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Mary Buckman is an award winning sculptor, who has had commissions for public artwork from the City of Santee, the City of San Diego and the City of La Jolla. She recently completed two larger-than-life-size bronze figures for the Pierre Toussaint Teen Center in San Diego and four life-size bronze figures for the Mission Federal Credit Union in Escondido. Because of her interest in the human form, Ms Buckman’s work is figurative and life-size. Clay and bronze are the materials she prefers www.marybuckman.com

Rivian Bütikofer earned her BA in painting and printmaking from San Diego State University (SDSU) and her MA in teaching from Point Loma Nazarene College. As an artist and longtime educator, Rivian combines her wealth of educational experience and extensive background in art, drama, and art therapy with an enthusiastic and encouraging teaching style. She has been an artist-in-residence and a visual arts resource instructor for the San Diego Unified School District and has taught at the secondary level in several area schools. Rivian founded her own art school, The Magic of Art, was a consultant for the Centre Pompidou in Paris and also taught at UCSD Extension. Her art is in collections in Germany, France, Israel, U.S, and Canada.. Rivian's website is www.rivianbutikofer.com and www.rivianbutikoferphotography.com.

Reed Cardwell received his BFA from California State University, Long Beach, and attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He also studied drawing and painting in Los Angeles with Harold Kramer, and painting with Nathan Oliveira at the Santa Fe Institute of Fine Arts in New Mexico. Reed worked as an animation artist for Walt Disney Feature Animation and at other studios in San Diego and Los Angeles. He has taught at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandizing and currently teaches at Arts College International and UCSD Extension.

Alida Cervantes attended the University of San Diego and the University of California, San Diego where she received her BA in Visual Arts. An avid traveler she also studied art and art history for two years at La Scuola di Arte Lorenzo di Medici in Florence, Italy and spent an additional year studying classical painting in Montagnana, Italy. From 1998 to 2002 Alida lived in New York City, where she taught as an artist-in-residence in public schools. Most recently she was included in the traveling exhibition Strange New World: Art and Design from Tijuana at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego; the Cultural Institute of Mexico, Washington D.C.; the Santa Monica Museum of Art and the Athenaeum. Alida’s paintings have won high praise in the New York Times, as well as several awards.

Carol Curtis, originally from the South, studied Architecture at Auburn University. She then traveled with Hyatt Hotel Corporation, utilizing her experience in management, hospitality and visual arts to open new Hyatt locations around the country. Carol launched a successful catering company and for the past ten years has built a textile design business. Having studied drawing, pastel, oil and watercolor, Carol always returns to watercolor! Some of her instructors include Burton Silverman, Charles Reid, Daniel Greene, Robert Johnson, Nelson DeMille, Joshua Fallik, David Leffel and Donna Howell-Sickles.

Amber George received a BA in 1994 from UCLA, where she studied drawing, painting, sculpture and installation. Since graduation, she has worked in a variety of capacities in the art field, including as an instructor at the San Diego Museum of Art since 2001 and in several school districts across San Diego County. Her artwork is exhibited nationally through several galleries, and her first solo museum exhibition of her encaustic paintings is scheduled for July 2008 at the Museum of the Southwest in Midland, Texas.

Ken Goldman received his education at the National Academy of Design, the Art Students’ League, and New York Studio School, New York City. A recipient of numerous awards, Ken has exhibited widely in various group shows and solo exhibitions in galleries and museums in Holland, Paris, Mexico, New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., and San Diego. Ken is the author of six books on pastels, acrylics, charcoal, and artistic anatomy. In addition, his work has been featured in various magazines such as The Artist’s Magazine, International Artist Magazine, American Artist Magazine. www.goldmanfineart.com.

Stephanie Goldman Stephanie Goldman received her BA/MA from the University of 
Humanistic Studies in Del Mar, California. She began her professional art training with artist Ken Goldman and also lived in Europe where she enhanced her skills through intensive studies of Renaissance art. Since then, Stephanie has studied with noted landscape colorist Wolf Kahn and nationally known figure and portrait painter Nelson Shanks at Studio Incamminati. The Riverside Art Museum invited Stephanie to exhibit her portrait series titled I Am A Child. Previous bodies of work have been published by Frontline Publishing Co.,Ramprod.comand Eastmeetswestco.com. www.goldmanfineart.com.

