I make colorful mixed media paintings. The subjects vary from urban scenes to landscapes. I try to show a reality that might not be obvious but uses a combination of elements that are surprising.

I want to make an emotional connection with the viewer that will captivate your imagination, draw you into the story, and be memorable.

It is my intention to create thought provoking, one of a kind pieces of art. I started painting fabrics in 1972, this evolved into a fashion/wearable art business. My fabrics eventually went into the HOME DECOR market. I'm currently designing re-assembled jewelry, hand painted/dyed scarves/shawls/ wall hangings & mixed media collage.. 

Jonah Burlingame, a San Francisco based artist, creates mixed media paintings composed of stunning organic textures that are balanced by architectural lines.  His distinct style of suspending layers of paint and other materials in varnish rewards viewers with a multi-dimensional world they can melt into and explore.

Burlingame's unique process of applying paint and varnish in very thin layers, using non traditional implements such as window squeegees, 14" drywall blades, and windshield wipers is self-discovered.  Within this process, he has left plenty of opportunity for chance - and refers to it as "controlling the accident".  By allowing for chance within his process, Burlingame constantly challenges himself with new problems, and thus is repeatedly questioning his creative direction. 

Through his recent journey to evolve his work stylistically, Burlingame has adopted new materials and methods of working. Inspiration came from the recurring presence in his life of the film and soundtrack of “A Clockwork Orange”. White molded plastic, aluminum, fiberglass, and deep glossy finishes came to his mind’s eye, which later led to influences which he reduced to basic elements such as color, composition and texture with the addition of materials such as fiberglass cloth and aluminum foil. Themes of transformation, action, and distress have provided new opportunities to impact his process. Rich color fields and organic textures are juxtaposed with graphic lines that seek to show a balance of energy and tranquility, creating a vibe that is both ethereal and precise.  The titles of his works add yet another layer of abstraction, rather than provide clues of any intended meaning.  The subject of Burlingame's work continues to be the work itself, ultimately offering his work for the viewer’s own interpretation.

My work is varied through media and theme. I have been working on my latest series, The Count and Other Tales of Love, Loss, and Revenge, for the last year and I have discovered the assemblage medium as a means of expression for this body of work.

Being able to use a variety of mediums for the work has been the natural progression for me as an artist and I feel satisfied being able to incorporate a variety of thoughts and feelings into one piece.

Previously, I have worked in photography, drawing, and digital illustration. My current work marries all of the ways that I like to express myself into one element.

I am an artist, a traveler, a writer and a teacher.

I engage in the process of visually exploring and describing my experiences as a woman living in an urban culture in the 21st century.  I am a mother and grandmother and all of my experience instructs my practice.

The human figure and nature are central to my work.   I question what is familiar and find nuances buried in the layers of the everyday.

Text is an important component, and most every piece has a story or text beneath and through the work.  Building layers, sometimes placing familiar imagery in context of a new environment, the voice of my work is evident in the line and space that becomes a new language within the work.

Painting, drawing and taking photographs is a form of discovery for me.  

Bio

Robbin Milne is a California painter and studio artist.

She is associated ArtsBenicia, Oakland ProArts, San Francisco and Berkeley communities.

She has exhibited her work in the Bay Area 
during the past 15 years in solo as well as 
group shows such as the Oakland ProArts 
Annual Open Studios, Arts Benicia Auction, 
Arts Benicia Open Studios.

Robbin has also been seen in other venues 
including the Benicia Library Art Gallery, 
Orinda Art Gallery, Bedford Art Gallery, 
Sebastopol Arts Center and other venues in 
the area.  

Her work is in Bay Area private collections:  In 
Napa and the South Bay areas, including 
Filoso/Obrien of Oakland and the Heydlers of 
Danville, now in Germany.  Collectors abroad 
include Canada, France and Italy and Turkey.  

Ms. Milne received the Ralph DuCasse Award 
for Academic Excellence in Studio Arts, and 
completed her BA in Studio Art at Mills College,
Oakland California.

She was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 
1957.

She continues to offer art instruction and 
appreciation, and has worked in the National 
Institute of Arts and Disabilities with adults.

Jeff Snell's paintings unite traditional landscapes and popular culture as vigorous abstract rhythms. Working with brush and spray, Snell uses expressive gestures that incorporate a variety of forms found in nature and elements of urban flair. The organic qualities of his subjects exist in a fantastic world, where the natural position and order of the landscape is challenged in an unruly microcosm. His paintings radiate an energy and excitement that engage the viewer and offer a glimpse of nature's inner sanctum.

In this current series, I'm investigating environments from the imagination, thinking of these as glimpses of atmospheric forces mingling with eachother. Each canvas is a window into a bit of ordered chaos where nature is continually changing and the viewer is center stage to a swirling cosmos.

Metamorphic Ocean Art

We can only begin to fully comprehend and truly experience the world around us as we actively attempt to face its entirety in every given moment, while adjusting ourselves perpetually to its growth.  Metamorphic Functional and Figurative Ocean Sculptures (Metamorphic Ocean Art) is a way for us to approach the expansive breathing soul of our planet by incorporating its living spirit into our material proximity, thus smearing the line between the dynamic nature outside and our constrictive, man-made dwellings.  

In tradition with Nature Art, these pieces use ocean life as the backbone building material.  And although each item partly dries in the absence of ocean water, it, none the less, retains its original agility.  Constantly changing its shape and properties in the context of its surrounding environment—or metamorphosing, it may be regarded as another living part of it. 

Through their evocative shapes and arrangements, these figurines are a life form with a distinctive soul and spirit.  Often surrealistic in their nature, they may resemble predatory creatures with fantastical features.  To surround oneself with their likeness is to embrace the dangers of the real world and accept the “original sin” of humanity—as first proposed by the Romantics and Symbolists at the turn of last century—thereby better appreciating the beauty and romance of life.

Arts and Crafts proponents rightly pointed out that we, as humans, may desire to incorporate nature within our immediate environment to better suit our inner instincts regarding the comfort of a living space.  Metamorphic Ocean Art revives this call amid the modern awareness of the importance of the natural environment.  With their evocative forms, “breathable” material and oceanic origins, these objects incorporate global life and eternal vision into the everyday functions and décor that we touch in the given moment, everyday.

In my art work, both the prints and the sculpture, I capture the flow or motion of the object. Nature is my inspiration, although I have been including portraites in my recent work. Most of my work is an abstraction of a landscape or object in a landscape.  I have also been working with making paper and using it to create sculptures and art pieces.

My work began with mixed media creations: fiber arts, mosaic tiled work, metal sculpture, and jewelry. As my art turned to painting, I evolved towards the abstract expressionism you see today. My innovative, whimsical, playful style blends the tactile depth of sculpture (using paint or wall plaster) with the rich tones of acrylics, oils, and gold leaf. Growing up in a large Italian family, my fine art and written words are influenced by the passion and expression of my heritage. I thrive on culture, fine cuisine, and travel, having spent time exploring more than 20 countries from Europe, the Caribbean and Central and South America to all parts of the US.  My heart sings the loudest in the Italian, French, and Spanish sunshine.

“Adventure lies not in the places we seek, but in the moments we create in the places we treasure.” –RMC