Our Membership of Artists and Volunteers is always growing!

Name:  Arnold Eilers, photographer

Website: www.camerascience.com

email: arnold@camerascience.com

 

Born in Oakland, California, Arnold Eilers majored in photography at City College of San Francisco.  He worked in biomedical media at UCSF Medical Center and later for Pacific Dugoni School of Dentistry.  He and his wife, Catherine, learned to love Stockton while spending time with his three children during their education at University of the Pacific, so they moved here in 2005 and he founded his own business, Camera Science, creating all types of photography and videography.

Name:  Arturo Vera, photographer

Website:  www.artexpresssions.org

Email:  verastudios@att.net

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/arturoveraphotographer

 

Arturo Vera has spent nearly 40 years mastering the art of professional photography.  Having first experienced the thrill of painting with light while in the United State Navy as a sailor in the West Pacific, he later put himself through school at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco, California.  Since those days, Mr. Vera has received a number of prestigious awards such as the coveted “Photographic Technical Excellence,” dubbed the “Silver Cindy” from the Information Film Producers of America as well as the 1985 Best in the West Fest award from the Multi Image Category.  He has been named “Artist in Residence” by the Stockton is Magnificent initiative.

 

After earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, Mr. Vera embarked upon his career with the motto, “I’ll never look

at light as an obstacle, but rather as a beautiful challenge.”

 

 

After situating himself as a fine arts photographer and visual artist in the mid-1980’s, Arturo entered the wedding photography business and by 1989 founded Carousel Limousine.  With his company, he and his wife Ana took the wedding business by storm:  offering wedding photography, videography, professional invitations, makeup and limousine service.

 

In 1999, Arturo travelled to a remote region of Mexico and made contact with the indigenous peoples who live in the shadow of the Sierra Madre mountain range.  This tribe, known as the Tarahumara, later became part of his exhibition “Tarahumara – Indigenous People of Chihuahua, Mexico and The Rituals

and Beliefs of the Easter Celebration.”  This well received exhibition was featured at galleries in San Jose, Oakland, Mountain View and San Francisco.

 

Mr. Vera is retired from the wedding business but is now engrossed in multiple projects.  Since relocating to Stockton in 2001, he has also compiled a considerable portfolio.  The majority of the images that comprise this vast portfolio document Stockton and the surrounding beauties we all sometimes take

for granted.  Many of these images have been featured in well attended exhibitions such as “Fog in Stockton,”  “Murals in Stockton,” and “Floral and Photosynthesis – A Light Reaction.”

 

In 2007, Mr. Vera was invited to exhibit his work in Tracy, California for an exhibition called “The Making of an Artist” as part of the inaugural exhibition of the Grand Theater Center for the Arts.  Mr. Vera’s works have also graced the covers of many magazines in the Bay Area and in San Joaquin County.  Moreover, his photographs have shown at numerous locations throughout the years but mainly in the city of Stockton, which he feels very passionate about.

 

Arturo was a member of the Tidewater Galley until it closed.  After which, he took it upon himself to ensure that art in Stockton continued and is the founder

of Art Expressions of San Joaquin, a non-profit co-op of 40+ artisans interested in advancing the artistic profile of our community.  Some of these artists have a long history with Arturo as colleagues at the now dissolved Tidewater Gallery and Art Center.

 

Arturo says that what excites him about a scene before he makes an image is the lighting, the texture, the color intensities and the energy coming from it.  Composing the picture comes naturally for him as it needs to please his eye and his insatiable hunger for art IN photography.  Once he has those elements, he is spiritually in tune with them to make images.  He is always interested in space in time that others don’t seem to value or notice.

 

“I’m simply telling a story the way I see it.”

