LET'S FACE IT 2024 - FEATURED ARTISTS

Angela Kennedy

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I am an artist based in Southern Oregon. I love all art mediums but I use watercolors and mixed media the most. I love sharing my process and helping others to enjoy creating art.

Aprell Kirk

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Aprell began painting in 2021, following major life shifts catalyzed by the Covid pandemic. She paints to explore complex emotional states, process trauma and grief, and express herself in an open and vulnerable way. Drawing inspiration from the post impressionists and abrstract expressionist movements, she experiments with bold color arrangements, spontaneous line work, and various media in her figurative work.

Christa Forrest

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Christa Forrest is a figurative artist residing in Southern California. A self taught artist, Christa left her 20 year career in finance to pursue her true passion. She continues to evolve and grow throughout her creative journey and has recently focused on developing her figurative portrait skills and techniques. Christa has participated in numerous exhibitions throughout New York and Connecticut, her home town and has been commissioned for work in public and private collections.

Christina Kent

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Christina Kent is a figurative painter working primarily in oils. As a teenager, Kent painted obsessively, teaching herself painting in oils and acrylics by copying the work of her favorite painters. She traded in her brushes after high school for a more “practical” career path, but she continued to feel pulled towards making art. After pursuing a PhD in Economics at Stanford University, she realized she could no longer resist the calling to make art. She began pursuing art professionally in 2020, and in 2023 she was awarded the Emerging Artist Award by Pence Gallery.

Through her paintings she captures the beauty of everyday life onto the canvas in expressive brush strokes. Her subject matter ranges from the golden hills of California, to street corners in San Francisco, to contemplative portraits. While mostly self-taught, Kent has studied under painters including Catherine Kehoe, Claudia Rilling, Nicolas Uribe, and Adam Cohn. Her work can be seen at galleries in the Bay Area, California and is collected both in the US and internationally. Kent was born in Houston, Texas and now lives in San Francisco.

Dylan Sara

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Central to Dylan's work in recent years has been connecting and engaging directly with people and nature through portraiture. Fostering creative community through weekly events, open to all, and making ink from foraged natural materials are his passions.

Dylan is an Australian born illustrator, artist and father based in Göttingen Germany.

Holly Beals

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Holly Beals is a mixed media painter, living and creating on California’s beautiful Central Coast. With an insatiable creative curiosity, Holly’s figurative works combine acrylic painting and paper collage techniques. Her emotive and partially abstracted subject matter emerges from continual explorations in color, connectivity, lighting and texture. As a wife and mother of two energetic boys, Holly feels truly grateful to gain so much inspiration from the day-to-day, in the place she calls home.

Jenny Grant

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Jenny Grant is a Mixed Media Artist living in Stockholm, Sweden, on a mission to inspire people to be brave, to use their creativity and to do more of what they love.

Jenny found her unique creative spark and source within herself after many years of pushing it aside. For Jenny it is all about the process, the doing. To actually get messy and just do. Her process is very unstructured, tactile and yes, quite messy and through that she is able open up the magic of what is unique within her.

Jenny would love to share her process and her magic with you. She has seen how her creative process and approach has helped the creativity blossom in herself and in thousands of her students and she is so excited to share it with you to inspire you to expand and grow yours!

Jerney Marisha

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I'm a Dutch Artist living in Antwerp and I love helping people to get in touch with their expressive side. I'm always thinking of new ways to inspire creatives to find joy in the process, to conquer fears and artist block, to dive within and to play and get loose. In my opinion these things are essential to find, and keep developing, your own unique style.

I'm an art therapy enthusiast. I studied it way back when, decided I didn't want to be a therapist, but I do apply a lot of the techniques in my lessons to help you to experience freedom in your creative process.

I hope you will have lots of fun with my lessons, I can't wait to create with you guys!

Jim Bentley

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I earned my bachelor's degree while attending Ringling College of Art and Design. I worked a number of years in the corporate world doing graphic design and computer animation. Soon realizing my passion in drawing and painting; I became a stay-at-home dad, raising three great kids while honing and evolving my style. I love to learn from other artists and takes classes, watch demonstrations and attend the open studio at Scottsdale Artist’s School whenever I can.

Juan Perednik

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My name is Juan Perednik, I was born and live and in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  I have been drawing for as long as I can remember and it is one of the things that I enjoy doing the most, it is my true passion.
Each drawing is a new experience, a challenge and an opportunity. Drawing is the sincerest form of art and the most solid basis for working with any other technique. I look at life and what happens to me through my lines.
In the past 7 years I've been investigating the best ways of sharing all I know about this art form with students from all over the world and for me that has been a blessing.
I can't wait to know who you are, so feel free to send me an email telling me your story.

