Art & Animals
Gallery Reception, Auction, and Raffle

Contributing Artists from the Tag Gallery:

Carole Garland is an accomplished studio and plein-air painter. She has been painting in the Santa Monica Mountains and at its seashore for over twenty years. More recently, she has been painting the Los Angeles urban environment and in her current exhibit, Layers,at TAG Gallery, she looks at the city through the shroud of its marine layer.
Carole studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and is on the Painting Patrons Committee of the California Art Club.  She has won numerous awards and is collected nationally.

Carole will be donating, Marshland Oasis, 16" X 20", Oil on Canvas, and Return of the Native, II, 11" X 14", Oil on Canvas, both inspired by the restored Ballona Freshwater Wetlands.

Susan 'Suki' Kuss has developed an award winning career as a mixed media artist over the past 20 years, and her work is showcased in many private collections. "Collage is a fascinating approach to diverse expression. I find this diversity the perfect vehicle to reach the viewer."
In an era of social and political imbalance, finding stability and completeness is a challenge. In Available Light, Suki Kuss' exhibit of new work at the TAG Gallery, this search for balance is symbolically explored in her heavily layered pieces. Using vintage fabrics, maps, patterns and reflective materials to bring the work into the present she creates "a restful place to breathe". Her works are both formal in their abstract use of line and shape, and intuitive in their multi-layered complexity.

Suki is donating Nine Phases of the Moon VII, 24" x 18", mixed media collage.

Shelley Lazarus has been teaching at the Brentwood Art Center for almost 20 years.  Most of her landscape paintings are done in plein air style where she can capture the nuances of the moment.
She has participated in many shows nationally and internationally and is a founding member of TAG Gallery. A graduate of Parson School of Design, her paintings can be found in various museums and currently at the Carnegie Art Museum.

Shelley’s Wetland, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, will be a silent auction item.

Diane Mann is a self taught artist who started painting later in life and found that the work became a passion. She has no specific agenda about what she paints, she just paint, free from years of training about what she is “suppose” to do. For her, each new piece is like an adventure, a discovery, an experiment. The excitement then comes from the process, from watching a painting develop across the canvas.
Her style is realistic, focusing on objects we see every day but hardly notice. And through the use of high contrast light and shadow she gives a personality to these objects making us look at them in a new way. Diane works in pastel and is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America and has won several national juried competitions. She will be on exhibit the month of October at the TAG Gallery.

The title of her donated piece is Vases, a 20" x 28.5” pastel.

Cheryl Medow infuses her hyper-realistic images of wildlife with an acute, visceral energy. A disciplined eye for detail and evocative use of her interlocking photographs add an immediacy to natural scenes of wild animals and flora in their habitats.  With every image we become attuned to the contours of the environment and the creatures within her magical dioramas. "My work is an opportunity to celebrate these gorgeous amazing animals and heighten awareness of conservation and our connection to nature.”

This is evident in Cheryl’s donation of the colorful Carmine Bee-eater, (unframed), image size 12.5" x 16.5" (paper size 17" x 21")
Digital Pigment Print, Edition 2 of 25, Year 2010

Joe Pinkelman received his MFA in ceramics from UCLA and BFA from Colorado State University.  His recent work has originated from a residency in Jingdezhen, China evidenced by his incorporated decals into his work.

The piece he is donating is titled Yellow Boxes with White Bowl.  It is 23" x 10" x 10" and made out of porcelain. 

Anne Ramis has been painting since she was in high school. She didn't think she could be an artist because she couldn't draw cartoons like some boys were doing in the 5th grade. Later, after sketching her way through her 20's, she began to feel she could call herself an artist. She got a B.A. in Art History at Washington University in St. Louis, then went to The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After moving to L.A., she went to the Brentwood Art Center where she studied with Sally Lamb and George Small. She loves to work in all kinds of media.
Anne is donating All Sentient Beings Institute, North Pole Chapter, a 30"x 24" acrylic.

Donating: Big Blue and Black, digital print, one of one, black framed.

Joan Ransohoff moved to Los Angeles in 1980. Pursuing a love of color led her to UCLA where she studied drawing, then on to the Art Studio in Santa Monica. Later she took numerous workshops from Scottsdale Artists' School in Arizona and more recently studied with Karl Dempwolf and Ralph Oberg through the California Art Academy and Museum Master Artist Workshops.
Living in California and inspired by the many artists she has witnessed painting the beaches and mountains, Ransohoff knew she wanted to try plein air paintings. Balancing the elements of "nature, wind, and bugs" is always challenging and still magical to her. Her work has been exhibited in both solo and group shows and is included in many private collections. She is an Artist Member of the California Art Club and serves on the Board of Directors of the California Art Academy and Museum.

Joan is donating Point Lobos…Carmel, 18" x 24", unframed, oil on canvas.

Della Rolle is known for her ability to capture the beauty and majesty of natural form. .In her new October exhibit Anamalia, at the TAG Gallery, Della highlights the odd yet prevalent parallels between human characteristics and animal behavior. Amused by these similarities, Della captures both humor and beauty in the animals that she sculpts. Linking human and animal personalities together, Della is satirically commenting on the connectedness of the city, suburban neighborhoods and nearby nature. Whether it is Della’s unique lighthearted view of the world or the fact that humans and animals are related, Anamalia presents a playful view of our society, both two-legged and four-legged.

