Who are you and what do you do? 

My name is Diane Tharp and I am a watercolor artist.

Why do you do what you do?

I have a passion for painting watercolors! There is something so satisfying about starting with a blank sheet of white paper and transforming it into something vibrant, whimsical and beautiful. Painting also feels like a kind of meditation for me. It is grounding, relaxing, and refreshing spiritually.

What themes do you pursue?

Most of my paintings have subjects from nature, which is also a passion of mine. I love painting birds and other animals, often in whimsical settings. I also enjoy painting landscapes and scenes from nature.

Describe a real life situation that inspired you.

I live on 12 acres in the foothills of North Auburn. Our property is filled with wild animals and the beauty of rolling oak woodlands and the changing seasons. We also have many farm animals that are a constant joy and inspiration. All I have to do is walk out the door and I see something that inspires me to paint!

What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

I had the pleasure of being an elementary school teacher for 30 years. I still occasionally do art classes for school groups.

What are your hobbies?

My hobbies include gardening, music, animal care, hiking, kayaking, camping and spending time with my grandchildren.

Who are you and what do you do? 

I’m Todd Juchau and I create various styles of woodwork.

Why do you do what you do?

To keep active and out of trouble.

What themes do you pursue?

I enjoy trying different types of woodwork with an eye toward making things that are both beautiful and useful.

Describe a real life situation that inspired you.

Career change due to disability.

What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

Business owner/manager, attorney

What are your hobbies?

Woodworking, reading and photography.

Who are you and what do you do? 

My name is Christina Salazar and I am a Jewelry Artist, designer, and creator of wearable art.

Why do you do what you do?

I enjoy creating wearable art that expresses how I feel and what I see in my life. It is like having people carry a little bit of myself around with them. I like working with metal because I enjoy the shine, textures, and the ability to manipulate it into a design with fire. I also love to wax carve many designs to create details in them and then I cast them by the lost wax method.  It’s a fascinating process, leaving a metal piece of wearable art!

What themes do you pursue?

I pursue any theme, but mostly, simple texture with a lot of value and space; nature, everyday life, history and expression. I enjoy making one of a kind pieces.

Describe a real life situation that inspired you.

Backpacking for over a year on my own in Europe. Seeing all the art, meeting people, experiencing life and many traditions. It could be scary, exciting, and enjoyable at the same time. You never know what you would do or what would happen in a day. It was inspiring that I was on my own.

What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

My first job started during High School as a bench jeweler, you know, the person who sits in the back of the jewelry store cleaning, repairing and creating all the jewelry. They called me Chris because young girls were not jewelers so they hid me in the back. After my year of travel, I went to work in retail, then onto working at a deli where I waited tables and made sandwiches. Next, I worked at the Tea Cozy selling tea. That was a cushy job. I could design jewelry daily while selling tea. I am now a state worker; I don’t think I should elaborate more about that.

What are your hobbies?

My hobbies are designing jewelry styles, traveling, gardening (my favorite is cactus and succulents) and trying different types of art mediums.

Who are you and what do you do? 

Hi, I’m Meg Black-Smith and I have been designing and creating jewelry since 1975. I enjoy playing with metals and love color. In my jewelry, I use a wide variety of gemstones that come from all over the world. I do some lost wax casting, but I prefer to do fabrication or what is often called “direct metal method”, using silver wire, sheet, and solder and various tools and hammers to make my jewelry.

Why do you do what you do?

For years I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I tried many things, but they weren’t my passion. After I moved to Cape Cod, I purchased an MGB. Knowing how English cars can often need fixing, I decided to visit the Little Foreign Car Garage, and see if I liked what he did. While there, I started talking with Steve. I thought he was an employee. He was an owner of Elfstone Silver and Gold, which was right down the street. He offered to teach me how to make jewelry and I accepted. On the following Monday, Steve showed me how to use an acetylene torch, demonstrated how to make bezels and told me how to solder them. From that day, I knew this was what I wanted to do. I made thousands of bezels for over two years, as well as progressing to other more complicated things of course. Both Steve and Andy are the best teachers ever.

What themes do you pursue?

I love nature and many of my pieces have leaves, tendrils and flowers in the designs.

Describe a real life situation that inspired you.

I have been inspired by so many of my clients it is difficult to choose. However, there is one that stands out. We used to do Eastern States, a huge fair that went on for 12 days in West Springfield, Massachusetts. One year, a woman came up to our booth and showed me a necklace/choker with black onyx gemstones that I had made for her that needed fixing. It was in pretty bad shape. She told me that she had been driving in her pickup truck (with a bench seat) with her son next to her and got into a terrible accident. She leaned way over to grab and protect her son (this was before seat belts) and leaned way over herself. A large coil in the seat cushion came up in the impact and grabbed her necklace, saving her life. Without the necklace, the coil would have punctured her neck. This was the best repair I have even done.

What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

I have been a waitress, a hat and coat check girl, worked for an optometrist and a dentist, helped in the company library one summer, and worked as a secretary.

What are your hobbies?

I enjoy gardening, love practicing TaiChi and QiGong as well as Yoga, have fun cooking, love reading just about everything, enjoy walking and hiking, and wine tasting.

Who are you and what do you do? 

I’m Stacey Lamothe and I am an artist who loves to laugh. I make HAPPY in the form of jewelry 😉

Why do you do what you do?