Juliana Coles

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Award winning artist Juliana Coles received her MFA from the Academy of Art, San Francisco. Coles developed “Visual Journaling” in 1992 for the Epilepsy Society as an active meditation technique that is now used by therapists, teachers, and professionals around the world. Her Visual Journals have been featured in over 30 publications and as part of the “1000 Journals Project" her work was exhibited at the SFMOMA. Coles, a teaching artist since 1997, presents workshops nationally as well as Mexico, Greece, Egypt, and Portugal. Coles’ work has been licensed by Warner Brothers for their “Roswell” and “Longmire” series. Juliana is a Clark Hulings Foundation Fellow and residencies include Green Olive Arts in Morocco and Otis’ inaugural Residency program in LA. Most recently Coles received the NM Purchase award, a grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation, and the City of Albuquerque’s Urban Enhancement Trust Fund.

Juna Biagioni

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My name is Juna Biagioni, I’m an artist and online art teacher offering online classes to people from all over the world – both beginners and more experienced artists.  Art is my biggest passion! Making art is such a wonderful way to express myself and to connect with others.

I create abstract work but also love making portraits, working with all kinds of materials and supplies, such as acrylic paint, charcoal, pastel, collage, and more. I’m fascinated by the use of light and shadow, and working with texture.  I love to convey emotions and stories through faces, trying to capture some kind of ‘soul’ in my work – in an unpolished way. Soul can be soft, tender, and beautiful, but also difficult or raw. All these aspects are welcome in my work and interesting to explore.

My main goal as an art teacher is to help people discover their own creativity and become more confident in making art. It’s such a beautiful process to see participants in my classes trying out new techniques, learning new skills – maybe a bit hesitant or scared in the beginning, but then becoming more and more confident in their own abilities, leaving their inner critic to the side, and discovering their unique artistic voice. I feel privileged to be part of that process!

Kerstin Sager

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Hello everyone, I am Kerstin.  Born and raised in Hamburg / Germany.  Last year I totally turned my life around: early retirement and moved to the coast.  All children (two biological and two bonus) are grown up. And now I’m finally doing what I’m into: preferably art!

In my work color compositions play an important role - I always have to discover and try out new color palettes. I also need variety in my choice of media. Oils and/or acrylic paints are my preferences.  Finding a balance between realism and looseness in the painting process is my goal and I proceed until it feels right for me.  Teaching on LFI is new for me and a great challenge. I‘ll just give it a try.

When I’m not creating I go for long walks exploring the beautiful nature in my new surroundings. In addition, my husband and I enjoy having lots of guests, family and friends whom we love to cook for.

Kristy Kensinger

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Since a young age, I have traveled across the nation and globe. My travels sparked an internal passion in me that will never subside. When not on the go, I find myself continually researching different cultures. The textiles, patterns, cuisine, and artisans worldwide inspire my artwork and teaching. I love the lessons and unpredictability that travel brings to my life. Each experience is reflected in my artwork and teaching.

I started my career as a freelance graphic designer and then made the transition back to my art and teaching. I studied at the University of Colorado, Boulder graduating with a BFA in Fine Arts and Art History and an emphasis in Digital Arts. When I am not creating, you can find me chasing my kids outside, going on field trips, practicing yoga, hiking, or seeking adventure in travel.

Laurie Johnson

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At the age of 12, my father introduced me to the wonderful world of drawing and painting by sending me to the Ogelbay Art Institute in Wheeling, West Virginia. It was there that I became addicted to that wonderful smell of oil paints, wet watercolor paper and turpentine. In the past 50 years I’ve taken over 30 workshops at the Scottsdale Artist school studying with such notable artists as Daniel Gerhartz, Peggy Kroll Roberts, Daniel Keys and Sherrie McGraw. Recently I've been involved in a mentoring program with Albin Veselka and continue to develop my skills as an artist. I pay all my knowledge about art forward by teaching at the Art Bias Center in Northern California.

Maria Krull

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I am a Swedish artist working mainly with Oil Paint. My creative process is fueled by spontaneity and a curios search for new forms. Throughout my work, I prioritize conveying emotion and expression within the people I portray, while also leaving ample space for the viewer to intpret and create their own unique understanding and story of the art work. As a self-taught artist, I am constantly pushing myself to explore new techniques and avenues for artistic expression.

Maria Pace Wynters

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Canadian mixed-media artist Maria Pace-Wynters explores the experiential essence of youth from the perspective of a mother reflecting upon her own childhood memories. Her work weaves innocent jubilation with the nostalgic melancholy of growing up, rendered in vibrant tones through a process Pace-Wynters refers to as “dream cultivation.” The symbiosis between these seemingly disparate states of the human experience is wrought so clearly and naturally in her work that it stands as testament to the delineation of innocence and experience as being, perhaps, not so disparate after all.

