Mixed Archives - CreativeSonoma.org

MJ Lindo-Lawyer Illustration, Mixed, Muralist, Painting, Visual Arts Painting from her bay area home studio filled with cactus, ferns and philodendrons, MJ Lindo-Lawyer explores alternative universes and whimsical, dark fantastical worlds using different mediums. Being self-taught, it was tough for MJ to settle on a medium until she fell in love with oil paint and wooden canvases. Known for her use of creamy pastels and rich skin tones, MJ creates a world of whimsy in which a giantess woman can befriend a tiny bear cub or a group of miniature elephants’ campfire around a forest goddess for warmth. Since 2003, MJ has been telling versions of her life story and other women’s stories through her multi-cultural woman and their interactions with these alternative universes and unique furry friends. MJ Lindo-Lawyer lives and works in the Bay area with her husband and studio mates her kitten Garbage and her 160 lb Neapolitan Mastiff Mellow.

Tawnya Lively Mixed, Visual Arts I make mixed media art & designs focused on pattern, texture and color using collage and mosaic materials. I have a B.A. degree in both Art History and Painting with a minor in Art Management from Sonoma State University. For ten years, I worked as a project manager in game design - coordinating artists, sound designers and software engineers. In the aftermath of the October 2017 fires, I founded Firestorm Mosaics in which I create new heirlooms for those who lost homes using the broken pieces of porcelain and ceramic that were recovered from the ashes of their properties. I also coordinate other mosaic artists to help with the project in addition to hosting workshops for those who would like to make their own projects.

Karen Lockert Artisan, Ceramics, Fiction, Literature, Mixed, Other, Painting, Sculpture, Visual Arts Karen Lockert was always the kid who daydreamed her way through school, seeing beauty in what most other people thought was quite ordinary, if not downright ugly. Her career was launched only after leaving her position as a high school art teacher in Los Angeles, when she began to understand that she had been repeatedly “re-birthing” and “re-homing” herself through her art work. She is probably best known for her evocative, mixed-media compositions of the vintage, vernacular architecture of West Sonoma County, where she now lives. Her work has been exhibited at many galleries in the Russian River area, including Occidental Center for the Arts, Russian River Art Gallery, Cooprider Gallery, Graton Gallery, Lawson Gallery, and the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. In addition, she was a regular participant in Art @ the Source, West Sonoma County’s Open Studio tour for several years. As a spiritual, meditative artist at heart, it has been said that “her newest work gorgeously draws people into a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them”.

Rayne Madison Creative Sonoma Grantee, Design, Folk Art, Functional Art, Graphic Design, Mixed, Visual Arts I view art as an exploration of life experience and the tangible means by which to share concepts, ideas and emotions. The closest I have come to describing myself is as an emerging inter-disciplinary conceptual artist. The concepts that I work with arise from my day-to-day existence, they seem to choose me, rather than the other way around. Each project leads me to learn and expand into new areas. My work explores themes of identity, femininity, humanity, attachment, connection, intention, spiritual evolution and that which underlies emotion. Using, whichever materials are best suited to communicating the concept I am working with. Lately, I am drawn to creating street art posters, paper sculptures, pop-up public art installations and collaborative projects. I have a BFA in Graphic Design from NYIT. And, I have worked in publishing, non-profit and investment banking sectors. Bringing me into contact with different aspects of our culture and a diverse field of individuals. I am freelancing as an organizational assistant, event planner, graphic designer and website builder while developing my own projects.

