Artscape Spring & Summer 2018 Exhibition Artist Biographies
Lori Alarcon is a multi-media artist and art instructor from Corona, California. She has a Bachelor’s degree in art from CSU Long Beach, and while in college was apprenticed to Laguna Beach artist, Raymond Page. While raising her three children, Lori turned her skills as an artist toward teaching arts and crafts to Girl Scouts, Sunday school classes and home school groups. After seeing her children safely to adulthood - one of whom is a professional artist and another is studying to become a digital animator - she has now resumed her artistic pursuits. She currently teaches children’s art classes through Corona Parks and Recreation and the Corona Art Association, in addition to teaching private lessons. Along with painting and drawing, Lori has taken the opportunity to delve into another life-long interest: stained glass. She is currently taking classes in glass arts at Saddleback College and plans to integrate her painting within her glass work.
Kelly Nicole Bryson is a mixed media artist who was born in Bloomington, California, and raised in San Bernardino and Riverside. As a young girl, she started creating things in her coloring books and worked her way up to paints, clay, pencils and pens. Kelly then learned that she could create art with anything and suddenly her world grew and became more colorful. She now works at a local craft store and sells her artwork full time from home. She has previously exhibited her work in the Artscape exhibition and is looking forward to showing more of my work this year. Kelly enjoys what she does and has some exciting new projects planned that she cannot wait to share. If her art can stop someone for five minutes and make them smile, then she feels like her mission has been accomplished.
Terry Chacon is an international award-winning, inland empire artist whose artwork is in private collections in over 20 countries. She is an avid plein air artist and paints weekly on location whether it be the beautiful California coast, inland deserts or the beautiful Southwest landscapes of Arizona and Utah. She does commission pet portraits in her studio and is noted for her dog show scenes. She has had the privilege of having two featured artist exhibits of her dog show scenes at the American Kennel Club Dog Museum in St. Louis, 2015 and 2017. Terry is one of the founding members of the Plein Air Artists of Riverside, and a member of the American Impressionist Society. Influenced by impressionistic style paintings like those of Monet, Charles Hawthorne and Henry Hensche, she sought out to learn a style of painting that would enhance her abilities by adding color and light to her subjects not only in her studio but on location as well. She has written 3 books on her plein air painting adventures; The Beauty of Plein Air Painting (The California Coast), The Beauty of Plein Air Painting (Canyons and Lakes) and Capturing Catalina Island in Plein Air.
Chick Curtis was born in Washington D.C. and settled in Riverside in 1972 after spending time with his parents in Costa Rica, Argentina, Thailand, Brazil and Europe. Chick took up painting just before his retirement as an educator in the Alvord School District in 2006. Since then, he has been creating art incessantly, having taken workshops with Jeremy Lipking, David Leffel, Ken Auster, Glen Vilppu and Ron Pokrasso. He has also studied life drawing with Joseph Todorovitch for six years. Chick has shown his work in Palm Springs, Los Angeles, Fallbrook, Santa Paula, Riverside, Redlands, Alexandria, VA, Ensenada, Mexico, and Sendai, Japan. In addition to painting, Chick is an avid print maker offering workshops in his studio several times a year. As if art isn't enough fun, Chick likes to go dancing with his wife, cook, read, play classical guitar (which he started when he turned 70) travel and color with his granddaughter. His greatest satisfaction is teaching art.
Adeola Davies-Aiyeloja is a multi-media artist who was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. She began painting at an early age, and as a self-taught artist, Adeola credits her consistency and endurance with her ability to create joy, love and positive outlook in her paintings. “When you take a look at my paintings, you instantly feel the joy and happiness the colors convey,” she says. Her work is in both private and public collections, and has been used in many television and movie productions. In addition to the medium of paint, Adeola works as an enamellist as well as a metal smith.
Raymond “Reibot” De Luna is a painter who was born in Vienna, Austria. Reibot (the alias he goes by) has been creating art from the time he was 6 years old. He is currently displaying his work from the Inland Empire to Los Angeles. He has shown his work at Mind & Mill in Riverside and at Los Angeles Art Share in the LA Arts District. Currently, he is working on a series called Obscurity. The Obscurity series focuses on classic cartoon and Japanese anime characters. Not only it is a series, it is also a pattern that is utilized to cover the subject’s face and/or body. As a complimentary aspect to the series, there is an incorporation of origami paper and geometric shapes to add more depth into his work. Throughout Reibot's younger years, he expressed himself artistically with not only paint or graphite, but musically (bass guitar) and through dance (break dancing). As those hobbies became pastimes, he began concentrating on his art work to transform it into a full time job.
