Tell us about yourself! How long have you been an artist? What are some other projects you have worked on?

I have been an artist my whole life, but recently decided to take it a step further when I decided to major in Studio Art at college. I graduated from SJDC last summer with my Associates and am now in my Junior year at Stanislaus State. Since then I have had the privilege to work on a few community art projects, such as the painted piano project last year, as well as creating Little Free Library's for Turlock's cub scout groups. I have a goal of painting a mural as my next artistic project, either with Lodi Arts Foundation or with the Stan State Art Club. Other than those projects, I am working on building my personal portfolio, focusing on the theme of identity, femininity and the lifestyle of young adults, influenced by my friends and peers. For now, most of my projects are assignments for school, but I am grateful for opportunity such as the painted piano project as it allows to apply the skills and techniques I am learning at school in a way where I get to express my own creative freedom outside the restriction of assignment requirements.

What inspired you to become an artist?

I have always loved creating, whether that be thought painting, collaging, dioramas or drawing. Art was always a hobby for me and something I would do for pleasure or meditation. After attending college and changing my major about 5 times (not an exaggeration) I decided to pursue something I was actually passionate about and focus on getting a degree. This ended up being the best possible choice for me as I am thriving in school and have been blessed with a job that I can still exercise my creativity.

Describe the themes and style of your art. Do you gravitate towards one style or medium? What is your favorite medium to create with?

My art tends to have an illustrative, narrative childlike feel to it. Although in school I am learning the foundations of art, my personal work always maintains a whimsical nature. I think that I am a strong painter, however sculpture is my preferred medium, specifically ceramics. However, due to its inaccessibility I practice painting more in my free time. I do have a goal of joining a ceramics co-op once I graduate so that I can continue to make pieces once I am done with school. I am especially excited to be taking my upper division sculpture courses in the Fall of 2025, where I will be taking metal casting and advanced ceramics.

Who are your biggest artistic influences?

My professor Mirabel Wigon, as well as other influential artists such as Chris Burden, Laurel Burch and Ann Veronica Janssens to name a few.

Tell us about your painted piano design. What inspired it?

My painted piano is titled "A pianist dream" I wanted my design to use preexisting features of the piano showcased in a distorted surrealist style. I wanted to feature keys twisting and bending like staircases, music floating like leaves in the wind, and hand playing music as if they are intruding on your mind. I wanted this whole piece to clearly represent a piano and musician, but in a creative way that draws the viewer in and allows them to create their own narrative about what the piece means to them. (Is it a dream or a nightmare?)

What are your aspirations as an artist? What are your dreams as an artist if anything were possible?

My aspirations as an artist are to feature my work in a gallery and have a solo show one day.

Tell us about your other hobbies and passions! What do you enjoy besides art?

Along with art, I enjoy playing the banjo, going to the beach to look for sea glass, binging RuPaul's Drag Race, and spending time with my two kitties, Roby and Banjo

How can we find more of your art? (website, social media, upcoming shows etc.) Is there anything else you want us to know?

You can follow me on instagram @zaras.era.art

Tell us about yourself!

I was born Carol Marie Thornbury and raised in Kingsburg, California. I married Tim Sass in 1978, and we moved to Stockton in 1981. My married name is Carrie Mae Sass. I am blessed with an amazing, fun - a bit crazy - family. Son Aaron is a teacher in LUSD and a custom longboard designer / builder. My daughter Andi is a food reviewer and spin instructor in Santa Barbara. I have four precious grandchildren. My family inspires me every day. I am a fun, hardworking, lover of people and my community. I absolutely LOVE colorful decor and design, painting outside the lines - literally and figuratively. I dare to be a bit different than most - and am a passionate woman of faith who knows the importance of living each and every day. Life is definitely precious. I strive to be compassionate and caring, and I cherish relationship with friends, clients and colleagues I adore my few but mighty, close friends

How long have you been an artist? What are some other projects you have worked on?

