ARTISTS

Andrew Ameral

Andrew Ameral was born in San Francisco, California in 1969. It was obvious to family and friends, since his childhood, Andrew’s passion for drawing. “My earliest memories are of me in diapers with a pencil in my hand.” However, it would not be until Andrew was 25 years old when he would finally enroll in art school and receive the formal training he craved.

“I was 24 when I went on a four day fast on a mountain up in the state of Washington. I was up there looking for direction but honestly, I really didn’t know what to expect. Up on that beautiful mountain I was alone. Just me and the Earth. There where no distractions, not even food.”

“During the fast, I can remember feeling lonely, bored, and incredibly hungry – especially for the things in my life that were familiar. But I also remember moments of intense clarity and an appreciation and connection to something greater, that I had never felt before.”

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Evgeny & Lydia Baranov

Evgeny Baranov and Lydia Velichko Baranov represent a unique combination of artists painting together – simultaneously, on the same canvas. A very small number of collaborative studio work examples can be found throughout the history of art, however, the Baranovs collaborate not only in the comfort of the studio, but in plein air as well. Working in a duet enables the artists to perform faster in the ever-changing plein air conditions and also to evaluate their own accomplishments in a more comprehensive and more captious manner.

The Baranovs demonstrate the mastery of psychological painting, their works show remarkable depth and saturation with feeling, both of these so often missing from contemporary paintings…..

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Evgeny Baranov

Evgeny Baranov and Lydia Velichko Baranov represent a unique combination of artists painting together – simultaneously, on the same canvas. A very small number of collaborative studio work examples can be found throughout the history of art, however, the Baranovs collaborate not only in the comfort of the studio, but in plein air as well. Working in a duet enables the artists to perform faster in the ever-changing plein air conditions and also to evaluate their own accomplishments in a more comprehensive and more captious manner.

The Baranovs demonstrate the mastery of psychological painting, their works show remarkable depth and saturation with feeling, both of these so often missing from contemporary paintings…..

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S Biel

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et tempor enim, quis elementum arcu. Ut luctus nibh tellus, vitae tempus arcu vestibulum luctus. Maecenas varius rutrum justo nec malesuada. Vivamus dictum nunc nec ex vestibulum, ut ornare orci tincidunt. Praesent volutpat metus a erat sagittis iaculis. Mauris dapibus efficitur tristique. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et tempor enim, quis elementum arcu. Ut luctus nibh tellus, vitae tempus arcu vestibulum luctus. Maecenas varius rutrum justo nec malesuada. Vivamus dictum nunc nec ex vestibulum, ut ornare orci tincidunt. Praesent volutpat metus a erat sagittis iaculis. Mauris dapibus efficitur tristique.

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Brian Blood

Some artists will spend weeks tediously holed up in their studio, pouring over the same painting, painstakingly attempting to mold it into a perfect gem. This, however, is not the case with Brian Blood. He is much more likely to be found hiking through the sun-kissed Northern Californian coastline, lugging around his painting easel and brushes in pursuit of just the right strip of beach, the perfect jagged rock-laden jetty, or the most picturesque harbor. This plein-air landscape artist thrives on the spontaneity of his work and the thrill of discovering the ever-changing beauty of his surroundings. “Plein-air painting is my biggest inspiration, says Blood. Studio painting is too controlled. Plein-air is unpredictable because so many things can happen, and that spontaneity comes out in the work.”

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Jason Bowen

Jason Bowen received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in illustration from Brigham Young University in 1995. During that time he was greatly influenced by an unknown yet exceptional artist, Ralph Barksdale. Barksdale taught him the importance of drawing and working from life.

After graduating he was invited to study and mentor with William Whitaker, a nationally respected figurative artist with whom he work for two years.

He then attended workshops with nationally known artists Richard Schmid, David Leffel and Robert Johnson, later receiving his Master of Fine Arts degree in painting through a residence program in Italy with the American University of Washington D.C.