Mika Denny

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Mika is a Southern California based figurative artist. She was awarded a 4-year scholarship from the Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach. Her portraits capture emotion and dramatic light leaving the viewer wanting to know more about the subject. Her aesthetic leans towards realism, but her approach retains an expressive style. Her work has been juried into multiple national exhibitions including: American Women Artists 2023 Museum Exhibit, Martha’s Vineyard Drawing Prize, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts “Women Artists Making Their Mark" and “Brand 50”: National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper.

Misty Segura-Bowers

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Hi, I’m Misty, a fine artist and portrait painter. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, California with my husband, daughter and fur child.

I’ve been a working artist for the last 20 years, spending the first half of my career as a visual effects artist working on Hollywood blockbusters. I’m grateful to my film career for an education in creating realism and evoking a mood or story through art. My paintings are a blend of realism and abstraction, using oil or watercolor, exploring themes like equality and transcendence of separateness.

One thing that inspires me is when a painting has an emotive quality to it. As a painter, it is fulfilling when you can express emotion in your work, and a beautiful gift when the viewer feels it. That’s why I decided to teach my first online class on creating Emotive Portraits. I hope it speaks to you. Wishing you all a gorgeous joyful creative journey!

Naomi Vona

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Naomi Vona (Desio 1982), is an Italian artist based in London. The artist defines herself as an "archival parasite, with no bad intentions".  Her works combine different interests like photography, collages and illustration. Her research is focused on altering vintage and contemporary found images, creating a new interpretation of the original shots.  Using pens, paper, washi tape and stickers she gives to every image a new life.  Every work is basically composed of three elements: her life background, her inspirations and subconscious, that is also the glue that puts all together.

Naomi has a degree in Design and Photography from Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, Italy. Her passion for illustration and photography drove her to experiment with collage since she was a student, developing a personal recognisable style. In 2013 she started to play over vintage photos paintings, doodling and attaching stickers over them. The final result gave her an amazing feeling, so she realises that this was the best way to express herself to the world.

Peta Harvey

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Peta Harvey, a versatile artist and research scientist at The University of Queensland, Australia, channels her creative energy into refining drawing skills and exploring the combination of pen or pencil with brushwork and water-based media. Motivated by emotion in portraiture, she aims to create realistic yet expressive artworks whilst retaining the visible marks of the artist’s touch.

Peta exhibits frequently in group shows and has been selected for a variety of curated exhibitions. Most notably, she has been a finalist with her portraits and figurative works in the Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize 2022, Lethbridge 20000 Small Scale Art Award (2020-2023) with a Highly Commended award in 2021, and Bluethumb Art Prize 2022.

Teaching is a recently discovered passion and Peta enjoys sharing her love of graphite and pencil with drawing lessons at her local art store.

Robert Kelley

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I am Rob Kelley and I am a fine artist/illustrator with a focus on portraiture! I live in Stockton, California, and am a single dad to three children. I studied graphic design at UC Davis and then went on to study illustration at Academy of Art in San Francisco. Although I have had an extensive education in art, I abandoned art for most of my adult life.   That changed, 4 years ago, when my life hit a dramatic shift. At this time, I began looking at why I was in a constant state of low-level unhappiness and discovered that I had abandoned my true and authentic self. I knew that the one thing I needed that had been missing was art! Since then, I have adopted a sink or swim mentality!

Rose Cameron

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Rose Cameron is an artist currently residing in the Pacific Northwest of the US. She primarily focuses on oil-painting large dream-like landscapes inspired by her travels and portraits with an abstracted feel to them - working towards capturing the feeling of a subject instead of rendering with precision. Rose is passionate about creating - whether it's writing, cooking, painting, making things (and making them beautifully) is a vital part of life! She loves to interact with other artists, both as a teacher and a lifelong student.

Sabra Awlad Issa

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I'm an artist from The Netherlands, self-taught and always learning. I love painting humans more than anything. Painting is a mirror for me, where I something see things I didn't know about my myself. Or things I don't like. I'm an open person, I don't have a whole lot of filters and I talk a lot about stuff while I paint for you and with you. I hope you enjoy my lessons <3

Unyime Edet

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Born February 4, 1994, Unyime Edet hails from Uyo, Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria. He had his early education in Uyo. He is a graduate of the department of fine and industrial arts, University of Uyo, with Bachelor of Art degree in painting. After which he went for a one year national service in Nassarawa state where he taught drawing and painting in the department of visual and creative arts, Federal University of Lafia.

He is a full time studio artist in Abuja, and a member of the society of Nigerian artist.  He is a figurative painter, and an illustrator, whose works depicts the hidden truth about life.  His curiosity in learning has led him to different workshops and studios, later trained under the watchful eyes of Ebenezer Akinola(Artist).