Name:         Carlos Pérez

Website:    http://www.coroflot.com/public/individual_details.asp?individual_id=74598

Email:          artorigin@comcast.net

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/artorigin

 

Artist Statement:

The mixed media painting that emerges into Carlos Perez’s canvases come from a visceral place.  His artistic process is an elated ritual that brings to the surface stories of his life experiences. His images are influenced by artists of the Mexican, Chicano and Indigenous art movements, such as:  Rufino Tamayo, Rupert Garcia and

Edgar Heap of Birds. The stories tell of an indigenous spiritual heritage.  They are textural, colorful and symbolic.  His artworks possess an innate force of passion that speaks to us in an expressive and spontaneous way.

 

Artist Influences:

“One must have a spiritual dialogue, be a conduit to mother earth and make offerings each time you enter the Creative Spirit.”   -Hock E Aye VI Edgar Heap of Birds, (Cheyenne/Arapaho) is an artist, write, educator, curator

and tribal leader.

 

“To the Nahuas, words were flowers, metaphors that gave birth to thoughts, creative dreams of the spirits in action.”  -Jose Antonio Burciaga, Chicano artist, poet and writer who explored issues of Chicano identity in American society

 

“Art is one of the most constructive forms of education.  Through creative endeavors and artistic production, a sense of appreciation and calmness is developed and, in consequence, sound judgment and a fine spirit of cooperation follow.”  -Chiura Obata, Japanese-American artist; a self-described “roughneck”

 

Poem Influence:  I would like to dedicate this to those that are occupied with the present, but do understand that the construction of a better future involves the knowledge of our past.  These are my roots; my history.

 

Name:  Em McLaren

Email:  emmclaren@comcast.net

 

Em McLaren was born in San Francisco, California and grew up in the Bay Area.  She completed a Bachelor of

Arts in both Art and Psychology at San Jose State University.  She obtained a Master’s Degree in Social Work

from Fresno State University in 1973.  She worked in the mental health field for over 30 years.

She often used Art and Sand Tray Therapy in her work.

 

After retiring in 2003, she took up photography and is self-taught.  She enjoys learning new techniques working

with digital computer programs to create unique images for photos and cards.  She is a member of both the Manteca and Stockton Camera Clubs and serves on the Manteca Mayor’s Art Committee.  In 2006, she was selected by the Committee as Artist of the Year.  She has won numerous awards for her photography including Best of Division at the San Joaquin County Fair.  In 2014, she won Best of Show in the Delicato Photography Contest.

 

She has used her photography to help those who needed it.  She has done weddings and was the official photographer for St. Joseph Hospital’s “We Can Cancer Camp” in 2008.  She also did a photo journal of what it was like going through radiation treatment at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Stockton.  The hospital made it into a book and uses it for patients.

 

Her philosophy is “there is always a picture to be found within 20 feet of any direction one looks.”  She is able to see many magical worlds looking through the lens of a camera.  Her love of photography has opened a world of enjoyment and beauty which she delights in sharing with others.  Lately, Em has expanded into the world of making folk art boxes with various themes.

Name:       Jill Hedrick Harster Lipka

Website:    www.artexpresssions.org

Email:        jill.hh.lipka@gmail.com

 

Originally from California, I am a visual artist with a focus in sculpture who recently moved to Lodi after living in Alaska for almost 20 years.

 

While in Alaska, I worked for museums on Kodiak Island - most recently serving as the Curator of Education at the Baranov Museum.  I also worked designing and fabricating museum exhibits and teaching traditional knowledge I learned from Alaska Native Elders to young people in village schools with the Alutiiq Museum.  My job also entailed working on numerous remote archaeological digs and surveys.  I loved this work and often found myself sketching and writing field notes along rivers in total awe of my life.  I feel similarly now as I look around my studio and recognize how fortunate I am to have a studio practice.

 

On the outside, I am a stereotypical eccentric artist with a pleasantly chaotic studio full of work in progress, sketches, and wonderful bits and pieces of inspiration.  On the inside, I am curious, quite nerdy and starving for substance.  I also love to laugh!

 

Why do I sculpt? I sculpt in an effort to recapture, time and time again, the joy that comes having given life to something that once had only been an idea.

 

My daily practice involves coffee, research, and art making.