Creative may be a better definition than artist. My first creative endeavor was learning to play the piano at a young age - my mom was a piano teacher - so learning and understanding the piano and harmonies was a part of growing up. I believe music is a catalyst to the creative development of the right brain. I have painted a few bar stools, my late father-in-laws side table (made it into a chess board), and small projects. Throughout my life I have studied calligraphy. Now that I think back - I did paint my friends baby's nursery walls with a farmers theme - barn, trees, cows and horses. That was years ago.

What inspired you to become an artist?

I own SASS! Public Relations Advertising Agency. Again - not an artist, but certainly a creative profession that inspires me to plan fun and relevant campaigns. My daughter in law Anna Sass, and I also own HERLIFE Magazine - which also takes a lot of artistic creation to publish a community magazine. So again, artist may not be the right description of me, but creativity and appreciation for art are certainly a part of my DNA.
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Describe the themes and style of your art. Do you gravitate towards one style or medium? What is your favorite medium to create with?

Theme: God made all the colors - so use them all :) I love funky art, nothing precise or perfect - a little loose and even a bit messy. I like working with acrylics and really enjoyed my first attempt at using Sharpie paint pens on this project. I also hid 18 items in the design for kids to find - caterpillars, ladybugs, asparagus spears, etc. :). That will keep kids engaged for a while....

Who are your biggest artistic influences?

My brother Dan an architect; my brother Bill, an amazing musician; and my brother Skip an amazing painter and auto/boat pinstripes. I also follow Eli Halpin, an eclectic artist in Austin, Texas. My newest is Tricia Robinson, an Alabama artist with a very colorful, inspirational style.

Tell us about your painted piano design. What inspired it?

I took each section. Planned it, painted it and then moved to the next section - I only painted over one or two spots and repainted - as I wasn't excited about the original design. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE color. I was inspired to use my favorite 4 colors - lime, pink, teal and purple to be the main colors and them added a few more here and there.

What are your aspirations as an artist? What are your dreams as an artist if anything were possible?

Maybe when I am retired I will try to get a bit more serious about doing more projects! This was certainly my biggest one and I was surprised how relaxing it was. I could paint for hours and not be stressed or tired. I even got up to paint in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep. I would like to experiment with painting unusual pieces like violins or cellos. I have a clock that I am hoping to paint in a similar style as the piano - to go over my fireplace.

Tell us about your other hobbies and passions! What do you enjoy besides art?

I am an avid gardener. I can get lost in planting and weeding and pruning in the garden for days. I love incorporating funky items in the yards, such as my ski lift swing (purchased from China Peak where I learned to ski as a child) with the beautiful header designed by my son Aaron and built by Lodi's Matt Cunningham. I love my career. I love people and my crazy fun family and love hanging out with them. . And, I love learning more about God - the original creator.

How can we find more of your art? (website, social media, upcoming shows etc.) Is there anything else you want us to know?

I would love for you to follow our magazine - HERLIFEmagazine.com to read about all the amazing people in our community. Plus - a story on the piano project might be showing up in a future issue....

Tell us about yourself!

My name is Shannon Ryan. I grew up in Manteca and spent some time moving around in Orange County. My husband Andy and I bought our first house in Lodi about 11 years ago and love raising our son, Garrett, here. He's an awesome little goofball and quite the artist himself.

How long have you been an artist? What are some other projects you have worked on?

My creativity and artistic passion has grown with me through life. As a kid I loved to draw and craft, in high school and college it became an expression of my personality. After venturing out on my own, my artistic passions started to define who I was.
I've shown at several galleries as part of group shows in Southern California from 2003-2008. Upon returning to Northern California, I was part of an Alameda art collective for a few years. Starting around 2010, my focus has mainly been on pet portraits, and I was asked to illustrate a children's book in 2019. It's called "City Cat Moves to the Country".
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Describe the themes and style of your art. Do you gravitate towards one style or medium? What is your favorite medium to create with?

I usually gravitate towards acrylic on canvas, but I also like to use watercolors and Prisma pencils. I think all of my art has a little bit of low-brow sort of flair. I'm really influenced by tattoo style art and I love pin-up girls although in the past few years I've shifted to more of a witchy, garden, cottage feel.

