CURRENT ARTISTS
BEVERLY ANDERSON
My interest in photography started 37 years ago when my husband gave me my first camera. I quickly adapted to this new way of pursuing my interest in the visual world. My passion for art has been with me as long as I can remember. I have taken courses in painting, weaving, ceramics, jewelry, etc. all of which has helped me understand the principles of fine design.
The visual splendors of our beautiful countryside, scenes from our travels, the inspiration of fascinating faces and the patterns we find all around are gifts to us who choose to explore them.
Photography is my way of expressing who I am and what is visually meaningful to me.
LONNIE BARBACH
Lonnie Barbach has been experimenting with ceramics on-and-off since her 20s. She has recently put a studio in her home and is looking forward to having more fun playing with clay.
TRIPP CARPENTER
My nickname, Tripp, is for “triplet” because I am the third generation Arthur Espenet Carpenter. My father was well known in the woodworking world as an original designer and craftsman of outstanding sensuous furniture; his pieces have been shown and collected across the country.
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Woodworking is what I know best. I am still awestruck by wood — it’s like gold to me. In my work, I strive for fluidity and playfulness, creating designs influenced by nature.
ELLEN FRANZ
If you happened to scroll through the many images on my iPhone, you would certainly first notice the preponderance of “Life in Our Art Room” photographs, as there are thousands—years worth—of photos in which I’ve collaborated with children to document our work together in the large art room of our very small school in the Sausalito Marin City School District. As you continued to scroll, though, you would also notice images scattered through from outside that classroom. When looking at these, I notice that I am drawn to color, to the surprising or perhaps quirky, and to stories lying within (and stretching beyond the edges of) the photograph. I know that I am learning to See, in collaboration with others working to do the same (be they other photographers, children, colleagues, friends), and I wonder, really wonder, what will arise to be seen next …
GLENDA GENTRY
Photography provides exceptional opportunities to write or draw with light, and I have loved this form of image-making—a kind of world-making as I see it—throughout my life, since way before I understood that a photograph is, in fact, a "light drawing." Working with light to make expressive images brings me great joy. It often takes my breath away.
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A few years ago I began using the iPhone camera exclusively. These amazing digital cameras keep getting better and better. A great facilitator for my looking and seeing without the physical and often cumbersome trappings of more traditional photography, this unique tool supports my attempt to be in the moment—this moment—to be attentive to my surroundings, to seek and to notice light.
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ELLY GRAHAM
Despite experience in different media with varying subjects, figure drawing is something to which I always return. The human face and body are infinitely complex, variable and fascinating. The professional models I work with are practiced in holding poses for a long time, allowing for slow contemplative work.
Observations about other’s lives come into play, particularly those of women. Attitudes toward posing (very female and now institutionalized by advertising), implications of clothing and props, observable mental states of the sitter as well as my own mood, thoughts about changing times and the perspective of age - all these contribute to the working process .
BONIKA...BONNIE HIMBURG-MUMFORD
Bonnie grew up in Mexico City, went to high school in Sedona, Arizona, and moved to Mill Valley 1971. Bonnie received her MFA from San Francisco State and taught textile arts at Fort Mason Art Center for 15 years. Her journey in art began with weaving and basketry and transitioned to her BONIKA business making life-sized whimsical butlers and benches. Along the way, she has escorted textile groups to places as diverse as Oaxaca and Santa Fe, exhibited at numerous national art shows, become an expert felter through many workshops at her second home in New Zealand, and taught felting to interested groups here in the Bay Area.
CHRISTINE LEMOR aka CHLEM
In the Bay Area since 1990, Christine Lemor worked as an Occupational therapist in France and as a translator/interpreter in the US. She started her artistic pursuit in 2015 and received her Certificate in Botanical Illustration from Mary L. Harden in 2018, after learning to use pencils, pens and watercolor. Then, she studied Japanese Sumi-e painting and calligraphy with Fumiyo Yoshikawa. She has participated in over thirty juried solo or group exhibits in California, and take classes in various techniques.
She has printed over sixty notecards, some stickers and publishes a coloring book of plants, flowers and vegetables from her garden, drawn in pen and ink. Giclées prints from most of her art work can be printed any size, any approved crop, by Black Cat Studio in Novato.