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Maria Gracia Brunso

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et tempor enim, quis elementum arcu. Ut luctus nibh tellus, vitae tempus arcu vestibulum luctus. Maecenas varius rutrum justo nec malesuada. Vivamus dictum nunc nec ex vestibulum, ut ornare orci tincidunt. Praesent volutpat metus a erat sagittis iaculis. Mauris dapibus efficitur tristique. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et tempor enim, quis elementum arcu. Ut luctus nibh tellus, vitae tempus arcu vestibulum luctus. Maecenas varius rutrum justo nec malesuada. Vivamus dictum nunc nec ex vestibulum, ut ornare orci tincidunt. Praesent volutpat metus a erat sagittis iaculis. Mauris dapibus efficitur tristique.

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Daniel Cooper

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et tempor enim, quis elementum arcu. Ut luctus nibh tellus, vitae tempus arcu vestibulum luctus. Maecenas varius rutrum justo nec malesuada. Vivamus dictum nunc nec ex vestibulum, ut ornare orci tincidunt. Praesent volutpat metus a erat sagittis iaculis. Mauris dapibus efficitur tristique. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et tempor enim, quis elementum arcu. Ut luctus nibh tellus, vitae tempus arcu vestibulum luctus. Maecenas varius rutrum justo nec malesuada. Vivamus dictum nunc nec ex vestibulum, ut ornare orci tincidunt. Praesent volutpat metus a erat sagittis iaculis. Mauris dapibus efficitur tristique.

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Kevin Courter

A California native, Kevin was born in 1964 in Palo Alto. Growing up in Northern California, he found himself drawn to the beauty of the diversity of the Californian Landscape. From rugged Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, to the vineyards of Sonoma Valley, to the majesty of the Big Sur coastline, Kevin Courter is a painter of California.

Kevin’s paintings reflect the awesome and inspiring beauty that can be found in nature. Whether painting in the studio or on location, his work reveals his passion for the land he loves.  He captures the atmosphere of the moment, which he would say is the result of painting quickly, so as not to “think” too much. He wants the energy of the moment to touch the viewer, to share what he is feeling…..

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Bryn Craig

When Bryn Craig finds himself inspired by a dingy hotel in Los Angeles or a misty landscape in British Columbia, he stops whatever he’s doing to paint it. “I have no preconceptions,” Craig says. “When I see something, I just do it.” He laughs, “My wife is very patient–she’ll go shopping or something and come back later.”

Craig, a regular exhibitor at The Garden Gallery, seemed destined to be an artist-his teacher even predicted it in first grade. “At school I was really encouraged,” he says. “No one but me was allowed to use the chalk.”

Later, Craig illustrated his high school yearbook, and went on to attend the Philadelphia Museum School of Art. Craig attended an art school in New York and taught a couple art classes in Philadelphia, at the same college from which he’d graduated.

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Suzanne D’arcy

Suzanne D’Arcy, born and bred in California, has grown up with landscape that encompasses great stone ridges and peaks, wide vistas of agricultural fields and fruit and nut orchards, green swells of land dotted with red and black cattle, fierce rushing rivers in canyons of granite, and lush coastal beaches. Her California cities bustle with the diversity of peoples and cultures that enrich and enliven urban scenes. Living in a state as beautiful and varied in visual environments as an artist and citizen has fine tuned her appreciation of beauty. There is literally a painting every where one can look-city or town or country.

“I knew early on in my life that painting and drawing were integral to my self. As a very little kid, the illustrations of Arthur Szyk in Grimm’s Fairytales, struck me for their drama and clarity; I knew that the world of representational art would be my focus. There is such beauty in the ordinary city street, open field, sea edge, a person’s face that I have never been without motivation or subject matter for painting….

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Robert Dvorak

Robert Regis Dvorak’s official resume is impressive. He was a recipient of an American Academy in Rome Fellowship and has received numerous grants. He is primarily a watercolor painter, but he also works with great skill at life drawing and as a printmaker of etchings and woodcuts. In addition he has produced over twenty-two short experimental films, many have been featured in film festivals in the USA, Europe and Australia.

He has had numerous solo exhibits and his paintings, films, and prints are in many private and museum collections around the United States.

