Meet Artist "Alex" Furtney, Ironstone Spring Obsession Art ShowO-107

Deanna Furtney "Alex", currently lives in Copperopolis.

O-107  Bob  acrylic  16x20  $400

Born and raised in California, studied art with Alma Steinger.

Furthering her career, Alex was a fine arts major in the USC School of fine Arts.  While at USC, she studied oils, life drawings with Hans Gebhardt. Alex received many awards including the Zellerbock award for excellence.

After College, while keeping up with her painting; she continued to study art. Eventually, she taught art classes in nearby high schools.

Upon moving to Northern California, she was exposed to many artists. Her style developed into bold landscapes as well as doing portraits. She was a founding member of The Center of Creativity and Community, in San Andreas where she taught classes and did design work for landscaping.  She continues to show her work at Gallery 23 in San Andreas. Next spring, she can be seen t Treasure Island Art Show in San Francisco. She does accept commissions.

Thank you for taking the time to get to know me!

Deanna "Alex"

Meet Artist Libby Fife, Ironstone Spring Obsession accepted artist

Libby Fife – Fine Art

Email: libbyfife@ymail.com

Website: www.libbyfife.com

O-029  Precarious  acrylic  $235

Bio:

Libby Fife earned her B.A. degree in Psychology from Cal State University, Hayward and worked for 17 years in the banking industry. A layoff in 2007 prompted her to reevaluate her path and to have another look at being creative. Traditional quilting worked well for a while and then frustration set in when she had difficulty finding just the right color of fabrics. This led to painting on the fabrics to get the desired results. That process led to painting on canvas and just about the steepest learning curve anyone has ever experienced!  An ongoing effort to learn about design and composition, art history and the language of creativity, and sales and marketing has led Libby to her current level of work. She has sold her work  both in and out of the county where she lives and has exhibited her painting in local shows. Additionally, Libby has taught classes in sketching and color use to beginning/intermediate painters.

Artist Statement:

Simple renditions of complex things: this is how I think of what I love to do as an artist. Much of what I paint reflects my current interests of those things that I see every day. Along with color, I use geometric and organically derived shapes and lines to represent my ideas, interests and feelings. The resulting images are all based somehow on my observations or thoughts. Whether it’s spending time at museum, driving around my area, or going on a walk, the constant input provides the basis for my creative output. Reading and writing helps me to clarify my thoughts. Sketching helps me to come up with representative images. The resulting pieces, I hope, can be enjoyed on many levels: as colorful paintings utilizing lines and geometry; as pieces that somehow resonate with the viewer’s own ideas; or as something that represents what I think and what I get to share with the viewer. Whatever the outcome, the work satisfies me and at the end of the day it is what makes me happiest.

Style is always difficult to pin down. Knowing a little bit about art history and individual artists can be helpful. At this point, I am firmly in the camp of modern abstract art made during the first half of the twentieth century. I owe a huge debt to many artists long gone: Henri Matisse, Stuart Davis, Fernand Leger and Wassily Kandinsky are all favorites.  Many current day artists have also helped me along by showing what is still possible, most notably Shirley Jaffe and Etel Adnan.  It isn’t hard to draw inspiration from people who have paved the way for me. Advice from a few professional artists, the practice of self-reflection, and actively working in the studio nearly every day all help to support the ongoing process of making art.

Meet Artist Carol David, Ironstone 2016 Spring Obsession accepted artist

O-030  A Secret Place  pastel  18x15  $400

Carol David

Carol David is a California impressionist whose work is manifested solely, and splendidly, in pastels.

her love of art and nature began while she was still a child tagging after her father, a UC Davis entomology professor who documented his work in pen and ink. her father recognized her potential as she entered high school and encouraged her to do what many wanting to be commercial artists did at the time; take a correspondence course.

Carol's love of art only grew and correspondence courses led to being her high school newspapers art editor and then graduation from San Jose State University with a BA in Commercial Art and Art Education, to which she added a teaching credential and certification in Special Education.

Carol added a beautiful family into the mix and art quickly had to fall a bit lower on the priority list, but Carol's passion remained and she has found her way back to a full schedule of working her craft. Carol finds great inspiration in workshops and connecting with other artists and some of her most compelling work has resulted from that.

O-031  Tulip Parade  pastel  18x18  $450

Over the past years, it became clear that pastels were her medium of choice. Carol's work has since been seen in exhibits across California and she has received significant recognition and awards for her work. Her most recent award was at the Tahoe show "Truckee Exposed" where she received first prize for her "Lupines" piece. She was also honored by the Stanislaus Arts Council with their 2010 Excellence in Arts Award for Visual Arts.

Carol's work is also commissioned on a regular basis. Subjects range from sentimental college football scenes to sweeping landscapes to people enjoying a sunny day to equine beauties.

Carol believes pastels are her tools to interpret, expose and share a beautiful world. And most days, that's just what you'll find her doing.

email:carolart37@aol.com

VICKIE CHEW ART

O-004  Mosquito Lake  oil  30x40  $1600

                 WWW.VICKIECHEW.COM

Vickie has lived all of her adult life in Calaveras County in the mid northern Sierra's and Foothills. She has a BA in Business Administration and has been studying art for the last nineteen years. Vickie is a juried member of OPA, Oil Painters of America, CAC, California Art Club, Calaveras Arts Council and Arts of Bear Valley. She has won many awards in professional art shows and she works continuously to broaden her painting knowledge by attending master workshops and seeking inspiration from her favorite mentors. She additionally has pursued art course work through local colleges.