I love narrative works, meaning each piece tells a visual story. Being a nature lover, gardener, meditating and practicing yoga, I gravitate towards a positive and uplifting vibe, my finished pieces have a wide range of themes. Happiness is not a destination; it is a method of life. I truly believe this. Through valuing and serving each customer with a gift of joy, giving smiles, laughter and/or inspiration, I cultivate my own happy heart.

What themes do you pursue?

My work often has humor, love or affirmation quotes as a little “secret” message on the back of pendants or inside ring bands. In my jewelry case you might spy an animal, coffee cup, peace sign, tree, flowers, mountain scene or a Praying Mantis (eat, prey, love!). The universe offers me unlimited fodder.

Describe a real life situation that inspired you.

It all started with a little rescue dog. I was so besotted with my little rescue dog, Frank, that she became my muse. I began making copper and sterling pendants of her likeness, and then of other animals. Frank is no longer here but she lives on in my heart and every piece of jewelry that scampers across my bench.

What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

I have been a caterer, a chef, an event planner and a food service sales rep & district manager for Sysco Foods among other things 😉

What are your hobbies?

Hiking, snowshoeing, (cell phone) photography, cooking, gardening, yoga, dinner parties, dancing, concerts, dining out, making someone’s day, and finding humor in most things.

Who are you and what do you do? 

I am Doug Parks and I am a fine art landscape photographer in Northern California.

Why do you do what you do?

I have always had a love of photography. I came into the business as a camera repair person. I also worked in photography retail and in a photo lab.

What themes do you pursue?

I love landscapes of all types. I rarely depart from landscapes but can do so from time to time. But most of my work is with natural light and not studio lighting.

Describe a real life situation that inspired you.

In 1964 I travelled to Yellowstone with my family on a camping vacation. I was awestruck by the park and vowed to return in later years.

What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

I worked for a number of years in IT as a network engineer for a large corporation and a Systems Engineer for a networking equipment manufacturer.

What are your hobbies?

I play golf from time to time and just enjoy hiking with or without my camera.

Who are you and what do you do? 

I’m Cherie Danzer, previously Cherie Miller.  I graduated as an RN from Sac City College.  I worked as a nurse until I began to find another avenue. I started by painting in the Bay Area.

Why do you do what you do?

I love putting color on paper.  After hauling around my paintings to local shows, I really fell in love with pottery and clay sculpture. I took classes in the bay area and started showing my mixed media tea pots. After breakage and chipping clay, I graduated to silversmithing and metal work.  I took classes from instructors at Sierra College for welding and glass.

What themes do you pursue?

Mostly collage in the jewelry and mixed media in the welding sculptures.

Describe a real life situation that inspired you.

People expressing their love for my art when they see it.

What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

My career was nursing.

What are your hobbies?

GARDENING!   I have four water gardens and I love the plants and flowers.  The red dragonflies are a bonus!

Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Mary Lou Anderson and started doing stained glass windows a long time ago. I soon learned that glass shards and young children don’t fit together well, so put it on hold until they were grown. Trying fused glass followed, and I was hooked — “Addicted to glass. Better than drugs. Almost as good as chocolate — almost.” I have several kilns in my over-sized garage that I now call a “studio” along with many sheets of beautiful glass, dozens of jars of frit (small chunks of glass, in sizes from pea-gravel to sand to powder), pieces of dichroic glass (coated with metals in a vacuum kiln and shines like nothing else on Earth!), and tools to create table and wall art, bowls, plates, and jewelry.

Why do you do what you do?

Working with glass is fascinating — its history, its technology, its requirement to remain focused on the task. Many people take glass for granted, but glass makes so many things possible in modern life. “It’s just glass” is a common comment from many who do not consider the consequences of not having it. Glass is important to communication (fiber optics), vision (eye glasses), science and medicine (from space travel to microscopes and telescopes, computers, and cell phones), windows (retaining warmth and coolness inside our homes while letting in light and allowing us to see outside). The list would go on for pages and pages.

What themes do you pursue?

I was raised in Northern California, redwood country, and nature inspires me. I use it in many of my functional pieces and art displays. Often I get whimsical and mentally travel across the seas. Sometimes I stick bowls, plates, and jewelry, then I just have to try something different to create a new item that’s just pretty and would look wonderful in someone’s home.

Describe a real life situation that inspired you.

My sister and I visited the Oregon coast years ago. One of the shops had a beautiful glass starfish that seemed to mysteriously glow from the inside. Weeks later I had a dream where I walked into a large room filled with vendors selling their creations. Several tables were covered with beautiful pieces of fused glass. Soon after that, I took my first workshop and was addicted.

What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

Besides being a parent to three great kids, I was a teacher and worked with elementary school children for a couple of years. I taught adult education and junior college Business and English classes for twelve years then moved to the Sacramento area and continued teaching adults until retiring. (Ahhh, retirement!)

What are your hobbies?

Besides working on glass, I also write books and have published several (available from Amazon — pen name: M. L. Edson.) Suspense-thrillers are my favorite genre, but I also write poetry and short stories. I’m currently working Hot Glass Murder, combining two of my loves (suspense and glass, not murder and glass!). Being with my three fantastic, intelligent, cute, fun grandchildren is how I would like to spend more time if it weren’t for this blasted pandemic.