Meet Artist Robin Mooney

 

Robin Mooney - Cupertino, California 

Nearing the end of a 36-year career as a Civil Engineer and worried about what trouble I might get myself into in my retirement, my wife and sister-in-law conspired. For a birthday, they surprised me with paints, brushes, paper and a week-long watercolor workshop with Dale Laitinen. While I was obviously in way over my head, I greatly enjoyed that workshop. I return most years to Dale’s Virginia City workshops to paint and reconnect with friends. 

 After using up my allotment of classes in furniture design and sculpture at De Anza College, my artistic endeavors now focus on watercolor. I especially enjoy painting with my friends, Ron and Popi Tyler in Santa Rosa. It was with Popi’s encouragement and support that I entered this show. 

T-008 Three Amigos by Robin Mooney wc 21x17 $500

T-009 It is what it is by Robin Mooney wc 26x21 $600

O-031 Virginia City #3 by Robin Mooney wc 29x23 $700

O-032 Virginia City Mine Shafts by Robin Mooney wc 29x23 $7003

Meet Artist Shauna Rae Engbrecht

 SHAUNA RAE ENGBRECHT

 “ART BY SHAUNA” 

O-158 At the Beach by Shauna Engbrecht oil 20x27 $950.

As a young girl growing up in Klamath Falls, I rode horses and learned to love landscapes painted by God and the beauty in His sky. 

 I always had a desire to create, and as a child my grandmother saw my passion for art and ordered the “Fad of the Month” club for me. It cemented my love of anything artistic. 

I married in 1975 and was widowed in 1986 with four children under 10 to raise, and now have nine grandchildren. I worked as a baker and managed a bakery in the Rogue Valley. In 1993, my sister and I opened a bakery/deli of our own. After 28 years, we sold it in 2021. So now, it’s my turn to be able to pursue my love of art! 

O-160 Paradise Beach by Shauna Engbrecht oil 24x48 $1500

EDUCATION: 

Rogue River High School graduate, Rogue River, Oregon 

Bassist Fashion Institute, Portland, Oregon— studied fashion and window display. 

 I currently teach art at a Christian school. 

ART: 

As an adult, I studied one-stroke painting with Donna Dewberry. Moved on to a pastel painting group in the Rogue Valley. 

 I’ve completed online classes with Scott Christenson. 

 I’ve been fortunate enough to sell several of my pieces and now with more free time, I’m ready to see what else can be done to market, display and sell my art.

Meet Artist Paula Gale Tooman

O-026 Hope by Paula Tooman wc 24x20 $300

Paula Gale Tooman Bio

 

I feel like I am coming home when I enter the art show at Ironstone Vineyards. The Gold Country has always been special to me. My husband and I love sitting on the Ironstone patio outside the wine tasting room having apple wine and sandwiches. It’s a privilege to return as a painter to one of my favorite places.

I am Paula Gale Tooman and I’ve been painting since my mid-twenties. I first got interested in water color when I took a class from Muriel Doggett in adult education in Pleasanton, California. It only took six weeks to fall in love with the fluid surprises of painting with water colors. I’ve never been able to pry myself away from this medium – it’s exciting, vibrant, unpredictable, and just plain fun. A friend and I would try to go plein-air painting every few weeks. Sometimes we went to the Sacramento Delta but mainly we painted in the Gold Country. Dogs loved us, and people would meander by to see what we were doing. The spectators seemed to be kind and somewhat envious of the fun we were having.

When I had my first two children I felt I was too busy to paint. But I didn’t know what busy really was until my husband and I adopted twelve Ethiopians between 1994 and 1996. I was too busy to do much of anything. Our last adoption was in 1999 of a handicapped Down’s syndrome baby girl. But … I still dreamed of those days of painting in the Gold Country and wanted to try again. When I was in my late fifties I had only three kids at home – it felt like a vacation.

This year has been very busy and very strange because of Covid-19 and many new commitments. I would really like this coming year to spend more time in my studio. There is always so much to learn as a watercolor painter. There are new colors, new subjects, and new technologies; sometimes it’s overwhelming. For instance there are proportions, reflections and perspective – I thought I knew them, then I looked again at the subjects. Really it’s all a great challenge and such great fun!

 

Meet Artist Holly Johbnston

O-033 minstrel_life by Holly Johnston acr 12x9 $175

             Holly Johnston is a local artist living in Murphys. She is excited to share her painting “Minstrel Life” which is an homage to the other art forms she draws inspiration from. In this piece she wanted to challenge herself to explore realism and still life while incorporating her personality and passions. The mandolin represents her love for music and the three knives her passion for juggling and living life to the fullest – and slightly on the edge. 

            As a child Holly always loved to draw. She took classes in watercolors for several years from Martha Wallace. Since then she has been primarily self-taught with the occasional class and input from her artistic brother Jesse. Holly decided to branch out into acrylics in her 20’s.Not long after, her aunt was kind enough to give her a massive set of paints and brushes for Christmas which inspired her to further develop herself as a painter. 

             She enjoys exploring different subjects and challenging herself to make each piece unique and beautiful. The last couple of years she has been working on collaborative pieces with her fiancée Jeremiah Heath, one of which is featured in this year’s Daffodil art display. 

             Besides painting Holly loves to garden and spend time outdoors. She finds joy in bringing beauty and abundance from the earth. She also has a passion for the performance arts. A juggler, she has performed across the globe from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland to the local Black Bart Playhouse. Holly may also be seen in the local theater community, most recently with Shakespeare on the Vine. She also loves to play and listen to music, and enjoys exploring a wide variety of styles and genres. 

             Holly hopes to express in her art the passion that she feels for what she loves.