Jacqueline Mallegni Artisan, Design, Fiber Art, Graphic Design, Mixed, Sculpture, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Visual Arts I create mixed media sculpture with rattan, handmade paper, cast flax and silk fiber, sometimes embellished with mono-prints infused with indigo, sumi ink and handmade plant based inks and stains. Making and the art of transformation from tangible to intangible returning to a tangible form is very alluring for me. I am interested in working with materials that translate my appreciation for mother-nature's installations formed by water, wind, light and dark. Patterns in nature, textures and seasonal changes inform my sculptures that reveal primitive and refined qualities. Aside from nature's inspiration, I’m also interested in the concept of the ethereal journey, motherhood, vacancy, loss, renewal and how emotional responses can evoke beauty. I began making Asian style paper with kozo fiber in 1987. My journey with paper and sculpture has been varied from light fixtures to stone carving to ethereal mixed media sculpture. The thread of my creative process always begins with paper. I’m excited about creating the Chrysalis series that feels like a merging of many techniques developed over the years bringing many voices together that I refer to as contemplative sculpture.

Gayle Manfre Mixed, Other, Painting, Teacher/Instructor, Visual Arts Gayle Manfre is a teaching artist, painter and art advocate. She one of the founders of Art Escape Sonoma, Sonoma Treasure Artist of 2010 and was awarded The Youth Mural Award from Precita Eyes Muralist in San Francisco. Gayle has been a teaching artist in Sonoma Valley since the 80s. She retired in 2017 and has been happily paintings since then Gayle is a member of the Arts Guild of Sonoma. My paintings are joyful and colorful and range from a wide variety of subjects. I am inspired by my travels and living in beautiful Sonoma.

Spring Maxfield Artisan, Arts Administration, Ceramics, Fiber Art, Film Office, Mixed, Multi-Media, Other, Other, Talent, Theatre, Visual Arts, Woodworking Spring Maxfield is the Founder and Executive Director of Santa Rosa Urban Arts Partnership in Northern California. She works to create space to provide relevant, community driven arts and cultural programming. Her engagement activities and curatorial work has taken place in public spaces, underground galleries, wineries throughout Sonoma County, and established art institutions. Spring has served as a longtime participant and on the production team of Maker Faires both in the Bay Area and NY. She also cofounded the wildly popular Great Handcar Regatta arts festival, which drew crowds of up to 25,000 to Santa Rosa between 2008 and 2011. She regularly serves on a number of grassroots, city government, and private art foundation committees, using these roles to support and cultivate artists, creative businesses, community groups, and arts programming. She holds Bachelors’ of Arts in Art History and Art Practice and a Master’s degree in Museum Studies. When not busy engaging her international arts community, Spring can be found in the garden at her urban homestead with two daughters, and her husband—artist Todd Barricklow.

Christopher Mckee Artisan, Ceramics, Functional Art, Furniture, Illustration, Mixed, Other, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, Teacher/Instructor, Visual Arts, Woodworking more to come

TumbleWeed Expressions Meryl Juniper Artisan, Ceramics, Holidays Shop Local, Mixed, Muralist, Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture, Visual Arts While following the seasons within her Expressive Arts Inspirations, Meryl intertwines over 4 decades of Multimedia Arts Educational Experiences and Community Arts Activism. Meryl ignites and delicately encourages artistic expression and a sense of humility and humanity, while inspiring hands-on, process based learning, along with a curriculum integrated focus. In this we weave a healthy approach, revealing and enlivening the naturally creative self. Simultaneously, Meryl thrives within her close to 5 decades of experience engaging a life within: Multimedia Visual Arts and the Performative realms of Nature Based and Street Performance Ritual, Improvisational Movement, Dance Theater, Improvisational Vocal Play, Song Writing, Movement Infused Personal Storytelling and Somatic Movement Practices. Moreover, Meryl commits, inspires and dedicates her artistic being to Community Arts Production, Process and Presentation. Lastly, Meryl’s instinctive devotion to the natural world and the offerings of Eco Somatic Engagement, allows her to share the wisdom gleaned and harvested from all her experiences living close and being inspired by the earth, while continuously extending a steadfast faithfulness to the practices of Expressive Arts, Natural Medicine Making, Farming, Holistic Nutrition and Parenting, while moving within a Heart Centered Living Folks Arts Tradition.