Della is donating a bronze piece titled Hang in There, 14" x 9.5” from her Anamalia exhibit to the silent auction.

Betty Sheinbaum, one of the founding members of TAG Gallery, is neither a struggling newcomer nor a jaded veteran. She is that rare artist comfortable and at one with what Willem de Kooning once called “the process of becoming” – that process of working and creating not for an audience, or fame or commerce, but for the sheer joy, struggle and discovery of making one’s statement. For almost 50 years, Betty has been making her statement through painting.

She is happily donating a piece title The Painter, a 24" x 18" acrylic on canvas for the Wildworks auction

Ellen Starr a long time resident of Santa Monica, studied art at UCLA and later at Santa Monica City College. At this point in time, her choices of media include acrylic paint, graphite and colored pencils and printmaking (primarily linocuts).
When looking for subject matter, she generally turns to the natural environment, finding its endless variety stimulating both emotionally and intellectually. She loves the challenge of organizing its visual complexity, the splash of sunshine, shadowy silhouettes, the crisscross of stems and branches. By balancing these various compositional components – line, shape, dark, light, texture, color – she creates an equilibrium that satisfies her aesthetic sense.

Ellen’s auction piece is titled Palisades Park, acrylic on canvas, 18" x 24".

Grace Swanson is an award-winning artist whose paintings have been shown in nearly 100 juried exhibitions, including those of the American Watercolor Society, California Watercolor Society, International Society of Acrylic Painters, Missouri Watercolor Society, Montana Watercolor Society, Texas Watercolor Society, Watercolor USA, and Watercolor West. Swanson is a signature member of several art associations and served as president of Women Painters West from 2003-2005. Her work has been published in Artistic Touch 4 and Best of America Watermedia Artists, Volume II.

Grace has kindly donated, Matchbook Collection, Media: Archival Inkjet Print (Limited edition of 30 from the original watercolor), 15" x 20” for the Wildworks' auction.

Joan Horsfall Young is an avid plein air impressionist painter specializing in landscapes and florals. Whenever possible, Horsfall Young paints on location. She particularly loves revealing how light falls upon her subjects. Her work is recognizable by her use of buttery paint and loose brushwork.

She has had numerous solo shows at TAG Gallery. Her work has been exhibited in museums in California and Canada. She has been published, and is in many public, corporate and private collections. She is a member of Oil Painters of America and an Artist member of the California Art Club.

Joan has donated One Matilija Poppy, an oil on linen board, 6" x 6".

And our other artists…

Jo Ann Aabel is a long time member of The Nature of Wildworks. A past painter and quilt maker, she is now channeling her exuberant energy into photography, specifically, birds, beach scenes and the wildlife of Florida where she lives.

Rennie Chamberlain, author, and Teryl Matkins, photographer, are long time supporters of The Nature of Wildworks.  Their children’s book, Phoenix the Mountain Lion Gets a Job, is about how the-most-wonderful-mountain-lion-ever  inspired Mollie Hogan to follow her dreams and establish The Nature of Wildworks. Peppered with little known wild animal facts and Terry’s beautiful water-color photographs, this is a book is for all ages.

Teryl  Matkins is The Nature of Wildworks official photographer. As a member of National Geographic’s Grosvenor Council, she has traveled all over the world photographing people, places and animals. Lately she has been focusing on the birds in the marshland across from her home in Carpentaria.

As a raffle item, Terry will be donating an 8"X10" photo enhanced water color portrait of your pet.

Jennifer Conrad, DVM is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine and is a member of the American Veterinary Medicine Association (AVMA), the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians (AAZV), and the European Association of Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarians (EAZWV).

Currently, Dr. Conrad's professional responsibilities are divided between working with nonprofit wildlife sanctuaries for unwanted and abused animals in southern California and administering her own company, Vet to the (Real) Stars, which provides humane veterinary care to animals appearing in television and movies.

In her former role as head veterinarian at a wildlife sanctuary, Dr. Conrad founded The Paw Project, which rehabilitates big cats, such as lions, tigers, cougars and jaguars maimed by declawing.

Dr. Conrad finds art and painting is the perfect way to relax from her hectic schedule. She is generously donating 3 paintings, framed sizes 11 1/2 x 13 1/2 ea.

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Raffle

Ellen Starr turns to the natural environment for her subject matter and in particular to the Ballona Wetlands. South of Marina del Rey, the Ballona Wetlands is one of the last significant wetland areas in the Los Angeles basin.
"Ballona Sentinel" Acrylic on canvas, 12" x 12" – Value $400

Teryl Matkins works from a photograph provided by the client, if it is clear, (especially in the eyes), otherwise she will take her own photos, one of which will be selected by the client.

Then through the magic of enhanced photography she turns your pet's photograph into a painting with the look and feel of an actual painted portrait.

Your Pet's Portrait - Archival ink on watercolor paper, 8"x10" – Value $500

We look forward to seeing you at the event!

Mollie Hogan
The Nature of Wildworks
Contact: 310-455-0550
info@natureofwildworks.org
natureofwildworks.org