Meet Artist Helen Scofield, Ironstone Spring Obsession accepted artist

Helen Scofield

O-037  Aspens in the Fog  oil  22x36  $400

Helen's artwork depicts her love of and involvement with color.

Subject matter that makes a definite statement in terms of color of emotion is what stirs her creativity. She primarily paints in oils because of the richness and texture of the medium.

O-038  Rushing Water  oil  18x18  $350

Helen is a resident of Vallecito, having moved to the Sierra Foothills from Santa Rosa in 1992. Her art education was obtained through community college courses, workshops and private lessons.  She has been accepted and won awards at the prestigious Central California Art League Exhibit at the Gallo Winery, the Haggin Museum, the Carriage Show, the Mother Lode Art Association Annual Exhibit, Ironstone Vineyard's Spring Obsession Exhibit and the Professional Fine arts Divisions of the Sonoma, Calaveras and Tuolumne County fairs. In 2007, she won Ironstone Vineyard's "Spring Obsession" Poster award for her oil painting "Spring".

O-039  Survivor  oil  16x20  $400

Helen's work may be seen at local businesses; Art on Main in Murphys, Murphys Grille and through seasonal shows with Arts of Bear Valley, and on her website: www.helenscofieldart.com.

Meet Artist Ron Miranda, Ironstone Spring Obsession accepted artist

RON MIRANDA
Second Prize winner "Splash Mob"

O-026  Splash Mob  oil  36x24  $4000

Originally from the island of Guam, Ron currently resides in Long Beach, California. He studied art at the California State University, Long Beach, where he earned a Bachelor's in Fine Arts degree graduation with honors. Ron is currently a professional graphic artist receiving many awards and accolades for his graphic designs. As a successful graphic designer, Ron is ready to transition to fulfilling his life-long dream of becoming a full - time fine art painter.

At a young age while growing up in Guam, Ron began developing his art skills with Crayola crayons, experimenting with blending and layering colors together,. The desire to explore the interaction of color and its emotional response motivated him more to becoming an artist. His drawing skills progressed by observing his older brother, Roland, an established cartoonist from the Guam Daily News.

Most of Ron's inspirations and influence are from fond memories of Guam; romanticizing the rich tropical vegetation, fauna and some of the amazing color, textures and patterns that channel their way into his paintings.  Heightened color is paramount in Ron's paintings with exaggerated hues to push boundaries and strike a chord with the viewers.

Many of Ron's works range from representational to abstract. The concepts for his abstract run deep from his island culture and music. Ron finds incentive for his representational pieces from his collection of personal digital library of images that he photographed.

Ron is very well versed in computer graphics design programs and will occasionally apply his artist skills to illustrate or paint using Photoshop or Illustrator,. Most of Ron's painting compositions are developed on the computer and he transfers the final composition to the painting. On occasion, Ron will work on multiple traditional mediums from charcoal, gouache, pencil, color pencil, acrylic, and oils.

Ron feels that every painting is a journey of exploration to discover new techniques, rouse the creative mind to capture the imagination, and anticipating the development from a blank canvas evolving to an amazing and wonderful image.

Meet Artist John Lovewell, Ironstone Spring Obsession accepted artist

JOHN LOVEWELL                  WILDLIFE ART

O-114  Sierra Gray Fox  oil  36x36  $1600

Statement from the artist:

It is my pleasure to personally share some things in my life that have contributed to my love of wildlife and its habitat and the desire to express this in the field of art.

