meet Artist Paula Tooman

 Paula Tooman

O-035 Hope by Paula Gale Tooman wc 17x14 $175

My name is Paula Tooman. I really love doing watercolor painting. The colors intrigue me and the techniques always present interesting challenges. In my thirties I started painting – but was busy raising two children so could not paint as often as I desired. In my forties my husband and I adopted fourteen children – thirteen Ethiopians and one handicapped girl from the United States. The children were and are a joy – and sometimes a sorrow. We certainly felt emotions parallel to those experienced by parents all over the world – multiplied by fourteen! As was expected they did keep me very busy and I found time to paint only sporadically. Now I’m in my early seventies and we only have three children at home. My husband prepared a home studio for me and I am enjoying the freedom to regularly paint again with my beloved watercolors. It is such a luxury to have time to paint again and I’m having great fun doing it!

O-038 Barn-in-the-Woods by Paula Gale Tooman wc 23x29 $350

I enjoy most of all painting flowers, people, and landscapes. They lend themselves to the use of a great variety of painting materials, many color variants, and a host of presentation and brushing techniques. I am always reading books and watching DVDs or YouTube  tutorials by other artists to encourage myself to try new ideas and to look at each new blank paper as a new and interesting challenge.

O-036 Hawaiian-Daydream by Paula Gale Tooman wc 20x24 $225

O-037 Daisies-in-the-Morning by Paula Gale Tooman wc 20x16 $205

Meet Artist John Turnbeaugh

 

My name is John Turnbeaugh and I am a painter. 

My favorite medium to work in is acrylics but I also enjoy drawing and illustration. I have lived in Calaveras County my whole life and currently live in Valley Springs with my wife Katie and our five children where we own and operate our own preschool. In my free time I love to paint and illustrate my own stories. Ever since I was a child it has been a dream of mine to be an artist. I have never been formally trained in  art but feel that I have been influenced in many styles and techniques over the years from my admiration of some of my favorite artists, whether those are masters in fine art, or prolific illustrators in the comic book genre. However, I believe my biggest influences have been my parents, my mother is a watercolorist and muralist and my father is amazing with pencils and charcoal, Growing up and seeing their art whether that was in drawings my father did for me, or paintings left out on my moms desk,  I was always inspired by them and feel a great deal in whatever art education I have is owed to them and their eagerness to give me a pencil and paper and let me create what I want and how I want.

            In 2009 I was awarded a high school scholarship through the Calaveras County Arts Council. In the years since I have painted murals at Jenny Lind Elementary and  several large scale murals including a series of murals for  The Resource Connection at their Children's Advocacy center in San Andreas I have also painted dozens of commissioned pieces of art and illustrated multiple graphic novels. Along with that I have also created and painted sets for numerous theatrical productions at Calaveras Sings Theater Arts Reparatory for Kids (CSTARS). I have also won several awards including 1st place in the Professional art division for Portrait Painting at The Calaveras County Frog Jump in 2019. 

            Art is such a crucial part of who I am and something I hope in some way I can pass to my children. I know in being a parent and a teacher that Art is absolutely essential and how important and even therapeutic it can be in life. I have always strived to communicate emotion through my art and try to convey a sense of drama or meaning in what the viewer sees. I believe the greatest achievement that an artist can have is to make someone believe in something they didn't before, whether that is the presentation of a scene that could never exist in real life or an idea or a feeling they have never had. In all, I believe art is a way to share beauty, and it is the duty of every artist to leave the world a little more beautiful than it was when you found it.

O-076 Native American Chief by John Turnbeaugh acr 24x36 $500

Meet Artist Barbara Wells

 

BARBARA WELLS, MIXED-MEDIA ARTIST

JACKSON, CA

wellsbr@comcast.net

O-087 Posey 1 by Barbara Wells encaustic 3.5x8 $150

Retired from healthcare and education, and having lived in Amador County for 50 years, I have a deep appreciation for the beauty and caring community of our foothill communities. I strive to represent that appreciation in my art.

As a mixed media artist, I am fascinated by texture, color and flow. When I paint, every painting is an experiment, often with surprising outcomes.  Encaustics allow me to push the limits of my artistic expression with strong bold colors and forms. My encaustic journey, supported by luminous waxes, inks and mixed medium products, offers me an endless creative license, that hopefully will evoke an emotional response from the onlooker while enjoying the beauty of the piece.

O-084 Energy for Two by Barbara Wells encaustic 12x12 $400

JURIED ART SHOWS:

Crocker Art Museum: Wonderous Wax Exhibit 2020 – featured on Crocker video presentation.

Sacramento Fine Arts Center: 54 National Obsession Art Competition, 2020, award winner.

The Gallery 48 at Natomas:  Movement, Mastery and Medium, Sierra Wax Artist Exhibit, 2021

Sacramento SMUD Art Gallery Show Exhibit: 2018

Amador County Fair: Prize winning art for 10 years

Lodi Crane Festival: 2017, 2018, 2019. Award winner and sale of art.

O-085 Meadow Bloom by Barbara Wells encaustic 6x6 $150

GIVING BACK: Donated art for fund-raising auctions.

Sutter Amador Hospital: Yearly event to support hospital needs

Amador County School:  Art sales to support education

Mexico Orphanages:  Yearly fund-raising auctions to support orphans and widow

 

O-086 Sunflower Dance by Barbara Wells encaustic 12x12 $250

Meet Artist Stephen Testa

 

            
             Stephen Testa

is a geologist whose interests are in painting landscapes of geological interest, black and white images of iconic geological figures and landscapes from the great surveys of the 19th Century, and wildlife (including domestic pets).  For Stephen, the media of choice is watercolor and the transformation from an historic dark black and white photo to watercolor brings out a fresh perspective on such iconic individuals and images.  Stephen's other interests are in the painting of animal portraits and wildlife.  His initial inspiration for watercolors began in the early 1980s when he was working in the North Cascades.  It was there that he met Dr. Peter Misch, an iconic pioneering geologist of the North Cascades and professor at the University of Washington.  Dr. Misch also an accomplished mountain climber and during his many geological excursions would take his watercolor set with him as he explored the Cascades.  It was at his home where Peter showed Stephen his watercolors and encouraged him to pick up the brush along with a rock hammer.  Some of Stephen's earliest paintings were displayed at The Prince and Pauper Gallery in Seattle.  During this time, he also became a member of the Northwest Watercolor Society.  After a hiatus from painting in the late 1980s until 2017, Stephen resumed his desire to paint in watercolor.  Stephen is self-taught, and has developed his style from books on technique, observation of other artists' works, especially that of John Hunt and Robert Bateman, and workshops, albeit his geologic training is an advantage in sketching and 3-D visualization.  He prefers watercolor for the spontaneity and many challenges this media presents.  His works have been shown at several exhibitions throughout California.  Stephen lives in Mokelumne Hill and is a member of the California Watercolor Association and Mother Lode Art Association.

O-045 Bella-by Stephen Testa wc 26x21 $450

O-044 Big-Baby-Girl-by Stephen Testa wc 16x12 $450

O-043 The-Great-Hornbill-by Stephen Testa wc 22x18 $500

O-046 Ravens-at-Joshua-Tree-by Stephen Testa wc 24x30 $650