plane of hard steel. At this step, when the final touches either give movement and purpose to the medium or leave it cold and hard, define their success. Recent commissions include garden gates, entrance gates, footbridges, security railings, fences, furniture and sculpture for homes and gardens.

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Charlene Richter

Charlene Richter currently lives in San Francisco where she was born and raised. Her first adventure into the world of art was when she learned to knit at the age of 5. From there she taught herself how to crochet, sew, weave. spin and dye raw fiber, and then about 6 years ago she moved into the world of jewelry making. Currently she is designing jewelry and multi-pieced silk scarves. The unifying factor in all her work is the essence of color. The artist who has influenced her the most is Kaffee Fassett, who started out as a painter, but who is now working with textiles. She admires his unique sense of mixing different patterns and colors. Artist states, " I love to work with colors,... to watch what happens when you put them next to each other and to make them sing"

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Selma Rockett

Selma Rockett lives in Berkeley, CA, and was born and raised in Lewiston, ME. As a very young child, Selma learned to use “make believe, fantasy, whimsy and pretend” to enhance her days and this is what influences her art.  Many wonderful people she has met in life inspire her work. Hats have always had a role in her life. Selma is primarily self-taught, however, she did study briefly with Bertha Underwood in Oakland, CA.  Her mediums include fabric, straw, yarn, wool and “lovely trinkets, feathers, buttons and all things shiny.”  The hats are hand molded, using an art medium to set the design. The hats are not ‘named’ as most are one of a kind - therefore, ABSOLUTE WHIMSEY.

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Judith Rohrer

 

Judith Rohrer has lived in the Bay Area for most of her life and currently resides in Contra Costa County. Her love of art began during a year-long trip throughout Europe and N. Africa following her first year of undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley. Upon her return she decided to major in Art and went on to receive an M.A. in Art (Painting and Art History) from San Francisco State University. Although trained in representational modes, she developed an appreciation for abstract art following her exposure to Abstract Expressionism. Color is her primary medium as it interacts with either structured forms or is spontaneously rendered on the paper. Color evokes moods and emotions and as the artist states, “Color helps me connect with deeper places within myself.” Judith uses acrylics, hand-made and found papers, colored pencils and fabric to create her collages. She is currently a juried member of ACCI Gallery in Berkeley, Valley Art Gallery in Walnut Creek and Lafayette Art Gallery. She has been in several group shows—most recently at the Orinda Library—and in April, 2015, had a solo show at the Mt. Diablo Universalist Unitarian Church in Walnut Creek. For more information about Judith’s work, please call (925) 746-4454 or visit her website at judithrohrer.weebly.com.


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Genevieve Saldanha

 

Genevieve Saldanha was born and raised in Berkeley. She comes from an artistic family and aspires to be an actress on Broadway. She is drawn to the razzle dazzle of the stage and incorporates that glamour and brilliance in her jewelry. Her favorite pieces integrate Swarovski crystals with other glass beads, Pave beads and semi-precious stones. She loves to customize her jewelry to fit the personality of an individual. Besides the Expressions Gallery, Genevieve also shows her jewelry at her local Parish community. Her other talents include charcoal drawings, and handmade cards.


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Arlene Risi Streich

 

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 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 eight years ago, and her painting. Her jewelry work is influenced by her background in painting, which is 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.”

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Matthew Felix Sun

 

Matthew Felix Sun is a Berkeley artist who grew up in China, and gained firsthand knowledge of the harshness human beings and nature can suffer under that repressive regime’s irresponsible stewardship. Art became his means to register protest from early age.  He strives to depict life frankly and critically in both its visual surfaces and interior aspects, reaching toward history and social commentary.  Through training at Cincinnati Art Academy, private studies, and self-discipline, he has created paintings and drawings recognized by arbiters such as ArtSlant and Art Portfolio Magazine. Reproductions of his work have been published by many literary and art reviews, including William and Mary Review, The Amistad, and Wilde Magazine. He has exhibited in several national competitions, and his work is collected in the U.S., Canada, and China. His digital portfolio can be viewed at www.matthewfelixsun.com.