Who are your biggest artistic influences?

Pet portrait wise, I'm just doing my own thing. Some of my favorite artists are Sunny Buick, Jenny and Aaron from Every Day is a Holiday, Lisa Petrucci, El Gato Gomez, Mexakitsch, and Angelique Houtkamp.

Tell us about your painted piano design. What inspired it?

My pets are a huge part of my life. I wanted to do something to showcase our cherished best friends while helping out those still waiting for their forever homes. I asked friends, family and community members who might be interested in having their pets featured, to donate $50 to the Lodi Animal Shelter. The donor's names will be displayed on the back of the piano and I'll be including a list of contact information for the rescues their pets are from. Adopting rescue pets is very important to me. I've always had dogs and cats but Manny is my 'first born son'. I wasn't going to have kids, so he's named after my great-grandfather. We joke that he's a 'Portuguese wolf', but DNA testing says he's a German Shepherd, American Bully mix with a touch of Chow Chow. Either way, he's mommy's baby. Our other boys Jett, Arthur, Pickles, and Kylo are also featured.

What are your aspirations as an artist? What are your dreams as an artist if anything were possible?

I'd love to work with a friend on doing our own children's book. Other than that, I'm happy just doing fun pet portraits. This project was a pretty amazing opportunity.
If anything were possible, I'd love to have something I painted or illustrated in Disneyland.

Tell us about your other hobbies and passions! What do you enjoy besides art?

I love gardening! I've got a mini homestead set up in our backyard with raised beds, fruit trees, chickens and ducks. I think of it as a 'snacking garden'. As I'm watering and weeding, I find a strawberry, pick a peach, oh look a cucumber, snap pea, chomp, chomp, chomp. It is really rewarding to share the bounty with friends and neighbors. I enjoy cooking and it feels even more special when you've grown the food yourself. Canning spaghetti sauce, making pickles and relish are something I do yearly.
Flowers and herbs that I've grown are used to make bath products for my business Little Wolf Botanicals. My sister-in-law, Sarah Jones of Jones Candle Co in Oakdale, sells them for me. We work together to come up with bath products that are as natural as possible.

In 2018 we both became moms. Sarah has twin boys Axel and Austin who are just ten months younger than their cousin Garrett. We had both become way more aware of what we were putting in, on, around our family. Our kids love bath bombs, but they make a big mess, stain the tub, smell way to strongly and make our kids itchy. I came up with a recipe that is simple, made with essential oil and wouldn't cause alarm if your kid took a swig from the bathwater. Things expanded from there and I really love all of the products I make.

How can we find more of your art? (website, social media, upcoming shows etc.) Is there anything else you want us to know?

Instagram @littlewolfportraits, @littlewolf_botanicals, www.jonescandleco.com

Tell us about yourself!

My name is Michelle Martinez. I am a local mural artist and art teacher who loves participating in community art.

How long have you been an artist? What are some other projects you have worked on?

Over 20 years. Community electrical boxes, community mosaics in Lodi. Multiple murals in Lodi including; Lodi Animal Hospital on Lokeford St, PALS Thrift store, and El Pacifico restaurant.
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What inspired you to become an artist?

My grandmother loved art inspired me to become an artist. Community art has always been my passion as well as inspiring young people to never stop creating.

Describe the themes and style of your art. Do you gravitate towards one style or medium? What is your favorite medium to create with?

I love modern themes that use acrylic and watercolor.

Who are your biggest artistic influences?

My grandmother created beautiful quilts.

Tell us about your painted piano design. What inspired it?

I am inspired by the vineyards in our community. The piano is my modern touch on our beautiful landscape!

What are your aspirations as an artist? What are your dreams as an artist if anything were possible?

Inspire young people to keep on creating.

Tell us about your other hobbies and passions! What do you enjoy besides art?

I love to teach art classes , and organize music events in our community .

How can we find more of your art? (website, social media, upcoming shows etc.) Is there anything else you want us to know?

Instagram martinez_paints