Creating sculpture is like capturing the energy from released from collisions of form and space. It is the sense of emerging, converging, containment and transitioning of energy through three dimensions that creates feeling and reaction in the viewer; it is through control of balance, flow, tension, negative space and implied movement that a different energy within each sculpture is cultivated. My work incessantly explores the interaction of spaces and forms on one another and the changing energies and emotional impacts that result.

I fell in love with Airstream trailers at the ripe old age of seven. It happened on a cross-country trip with my family on our journey from New York to California when I spotted a shiny silver Airstream from the back of our VW bus. I was instantly smitten.

Eventually I bought my own Airstream, and it has been one of my most powerful inspirations in designing my jewelry. I head into my silver nest and it both soothes me and stimulates my creativity.

Aaron Vonk is a Canadian-American who lives and works in San Francisco. Aaron's art reflects his current outlook on life--sometimes it's dark and sometimes it's joyful and full of light. Aaron sees art as a way of life and has been drawing and sculpting since he was a child. He thinks in terms of images: Whenever he wants to describe or explain something, he grabs a pen and starts drawing to illustrate his meaning.

Designer Colleen Mauer's creative venture began on a cluttered desk in her Hayes Valley apartment in San Francisco nearly 6 years ago. Little did she know, her passion for design and jewelry making would someday lead to a full-time career. Colleen moved to California in 2001 with high aspirations of finding a distinguished design job. After graduating with honors from Virginia Tech with a BS in Industrial Design, it seemed like a very feasible goal. Colleen worked at a small furniture design company in Oakland before deciding that spending her days in someone else's studio was not what she had in mind. Just two years later, Colleen Mauer Designs was born. First, though, Colleen lived her dream of traveling the globe and spent extensive time in Asia. With those experiences still vivid in her mind, Colleen has been even more inspired to take her designs to the next level. Jewelry has become a part of her daily routine; it serves as her source of constant inspiration. She designs using texture, color, sounds and tones as her tools for transforming a simple section of material into a unique piece of jewelry. Colleen's designs celebrate simple geometries to create a line of jewelry that can compliment any look...from casual and everyday to chic and classic. Colleen's studio is nestled in Secession Art and Design of Bernal Heights where you can experience the production process from start to finish. She will gladly work with you on a special order for a wedding party or an important event, or she will craft an everyday piece that transcends the routine. Your options for materials, styles and textures are virtually boundless. And if you find something you are attracted to, Colleen will gladly tweak the design to suit your needs. Just email her at [email protected] or call 415.637.7762 with any orders or questions, or to join the Colleen Mauer Designs mailing list.

Jonathan Fischer is screen print based artist living and working in San Francisco. He received degrees in engineering and philosophy of science before learning to screen print with a garden hose and a 60 Watt light bulb at a Mission District arts collective.  Gradually developing a process that crosses boundaries in materials and media, Jon Fischer implements freeform screen printing techniques inspired by his experience painting and drawing. Typical pieces are made on large pieces of wood, paper, and raw textiles, with  attention devoted to building up surfaces with washes, textures, and coatings before an image forms.  Consequently these works end up being as much about surfaces and materials as they are about images.  

Typical pieces are produced in small editions of unique variations that may be displayed together.  This mode of repetition draws attention to the consequences of variation, mistakes, and random chance acting to create wildly different results from the same stencils. This speaks to a question that underlays modern printmaking: what is the meaning of reappropriating mechanical reproduction in an era when mechanical reproduction already makes almost everybody’s belongings, food, and entertainment? Can something beautiful and interesting emerge from the disruption of technological precision?  These works aim to resolve into an image from afar but  offer something very different as one approaches. Up close, the illusion breaks down & the image is exposed for what it is: goopy materials vigorously applied in regular patterns.  

Recent projects have included a series of screen printed motion pictures and “Character Profile,” a group show Fischer curated at Root Division in San Francisco. In April, he will be exhibiting new work at Sanchez Art Center's Left Coast Annual in Pacifica CA, juried by Jenny Gheith (SFMOMA).  In addition to his regular studio work, Fischer regularly pursues partnerships with community-minded organizations on public screenprint projects including signs, parklets, and murals. Fischer currently holds an appointment as Associate Professor of Engineering Technology at the California State University Maritime Academy, where he was awarded the 2014 Outstanding Teaching Award.

I am fascinated by structure and change as it manifests itself around me: in nature, caused by human intervention, and the seemingly random. Structure and change can be experienced through comparison, movement, and by paying attention to the passing of time. As such, my subjects range from large scale natural and everyday environments to studies of small scale details.

Photography focuses my attention, draws me into the present, and allows me to perceive more intensively than otherwise. The camera lets me capture and share this experience, by freezing or blurring movement, by stretching or compressing time, by pointing to obscure detail. To stop and connect with the present moment has become the rare occasion for many. This way of living diminishes the capacity to perceive the subtleties around us. My images are meant to both reflect this transitory quality, as well as offer counterpoints to it.