RYAN LYNCH
Ryan Lynch combines her passion for storytelling and painting in her cinematic, emotional abstract paintings that explore the unseen worlds of the human experience: our emotional landscape, the subconscious, and everyday magic.
Ryan's work often features vibrant palettes and geometric designs, drawing inspiration from life underwater, space nebula, live music, and the mise en scene of films. While painting, she channels momentary emotions and explores the interconnectedness she's experienced through shared cathartic experiences, meditation, and altered states.
She is a former Development and Story Manager at Pixar Animation Studios, where she contributed to Academy Award-winning films such as Brave, Ratatouille, Wall-E, and Toy Story. She holds an MFA in Film Directing, a BFA in Fine, and a BA in Environmental Biology.
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SANDRA MURRAY
Sandra Murray is a graphic designer by day, and a potter whenever she can get into the studio. She brings a design sensibility to her ceramic work, celebrating 3-dimensional form and textural interest over surface ornamentation—with the added elements of pine needles and natural fibers.
Sandra is mindful of the considerable energy and toxicity involved in producing modern ceramic art and has lately been exploring alternate firing and finishing techniques (such as obvarra and single firings) to that end.
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WOODWARD PAYNE
As my work has developed over the years I find increasingly that I identify with and respond to the sensuality of nature and landscape in all its aspects.
These concerns were first evidenced in my aerial landscape paintings which were a direct result of my lifelong interest in flying and viewing the unique elegance of the earth from above. Although this viewpoint is still of some artistic concern, for the past six years my efforts have gravitated towards exploring pure abstract painting, concentrating on the pure aesthetic while attempting to avoid familiar subject matter. Even so I feel these often relate back to my earlier representational work in that they definitely recall forms evidenced in nature.
LINDA SAWTELLE
For the last 50 years, my ceramic sculptures have been inspired by my internal environment and the immediate sensory experience with the earthy material. The clay 'speaks' to me and guides me: it takes me on a journey of discovery as my sculptures come to life from within. As I work with clay, I find myself totally in the 'present moment' where I am at one with the material. My personal memories and experiences are revealed in the sculptures I create. I strive to maintain a connection between both the material and internal world, to craft creations that embody beauty, emotion, and imagination.
LARRY SEIDMAN
I am an artist in mind and spirit. My passion to paint began when I was 10 years old. My first teacher was a French impressionist; she encouraged me to be bold with color and to bring my heart to the canvas. Her sage advice allowed me to deepen my style over many decades as an abstract impressionist.
Although my work evolves, as I have, through my experiences and the many artist groups and teachers, including those at the art student league in NYC. I have remained true to the foundation learned in my past while I explore the language of plastic in this ever-changing world. My paintings are a personal expression of my past, present, and future.
MARK SPITALNY
My love of photography began with the purchase in 1967 of my first 35mm SLR camera, a Pentax Spotmatic, while I was still in the Army. I took it on leave with me traveling through Germany, Switzerland, France, and the Netherlands. I especially loved the wonderful vistas! Fast forward to living in the Mount Tamalpais foothills and the blessing of awakening to the ineffable wonder of the sun rising over the East Bay hills and Mount Diablo. Every morning affords another opportunity to realize our connection to the Mystery with yet a new cycle from darkness into illumination. For the last dozen years or so I have been recording this Mystery with a Canon - EOS Rebel T3i 18.0-Megapixel DSLR Camera with 18-135mm f 3.5 - f 5.6 IS Lens.
My life's work has been in the service of facilitating healing and the realization of our authentic true nature in feeling our connection to the Mystery. I offer my art as a meditation vehicle for experiencing our connection to this sacred Mystery. Please see some of my work on my website at www.awarenessliberation.com.
REMEMBERING RHONDA DUBIN
The Artists of Mt. Tam are saddened to have lost a cherished member of our community on Monday, March 4th, 2024. Rhonda's photography was peaceful, beautiful and playful -- much like she was herself. There was often a quiet, textural quality to her images that allowed the viewer to be in the moment just as she, perhaps, was experiencing it.
Her photos felt like an extension of who she was as a traveler, artist, mother, wife and friend. Rhonda was lovely all the way into her soul. She gave us many years of laughter, light and delicious baked treats. We will miss her profoundly.
