Rebecca Wallace
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Rebecca moved to Fort Bragg at the beginning of August 2019. She grew up in a small lumber town in Northern California and has been making art as long as she can remember. She loved art classes but never considering an art career, despite the fact that "making art was the way in which I related to and processed the world." It dawned on her later, that she could go to school to study art. In 2002 attended San Francisco State University where she received a BA in Art. In 2010 she graduated with an MFA in Painting and Drawing from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. For the last five years she has been teaching Painting and Drawing classes, as well as Art Appreciation at Yuba College. She has also taught art classes in juvenile hall and the county jail in Yuba county. In 2018 she was commissioned by the Yuba Sutter Arts Council to complete two murals for the town of Live Oak, and was invited to create a mural for the Beyond the Frame exhibition at the Museum of Northern California Art in Chico.
She is currently doing plein air painting and printmaking. Her work tends to explore concepts of real and imagined spaces, often times contemplating the overlap of the two. She has currently completed a body of work for a 2-person show in September 2019 at the 1078 gallery in Chico. She will be showing a series of plein air oil paintings inspired by the coast along with abstract collagraphs that recall her experience of each space. |
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James Sibbet
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James arrived in Mendocino County in 1983 and with his wife, Carole, purchased a home in Comptche where they still reside.
During the ‘70s James lived in Palo Alto and his art and graphic skills were often called upon to create hand drawn and lettered posters and newspaper ads, leading to sign painting, and eventually three large murals, painted with his friend Thom Hawken. After moving to the coast he worked as the in-house graphics designer for PDI Graphics in Mendocino and Black Bear Press, creating black bear calendars for more than twenty years. James has designed a number of local logos including the seal for the City of Fort Bragg, and the first set of street banners for the city. The natural world is a big draw for James however he is inspired by any subject of interesting composition and color. His work to this point has been representational but is open to wherever his art wants to lead him.
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Biggest Creative DreamI desire to see and paint the essence of a subject leaving room for the viewer to fill in detail. |
Sue Ellen Parkinson
Biggest Creative DreamI like the very old idea that imagery can be used as a vehicle for healing and strengthening people. My dream is that my art will help others in that way. 
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Sue Ellen Parkinson grew up in Los Angeles and originally moved to Mendocino County in the mid-70s. She has lived in the same little cabin up in the mountains outside of Willits for 30 years. She was originally inspired by her imagination and a call to fulfill the un-lived life of her mother, who was an artist in everything she did but didn’t have much space in her life to paint and died when she was very young. She says she can’t remember a time in her life when she wasn’t drawing or painting. She is currently drawn to images depicting the Sacred Feminine, particularly to Mary Magdalene. "I’ve been studying the stories surrounding the mystics and I love painting them. Images of her seem to work well with my own insights and experiences." She feels that the myths and legends surrounding the Sacred Feminine are deeply relevant today, and needed to bring the world into balance. Check out her work on her website www.miracleofyourlife.com and her Instagram.
Sue Ellen's preference would be to work on panels and then assemble them at the location when they’re finished. She loves murals and painting them, but if they’re painted on panels they can always be preserved. She would prefer projects where she is not working on scaffolding. Check out her instagram She is also a member of Northcoast Artists Gallery in Fort Bragg. |
Sandy Oppenheimer
Biggest Creative DreamI have been working on a portrait series of notable women , on and off, for over 20 years. I would like have an exhibit at the women's museum in Washington DC, have them purchased and donated to the museum, and use the monies to advance girls and women causes in the world. |
Sandy grew up in Pittsburgh, Pa. She arrived in Mendocino in 1985, participated in the ROP ceramics program at the Art Center for 9 months, then left for Italy. It took her 20 years to get back here.
She was always making things as a child, but didn't "seriously commit to visual art" until she was 35. She started out as an actor in children's theatre as her first artistic expression, followed by the healing arts, and then the visual arts. Her original inspiration came from visits to museums as a child. As she described it, she would "stand in front of certain paintings and feel a visceral reaction." Her inspiration comes from many facets of her life. It can be from a book, a topical issue, a dream, a person she met, or music she heard. She is currently working on a piece concerning the separation of children from their families, and a series from recent travels in Europe.
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Bojh Parker
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Bojh Parker moved to Fort Bragg from Fresno, about 4 years ago. His initial artistic inspiration came from a friend of his in high school who created some pictures that were unlike anything he had ever seen before. Bojh has been photographing ever since. Shortly after high school, he spent some time on film sets as a production assistant/grip and a first A.D. on commercials and a couple feature films. These days, he is finding himself drawn to illustrating and painting abstract line work - a newer development on his artistic path. The process is meditative and complex at the same time.
It is perhaps due to that meditative process that he prefers the solace of solo work, though he is open to the idea of working with others. You can see more of his work at bojhparker.com which also has links to his instagram. 
Bojh recently completed a monumental 15'x55' mural in downtown Fort Bragg titled "Matsya and the Great Deluge." Located at 345 N Franklin St.
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Biggest Creative DreamI have always liked the idea of creating a very big mural. My biggest creative dream would be to spend a year photographing around eastern Europe" What's next for Bojh?Bojh already has a design in mind for his next mural. He is imagining it will be between 12'x12' and 15'x15' If you are interested in hosting this piece of artwork please contact him through his website bojhparker.com
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Solange Roberdeau
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Solange Roberdeau was born in Albion, CA. She holds a BFA in Printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in Studio Art from the Maryland Institute College of Art but her creative journey began sketching plants and animals on the property where she grew up, surrounded by
dense forest and expansive cow pasture that sloped into the Pacific Ocean. She makes work that emphasizes slowing down and seeking out the creative potential in our immediate environments. Informed by found objects and material processes, she is attracted to simplicity and minimalism in the work she produces as well as in her process of making it. She consciously promotes a tension between serendipity and control, which she explores by pairing organic with geometric shapes. I am excited by the idea of working on any scale and would love to produce interior or exterior, painted murals as well as site-specific installations with paper or fabric. Check out her website and stunning Instagram feed.
Biggest Creative DreamMy creative dream is actually best described by this Mary Oliver poem.
The dream of my life |
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Shawnee Miller
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Shawnee was born and raised all over Sonoma County. She moved here to work in the harbor during the 2016 commercial salmon fishing season as a 'headhunter': collecting tagged salmon snouts from offloads as part of a study on prolonged environmental impact. While working in the harbor she became drawn to recording fading ephemera of local salmon fishing culture. This interest expanded to a desire to collect, curate, and illustrate the hidden narratives and cultural histories of the greater rural Mendocino area. She loves all kinds of mark-making but likes best to draw with an old-fashioned dip pen and black ink. She hopes to collect more stories, hear more tall tales, and dreams about making an illustrated history of the greater Lost Coast area someday.
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Deth P. Sun
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As a child, Deth began drawing as a way to combat boredom, and to give himself some continuity as his family moved frequently. He can't point to a specific beginning to his interest in art, it seems that creative "projects" are innate to his personality. He still likes playing with combinations of colors - in fact many aspects of his work from the subject matter to style are playful, witty, and almost dream-like. Deth moved to Fort Bragg in September 2014. He continues to be inspired by the natural splendor of our picturesque coast, watching colors move across a sky at sunset, or the bend of a tree trunk. Check out his website or follow his ever-popular Instagram feed.
Biggest Creative DreamI don’t really have anything too big. Maybe make a piñata. Or a giant inflatable balloon." - Deth P. Sun |
Philadelphia, USA
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