Irina Gronborg is very enthusiastic about the color pencil medium and uses it almost exclusively to create her nationally exhibited and published botanical works. Irina earned a BA and MA in Fine Arts at Stanford University, and several horticultural certificates from the State of California. A member of the San Diego Horticultural Society, Irina is known nationally for her botanical illustrations. Her work is exhibited locally at J. Dewers, First Street Gallery and at the Leucadia Art Gallery. She also teaches at Mira Costa College. Irina cultivates a spectacular garden, which continues to be her inspiration.

France-Marie Haeger is a skillful instructor whose enthusiasm and talent will inspire students to go beyond their expectations. She received her MA in Fine Arts Education at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lausanne, Switzerland. Art instructor, artist/designer, and art therapist, she has taught fine arts in Switzerland, Canada, and the United States. She has developed seminars that she regularly leads in Europe and San Diego in art and expressive arts therapy, color therapy and awareness, and art and the creative process. Her European background and her exposure to many cultures enliven her teaching and enrich the experience of her students.

Elaine Harvey paints in watercolor, acrylic, and a mixture of watermedia. A graduate form San Diego State University, she has won many awards in local, national, and international exhibitions. Studied watercolor with painters including Millard Sheets, Virginia Cobb, Robert Wood and Edward Bates, from whom she learned a wide variety of approaches and developed a broad understanding of watermedia painting. Her paintings and writings can be found in publications including Splash, The Artists’s Magazine and several watercolor books. She has taught for the Artist’s Council of the Desert Museum, San Diego Watercolor Society and UCSD Extension.

Norma Brown Hill, a native New Yorker, world traveler and seasoned photographer, began her photographic journey almost thirty years ago. After graduating from Bard College, her first job was at the Photograph Library of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her interest in photography landed her a job photographing art and architecture in Europe and the Middle East. She ended up living in Paris, where she studied darkroom techniques and sharpened her photography skills. While in Paris she learned the art of hand painting black and white photographs using oil paint. Her interest in manipulated photographs grew and she later studied the Polaroid Transfer technique at the International Center of Photography in New York City. She was chosen to be one of six creative consultants to Polaroid, and was supported with film and equipment and was sent to teach workshops in fabulous places, including Italy, France, Costa Rica and Mexico, throughout the year. www.artnsoul-online.com

Patricia Kelly graduated with her BA degree in Visual Art from UCSD and has studied with David Leffel at the CAAA Montana Workshops. An accomplished oil painter, Pat has been showing her paintings professionally for more than sixteen years. Most recently, she has turned to painting the landscape in the plein air style. She currently shows her work at the Santa Ysabel Gallery. Pat has been teaching painting and drawing classes for Palomar College, The Ramona Art Guild, and Outdoors Painting Workshops for several years.

Jane LaFazio is a mixed-media artist who works in paper and cloth. She began her artist life as a watercolor painter in 1992, started working with fabric in 2002, and in the last year has begun to combine the two. Jane’s an active artist teaching art quilts, mixed media, and watercolor journaling to adults and creative classes for kids. Her artwork has been featured in galleries, in juried mixed-media exhibitions, and in publications, including the books Material Visions: A Gallery of Miniature Art Quilts, Fabric Art Gallery, Beginner’s Guide to Art Quilts—and coming this fall—Danny Gregory’s An Illustrated Life: Drawing Inspiration from the Private Sketchbooks of Artists, Illustrators and Designers and Art Quilts at Play, by Jane Dávila and Elin Waterston. Jane’s artwork has been featured in Cloth, Paper, Scissors and Quilting Arts magazines many times. She also has an instructional DVD entitled The Small Art Quilt available on Amazon.comSee more of Jane’s artwork at www.PlainJaneStudio.com

Olya Losina born in Russia comes from a family of artists. She received her degree in Fine Arts form Moscow University, where she was taught a comprehensive system designed to expose students to a combination of academic art education and the philosophy of art. In 1991 Olya came to the United States bringing with her this highly successful method of teaching that she has since further developed into her own creative strategy in which she engages her students.

James Millard’s approach and execution in painting evolves from over forty-five years as an art director, graphic designer, painter and teacher. A student at the famed Chouinard Art Institute and the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, he has also studied with nationally recognized teachers including Rex Brandt, Robert E. Wood, Frank Webb, Steve Quiller and Don Andrews. He regularly exhibits and conducts workshops at the San Diego Watercolor Society, The Art Academy of San Diego, the Studio of Art and Design and other venues. His approach is one of enthusiasm and guidance, stressing principles, application, planning and the best qualities of watercolor. A dedicated teacher and lifelong student himself, Millard feels that the gift we have been given to express ourselves should be honored, but it needs to be nurtured with an understanding of the underlying principles of good art in order to paint with authority.