O-007  Big Trees Stroll  oil  8x6  $1215

 Vickie’s oil paintings shown here at Ironstone were completed with brush and palette knife, in studio and Plein Air. She accepts commissioned work in studio and murals, contact her today at 209-743-4126

Meet Artist Alyssa Casey, Ironstone Spring Obsession Accepted artist

Alyssa Casey                        www.alyssacasey.com

O-036  Sunday Afternoon  mix media  30x40  

Bio:

     Having majored in Fine Art and Biology and minored in Geography at UC Berkeley, Alyssa Casey is passionate about drawing, papermaking, teaching, science, and travel.  Through studies with papermaking masters Victoria Rabal in apellades, Spain, Roberto Mannino in Rome, Italy, Professor Kamori in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Paul Wong of Dieu Donne Papermill in New York, she has gained experience with many papermaking techniques and fabers, including abaca, cotton, eucalyptus, hemp, linen, sisal, pine, sugar cane, and recycled paper.  These experiences are synthesized into site-specific works, collages, drawings, sculptures, and localized papermaking workshops using, for example, garden hosta in Massachusetts and cornhusks in central California.

O-034  Wind  mix media  20x27  

close up of Wind

     Among other international and national venues, Casey's work has been shown in Works of Art on Paper at the Long Beach Island Foundation for Arts and Sciences, Loveladies, new Jersey, curated by Carter Foster of the Whitney Museum Department of Drawings, and in Furthermore - The 8th Biennial Exhibition at A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, curated by Lilly Wei.  Awards include two first place honors for drawing from the Port Warwick Art and Sculpture Festival, Newport News, Virginia, 2005 and 2007, an honorable mention for the handmade paper sculpture, Llibre (Book), from the 7th Biennial - Artwork on Paper, in Sant Pere De Riudebittles, Spain, 2012, and a grant from the U Embassy, Department of Cultural Affairs, in Lisbon to complete the drawing project, California - Alentejo, shown at Escrita na Paisagem, Festival of Performance Art in Evora, Portugal, 2007.  Her work is currently on view at Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Programs in Long Island City, New York, as part of the show, Devotion/Destruction: Craft Inheritance, curated by Rebecca Pristoop.

O-033  Fall  mix media  38x25  

     In 2012, Casey completed a residency at the Museu Moli Paperer de Capellades, a living museum of papermaking in Capellades, Spain and, in 2014/15, participated in three residencies in Fjellerup, Denmark, through the social practice project, Fjellerup i Bund & Grund, by Anna Lise Jensen, where she completed three large-scale works, Fjellerup Strand og Tang, Strandkroen Palimpsest, and Vandmolekyle.
Commissions include illustrating the children's book Nothando's Journey by Jill Manly and, in 2015, receiving a public art commission with collaborator Rosella Morales, through the 42 degrees art agency for the large-scale installation, Bay Colors, at 901 Market St. in San Francisco, as well as a commission from the City of Brentwood to paint two utility boxes, Balfour Packing Shed and Liberty Basketball.

Detail of Fall

Casey lives and works in the San Francisco bay area and is part of the Bay Area Based art collective, "sub-set" with Hope Amico, Elizabeth Boyne, and Rebecca Redman.

Meet Artist Judy Boles, Ironstone 2016 Spring Obsession accepted artist

O-146  Shore Patrol  oil  15x36  $450

Judy Boles Art

As a girl, I took many cross country road trips with my family, watching the varied landscapes go by. During those trips, my father instilled a sense of adventure and an appreciation for the beauty in all landscape: orchards, cornfields, lakes, mountains, sea coasts, and even barren deserts.  Painting and drawing the things I saw became a favorite childhood pass time.  After finishing college, I taught high school English and Art in Northern California for several years, but my art soon took a back seat to the joys of children and to the demands of the corporate world. Since my retirement in 2006, I have been pursuing my passion for art more fully.

O-149  Mendocino Coast  oil  18x24  $375

 My work is a visual diary of scenes that have inspired me. The close observation needed to render a scene on canvas makes me fell connected to the place. While living many years in Sonoma County, I was drawn to the coastal hills, the shoreline, and the wonderful vistas of the wine country. IN 2011, my husband and I moved to Arnold, CA, in the Sierra Nevada mountains, where we live in the awesome beauty of a national forest. My new inspirations are mountain streams, alpine lakes, Sequoia trees and the constantly changing seasons.

O-150  Sedona Schnebley Lookout  oil  18x24  $375

Please visit my web gallery at:  rojubo.com/jbolesart

Or email me at:                           rojubo@rojubo.com

Meet Artist Dan August, Ironstone 2016 Spring Obsession accepted artist.

O-115 What a Little Dew will Do   18x24  watercolor and acrylic   $700

Biography:
Name: Daniel August

Date of Birth: 11/13/1937

Education: Chaffey College; AA degree in Art
       California State College in Fullerton; BA degree in Art
       California State College in San Bernardino; Teaching Credential in Art

I taught Art for 22 years in the Fontana Unified School District in Fontana, California.  The subjects I specialized in were; oil-painting, watercolors, printmaking, silk-screening and ceramics.

My preferred medium is watercolor and my subject matter is generally based in realism but approached with an abstracted view.

Meet Artist Scarlett Fiorini, Ironstone Spring Obsession Accepted Artist

Scarlett Fiorini

O-060  Half Dome  acrylic  28x40  $1350

 I have always been moved to express feelings & thoughts through many mediums of art. I don’t merely want to capture an image, but with every stroke & layer my desire is to let it become a vessel of wonderful expression & inspiration. Every piece is a joy-filled journey to play with form, color, light & balance until I reach that happy place, and I am able to share that with others. 

O-061  Juicy Fruit  acrylic  16x20  $375

O-063  Rain Frogs  acrylic  16x20  $375