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Ron Grauer

Ron Grauer’s life should have started with a pencil in his hand because drawing has always held an important spot in his heart. During 1928-29 his father took him to the airport often and he gleefully watched beautiful planes passing right in front of the windshield of their car. One in particular was a bright red biplane with spirals painted on the wheels which were still revolving as they passed by. The thrill of those early times inspired him to study all the airplane pictures he could lay his hands on. Sheer magic!

Such vivid memories struck a chord in his fertile imagination. After the family moved from St Joseph, Missouri, where he was born in 1927, to Topeka,  Kansas, Ron began drawing: airplanes and birds…on all the walls in his bedroom and on the inside cover of every book in the house! Airplanes and drawing were certainly his first loves.

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Kirstine Reiner Hansen

Originally from Denmark, Kirstine Reiner Hansen currently lived and works in Carmel, CA. She received a BA in Graphic Design & Illustration from Kolding School of Design in Denmark. Her work has been shown in numerous galleries across America and in Europe

From “Savvy Painter”:

Thriving as a Self Taught Artist, with Kirstine Reiner Hansen

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Eric Joyner

Eric is a local San Francisco artist with a groovy penchant for donuts and robots flavored with a dash of Magritte symbolism. He grew up in the Bay Area and pursued his schooling here as well.

Joyner’s mother was a Methodist who would bribe her young son with donuts to go to Sunday school. His father, an atheist, said mean stuff about Jesus behind his wife’s back. Despite their differences of opinion on God, the Joyners built a loving home for their children and nobody grew up to be too weird.

Eric is a sometimes-shy, sometimes-not, kinda guy with a satirical, dry wit, painting wonderfully engaging landscapes. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that he kind of looks like Captain Kirk. He showed with Eclectix a few times, back in the day, and his works always carried us away, to a comic-book-land of greenery and space-age nostalgia.

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Laurie Kersey

Sometimes defiance pays off. In high school, Laurie Kersey, a rebellious teenager with irresistible pluck and a flair for painting, was faced with a painful ultimatum: complete an assignment of 30 poems for a writing class required for graduation, or fail high school. Kersey’s visually oriented mind and “optional” interpretation on authority refused to submit to the literary torture. Staring the consequence dead in the eye, she didn’t turn in her assignment. As the end of the semester approached, her teacher met with her to discuss the situation. What the dreaded Iliad-waving wordmonger said surprised her. She told her that while some people prefer verbal expression, which must be formulated within the constraints of language, visually oriented people express themselves more naturally within the open framework provided by art. She knew Kersey was into painting, so she struck a deal with her: six paintings for 30 poems. Kersey got an A.

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Chris Leib

Mission Arts: Why are you an Artist?

Chris Leib: My father is an incredible artist, and I am very competitive. But it also became like an addiction. Once I started, I never wanted to do anything else. In college I studied anthropology and thought about applying to grad school, but I got hired as an artist by a local company. From then on I rejected all notions that I was supposed to do anything else. It is just something I have to do. I don’t like to be away from painting, even for a few days.

MA: Tell us more about your paintings?

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Joe Mancuso

Some of Joe’s earliest memories are camping trips to the Eastern Sierras and taking walks with his father down the railroad tracks to the rabbit fields near his home. He credits his father for his early introduction to nature and the outdoors.

Joe’s first art instruction began early in catholic school when in the afternoon, the television would be turned on and he would receive instruction on how to create shadows on simple shapes. This really began Joe’s enthusiasm for drawing. One summer while visiting an art fair in Mammoth Lakes he came across some drawings by Helen Seal, a Southern California artist.

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Thomas Marsh

Thomas Marsh is a classical figurative sculptor whose work uses solid principles of realism to present religious or humanistic allegorical themes. His sculptures and drawings incorporate a complex understanding of anatomy into forms that are suffused with the human spirit. Each of Marsh’s figurative pieces speaks very highly of his knowledge of anatomy. While being highly anatomically accurate, Thomas Marsh’s sculptures are still very stylistically his own.