Sydney Edmond is a 25 year old painter who has lived in the City of Temecula for 16 years. She has autism, movement challenges and is unable to speak, but at the age of 10 she learned to type so that she could communicate. She soon began writing poetry, publishing a book of her work when she was 16. In spite of her movement challenges, Sydney began painting with watercolors on a whim when she was 21 by daubing paint onto the paper. Her talent was soon apparent. She was commissioned to create a painting by the City of Temecula. It now hangs, along with an accompanying poem, in their city. Her paintings and poems were also featured on the Autism Society of America’s Self Determination Conference folder in Los Angeles. Sydney has had solo exhibits at the Ronald H. Roberts Temecula Library in 2016, the Grace Mellman Library and the Gallery at the Merc in 2017. Sydney acts as a representative for individuals with autism who cannot speak and who need to be given a means to communicate in order to live a fulfilling life. Through an app on her iPad that gives her voice-output, she has spoken at many conferences and schools in Southern California. Sydney loves to immerse herself in nature and the arts, and regularly enjoys the outdoors, musicals and ballet. Painting has become her passion, as it has given her another way to release more of her creative nature.
Donna Elliot is a photographer and mixed media artist who was born in St. Louis, Missouri, but has been living in Idyllwild since 2011. It was through rock climbing that she discovered the mountain community in the early 1970s. Donna has been a photographer since she was a teen. As a world traveler, she captures the sights, sounds and colors of the globe. She discovered mixed media and other art mediums after retirement in 2007. Having been exposed to the creative freedom of digital art, Donna focuses on gentle, ethereal, romantic images resonant of the Victorian pre-Raphaelite movement. She seamlessly blends up to 20 or more images, combined to move the eye through a series of unexpected vistas, creating a perfect universe and a view into the soul. Donna is a member of the Art Alliance of Idyllwild (AAI), and sells her award-willing works in local galleries and at AAI shows. She is also a strong supporter of art education and teaches art through the smARTS program at Idyllwild Elementary School.
Li-Ming Fong is a registered pharmacist who currently resides in Corona. It was not until late 2011 that Li-Ming picked up a brush and began painting as a hobby and stress reliever. Her primary medium is acrylic, and her first exhibition experience was in the Artscape Spring & Summer exhibition in 2012. Li-Ming has a painting of the Riverside County Historic Courthouse permanently displayed in the John Gabbert Gallery of the Riverside County Bar Association.
Ulrike Maria was born in Salzburg, Austria and moved to Los Angeles in 1981 after a career in the music industry, and fell in love with the diverse culture and arts the city had to offer. Ulrike began a career in entertainment events in 1992 at a major Hollywood studio, a position that would span nearly 20 years in the world of motion pictures and television. After moving to Palm Springs in 2015, she is now following her heart - a lifelong yearning for creating art. She paints daily, working mostly with acrylic on canvas, preferring vibrant colors and animal images. Ulrike has published five books, serves as the Executive Vice President for the Palm Springs Writers Guild, and is on the Board of Directors for the Artists Council of the Palm Springs Arts Museum. Ulrike exhibits locally at art shows, galleries and events.
Sara Estrella Martinez is a multimedia artist who grew up in various Southern California cities, primarily in the Inland Empire. Sara began writing poetry and short stories at 7 years old, but would not delve into drawing or painting for another 22 years. After graduating from the Los Angeles Film School, Sara worked for production companies Caliber Media Co. and Ground Root Pictures, and for the story department at Creative Artists Agency before deciding to pursue a career in multimedia art. She is currently working on her debut collection of poetry, as well as filmed collaborations with her husband, painter E. Martinez.