Taryn Moller Nicoll Arts Administration, Illustration, Mixed, Painting, Printmaking, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Visual Arts

Taryn Möller Nicoll (MFA'17, Louisiana State University) is a visual artist and instructor with ten years of experience in art education, curatorial practice and public program development.

In her studio practice, Taryn explores the intersection of fine art, medical science and the human body. She seeks refreshed investigations into notions of the good and the beautiful and, for her, that entry point is the human body; that ‘envelope’ rendering us equal: equally fragile, equally resilient. Her works have been exhibited at venues such as Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Johns Hopkins Welch Medical Library, the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, and the Shaw Center for the Arts in Baton Rouge.

Taryn has taught foundations, studio art and art history courses at Nova Southeastern University and Louisiana State University. Additionally, she has delivered artist lectures at academic institutions such as Johns Hopkins University, Maryland; the University of Dresden, Germany, and the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Prior to relocating to the North Bay in 2022, Taryn was the Chief Curator for the City of Pembroke Pines in Florida. In this role, she directed exhibitions, cultural events and art education initiatives at Pembroke Pines' cultural institutions, including the Frank C. Ortis Art Gallery, Studio 18 Art Complex and the Charles F. Dodge City Center.

Teresa Moore Choreography, Dance, Mixed, Multi-Media, Other, Painting, Visual Arts Teresa Moore's oil on canvas works stage strong, independent women in a cocktail palette of boozy yellows, gaudy greens, and lusty reds. These noirish, sultry-eyed femme fatales dance and drink, smoke and smooch, flirt and linger as they live for the moment in their own sublime yet wistful worlds. Self-taught and painting mainly with her fingers, Moore creates an atmosphere of night life, good times, and fleeting romances. Her images bring to life a world at once sensuous, sophisticated, sometimes sweet yet always alluring. Cabaret girls, lounge lizards and circus performers recall a risque lost generation, that in this age, can only exist within the confines of a fertile imagination. And these decadent dames get around. Moore's work is exhibited and collected worldwide. Moore's fiery independence shows through in these characters, who all seem to have their own checkered pasts, drawn from deep within the artist's own fantasies and realities, past and present.

Zyssa Morales Artisan, Ceramics, Fiber Art, Illustration, Jewelry, Mixed, Other, Painting, Visual Arts, Woodworking My name is Zyssa Morales and I am a craft artist. I was born in Ecuador but have been raised in the United States. I’m passionate about art and would love to use it to bring awareness to social and environmental issues.

Kalia Mussetter Artisan, Children's, Fiber Art, Literature, Mixed, Non-Fiction, Other, Other, Painting, Performance Art, Poetry, Teacher/Instructor, Theatre, Visual Arts

Erin Rose Opperman Design, Graphic Design, Illustration, Mixed, Other, Painting, Photography, Visual Arts

Here’s the important stuff: I have a strong, varied background in visual arts with a photography degree from Sonoma State University as well as a degree in graphic design + branding from San Francisco’s FIDM. For nearly three years I had the pleasure of working in-house, as Art Director at an award winning advertising agency, The Engine is Red. I focused on brand strategy, marketing concepts, and fully custom digital experiences. I collaborated within a team to create concepts, strategies, and results. And I led a team to ensure ideas were upheld, best practices were met, and expectations were always surpassed. I now work freelance to serve my own clients as Erin Rose Creative. I offer agency-quailty creative services without the agency price or hassle.

Here’s the fun stuff: I’m an inexplicable mix of a wildly punctual, reliable, detail-oriented, deadline driven professional AND terrible adult person who can’t make a bed or cook a meal to save her life. I’m quirky and fun, but smart, focused and I get things done. I’m obsessed with Palm Springs, anything ‘70’s, and if I could create my own version of Mt. Rushmore it would include Bowie, Warhol, Kahlo, and Frances McDormand. I've formally studied photography, painting, and design. Which leads me to be a multidisciplinary artist with a wide body of works, across a multitude of media types. I highly suggest following me on Instagram. I'm fun.