     I was born in Cody, Wyoming and raised in Kalispell, Montana, not far from Glacier National Park. I had a great time growing up, going fishing and hunting with my father and as a teen, hiking with my buddies into the back country wilderness, taking pictures with my trusty 35 mm SLR.
     I guess I was drawing birds and animals as soon as I could hold up a pencil. I took up taxidermy at 12 yrs old, and soon folks were dropping off specimens on the front porch. I was also called on to draw and paint things, even symbols on the sides of Teepees, and I enjoyed illustrating the High School Annual with scenes from Indian life.
     Although I left the area, my heart was always there. However, I did make it a point to always take my wife and sons to Yellowstone Park every summer for vacation, where I continued to take pictures of old snags and rocks and scenery that I filed away for future use in bringing back old memories on canvas when I had free time.
     That is why I strive for realism, so the painting can be convincing enough that you feel you have stepped into an actual scene of Nature and you are there for real, witnessing some king of drama or action, which for me usually means ... predators.
     I was largely self-taught, but felt encouraged when some folks seemed to appreciate my efforts ... and even more so when some of my pieces were accepted into the Los Angeles Audubon Society Wildlife and Environmental Art Show.
     When I found time, I would take hikes into the sierras and so finally I decided to move to Sonora, to be close by the mountains.
     This was a great decision ... here the Oil Painting World of technique and color was really opened up to me by a local artist and teacher, Gereon Rios of the Sonora Academy Of Fine Arts.
     I hope then, that my paintings will be successful in bringing an measure of appreciation for God's wonderful creations and that my experiences and memories will perhaps evoke the same joys I have and that lie deep in the soul of those who have tramped the woods ... or even maybe those who were only able to dream about it. 

John Lovewell

Meet Artist Susan King, Ironstone Spring Obsession accepted artist

Susan

King

T-021  Nature's Symphony  collage  20x24  SOLD

     Susan King is a 30 year resident of the Murphys and Arnold areas. Now retired from full time teaching, she has realized exciting new time to focus on her exploration of the visual arts. The wonder of the natural world, which surrounds the Sierra foothills and beyond, is her inspiration.
     
Susan uses a variety of mediums and techniques to create unique emotional connections within her work. Water color, pastels, rice paper and printer's inks are some of the essential components of many of her pieces. "Every painting is a continual learning experience for me, considering the interaction of composition, design and color and materials. The process can be most humbling and exhilarating."

     She is a member of Arts of Bear Valley and shows her pieces at their various shows. She also displays work at Art on Main and The Magnolia Cafe. Susan has been awarded Ironstone Vineyard's annual theme division winner of the Obsession Art Show for two years.

Meet Artist Mary Hyodo-Polk, Ironstone Spring Obsession accepted artist

Mary Hyodo-Polk

O-043  Natural Garden in Spring watercolor  23x29  $250

Always doing art since early childhood, drawing on margins of magazines and discarded books, it was second nature to draw, When in middle school, she was inspired by a teacher to enter into community of art contest which she won with a watercolor painting of a local park. When in high school, she designed and painted posters and programs for sport events and wall decorations for school dances. After going to college majoring in education, she was a stewardess for Northwest Airlines to satisfy her thirst to travel. When she had enough, she found her way into the commercial wart world doing graphics, illustrations and art direction for an ad agency and then Lockheed and Hewlett-Packard; all the while, taking many art courses in different mediums including clay sculptures, composition and color theory, drawing in pencil and charcoal, painting in acrylics, oil, pastels and watercolor. After taking courses from some of the finest professional artists, she settled for trying to develop her own style. She went to uninstructed figure drawing sessions twice a week doing from 1 minute to 20 minute poses and occasionally doing one post for 2 to 3 hours. She liked the spontaneity of watercolor and the fluid, transparent glazing you can't get in any other medium, and it's easy to transport when doing pleine air. But because every medium has something to offer, it's fund to work with different ones; therefore, she did a mixture of artwork-among them portraits of people in pencil, watercolor and oil.

O-045  Easter pre-omelet  watercolor  23x29  $325

Mary has bee juried into shows and exhibited in may different places winning many ribbons for best of show, first place and other awards. In one show, the judge bought her painting before it was hung. She is currently a consignment artist at Gallery 10 in Sutter Creek.