 

My sculpting process is largely unplanned and often starts simply with decisions on material, size, and feel.  I frequently make my own modeling compounds and build my work layer by layer - carving and shaping along the way.

 

I like my forms to feel familiar and comfortable and I use a repetition or pattern of shapes across my work.  These forms may visually feel like ripples, leaves or rivulets of water, windy swooshes or circles.  My forms often cradle one another or are complete as a singular organic shape with a patterned flow.

 

I have a number of mediums beyond modeling compounds that I cycle through regularly.  I like to hand-carve wood sculptures, paint using acrylics, assemble found objects, felt fiber vessels, process fish skins, and bend wire.

 

I explore new techniques, research old ways of crafting and adorn objects used in daily life, and blend the old and new in contemporary pieces.

Name:  Jeff Ryan

 

Mixed Media Artist

Name:      Nancy Brooks

Website:   http://www.sonsofmil.com/Pages/default.aspx

Email:       nancybrooks@sonsofmil.com

 

Nancy Brooks was born in San Francisco, but has lived in Stockton for most of her life. She has worked in downtown Stockton for over twenty years, and considers it her ‘home-away-from-home’. She is a First-Generation American with many cultural backgrounds, including ancestors from El Salvador, Lebanon, Nova Scotia, Canada, England, and Ireland - countries rich in folklore and legendary creatures.

 

With eighteen novels published, Nancy’s goal is to create interest in ancient legends from around the world. “Folklore and culture are fading with each generation, regardless of our ancestors’ native land. Whether our individual heritage originated in Latin America, Africa, Asia or the Middle East, we are losing the wonders of oral tradition. These are stories that may have once been real events, history with an entertaining twist, and we’re losing them. I want to bring these legends to life, in a modern setting, and awaken mainstream interest in them.” She is also dedicated to helping others record and publish their own stories.

Name:  Rochelle Tietze

 

Artist Statement:  I see art in everything wherever I go….

I describe myself as a person who has a great love for art. My images are full of information. I have completed many pieces which include plein air paintings, studio tours, and paintings in coffee shops and bookstores.  Being an avid artist I paint for pleasure.  What a person sees in my paintings is stunning vibrant colors, multi layers, dream like imagery that comes from my unusual background, known as an avant-garde artist.

 I have taught classes and given demonstrations.  I have won numerous placement awards including Best Mayors of Choice in the California Art League.  Numerous articles have been written in local newspapers, and magazines regarding myself and my paintings.

 Many of my paintings are still life or people, filled with fantastic plants, people and animals in brilliant colors. My paintings lure you out of this world into a dream world that reflects our world.

I’m largely a self- taught artist with 40 years of experience.  I’ve always had positive reactions to my paintings.  They stand out in a gallery or show.

Name:  Riri Nakasone

Email:  ririb@comcast.net

 

Born and raised in Japan, I received my art education in the United States.  My paintings are influenced by Japanese tradition such as calligraphy, austere beauty and elegant simplicity.  I also studied painting and printmaking;  relief, intaglio, lithography, serigraphy.   I like to develop my creative ideas using western techniques.

 

Experience

2008 - Exhibition as part of the Stockton Arts Awards Art show; 7th Annual Moonlight Sip & Stroll;

            Commissioned to paint original art work for Cocoro To Go restaurant.

2007 – 6th Annual Moonlight Sip & Stroll; Hospice of San Joaquin Lean On Me Art Show

2004 – Commissioned to paint original art work for Cocoro restaurant

1989 – Artist’s book of woodcut prints added to Permanent Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York

Name:  Saul Serna

Website:  www.sernagallery.com

Email:  saul@sernagallery.com

 

Born of migrant parents in 1975 in San Jose, California, Saul Serna is an accomplished acrylic and mixed media artist currently living in Stockton, California.  Aside from being an artist, Saul currently works primarily from home

as a Linux Systems Engineer for a successful open source Silicon Valley tech company.

