Political Archives - CreativeSonoma.org

Nicole Irene Anderson Mixed, Painting, Visual Arts

Working in oil, casein, and drawing media, I create paintings and drawings that convey a collective uneasiness and human vulnerability reflective of our current times. I explore complex questions of land, home, and the psychological impact of expansion in the American West through the language of landscape centered around my home state of California. These contemplative works bring forth multiple associations and conflicting emotions regarding our environment: the often personal and tender memories of home; the comfort and beauty of the ordinary landscape; painful histories; and the anxieties of living in a world forever altered by human-caused climate change.

I travel to locations throughout California, searching for areas that elicit a response triggering the nervous system where environmental damage, human alteration, or architectural remnants of the past are noticeable. I document these visual tensions between pain and beauty with my camera and use the photographs as source material for my compositions. These everyday places become visual metaphors for more significant societal and environmental concerns, advocating for empathy and care that should be practiced for the land we inhabit.

To view work, exhibition images, and CV, visit my website: https://www.nicoleireneanderson.com/ I'd love to talk with you. Please reach out to schedule a studio visit or to inquire about a painting. I look forward to hearing from you! Contact: nicoleirene.studio@gmail.com

Susan Bercu Mixed, Visual Arts I am a visual storyteller creating three-dimensional assemblages that use recycled materials. My themes include our existential threats: science denial, global warming, assaults on our US Democracy and basic human rights. “Cast-Offs” Streamers is my current endeavor funded with an artist grant from Creative Sonoma’s ArtSurround. The intention is to create awareness around energy consumption and over-consumerism where our cast-offs are sent to the landfill. Everyone in the community is invited to collect and donate their plastic and metal waste for their new artistic lives in a collaborative hands-on creative project. The streamers are hung from the trees in Helen Putnam Plaza, Petaluma. “Art With Conscience” is my art website: https://www.susanbercu.art/. My need as an artist to create order out of chaos is tested in these hyper-chaotic times. The narrative leads me through a range of media where I rotate between 2-D and 3-D artworks. I paint and draw. I construct assemblages using recycled materials. I am compelled to sound the alarm about the universal threats and disasters...to implore members of our global community to act with conscience. My childhood fascination with President Abraham Lincoln culminates in "Strange Fates of Lincoln: A Portable Museum". https://www.lincolnstrangefates.com/ These bizarre but true events surrounding Lincoln and his family are chronicled in tabletop exhibits that I built from cardboard and illustrated with my drawings and paintings.

Jesus Bravo Artisan, Functional Art, Furniture, Sculpture, Visual Arts As a child, and first generation immigrant in this country I was never completely sure about my future. After graduating high school, I applied to SRJC and selected the welding program. Although I had a wonderful education and certification, I was unable to secure a job in the field due to my immigration status. After fifteen years of being undocumented, I had the opportunity to acquire U.S. citizenship. After I landed my first welding job, it was at that shop where I learned to create metal art, or what I like to call forever art. I would stay after work and began to put my skills to the test, spending long hours and weekends to create my own style which is highly influenced by Mother Nature, my ancestral roots, and indigenous tribes around the American continent and the world. I began making simple yard art, while continuing to develop my skills. I then started making various furniture pieces, doing larger jobs such as gates, planter boxes, and repair jobs. With these projects, I continued to develop my style of art, including original art and commissioned pieces. Every day was and still is spent practicing, evolving, and pushing my skills to become a better fabricator and artist. This is what I call BravoSculpt. In the South Central Mexico, the town I was born and raised in is very close to a sacred Mexica location ca led Malinalco. Since it was so close, it was a place we frequented as a family throughout my childhood. Malinalco has influenced and inspired my work because it is a place of rich history where I have learned, and continue to learn about the rich heritage left by our ancestors– a location of the monolith Cuahucalli, where the Mexica eagle and jaguar warriors were Trained and Initiated. Communities need to heal from ongoing traumas and I believe culture helps us heal, including art. I also believe that knowledge is power, and as I continue to learn more about my own culture, it helps me expand knowledge of other cultures and communities. I began attending several cultural events around the Bay Area, including Dia de los Muertos at various locations, Mexica New Year in San Jose, and Carnaval in San Francisco. These events have heavily influenced me and my art, as they highlight many BIPOC communities. It is at these events where we experience a sense of community and a sense of belonging. Al participants and attendees, including myself, learn so much from each other– it is truly beautiful and inspiring. These events include ancestral ceremonies, dances, altars, among other traditions that have taught me many ways to celebrate all of our ancestors. In my daily life, I like to incorporate traditional, ancestral ways of giving. And through my art, I aim to share the knowledge I am acquiring. In addition, I have had the great pleasure to collaborate with several local community projects through incredible nonprofit organizations and community groups including Sonoma Immigrant Services, Art Escape, the Springs Municipal Advisory Council, and El Verano Elementary School.

