I was born and raised in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, along the foggy shores of Lake Michigan. In the early seventies, I escaped the long, cold winters after graduating from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in Economics.  Bumming around California in the early seventies, I became interested in computer programming and eventually settled into a prosperous career in this field.  Late in my computer career, painting became a hobby.

It was a frustrating experience, but with classes and encouragement from my wife and local artists, my style gradually evolved into one of the broad brushstrokes, vibrant palettes, and bold thick paints that is now characteristic of my work.

Many of my paintings are framed or rendered on antique frames and objects (as shown in my header photograph), discovered at antique stores across America. Each frame is a unique size, so I use gessoed masonite as a painting surface which can easily be cut to an exact fit.  Sometimes, I’ll have the urge to create custom frames manufactured from salvaged pieces of lumber or old barn wood.

A few years ago, we rebuilt our garage into a comfy studio where much of my work is created. I’m not a prolific painter, and it takes a while for me to release a painting as finally done. We enjoy participating in art shows and meeting other artists and patrons, though those opportunities have been infrequent the last few years.

Finally, my wife Marge and I enjoy traveling around the world, having explored 92 countries (Travel Articles from Around the World), visiting with our extended network of family and friends spread across the country, and volunteering at our Sack’s Hospice Store in Petaluma – Marge on the cash registers, and myself stocking the books.

My work is done in a traditional manner with layers of oil applied to gessoed canvases. I use contemporary gestures with a palette knife, brush, and thin glazing to create a sense of light and depth.

I have lived amidst wine country vineyards since 1990. From every window of my home, I see vineyards and/or oak trees. How could I not be a painter? This is truly an amazing area with the forests, the lakes, the vineyards, and not far from the ocean. Each sunrise and sunset takes your breath away.

Sometimes I feel like I should’ve been a botanist or biologist instead of a fine arts oil painter. I’m always searching to find information about my flora or fauna painting subjects. What are their habits? What are their lifespans? Where can they be found? My passion for specific scientific knowledge increases my familiarity with each subject. I believe one should “paint what you know.”

I’ve been so lucky. Art wove through my early years in advertising and publishing. That resulted in the development of my personal dimension of oil painting over the last 20+ years – especially in the painting of incredible natural environments – the flora of Northern California and the undersea world of marine life.

I spend many hours each week painting outside in nature (Plein air) and/or studio painting. My work is represented by the Upstairs Art Gallery in Healdsburg, California, and Corrick’s in downtown Santa Rosa, California. Two weekends each Fall I am a part of Sonoma County Art Trails at my home studio in Dry Creek Valley just outside Healdsburg, California. Contact me and I’ll let you know what the details are for this year’s event.

The focus of Scott Cilmi’s paintings has been to create a sense of energy and spirit through color, composition, line, and shape. The energy could be loud and powerful or quiet and subtle. He is most interested in using juxtapositions of color and exploring how layers affect each other.

The new paintings continue and expand upon visual abstraction as an evolving language/ non-language in which the painter and the audience correspond and share ideas with each other regarding our consciousness and the inner-sel

I have had years of angst and practice. A willingness to find an Earthly expression to the nagging glorious inner voice that wants to come out. It has pushed my mind to learn skills and my hands to move in ways that express what would be my personal mark. That quest is never ending as my artist parents taught me through their perserverance until they could no longer make. I find it a priviledge to be one who cannot do without visual expression.

The artist life is not one that can be explained to those who are intrigued, who serve us with curious converstaion. It is other-worldly to connect with a muse and bring forth her voice. That is where dedication comes in. Artistic expression is made from a lifetime of listening and endless hours of seclusion responding. Only on those terms does anything result to tease the insecurities of the artist constantly riding the edge of expression.

Luba Stolper is a contemporary artist whose passion for art comes to life in oil paintings reminiscent of the Old Masters. Born and raised in a small village in Ukraine, Luba spent much of her childhood in nature, capturing her surroundings through drawing. After moving to California, equipped with a keen eye for color and ascetics, Luba enrolled in The Fabric and Textile Design School in Berkeley, where many of her designs were featured in fashion magazines. As a self-taught artist seeking to enhance her ability, she studied for three years under the direction of artist Charles Becker. In 2015, Luba traveled to Florence to participate in an international workshop to deepen her knowledge of the intricacies of painting still life. With the desire to refine her skills, Luba has been training in Academic Style at The Russian River Atelier under the guidance of masters Naomi Marino and Jay Blums who received their education at the Angel Academy of Art in Florence.

I moved from Italy to the USA before continuing my studies at Sonoma State University where I graduated in 2003 in Fine Arts. I am inspired by the natural world; it probably has its roots in the mountain ranges of the Alps in Italy, where I grew up.  Living here, in Northern California, makes me very happy. I’m surrounded by natural beauty and I find great inspiration in it. With time my work has become more intuitive.  I rely on subconscious recall and educational theory. Working with oil paints is very gratifying to me since my focus is on layers, building them up and scraping back, finding stuff I had forgotten about.  The painting starts to get interesting and develops its own story.  Besides oil, I love working with collages and mixed media. The play between texture and color is very playful and gratifying to me.  Overall my work is very adaptable; sometimes I create representational work and sometimes pure abstract work. I hope that you enjoy my work and thank you for taking the time to visit my website.

I work intuitively responding to the paint, because my work is about things that can’t be expressed in words. I build up my work in layers to add depth. My work is exciting, energetic filled with emotion.

My paintings combine pattern, figure and object to create psychological scenes open to the interpretation of the reader. Influenced by midcentury illustration, expressionism and psychoanalysis, I use graphite, gouache and oil to explore the psyche.

You have probably encountered his work as it has been on some of the most popular TV shows and movies to come out of Hollywood in recent years. From House, Law & Order, Criminal Minds, Californication, Big Bang Theory, and The American Housewife, to movie sets (The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Avengers; Endgame, Horrible Bosses, and The Social Network, his acid paintings on copper help set the scene. Richmond-based award-winning artist Stephen Bruce is not a cliché — he is a phenomenon.

The East Bay Arts Community

Raised in Sacramento, Bruce recently moved his studio from Oakland to Richmond, where he revels in the flourishing community of East Bay Bohemians. Working in a stand-alone warehouse in the downtown district, he now enjoys a closer relationship with many of his clients and the galleries that represent him.

After painting “for the joy of it” for most of her life, Terry Sauvé moved to San Francisco in 1996 to train formally at the Academy of Art College. Here she honed her craft, studying with some of the area’s best painters including Brian Blood, Craig Nelson, William Maughn, and Randall Sexton. In 2000, when she did her first public art festival, the doors to the art world flew open. She was immediately picked up by one of Sausalito’s best galleries and has since exhibited in galleries and shows throughout the country.

Today she focuses on painting the landscape. Feeling a deep connection with nature, she is inspired by the natural light falling over a scene. Capturing this magical quality of light is one focus of her paintings, as is “pushing” the color found in nature to enhance the painting. Her method includes taking photographs, making sketches, and occasional color studies on location. From these references, she works on larger finished paintings in her studio. Here, she transmits what she has absorbed from studying color and light in nature into her paintings.

In a world in transition, Terry’s luminous landscapes connect the viewer with something both ephemeral as well as transcendent. Her images are archetypal– hitting with a deep emotional impact, creating a sense of harmony and balance. Living close to nature in Northern California with her husband, Paul, and son, David, she paints the places  she loves most.