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Michael Topliff

 

Michael Topliff currently lives in Berkeley, CA.  The artist grew up along the Southern Peninsula, San Mateo, Foster City and finally in Sunnyvale, CA.  The artist thinks he was always creative and in his early twenties he knew he wanted to do something like drawing and/or painting.  The artist has taken drawing classes at the community college level, but is mostly self-taught. The artist admires the Impressionist and Surrealist movements and is inspired by Surrealist artists such as Salvador Dali and Max Ernst.  The artist likes oils because you can work with it in a variety of consistencies depending on the effect you want and it is also a forgiving medium. The artist has had some one-man shows in 1996 at Just Desserts Bakeries when they had stores in Berkeley, Oakland and Palo Alto.  He has shown his paintings numerous times at the Marin County Fair and the Napa Town & Country Fair, and has won a number of awards.  The artist is also a member of the Oakland Art Association who has shows at a number of venues throughout the East Bay.

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LaWanda Ultan

 

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.’ "

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Andrew Werby

 

Andrew Werby, born in 1952, started making ceramic sculpture while in elementary school. At the University of California at Berkeley, he started becoming involved in the technique of lost-wax bronze casting, which Peter Voulkos and others were reviving as a skill for artists to master directly, in contrast to the then-usual practice of consigning a maquette to a professional foundry for enlargement, molding, and casting.The ability of molds to capture sculpturally significant information from natural objects was a cause of particular fascination. Borrowing specimens from the paleontology, anthropology, and geology departments of the University, he made a series of molds, which became the nucleus of a mold library representing hundreds of natural objects. From these first molds, wax casts were made, then combined into composite creations which were cast in bronze and aluminum. Since receiving his design degree in 1974, he has continued to pursue further applications of this idea, producing sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, holograms, architectural hardware, computer graphics, and various art objects in this “juxtamorphic” style. An innovator in matters of technique as well as in aesthetics, he developed the Sculpted Paint process to produce colorful and highly detailed but durable sculpture and jewelry.

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Beau Charles Woodson

 

Beau Charles Woodson is a freelance artist who currently resides in Oakland California.  He is a member of the Te-Moak Bands of Western Shoshone and was born in Elko, Nevada. He was encouraged to practice drawing techniques from an early by his father and enjoyed making character sketches while his mother Lois read aloud to him.  Beau moved to California in 2004 and began to independently study and practice art while attending Kelseyville High School, and though he took two art classes there, for the most part his artistic skills are self-taught.  During this time in particular, Beau credits Maurits Cornelis Escher and Salvador Dali as his two greatest influences and attributes his own interest in the graphic depiction of the surreal, abstract, and psychedelic to these two masters.  Beau graduated from UC Berkeley in 2013 with a bachelor of arts in Native American Studies and a bachelor of sciences in Society and Environment in a search for deeper societal meaning to include in his artwork, while continually studying and practicing art in his spare time.  

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Lisa Yount

 

Lisa Yount currently lives in El Cerrito with her husband, Harry Henderson, and a variable number of cats. She has lived in the Bay Area all her adult life but grew up in Southern California (San Marino). Although interested in art as a child, she was 50 years old before Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way made her realize that the people who had told her she couldn’t be an artist because she could not make convincing representational drawings or paintings might be wrong. She began her new art explorations with photography and collage, then combined these interests in digital photocollage after finally figuring out how to use Photoshop (after a multi-year struggle) in 2000. Her work, exhibited on her website, www.lionlight.com, has been strongly influenced by the Surrealists and by contemporary surreal and fantasy art. Now 70 years old, Yount has won awards at several El Cerrito Art Association shows and has also exhibited at the O’Hanlon Center for the Arts in Mill Valley, Market Street Gallery in San Francisco, the Arts and Culture Commission of Contra Costa County, Expressions Gallery in Berkeley, and other venues, including several World Science Fiction Conventions. She has had one-woman shows at the El Cerrito Library and the El Cerrito City Hall. The artist states, “I am a magician, transformer, and guide to other worlds."

 

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