I believe art changes our perceptions of the people and world around us, broadening our perspectives in ways that cultivate greater respect for humanity and nature.

I work mostly with acrylics, but lately I have been mixing photography and other media into my paintings, using real world subjects to create images of worlds I imagine. Currently, I find myself depicting humanity coming to terms with the immutability of Mother Nature: jungles overtake urban settings and cityscapes grow out of trees. 

In 2012 I returned to San Francisco after living in Costa Rica for four years where I opened an art gallery in an isolated village visited by international travelers drawn to the unspoiled  jungle and beaches. There I was able to immerse myself in painting, selling not only my originals, but also, more than a thousand travel-friendly reproductions. This has given me a good sense of what people like in my work. 

My studio is in the Mission District on Clarion Alley, a location covered with murals and frequented by art-loving tourists from around the world. I am almost always there Thursday through Sunday in the afternoon. Stop by and take a look.

The intersection of line and color create the journey.  To create.  To bring forth what is inside.  To share the journey that takes one home without ever leaving it.  

Candace Loheed's orangeland is a small jewel of a gallery on Mason Street at Jackson, in what she refers to as "Nob Valley". The gallery is currently hosting the orangeland Botanical exhibition showcasing a wonderful collection of Bay Area Artists in many mediums. Drawing on nature produced a great variety of interpretations and the show is varied and exciting.

Michaela Hanemann (born in Elmshorn, Germany, 1979) studied arts with professors Peter Redecker, Verena Vernunft and Peter Krahé at Faculty of Fine Arts in Hanover (Germany), since 2008 she has been working as a free artist in regional and international art scene and has been doing regularly exhibitions.

Her main emphasis` are painting and drawing and both are combined in her new works: “My works are showing inner pictures, they tell about searching a way between self-assertion and dissolving.”

Michaela Hanemann won several awards, 2. price at “Kunstpreis Laatzen” in 2010 and 1. price of „Grüne Liga“, Berlin in 2006.

Since 2011 she has been a member of the managing committee of the regional chapter of “Bundesverband Bildender Künstler” (National Association of Artists) in Hanover, Germany and furthermore she is a founding member of society „Kunst Und Warum e.V.“, which is committed to culture and promotes arts especially in Hanover ( member of the managing committee since 2011).

My fascination with string began several years ago while using it on a series of figure paintings. I became fixated on the 'accidental', provocative shapes it created, so I began to investigate its use on abstracts. Utilizing thread, yarn and deconstructed canvas much like I would a drawing implement, I begin a piece by weaving an intriguing cacophony of forms over an acrylic ground. Multiple layers of glazes and oil cover the underpainting in a subtractive method, allowing an image to slowly emerge from the chaos. The discovery of this process has recently led me to mixed media works on which I fragment the pure abstract form as well as abstract the biological and natural world. Fabric, wallpaper and silver leaf often add to the works’ dynamism, creating an interesting dichotomy between these mass-produced elements and the organic assemblage. While I remain rooted in a rather classical painting technique in the end, introducing the string medium has offered endless directions that I have only just begun to explore. 

I have been a book seller in San Francisco for the last 28 years. During this time I have been painting portraits of people and the animals in my life--and exploring the relationships between the two. My greatest inspiration has been these observations in my daily life. Thank you for taking a look at my work.

The Friends of Sharon Art Studio (FOSAS) is devoted to sustaining and enhancing the Sharon Art Studio’s (SAS) goal to promote artistic development, craftsmanship, and creative expression. FOSAS is proud to be a partner of the SF Recreation & Parks Department (SFRPD) to bring Sharon Art Studio’s outstanding art programs to you. FOSAS believes that art education is an essential component of a healthy community and strives to ensure that quality, noncompetitive art programs are affordable and accessible to all.  Sharon Art Studio offers classes for youth and adults at two facilities: the beautiful historic Sharon Building in the Eastern end of Golden Gate Park, and now at Mission Arts Center. To register for classes and workshops, visit www.sfreconline.org.

I am interested in all aspects of social information and interaction, specifically the ways in which it is created, shared and transformed. For example, the way a group of women affect one another's style of dress and the way young people develop slang and own language. I am exploring the processes by which members of these groups are realized as individuals by their interactions as family members, as friends and as co-workers.

Through my process in the studio, I am looking to replicate this social richness. Relationships between the pieces change with time. I work on many pieces simultaneously; I put some away, rework others, rearrange groups and pull pieces out again. This is happening continuously throughout the development of a body of work. I see this process as participating in the social structure of the work. Similar to the way in which groups of people may interact socially—getting together, breaking up and reforming in different groups—creating complex interactions.

What I hope to achieve is to describe the complexity of social dynamics through figurative abstractions in a way that shows the differences and connections that make up our social structures.

It is only a matter of time.  San Francisco will be hit by “the next big one” and a major earthquake will return our city to dust.

I was living in New England where natural disasters melt in the morning when I heard about Hurricane Katrina. I could not understand.  New Orleans is in a precarious position. It is likely that it will be hit again. Why rebuild?
Then I moved to San Francisco, equally precariously perched on the San Andreas fault. I fell in love with the city.  And now I get it. When the next earthquake comes I’ll be here rebuilding. When the next big earthquake takes our buildings down I will be here to rebuild.  Here’s the plan:

Anyone can go onto underscoreg.com/quake and submit a location-based memory.  What places in San Francisco are important to you? Where do you walk your dog? Where did you get proposed to? Where do you get the best avocados? Put these memories on the map. I’m pulling together a group of artists working in all mediums who will make original commissions from these memories.  I am compiling these works in neighborhood based shows, online, and in a book.  This book will be our guide. The morning after the next big earthquake we will get up, dust off this book and look to it as our guide for rebuilding the city.  We will rebuild San Francisco from art.

In accordance with this project my work is almost entirely inspired by San Francisco and the stories I hear here.  I work primarily in paint. I have found it an effective language for translating stories into art.  I do not restrict myself to a style or school as different memories and places hold different demands. By allowing anyone to submit a location-based memory I have opened up the commission process to a new audience allowing those who can not purchase art a deeply personal art experience.   I am always looking for other artists who want to adopt the mission of artistically capturing San Francisco. If you want to get involved as an artist or submit a location-based memory check out underscoreg.com/quake

We will rebuild San Francisco from art.