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William Maughan

A professional illustrator and fine artist, Mr. Maughan received a Bachelor of Fine Art in Illustration from the Art Center College of Design. He has provided numerous illustrations for such companies as DreamWorks, Woman’s Day, TV Guide, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, CBS, Universal Studios, Wells Fargo Bank, Chevrolet, GMC, Franklin Library, New American Library, Avon Books, Pinnacle Books, Signet Books, Tor Books, Doubleday, Harcourt Brace, Knopf, Oxford University Press, Danbury Mint, Fenwick and others. Since the early ’80s Mr. Maughan’s work, both originals and prints, has been represented by major galleries and publishers, domestically and internationally. His works of art are included in private, commercial and museum collections. Mr. Maughan’s book, The Artist’s Complete Guide to Drawing the Head, was published in 2004 by Watson/Guptill.

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Anna Nelson

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et tempor enim, quis elementum arcu. Ut luctus nibh tellus, vitae tempus arcu vestibulum luctus. Maecenas varius rutrum justo nec malesuada. Vivamus dictum nunc nec ex vestibulum, ut ornare orci tincidunt. Praesent volutpat metus a erat sagittis iaculis. Mauris dapibus efficitur tristique. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et tempor enim, quis elementum arcu. Ut luctus nibh tellus, vitae tempus arcu vestibulum luctus. Maecenas varius rutrum justo nec malesuada. Vivamus dictum nunc nec ex vestibulum, ut ornare orci tincidunt. Praesent volutpat metus a erat sagittis iaculis. Mauris dapibus efficitur tristique.

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Craig Nelson

Craig Nelson has been a professional artist for over 30 years. His clean draftsmanship and skillful application of complex color combinations are the mark of a mature painter at ease with his craft. His style is spontaneous and his brush stroke is fluid. The precision of his line, though very disciplined, is the hidden underpinning of Craig’s instinctive incorporation of sophisticated color and compositional relationships.

His palette is very broad, the sign of a mature painter with an extensive color vocabulary. It allows him to place truthful, natural colors into his paintings that give his subjects life, feeling, reality.

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Kevin Pettelle

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et tempor enim, quis elementum arcu. Ut luctus nibh tellus, vitae tempus arcu vestibulum luctus. Maecenas varius rutrum justo nec malesuada. Vivamus dictum nunc nec ex vestibulum, ut ornare orci tincidunt. Praesent volutpat metus a erat sagittis iaculis. Mauris dapibus efficitur tristique. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et tempor enim, quis elementum arcu. Ut luctus nibh tellus, vitae tempus arcu vestibulum luctus. Maecenas varius rutrum justo nec malesuada. Vivamus dictum nunc nec ex vestibulum, ut ornare orci tincidunt. Praesent volutpat metus a erat sagittis iaculis. Mauris dapibus efficitur tristique.

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Bill Rhea

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et tempor enim, quis elementum arcu. Ut luctus nibh tellus, vitae tempus arcu vestibulum luctus. Maecenas varius rutrum justo nec malesuada. Vivamus dictum nunc nec ex vestibulum, ut ornare orci tincidunt. Praesent volutpat metus a erat sagittis iaculis. Mauris dapibus efficitur tristique. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et tempor enim, quis elementum arcu. Ut luctus nibh tellus, vitae tempus arcu vestibulum luctus. Maecenas varius rutrum justo nec malesuada. Vivamus dictum nunc nec ex vestibulum, ut ornare orci tincidunt. Praesent volutpat metus a erat sagittis iaculis. Mauris dapibus efficitur tristique.

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Carol Rosemond

Carol Rosemond paints brief moments of magical light, blazing sunsets, ever-changing moods and seasons, and wild vistas untouched by the hand of man. By chronicling scenes that are familiar and loved by those who travel the shores of the Pacific Ocean, she is preserving memories of the natural landscape of her time, to be treasured and contemplated in the present and by future generations. Her seascapes are a stark portrayal of the indomitable and mysterious forces of nature. Rosemond’s work is such that many viewers come away with a sense that they have shared a rare moment in time, as well as a personal moment with the artist herself.

