Michael J Costa - Owner and Photographer
“For me, art is the ability to see everything for what it truly is, by capturing the imagination and bringing it to life through Photography.”
~Michael J. Costa
Fro-Zen was a series of images I began to create in the Fall of the year 2007, as a final project for a course entitled, Concept and Design at the Academy of Arts University in San Francisco. My vision for these images was to freeze things from nature, then photograph the object through its various melting stages, while using only ambient light as my source. The series which seemed to be a simple idea and experimental concept in the beginning has sparked numerous imaginative photographs, in which you see displayed throughout the gallery. “Orchid,” was my first photograph created from this project, followed by the “Leaf,” which I feel to be my signature photograph from the series.
Fro-Zen has been a way for me to use photography to heal some of the personal pain within me. Since I first breathed life into this project three years ago, it definitely has taken on its own meaning and style. Creating these images has helped me to cope with the loss of my parents and loved ones who have passed on in recent years in this journey we call Life. It is a way for me to connect with them spiritually, knowing that their energy surrounds me daily. The work is based on keeping their spirit alive, which is the main reason behind why I created these photographs. These images are a representation of my feelings and the emotions which arise within me during my moments of sadness and loneliness. Fro-Zen has allowed me to explore the world of macro photography and how to construct quiet, peaceful and powerful images, while using the expression of art as my outlet.
With the use of a 50mm macro lens and my Canon Rebel XT digital camera, I was able to create beautiful abstracts images that are filled with light, energy and color. This project creates a mood, sets a tone of how I see and interpret and how I visualize fine art photography. My history in the study of photography began by attending The College of Sequoias, Visalia, Ca, in which I took a traditional black and white photography course, as well as working on the local community college newspaper called, “The Campus.” I graduated with an Associates of Arts Degree in Spring 2005. At the age of 42, after attending and studying the photography program at the Academy of Arts University in San Francisco for the past four years, I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Fine Art Photography in 2010. Through passion, hard work and training I have prepared myself and developed my techniques and skills as a professional photographer.
In addition to being a Fine Art photographer I am also a Portrait and Wedding Photographer. Please visit my other website for more information:
Gayle Rappaport-Weiland
Acrylic, Mixed Media and Watercolor
Gayle Rappaport -Weiland brings the same originality, enthusiasm, energy and heart to her paintings as she does to her life. Using rule-breaking techniques that set her apart from the crowd, she creates beautiful impressionistic works, using watercolor, acrylic and mixed media. Her qualifications and expertise, whether as an artist, teacher, curator, juror and on-air personality are widely recognized and respected.
Gayle’s paintings have been exhibited in galleries and personal exhibitions throughout the United States and are shown in a variety of galleries located throughout the West Coast. Collectors throughout the World proudly hold her work. This multi-talented artist has several limited edition prints, a greeting card line, art merchandise, a fashion line created with VIDA, and commissioned work including prints of “Summit House at Big Mountain Ski Area” in Whitefish, Montana. Gayle has worked with many companies other professional clienteles.
Gayle’s art has been represented for licensing exclusively by Studio Voltaire. Her floral artwork “Flow” has been licensed nationally by Home Goods stores.
After studying art/recreation in college in New York, Gayle sharpened her skills with nationally known artists Gerald Brommer and Zoltan Szabo. She is actively involved in the local art, education and business community, in more capacities over the years than can be listed. From volunteer to committee member and from board member to director, Gayle brings energy, insight and expertise to events and organizations wherever she participates.
A certified Golden Artist Educator, Silverbrush Ltd Artist Educator, and past certified Gold Level Grumbacher Team instructor, Gayle’s teaching has included both adult and children’s classes at many diverse venues. Check out the complete list of current classes.
Gayle is a past 20+ year veteran of local public television station KVIE as an on-air art expert, volunteer, juror and artist. She now is co-creator, producer and host of The Art Revealed Show www.artrevealedshow, showcasing mini-views of the arts. Paying it forward is one of Gayle’s life goals. Her work on the breast cancer awareness art piece “Soul Survivor: Symbol of Hope” with Gini Crepps was featured on the TV show Rob on the Road. Appeals for Art is yet another collaboration of Gayle’s, a website giving donation advice to artists and charities www.appealsforart.com.