 

With no formal training or education in art, the majority of his experiences have been a result of both self-taught

and the appreciation of a select few well known artists.  There are three highly influential artists whose works he

has always admired and has found inspirational.  Saul’s biggest influences and personal favorite artists have been the works of famous political Mexican muralists:  David Alfaro Siqueiros, Jorge Gonzalez Camarena and Jose Clemente Orozco.  After a visit to Mexico City in 2006 to see all of their murals at the famous Castillo De Chapultepec and Bellas Arts, Saul was immediately inspired and motivated to get back into his artwork as soon

as he returned home.  Many of his pieces have been exhibited in the Bay Area and Central Valley and have won recognition.  A few of his pieces are currently on display at the Stockton Metropolitan Airport.  Other venues that have exhibited his work have been Ironstone Vineyards in Murphys, Lucas Winery in Lodi, the Kress Building in downtown Stockton, the Bob Hope/Fox Theater in Stockton and City Hall in Lathrop, California.

 

Saul has stated that if he had to describe his artistic style, he would have to say that he really doesn’t have one, “YET.”  According to Saul, it’s the only honest answer he can give to describe his work right now.  He stated he is

still in self-discovery mode and continues to see his work evolve.  In the meantime, he continues to create and

share his creativity.

Name:  Sue LaMarr Kramer

Email:  muffiedog@comcast.net

 

Born in Columbus, Ohio and raised in the countryside nearby, I have a long history of relatives with artistic talent.  My great grandfather was a professional artist.  From earliest memory, I have loved to draw and portray the beauty I saw all around.

 

As a child, I dreamed and longed for a career in art.  Sadly, my family discouraged this as a pursuit and I  was pushed toward a career in nursing,

in large part because of my family’s desire for me to earn a better living than they did.  I graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in nursing which became my career but my passion was art.  I took as many art classes as I could squeeze in during my college years.  Later, I attended Maryhurst College

in Portland, Oregon to obtain a degree in fine arts.

 

Over the years, I spent many hours pursuing as many forms and mediums and techniques as possible and have taken enumerable classes.  As a result, I have learned to do china painting, acrylics, fabric painting, soft and hard sculpture, colored pencil, needlework, quilling, stenciling, zentangle and painting ceramics.  I love to develop new techniques and have experimented with digital art.

 

Now that my nursing career has come to an end, I am able to devote most of my time to my second career in art.  My focus and goal for the coming years is on painting and in particular the challenges of pastels.

Name:         Sydney Spurgeon, photographer

Email:          sgspurg1@icloud.com

Facebook:   Sydney Spurgeon photography

Phone/text:  209-981-4080

 

I am a freshman at San Joaquin Delta College and excited to be enrolled in my first formal photography classes. I was gifted a camera at the age of 12 following a spinal fusion and quickly discovered photographing brought me much joy and my work in turn resonated in a positive way with others.

 

At St. Mary's High School, I was yearbook and newspaper photography editor, president of the photography club and photographer/blogger of Students of St. Mary's. I have spent many hours on the SM campus shooting most sporting games, school masses, special events/fundraisers, homecomings and any newsworthy pictures the school requested. Fortunately, I have had much success with many art competitions including 1st place 2015 District 9 Congressional Art Competition, Best of Show Art Expressions 2015 Annual High School Contest and most recently 1st and 2nd place Lodi Grape Festival Youth Division.

 

I very much look forward to pursuing a career in photography and I am leaning towards the field of fashion photography. As I continue to learn, grow, and collaborate with my peers and mentors I look forward to capturing the beauty that surrounds me from behind the lens of my camera.

Name:  Mary Ann Poletti

Email:  maportrait@comcast.net

 

Mary Ann Poletti is predominantly a portrait painter of people and pets. Her two main media are oils and pastels. Her style is realism, but she likes to paint "ethereal, fun pictures" in acrylics.

Mary Ann began her art studies with Miss Minnie Jones in Beaumont, Texas. She attended the University of Texas, Austin, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Applied Art. She continued studying art at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, receiving credits through Colorado College. Her principle teacher in portraiture was Royden Marten. She takes ongoing workshops from Bob Gerbracht.