An Overview and Discussion by the Artist

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Davis F. Schwartz

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et tempor enim, quis elementum arcu. Ut luctus nibh tellus, vitae tempus arcu vestibulum luctus. Maecenas varius rutrum justo nec malesuada. Vivamus dictum nunc nec ex vestibulum, ut ornare orci tincidunt. Praesent volutpat metus a erat sagittis iaculis. Mauris dapibus efficitur tristique. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et tempor enim, quis elementum arcu. Ut luctus nibh tellus, vitae tempus arcu vestibulum luctus. Maecenas varius rutrum justo nec malesuada. Vivamus dictum nunc nec ex vestibulum, ut ornare orci tincidunt. Praesent volutpat metus a erat sagittis iaculis. Mauris dapibus efficitur tristique.

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Jared Sines

Bay Area artist Jared Sines didn’t exactly have the average childhood: by age eight he was undergoing classical art training and drawing from live nude models.

“Most parents teach their kids how to throw a curve ball, but mine were into the arts,” said Sines, an exhibitor at The Garden Gallery in Half Moon Bay whose primary work includes still-life, nudes and landscapes. “‘Draw the nice naked lady,’ they’d say,” he laughed. “I liked the drawing best. I liked painting too, but I think I got more paint all over the room than on the canvas.”

Sines credits his father with getting him started in art. “My father was one of those crazy artist types too, though I guess all artists are a little bit crazy. ‘Learn anatomy, son,’ he said. His legacy really lives on in me through his love of art.”

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Ronia Smits

Born in Kingston-Upon Thames, England, Ronia Smits is an Anglo-American landscape / botanical painter. Even as a small child living respectively in England and Africa, the flora and landscape of each country had a soothing influence on her, gently nudging her toward pursuing a degree in painting/textile design at what is now the University of Brighton in Sussex, England. On many memorable occasions in England, accompanied by her father and grandmother, she would go for long walks in the woods of the beautiful Surrey countryside to collect wildflowers. Those were less enlightened times before the concern that we would lose our wildflowers if people continued to pick them. She likes to think that she was merely pruning! In Africa she painted predominantly the red hibiscus flowers from her garden and the exotic flame lilies that grew abundantly along the roadside in the golden savanna of the African bush. Even on trips to game parks her eyes were roaming for flora as well as fauna. A lion or a rare white rhino was always a thrill to see, but then so was a rare lily.

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Hsin-Yao-Tseng

Hsin-Yao Tseng was born in Taipei Taiwan in 1986. He was born to be an artist. At the age of ten, he began painting in watercolors, as well as other mediums. This activity at such an early age was self-inspired and self-taught. It gave Hsin-Yao insights into the foundation he would need to excel in producing work to the standards he expected.

The subjects he chooses to explore include landscapes, the figure and still-life using bright color and expressive brush-strokes. The word “explore” is chosen purposely to describe Hsin-Yao’s artistic drive and evolution as a fine artist. He will experiment with techinque using his medium to accentuate the intrinsic perosality of his subjects and themes. An urban scene will be expressed in a more organic, edgey manner causing him to use his medium in a bit more aggressive and spontaneous fashion, while a still-life might require a more gentle and cautious hand.

Hsin-Yao comes to The Garden Gallery on high recommendation of noted painter and chairman of the fine art department of the San Francisco Academy of Art University, Craig Nelson. Nelson’s long history of teaching hundreds of artists over 30 years gives him the best vantage point to discover inpsired, committed young talent and indicated Hsin-Yao as an artist of great drive, technical skill and a unique vision.

Hsin-Yao is consciously on a mission and it shows in his work. His dedication and passion to break artistic barriers in his painting are apparent when approaching a collection of his paintings whereever they are exhibited.

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Michael Wood

Michael Wood paints with the sophisticated style of a disciplined artist who has been refining his craft for over thirty years. His skillful execution, mature artistic instincts, and professional integrity place him in an elite class of artists working today. He strictly adheres to a purist focus on the creative process and technical excellence, while pursuing his painting with great passion.

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