Gayle has been interviewed on radio, television, newspapers, magazines and art publications. Her art has been spotlighted in art catalogs and magazine features. Coined the energizer bunny of the art world, Gayle relishes sharing her knowledge and passion for the limitless world of art with people of all ages. Her ability to express shades of mood and feeling through her work, coupled with her professionalism and contagious excitement, ensures that both her students and art clients receive a successful and positive ar
Ron Roundy -
Sculptor
Ron Roundy earned a Bachelors’ Degree in Sculpture, followed by a Masters’ Degree in Fine Arts Drawing from California State University at Long Beach in 1969. Since that time, Ron has continued to abundantly produce varied work, which he has exhibited both locally and nationally.
Ron is equally comfortable wielding a pencil, brush, welder, or chain saw. No matter the medium, Ron’s approach is the same. He listens to the material, and when the story that wants telling appears, he begins with a bold gesture, and then tries to hang on and follow where the story wants to go. He hopes viewers take the time to find their own story within his work.
For over 45 years, Ron spends a portion of each year at his hand-hewn log house in the mountains of Southern Utah. The dead-on-the-stump fir and pine trees on his property have become the inspiration for a recent series of large wooden sculptures.
Ron Roundy
805-235-4808
rjroundy1@gmail.com
George Gemanis - Painter
“Once having seen a painting by this artist is to forever after recognizing his paintings in any exhibition—they speak a special language that lingers in one’s memories.” -- Dinuba Art League (4/18/1968)
Studied: Fresno State College (Fresno CA), Special Study with Alexandra Bradshaw at Fresno State College, Instituto de Allende (San Miguel de Allende, Mexico)
Exhibited: Coffee’s Gallery and L’Entrepeneur Gallery in Fresno CA, the Alethia Gallery and Lacky Gallery in Carmel, the Who’s Who Gallery in Monterey, prize winners in the Fresno District Fair, and the California State Fair, the Lindsay Art Association, and the Kingsburg Art Association. He is published in Who’s Who in Art. Gemanis’ prizewinning Basket Weavers was reproduced in How to Paint a Winner, in Prize Winning Paintings(Vol. 5), and Award-Winning Art all published by Allied Publications.
George Gemanis was born in Porterville, CA and lived most of his life in Fresno, CA. He served honorably as a Marine Corps Captain fighter pilot during WW II. He subsequently graduated from Fresno State College with degrees in Fine Art and English.
By 1946, he was married and working as a commercial artist. He began painting seriously in 1960 when he entered his first art exhibit. Gemanis mastered several different media including oil and acrylic (using brush and palette knife) and oil pastels. He painted a wide variety of subjects and is known for his still lifes, landscapes, foreign street scenes, portraits, and his compelling seascapes.
Gemanis and his wife, Margaret, raised two daughters and traveled extensively abroad visiting most of Europe (sketching especially in Greece and Spain), Morocco, Egypt, and many Asian and South American countries. They visited Mexico over 25 times. Gemanis got many ideas for his paintings from these travels. Photography came second nature to him, and along with some awards, his pictures yielded ideas for future paintings. The family had a vacation beach home for many years at La Selva Beach, CA which was an “open house” to family and friends. This began Gemanis’s love affair with the ocean. His seascapes are magnificent and capture the many moods of the ocean.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Gemanis became increasingly in demand and popular for demonstrating his techniques. He gave numerous lecture demonstrations in California’s Central Valley—Porterville, Taft, Los Banos, Kingsburg, and Dinuba. Those in attendance not only learned about art and painting techniques, they also enjoyed Gemanis’ sense of humor and stories.
Gemanis saw his art as a participatory experience between the painting and the viewer: “I’ve often been struck that an oil painting always looks the best about half-way through, with some of the [unpainted background] still showing. Where the work is finished just enough to call upon the viewer to use his imagination about where the artist was going. Painting is not easy for me, every painting is a battle which I may lose. I do not depend on techniques, schools of painting, or media…just results. To be successful, a painting must contain beauty and feeling that will echo itself in the viewer. If I can find the beauty in the simpler things, so much the better.” Gemanis was a master at pulling people into his work and into his world.