Eileen Parent Mixed, Other, Painting, Printmaking, Teacher/Instructor, Visual Arts Eileen Parent is an abstract printmaker living in Sonoma County, C.A. She was born in upstate New York and grew up surrounded by nature. Her artwork is influenced by her surroundings and her curiosity to explore the organic shapes and patterns she finds in nature and urban environments. She uses line and mark making to create a response to these patterns. She is interested in time, repetition, intuition, and the documentation of our physical presence. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in painting and drawing from UC Berkeley. While experimenting with different artistic mediums she was drawn to the process of printmaking. She fell in love with printmaking’s traditional techniques and historical background and went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking from Sonoma State University. She has exhibited her work in Sonoma County and the greater San Francisco Bay area. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree from the California College of the Arts and is currently a lecturer in Art Studio at Sonoma State University.

Karen Pierce Gonzalez Artisan, Fiber Art, Fiction, Literature, Mixed, Non-Fiction, Other, Poetry I have been writing since I discovered paper and pen. My love of words led me to write fiction, non-fiction, and poetry which appears in many publications including Big Blend Magazine, Lagom Journal, Postcard Poems and Prose, Potato Soup Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Tiny Thimble Magazine, Twist in Time, Voice of Eve and other publications. My work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and has received several state and local awards. I have facilitated creative writing workshops in the San Francisco Bay Area (Napa Community College, Santa Rosa Junior College Extension, local community centers, etc.). I am also a mixed-media artist. I work intuitively with tree bark, chalk/oil pastels, fibers, fabrics and, when lucky, salmon leather. I am also folklorist and am publisher of FolkHeart Press which has produced Write Your Own Family Folktales, Love Potions, Lotions, and Lore, Spanish Cuisine: One Region at a Time, and more. Literary Projects includes development of Mystery Writers in the Mausoleum, and memberships include California Association of Storytellers, North Bay Poetics, Santa Rosa Art Center, Sonoma County Folk Society, and Western Folklore Society.

Karen Pierce Gonzalez Fiction, Folk Art, Media, Mixed, Multi-Media, Other, Other, Other, Photography, Poetry, Sculpture, Video, Visual Arts

My literary credits include 4 published poetry collections: Coyote in the Basket of My Ribs (Kelsay Books), True North and Sightings From a Star Wheel (Origami Poems Project), Down River with Li Po (Black Cat Poetry Press. Numerous stories, essays, and poems in several anthologies, podcasts, and publications including Eat the Storms III, Four Feathers Press, Golden Walkman Magazine, IceFloe Press, Nightingale and Sparrow, San Francisco Magazine, Supernatural Park, Tiny Thimble Magazine, Twist in Time, Voice of Eve.

Several plays have been staged through Fringe of Marin Short Play Festivals (2022, 2023).

I am also a former journalist (San Francisco Chronicle, Marin Independent Journal, etc.) and folklore columnist. I have written family folktale e-guides and publish quarterly 'Get Ekphrastic with Folk Art' blogs . I also create the hybrid folklore/art video series "as the story goes' and have also facilitated a range of creative writing and folktale writing workshops in the San Francisco Bay Area.

As a visual artist, I work intuitively with found and recycled element. More than 30 images have appeared in literary arts journals, including 3 cover images (Chestnut Review, Feral Journal of Poetry and Art, Nightingale and Sparrow). My art has been exhibited at Santa Rosa Arts Center, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Truckenbrod Gallery (Oregon), and Virtual Art in the Park (Petaluma).