Deb Breton Painting, Visual Arts Deb Breton is an abstract expressionist artist working in Sonoma County, California. She creates vibrant paintings using acrylics, oils, and collage. Her abstract artworks evoke the viewer's imagination, while her portrait work celebrates the human spirit. Painting intuitively, she allows the artwork to flow from her subconscious mind onto the canvas. "Every gestural mark, brushstroke, and drop of paint is an expression of emotion. And it's this energy in these paintings that I share with you." I'm an avid fruit and vegetable gardener, animal lover, birder, cancer survivor and meditation enthusiast. Notable clients include Warner Bros Studios, Dali Museum and Nestle

Monica Bryant Illustration, Mixed, Painting, Photography, Visual Arts Monica Bryant is a mixed-media artist. She was born in Kansas, received her BA in Art from the University of Hawaii and her MFA from UC Berkeley. In 2004 she was awarded a fellowship at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York. Bryant is a credentialed Art Teacher who chaired the Art Department at Ursuline High School in Santa Rosa, CA for nine years. After Ursuline closed in 2011, Bryant instructed drawing and color theory at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in San Francisco. She also became the art teacher at Brush Creek Montessori School in Santa Rosa until June 2014. Bryant is a Sonoma County Art Trails Artist and her work has been exhibited nationally and in Singapore. Influenced by her international travel experiences, including the three years she lived in Singapore, Bryant created distinctive remixed photographs of South East Asia in the 60’s. The photographic mixed-media works were exhibited in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Caffe Museo, October 2005. Bryant’s past work includes a large rebar and fiberglass apron, papier-mâché objects and paintings and drawings. In a newspaper article years ago, Khysie Horn said “Bryant is a conceptual artist who invites reflection and introspection”. In 2002 Bryant was the lead artist for the mural on the Press Democrat Building entitled The 50 Who Shaped Sonoma County in the 20th Century. https://www.monikaiart.studio/

Allegra Burke Artisan, Fiber Art, Jewelry, Mixed, Multi-Media, Printmaking, Recovery Fund Grantee, Sculpture, Teacher/Instructor, Visual Arts, Woodworking A self employed working artist since 2003, I am also an instructor, problem solver and creative. I work in a variety of mediums: Sculpture, Collage, Printmaking, Fiber art, Kanoko Shibori, Shifu, Book making, Boro, Tapestry, Assemblage, Encaustic, Felting, International mail art, Marbling, Block printing, and Mono printing. I have taught at the SRJC, Riley St, and by request to various art groups.

Cade Burkhammer Artisan, Audio, Ceramics, Design, Fiction, Functional Art, Graphic Design, Illustration, Instrumental, Interior Design, Literature, Media, Mixed, Multi-Media, Music, Other, Other, Other, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, Teacher/Instructor, Video, Visual Arts Cade Burkhammer, born April 21st 1973, has been painting and exhibiting paintings and playing music since he was 13 years old around the country. Painting styles include surreal oils, abstract acrylic and latex, experimental and controlled mixed media, watercolor illustration, original Photoshop photography, ceramics, bronze sculpture, writing, landscape design, gardening, science, healing arts, bardic meditation, drumming, piano, DJ... Cade is the creator of 'The Wise Fool Tarot', a self-published independent manifesto that took 15 years of research, meditation, painting, writing and raising funds for printing and distributing. This year will be Cade's second tarot release collaborating with another author. His third oracle deck is in the making. Cade is the creator of 'Wrecords', a series of recordings and sound collages in the vain of Vicki Bennett and Philip Jeck, which is the musical accompaniment for the video series 'Recycled Memories.' A multi-media event featuring video and sound collage of noisy vintage meditation of the forgotten past and dreamy future combined with live drums, piano and sometimes female vocals.

Reena Burton Illustration, Mixed, Painting, Visual Arts Born and raised in beautiful Sonoma County, CA. I studied Fine Art in college, and fell in love with youth work and community arts. I worked for many years in non-profits and schools teaching art and community building skills to children and youth. I also have a deep connection to spirituality. I studied theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, and worked for a time in youth ministry, teaching young people skills to access their creative and spiritual voice. I am constantly searching for new ways to express my art, and my works range from painting, drawing, mixed media, and collage. My pieces call from my life experiences, world events, and social issues. Most commonly featured themes are relationships, spirituality, intersectional feminism, self-love, green witchcraft, body image, gender norms, sexuality, and social justice. I am an amateur seamstress, a green witch, and love painting small (and occasionally big) faces. I love to run, swim, snuggle with my family, practice yoga, play in the dirt, walk barefoot, and take long baths. Things like crystals and flowers make me really, really happy. Rom-coms and British mysteries are my sweet spot. Also am a bit of a nudist. When an opportunity presents itself, I can transform into a mermaid fairly quickly. I live in Graton, California with my family: partner Zeb, son Emmett, and (very) large kitty Charlie.

