I have been working with alternative process Polaroid photography for over a decade. I am drawn to the balance of technical precision and openness to unpredictability involved in creating this art. As ambient temperature and minute shifts in pressure affect the development of each image, I see each piece as a creation birthed from a particular constellation of variables at a particular moment. The Polaroid manipulations are made using an antique Polaroid Alpha - 1 camera and SX-70 film. The emulsion stays soft for a few hours, allowing me to apply pressure to the photo and gently move around the image, creating an impressionistic, painterly effect. For Polaroid transfers, I project a slide onto peel-apart 669 film, peeling it too early and pressing the negative onto watercolor paper, creating an antique, distressed-looking print. I also use Polaroid transfers in mixed media work. Both films have sadly been discontinued, but I have a stash of 669 film that I continue to use both for my own artwork and to give workshops in Polaroid transfers.

Very recently, I've felt called to express my meditations through painting. This devotional art is inspired by my spiritual practice. It's a departure from photography and very satisfying to feel this work just flowing out of me as I let myself become an unmediated vessel for Source: creative, free, and magical.

Since my first introduction to screen printing I have been enthralled by its graphic quality, bold colors, and they way it lends itself to layers. I studied the technique beginning at California College of the Arts in 2000, and work in this medium passionately creating limited edition prints as well as incorporating its ideas and techniques into my paintings. Through layering, collage and juxtaposition, I strive to make layered pieces that deal with the absurdity, poignancy and joy of our world.
     I use collages of photography, drawing, painting, patterning to create layers of images and meaning. My works deal with a variety of emotions about the coexistence of our urban landscape, nature and humanity. I am continually inspired by my surroundings, today\'s urban and natural environments, and have drawn some inspirations as well from Dada, Surrealism and Pop art. Along with exterior and interior architecture and urban life themes, in many pieces I also merge these with the rural and natural landscape, as well as its figures. There is always some humor, irony as well as melancholy in my pieces that continually thread through my work and ideas in some way. I desire to create a surreal vision of reality that incorporates the past, present, and future of our worlds landscapes and characters, causing reflections on where we are today.
 

I have mostly been working with digital photography and image manipulation, but have recently started branching out into drawing and painting. My graphic design background (it's how I pay the bills!) is also bleeding through into my work. I'm concentrating on a series called "Lottery" which will include digital media and mixed media (and a little painting if I can get my act together). Another artist who has signed up for Open Studios, Takashi Fukuda, will also be sharing my space to show his pieces.

My new paintings display more free flowing shapes along with a vibrant palette intending to grab the viewer’s attention. References for my colors include illustrated greeting cards, wrapping papers, and fabric design prints on rugs, curtains, and tablecloths from home furnishing catalogs. This new series pushes me artistically and challenges me to be more creative, imaginative, and original.

http://raymonddifley.com/statement/

you can also check out my blog here:
http://raymonddifley.com/blog/

Linda Fries has composed her new series "Local Color/Local Earth" entirely of earth pigments found in the San Francisco Bay Area. She collects soils during the rainy season, which she then dries, grinds by hand with a mortar and pestle, and finally mixes with the sap of a tree to make the paint. The earth pigments are never combined to create new colors. In fact the variety of colors you see all occur naturally. The beauty of these colors combine with subtle images from nature to create a vibrant, organic art form.