Julia Pozsgai Artisan, Fiber Art, Jewelry, Mixed, Painting, Visual Arts I have autism and express myself in shapes and colors. Through art I am able to connect to the world. Art is a core part of who I am. I create acrylic paintings, fiber arts, and precious metal clay jewelry. Art for sale includes: paintings, prints, greeting cards, metal sculptures, jewelry, and purses made from upholstery samples. This year I have created some new art products which include Eco-friendly Utensil Packets sewn with hand-dyed fabrics and multi-metal jewelry. I also make Fiber Arts Wabi-Sabi dolls (perfectly imperfect) and wishing ukulele pillows. Over the last 7 years, I have grown my own company called “Pansy Creations”. I present my work at multiple venues throughout Sonoma County including the Arts Guild of Sonoma and Fine Line Art Supplies in Sonoma, MadeLocal Marketplace, Museums of Sonoma County Gift Shop, and Rileystreet Art Supply in Santa Rosa, Hopscotch Gifts and Gallery in Healdsburg, Sebastopol Center for the Arts in Sebastopol, Stones Throw in Cotati, and the Petaluma Art Center in Petaluma. In addition I sell my work directly and online. I also do commissioned paintings or prints for customers. I have been juried into multiple Call-to-Artists shows. Most recent shows include: the Arts Guild “The Place I Live”, the Art Ambassador’s “Love is a Rebellious Bird” exhibit at Mantra Winery in Novato, Arts Guild of Sonoma’s National Juried Competition entitled “Alchemy” in which two of my art works were chosen, and Sonoma Community Center’s “Valley of Talent” show. Over the past several years I have been accepted into Holiday shows including: the Sonoma Community Center’s Holiday Art and Craft Sale in which I was one of the top selling artists for the weekend, and the Healdsburg Center for the Arts Holiday Gift Gallery. My Trashion Fashion “Geyser Gown” tied for third place in 2018, and my “Planetarium” gown won the “Out of this World” award in 2019 at the Sonoma Community Center’s annual event. I was invited to model and display the gowns this year at the Daily Acts Climate Concert/SOMO event center, Rohnert Park, CA and at the Petaluma Village Network talk about Recycling. I do a one-woman show every year. This year was called “Nature’s Magic takes Wing” held in August of 2019 at the Petaluma Arts Center. I did record sales in just 3 weeks with a $1000 painting selling before we had barely opened the show. I presented a two month Geyser show at Old Faithful of California in Calistoga in 2018. I have participated in many first Thursday ArtWalks in the town of Sonoma over the last two years exhibiting at Sotheby’s on the Plaza of Sonoma, Jeff Cohn Cellars for a two month exhibit, a one night presentation at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, and this year at HomeBridge Mortgage. These opportunities to meet more of my community and new fans has been great. I love to participate every year at the Wine County Nature and Optics Festival and also at the G3 Marketplace in Sonoma. I annually have painted a wooden wine box award which is given to an award- winning filmmaker at the Sonoma International Film Festival. I have a new series of paintings in the works, new ways to create with fabric, a new Trashion Fashion design (temporarily on hold) and am busily sewing masks. I have lots of enthusiasm and energy to create! I hope to inspire others. If you are thinking about creating, I would say…“How about now?!”

Mario Quijas Mixed, Muralist, Visual Arts

Aerosol Muralist with National and International public artwork

Jessica Yoshiko Rasmussen Arts Administration, Mixed, Visual Arts I'm an interdisciplinary artist. My work ranges from assemblage to interactive installation art, from conceptual work to jewelry making. My perennial interest in discarded materials often drives me to incorporate objects that have a history and which carry meaning into my work both symbolically and energetically. I run a small art business, Va Va Vortex - a monthly art subscription service. I mail subscribers one work of art each month, usually accompanied by a mini-art history lesson that relates to the piece. Monthly installments are also posted on instagram: @VaVaVortex

Anne Regan Mixed, Painting, Recovery Fund Grantee, Visual Arts Anne Regan is a Northern California artist who focuses on painting and mixed media collage. Her artistic skills are attributed to her father Frank Howland, an accomplished painter, and to many wonderful art teachers through out her life. She feel's connected to the beauty of wildlife and the natural world, and displays that love through her work. Anne's work has been shown and sold in galleries in Woodside, Ca, San Francisco, Healdsburg, Calistoga, and many other Northern California towns.