Teresa Camozzi Mixed, Painting, Photography, Sculpture, Visual Arts Bio : TeresaCamozzi Multimedia California artist Teresa Camozzi, born in Rabat, Morocco, immigrated to the United States when five years old. Her artwork evokes the complexity of the Islamic, while her immigration shades her political view. Studying in San Francisco's Academy of Art, her mentor was Ernst Posey. Known internationally for large-scale permanent public artworks, she combines representational and abstract images via conventional art methods (photography, drawing) and computer technology. One example is a seven-story installation near Shanghai, China; another is at Miami International Airport. She earned the National 2009 Americans for the Arts Award for public work in Plano, Texas. She is currently engaged in creating and exhibiting her documentary series about the 2020 Pandemic. Healdsburg CA Februrary 2021

Ron Carter Architecture, Artisan, Audio, Ceramics, Children's, Creative Sonoma Grantee, Design, Directing, Fashion Design, Fiction, Film, Functional Art, Furniture, Graphic Design, Illustration, Instrumental, Interior Design, Jewelry, Literature, Media, Mixed, Muralist, Music, Other, Other, Other, Painting, Photography, Poetry, Sculpture, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth, Theatre, Video, Visual Arts, Woodworking

My Path... Divergent visions gave rise to my creative present. A present refreshed by art as life and livelihood.

Experiences like the ‘Tubbs Fire’ that hit Santa Rosa serve to strengthen the ‘artist within me’. It foements subjective creative moments that utilize my past, present - and my future as focal lenses. Spontaneously, I chose The San Francisco Art Institute over The Rhode Island School of Design and the School of the Art Institute at Chicago for my formal Art education. I received my BFA in Interdisciplinary Art and Public Art. I’ve studied stone sculpture for 10 years with Master Sculpture-Ante’ Marinovic, one of Croatia’s premier stone sculptors and is considered a Croatian national treasure. I explore the collaboration between artist, media and tool in such a fashion as to give rise to multiple layers of compressed info within each piece I create no matter if it is a purely visual work or an interactive space or environmental art form. For me, art screams out into all aspects of my life. As an artist in western society, dogma and bravado go hand in hand with economic choice. Art is my life. If it’s not nailed down or permanently affixed, it’s in trouble of becoming art resource material. Well, upon further review, even that won’t deter me from considering an objects use in an art piece.

Jason Cool Acting, Architecture, Artisan, Arts Administration, Ballroom, Ceramics, Children's, Choreography, Composition, Crew, Dance, Design, Directing, Equipment, Fashion Design, Fiber Art, Fiction, Film Office, Folk Art, Functional Art, Furniture, General Services, Glass, Hip-Hop & Funk, Illustration, Improvisation, Improvisation, Instrumental, Interior Design, Jewelry, Literature, Media, Mixed, Modern, Multi-Media, Music, Non-Fiction, Other, Other, Other, Other, Other, Other, Other, Other, Other, Painting, Performance Art, Photography, Poetry, Production, Professional Performance, Puppetry, Sculpture, Storytelling, Talent, Teacher/Instructor, Theatre, Visual Arts, Vocal, Woodworking

Jason Cool/Henson

Raised by musical and artistic tallent. from my grandfather Walter cool.writing and composing set designs on and off Broadway as well as music teacher. He tought me many things about music ,set design ,and writing stories making songs.mom colleen cool was a d.j for many years growing up .her morning talk show won an addy award. experience of the evolution of radio stations format from vinal,reel to reel,8 track,cassette,cd,to digital.learned lots about the insider secrets and politics , selling air time ,being a paid musical artist.and much more.on my dad's side .the "story family." his grandmother had 21 kids .4 sets of twins ,all natural birth!all musicians playing together ofton..on ed sullvon show and groucho marks.this popular family band and I would practice at grandma's regularly. As a kid growing up. i would try many instruments pianos ,drums,accordion ,banjo ,mandolin etc. I have been in theater,loved the arts, music ,writer. open to everything since i was a young kid.arts and music are my life!if i dont know how to do something,i will be honest!i ask,try and will do all things of interest with love !and any collaboration with heart.I Compromise to learn others perspectives because im always learning. preforming on and off stage.jamming with the public.sharing what i know. Learning what others are willing or able to teach.I loved all the music,art,storys,I have been a part of, or experienced 1999 to current over 15 countries I visited. World Share