After a layoff of fifteen years and five children, Mary Ann took up her art tools, painting and drawing neighborhood children. A demand for portraits of dogs, cats and horses broadened her field.

She has exhibited in the Texas Jefferson County Fair, Tulare County Fair, Haggin Museum, and Unitarian Shows in Stockton. Her works hang in universities in Texas, the Senate building in Washington, D.C., and homes throughout Texas, California, and Hawaii.

Mary Ann is a member of the American Society of Portrait Artists, the Portrait Institute, the Stockton Art League and Art Expressions of San Joaquin.

Name:     Robert Austin

Website:  www.artexpresssions.org

Email:      robertaustin49@yahoo.com

 

From my earliest memories I was drawn to art.  I recall, at the age of 5 or 6, sitting at our living room coffee table and trying to draw Cowboys, Indians and Battleships while everyone else was outside playing.  I think my father got me started because I watched him drawing ships during sermons at church.  Years passed and I got caught up in the business of living.  I obtained an undergraduate in biology with a minor in chemistry.  Sometime after that, I earned a juris doctorate degree.

       With that background, I have had several very different careers. From wholesale industrial chemical purchasing agent to criminal defense lawyer and many career stops in between including truck driver, property manager, labor union organizer and on and on.  In between every career change, I would briefly return to art, if for no other reason than to catch my breath.

       My life experience has taught me that we live in an adversarial world.  Labor versus management, democrat versus republican, capitalist versus socialist, haves versus have-nots.  As a lawyer, I was trained to be an advocate for whichever side signed my paycheck.  I have witnessed the chaotic emotions attached to all of these adversarial conflicts and I accept conflict as an unavoidable part of life.

       But I also believe we can get so caught up in the attendant drama that we overlook the incredible beauty that exists all around us.  I think that art (all art) helps us refocus on what a truly beautiful experience just being alive is.  I have spent many years focusing on the not so beautiful aspects of human existence.  Pretty much nothing ends up in a courtroom unless it has sunk to a state of total dysfunction.  I choose now to capture the beauty of human existence in my art and share it with people.  It lifts my spirit to create something that someone loves and I hope it lifts their spirit as well.

Name:        Tanya Moreno – Loki Rhythm

Website:     http://lokirhythm.com/

Email:         lokirhythm@gmail.com; heytanya@att.net

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/lokirhythm/

 

    Loki Rhythm is a musical group that incorporates sounds from around the world. We are comprised of central valley musicians who appreciate the diversity of California.  Our goal is to design music which includes the deep cultural history found in our own local communities.  Our musical arrangements have evolved into unique compositions influenced by Hawaiian, West African, Caribbean, Zydeco, Latin Jazz, Asian and Persian cultures. Our philosophy is that music should be fun, thoughtful and celebrate multiculturalism.  We love to have the audience participate and be involved in the music.  Our own originals include Brazilian Treetop, Alien Blues, Butano Groove, and more.

 

Loki Rhythm attempts to gravitate towards people who are willing to celebrate, enjoy and experiment with rhythm and melodies.  Listening to Loki Rhythm will bring on good will and positive fun within a unique auditory experience.  Our music is designed to break the mold of contemporary though and merge different cultural sounds, instruments and rhythms.

Name:     Chris Thompson

Website:

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Name:     Ruben Hernandez

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Name:     Sydney Jones

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Name:     Ashna Thaker

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Name:     Menchie Oliva

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Name:     Georgia Baxter

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Name:     CAT Hartgraves

Website:

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Name:    Sam Baccam

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Name:    Jessica Bernal

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Name:      Nancy Buckenham

Website:  nancybuckenhamdesigns.com

Email:      nancy@nancybuckenhamdesigns.com

Social:     https://www.instagram.com/nbuckenham/

 

I like art. I like to make art. I like to teach art. I like to share art experiences with all age groups. I'm a graphic designer by trade and a multi-media artist by soul.

 

 

209.460.0780

verastudio@att.net