Christopher Reiger Illustration, Literature, Mixed, Non-Fiction, Painting, Printmaking, Visual Arts

Originally from the rural Delmarva Peninsula on the mid-Atlantic coast, Christopher attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, before moving to New York City, where he lived and worked for a decade. He graduated from the MFA program at the School of Visual Arts (NYC) in 2002.

Whether exploring an abandoned city lot or a tract of forest far from an urban center, he still feels the same excitement he felt as a boy, when he found many of his experiences in the "natural" world similar to those of Lewis Carroll’s Alice. Carroll’s premise that "things get curiouser and curiouser" guided Christopher through many an outdoor adventure. As an adult, his love of the outdoors has evolved into a fascination with natural history, conservation, and ecology, and his visual art, illustration, design, and writing projects wrestle with contemporary constructions of nature, and the human relationship to nonhuman animal species.

Christopher lives in Northern California with his wife and two young sons.

Alex Ross Artisan, Design, Graphic Design, Illustration, Mixed, Other, Other, Painting, Visual Arts I was born with a passion to be creative. Drawing, painting with a variety of mediums just makes me feel alive. I've been a graphic designer for a big chunk of my working life. Advertising, publication design, illustration; pet portraits, (lots of cats, humorous & realistic) still life, floral, landscape, product design, some photography and collage. I've found that experimenting with all these different forms of creating art is not only challenging to me, but extremely satisfying. Due to several surgeries and broken wrist on my left hand (being left handed) has left me with the opportunity to express myself in new ways. It's been a slow & painful road, although being an artist is just who I am. So I'm on a new path of adventure. My website is www.alexrossdesigns.net. I have original artwork and prints for sale. Also I have 2 shops on www.Zazzle.com/aleecatcreations & www.Zazzle.com/alexrossdesigns. My artwork is on a variety of products. Please visit these stores to view my work & purchase some products. It gives me great pleasure to put a smile on people's faces when they enjoy my art. It is absolutely nourishing & healing to my soul. Thank you for your interest. Alex

Mary Lee Rybar Mixed, Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture, Visual Arts Biography Mary Lee Rybar is a painter, printmaker and lifelong artist of creating things in many different mediums. Sparked with an appreciation of all things handcrafted and unique, her work ranges from abstract and representational, working in many disciplines. She attended Kent State University and the American School of Paris as well workshops, fellowships and residency experiences. She is a recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant and a fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center. Her work has been featured in museums and exhibits as well as Williams-Sonoma, Gump’s of San Francisco, Hall's of Kansas City and H Frank on the Historic Sonoma Plaza. After spending many years in the travel industry, she is now grounded and devoted to making art from her studios in Sonoma, California. Artist Statement My concern as an artist has been in the observation of line, light, color and movement in the routines of daily life and then to translate that moment into a visual statement. Daily common iconography holds enduring interest for my inspiration. By elevating the ordinary, heralding the common place, I attempt to explore and chronicle the extraordinary beauty within the routine boundaries of life. My art practice is rooted in doing the work and allowing it to lead me.

ANna RybaT Mixed, Painting, Visual Arts Studied aRt in Vienna, Austria after high school (1971 - 1974). I learned about Secessionism, Dada, Jugendstil, Abstract Expressionism and Impressionism in music, aRt and German/Austrian literature at Modeschule Hetzendorf and Linzer Akademie fur Kunst. I studied with Austrian artist Josef Schützenhöfer. After returning to USA, I earned B.S. degree (SUNY -Regents) while on active duty U.S. Navy (1976-2000) and M.A. ed, (Geo. Washington U.). After leaving the service I earned second undergraduate degree (B.F.A., Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA) using G.I. Bill benefits. By using color and textures, shadows to represent things other than things I took a “leap of faith” to loosen from the discipline and rigors of military conformity. My "Fields of Color", body of work includes 2D and sculpted 3D paintings using mixed media.

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