Meet Artist Dale Allan Huey, Ironstone Spring Obsession accepted artist

Dale Allan Huey
Angels Camp, CA
Judges Merit Award Winner  *  "Washboard Chaz"

O-124  Washboard Chaz  pen & ink  9x13  $150

In an almost literal sense, Dale was born with a pencil in his hand, doodling airplanes, car and spaceships on anything that would accept a graphite smudge.  As a young man, a visit to the famous Canyon Road art market in Santa Fe gave him the opportunity to meet pastel artist Albert Handel. Mr. Handel's legendary skills with color and light ignited a hidden passion in Dale to draw the natural world around him. Possibly, that i why he made the wise decision to raise his family in the historic Mother Lode, where he finds endless inspiration in its land, color, and dreams of gold.

O-123 Vineyard Wagon color pencil  15x11  $240

Dale has an obsessively creative personality, combining the tactile disciplines of pencil, paint, wood, glass, and paper, into unexpected objects of art. Despite his lack of formal study, Dale's keen eye and wide skillset have led to a number of awards - his art has been shown at the Haggin Museum of Stockton, and the Calaveras, Tuolumne, and Amador county fairs. Currently, Dale is best known locally for his themed deck chairs made of reclaimed wood, which have collectively raised over $1200 at several Calaveras County Art Foundation and Farm Bureau charity auctions. These chairs reside in the collections of former Calaveras County Sheriff Gary Kuntz, the Whisky Slide Ranch of Mokulumne Hill, and the AM Ranch of Paloma.

At the moment, Dale is exploring colored pencil, with a Grisaille under painting of India ink or Prismacolor art markers. He also keeps up his skill with pen and ink, using the medium to create works of delicate intricacy which draw the eye in for extended study. As time permits, he also dabbles in corrugated paper sculpture, in the form of a 1/10 scale 1926 Hudson Boat tail racer.

O-122  Red Racer  mix media  13x16  $150

Dale also has an alter ego, inspired by the likes of "Big Daddy" Ed Roth, Von Dutch, and Robert Williams - he produces automotive cartoons and caricatures that harken back to the early days of Southern California hot rodding.  His medium of choice for this art is a Wacom digital art pad and Autodesk "Sketchbook" program, producing purely hand drawn art on a computer.

Meet Artist Cindy Henderson, Ironstone Spring Obsession accepted artist

Cindy Henderson-Liotta 

O-126  Wishing  acrylic  12x24  $500

Cindy is a California Native, and is a registered member of the Chickasaw Tribe of Oklahoma. Cindy's maternal grandmother being a full blood Chickasaw/Choctaw from Oklahoma.

Cindy started drawing very early and her love of color and fantasy has continued into her adult life.

Currently Cindy is studying art at Columbia Community College in Columbia, California.  Her studies include watercolor, oils, acrylics, and sculpting.
Cindy is the mother of two, enjoys her family and friends and finds inspiration in her colorful family.
Cindy's art reflects her love of imagination and is inspired by everything around her. She says she just draws and paints what pops into her head.

O-125  Peeking  acrylic  16x20  $300

She currently has her art displayed in the College Bookstore at Columbia Community College.
Cindy has also designed the wine labels for Renegade Winery in Mokelumne Hill, California. She is working on labels for a new brewery slated to open in Galt, California.
Cindy is excited to share her Fantastical Art with All.

Meet Artist George Haskell, Spring Obsession accepted artist

George Haskell, 

Oil Painter

O-101  Vibrant Yosemite Spring  9x12  oil  $250

George Haskell's first artistic love has always been landscape painting, in particular Yosemite.  He has always been captivated by the grandeur of Yosemite Valley season by season, scene by scene and moment by moment.  It is never the same valley twice. Capturing and interpreting the moods of the valley has alway been always a challenge and deeply inspiring.  Since retiring from a career teaching special education has focused on creating paintings that evoke a feeling of the time place and season for the observer.

O-102  Half Dome Fall  oil  9x12  $250

           George began oil painting when he took a semi independent studies class in painting in college during the seventies.  He has worked for the past ten years to sharpen his skills.  During much of this time the main influence on his approach to painting has been his longtime friend and teacher Judy Cain.  Using color, often emphasized, evoking a feeling in the observer has been a primary consideration.