Lori Mitchell graduated with honors from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena in 1987. She has been doing freelance illustration ever since. She wrote and illustrated the award-winning children’s book Different Just Like Me (Charlesbridge Books) featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show and the Today Show. Holly Bloom’s Garden is her latest book published by Flashlight Press. Lori is also an accomplished mosaic artist, whose whimsical and thought-provoking mosaics are shown at Shiva Gallery in Escondido, and Magpie Gallery in Manhattan Beach. Lori teaches drawing and composition at Palomar College, San Marcos, and mural painting to students in the San Diego School District. www.mitchmo.com.

Susan Osborn has an extensive wealth of experience as an arts educator, lecturer, and consultant as well as an award-winning visual artist. She received both an MA in Visual Art and an MA in Education from San Diego State University. Susan began teaching in 1973 and has since taught drawing, painting, photography and design at San Diego State University, Southwestern Community College, and from 1987 to 2005 at The Bishop’s School in La Jolla. Her grand-scale paintings, colorful oil pastels, and photographs have been shown in more than 40 solo, group, and invitational exhibitions including Artists Guild Presents in 1999 at the San Diego Museum of Art, and Small Images at Gallery 21. Susan is listed in Who’s Who of American Women.

Barbara Postelnek is a versatile sculptor whose works range in style from realistic to impressionistic as well as serious to humorous. She received her BA in Behavioral Science from the University of Maryland in 1975 and has since studied art at the Art Students League, the Sculpture League, and the National Academy of Design, all in New York. Her clients have included GTE and Saturday Night Live. A professional sculptor since 1988, Barbara has shown her work in numerous exhibitions, including the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Juried Show, and has received several awards and art scholarships. Barbara has been teaching figurative study classes in San Diego since 2004.

Sibyl Rubottom holds an MFA in Painting from Yale University and a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, where she became a European Honors Student and studied in Rome. For over twenty-five years Sibyl did fabric art for the commercial and residential interior trade. She is currently proprietor of Bay Park Press, in San Diego. Bay Park Press is a small fine arts press specializing in limited edition artists’ books and fine intaglio prints. Sibyl’s books are in the special collections of the John Hay Library at Brown University, the Sterling Library at Yale University, UCSD’s Geisel Library in the Mandeville Special Collections Library, San Diego State University’s Malcolm A. Love Library, Occidental College (Los Angeles), Brigham Young University, Dartmouth College, the Athenaeum, and other public and private collections.

Jean Shen was the first teacher of Chinese brush painting in San Diego. She has taught privately and at UCSD Extension for more than twenty-three years. Jean continues to train many students at her studio from beginning level to award-winning artists. She also continues to paint and show her own work, most recently at the UCSD Faculty Club. Jean is the author of the book His Garden, Story and Paintings and has recently published Dance of the Brush, a nontraditional approach to learning Chinese brush painting. She is currently working on her third book, which will be published in 2006. www.jbrushwork.com

Judith Shufro has enjoyed teaching art on the east and west coasts. She received her MA at  New York University and her BFA at Boston University. Her delight is guiding her students into the discovery of their inner expressiveness. In her personal art, she has always explored new options, in drawing as well as acrylic painting. Judith has exhibited in New York, Boston and Florence, Italy. She is included in collections in the United States and Europe. www.judithshufro.com

Christina Snell earned her teaching certificate and BA in Art Education from Kearn University in New Jersey and a professional certificate in Art and the Creative Process from the University of California San Diego. She is an experienced and devoted art educator of young people dedicated to fostering creative thinking and positive self-esteem through a variety of art techniques. Christina is currently the owner/operator of Adventures in Art, an art history–based education program for children. She is an instructional advisor to the Poway Unified School District and provides support to teachers and students in a variety of special education programs. Prior to moving to San Diego she worked as the Assistant to the Director of the Bergen Museum of Art and Science and as an art educator and coordinator at the Newark Museum of Art.

René van Rems is originally from Amsterdam, Netherlands, but has called San Diego home for over twenty years. He was formally educated in the entire spectrum of Floriculture/Horiculture through his studies at the Rijksmiddlebare Tuinbouwschool (Floral Institute) in the Netherlands. A frequent speaker at leading art museums, including the Minneapolis Art Institute and San Francisco’s de Young Museum, René has also been featured in numerous national publications like California Florists, Sunset Magazine, Better Homes & Gardens, as well as on HGTV. In 1995 the American Horticultural Society awarded him the Francis Jones Poetker award. René is the author of the book René’s Bouquets.