Donna Morin is a painter and printmaker who was born in Michigan and raised in San Jose, California. After moving to the Inland Empire in 1964, Donna began taking art classes while raising her family. With an MFA from Claremont she taught drawing and painting as adjunct faculty member for over 25 years. Her work has been shown throughout the United States. Recently her print work was selected for the California Open 2017 at the Tag Gallery in Los Angeles. This past summer, Donna participated at Crown Point Press in San Francisco learning copper plate printing methods and techniques. She also prints with a local group of artists at Division 9 Gallery in downtown Riverside. Her work reflects the California atmosphere: colorful and filled with energy. Donna continues to paint and print in her home studio with her new Dachshund puppy, Winsor.
William Myerchin has been a photographer in the Inland Empire for thirty-five years. He owned a commercial photo studio in Riverside from 1981 to 2006, providing services for local businesses, manufacturers and educational institutions. After graduating from the University of North Dakota in 1970, William taught in Rialto until being drafted into the US Army the following year. While serving in the army he was stationed in Vietnam, where he worked as a combat photographer, photo journalist and general staff photographer, documenting various events at the very end of the war. William’s service as an Army photographer nurtured his passion for taking pictures. Upon leaving the Army, he decided to make photography his life’s work. He attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, and assisted various commercial photographers in Hollywood. Finally, in 1979 William opened a studio in the Inland Empire and has been shooting photos ever since. Now semi-retired, his involvement in photography has become a fine art discovery of self and the world, with a photo being a fixed expression of that perception. Art, as expressed in photography, and particularly these images, are serendipitous encounters with the outside world.
Priscilla Pacheco is an artist whose focus is in drawing and painting. She moved from Whittier to Riverside in 2007 at age 13. She has been drawing since she was a toddler, and started painting while attending Riverside City College in 2014. Priscilla currently participates as an artist vendor at the Riverside Arts Walk, as well as at other Riverside events. She also works on commissions.
Larry Reinhart is a painter who was raised in Northern Oregon and moved to Southern California in 1987. Larry has been creating art from the time he was 10 and is currently showing his art across the U.S. Growing up in Northern Oregon, his life was spent running through open fields and creating forts in the dense surrounding forests. He grew up loving stories, using his imagination and creating “things.” As life progressed, his inspiration for the imaginary wilds never ceased. As he began to create images on paper, he knew that he was destined to share his thoughts and imagery with others. This destiny led Larry to move to Southern California to pursue his artistic studies. He graduated with Honors of Distinction from the Art Center College of Design with a BFA in Illustration. Twenty years later, his quest for adventure and the search for the “unseen” in life is still very much alive, and his passion is creating realistic art with a surrealist twist. In Larry’s work, his canvas becomes a stage. Within this stage he places objects that are recognizable, but displaced a bit from their common reality. Larry believes it is the viewer who provides the essential ingredients to complete the painting by adding their own ideas and life experiences. He has simply set the stage. In addition to his narrative work, Larry has been embarking on a new kind of painting endeavor which he calls “narrative abstracts.”
Claudia Rose, Ph.D. is a Southern California native who moved with her husband to Riverside County in 2003. Claudia has been a creative all her life, whether working in fiber, steel, pencil, paint or even body sculpting as a champion bodybuilder. She completed her B.F.A. in Studio Art in 1976 from U.C. Irvine. Several of her paintings are in private collections in Newport Beach, Laguna Hills and Orange. After a decade in social work followed by 14 years in Riverside County as a realtor, she has returned to her love of making art. In the summer of 2017, two of her paintings won awards at the highly-competitive Orange County Fair Fine Art competition. To Claudia, her art is a way to send blessings into a world in great need of unconditional love.
T Santora is a painter who was born in New York City and raised in Santa Monica. He has maintained a residence in Palm Springs since 1990. T has been creating art from the time he was 15 years old. He retired in 2015, after 40 years working as a labor and civil rights advocate, and opened his Palm Springs studio in 2016 to pursue his artistic career on a full-time basis. T has shown his work in both solo and group exhibits at galleries in Washington, DC, where he worked for several years, and most recently in the Coachella Valley at various locations. He is an active member of the Palm Springs Art Museum Artists Council, California Desert Arts Council, Napa Valley Arts Council, and also volunteers as a docent at the Palm Springs Art Museum. In addition to his volunteer work, T is an avid traveler and photographer.
