Local Art Walk

Cherie Kephart

Cherie Kephart traveled the world from the remote villages of Central Africa to the majestic coastlines of New Zealand until a mysterious illness thrust her to the precipice of death. The persistent malady led to years of suffering, during which her symptoms time and again were undiagnosed by well-meaning healthcare professionals who were sometimes competent, sometimes careless, sometimes absurd, and always baffled. The anguish, the uncertainty, and the relentless pain would have caused many people to simply give up and end their lives—and Cherie came close. Told with brutal honesty, astonishing wit, and a haunting vulnerability, A Few Minor Adjustments is an unforgettable memoir that captures the horrors and triumphs of one woman’s harrowing quest to find life-saving answers. In the end, she finds much more than a diagnosis.

Check out more on the author website CherieKephart.com, Facebook and Goodreads.

Jesse Kerr

Rooted in San Diego, California. Currently living and working in Encinitas, Ca. Also lived and worked in Los Angeles and Berlin, Germany.

Drawing is my foundation. I love to draw, always have, always will. Through drawing and painting, my artwork often explores relationships and tension points I see in our modern environment; such as my own connection and simultaneous disconnection to nature, humans & nature, money vs. nature, as well as observations of man-made environments, technology, and culture, in relation to the natural world.

Art Center College of Design Pasadena, California; B.F.A. Illustration 2006

Check out more on the artist website.

Rick Keene

I try and take advantage of all aspects of sunlight and its colorful and often mysterious effects to create unique works of photographic art that really makes you think.

It all started with my Dad taking pictures of us kids. Then it was me taking pictures of my kids. And while they didn't like it at the time, they now love being able to see those special moments in their lives that help them remember what it was like to be a kid.

For me, photography is a huge part of my life. Even when times are tough, what better way to get away from it all than by simply taking pictures of beautiful things. To do something I am passionate about ever since I was a kid is a dream come true. I've been taking beautiful pictures for years. Especially since the pristine Dana Point Headlands are my backyard and the Pacific Ocean is my swimming pool. I couldn't ask for better surroundings to allow my creative spirit to flow.

Add my fascination with nature, an eye for patterns, and deep understanding of light and its effects, and they all come together for making what I believe are truly unique and colorful works of photographic art that is worth sharing.

From Bakersfield to Balboa to Dana Point. My passion for capturing special moments in time has been there throughout. Photography to me is about so much more than just taking pretty pictures

Angela Kiyono

"1,438" is a series of works that explores the idea of written memory and visual mementos. Each subject in the series was asked to pose with their personal diary or journal for an intimate photo shoot. Questions about personality, privacy, and memory arise. The subjects also priced their diaries for sale and the total dollar amount of the combined prices gave the series it's title "1,438." The diaries were exhibited with the photographs at the first showing.

There are 11 artworks in this photographic series. All are printed, matted, and framed by Angela Kiyono. The exhibit was shown in 2011 at the Guggenheim Gallery in Orange, CA. These are the only set of prints of the artworks.

"Painted Woman" explores the connection between beauty and art. Questions about self image and portrayed image arise, along with ideas regarding individuality, self esteem, and influence.

There are six artworks in this photographic series. The exhibit was initially shown in 2009 and has been kept by the artist since. These are original works with no digital copies.

Elizabeth Keating

I make art because to me it feels like revealing a hidden world. I approach each piece with a question, “What’s next?” Line by line, color by color I map out a visionary landscape of an otherwise unexplainable world. I am inspired to create these drawings because I want to find out for myself what will turn out. Every piece is a response to that question.
Because the creation of these images is such a mystery to me, nothing gives me more joy than to see and hear the interpretations of others, to explore the meaning of the work anew with each person’s unique perception of it.

I am fascinated with ornamentation. To me, these patterns and designs are the language of the visionary world. I like to layer and twist them around one another to create a sense of three dimensionality among the single dimensional patterns. My work blends styles of ornamentation throughout time and culture. I like to incorporate delicate Victorian floral patterns with rhythmic Aztec geometric pattern, to depict ancient Hebrew symbolism in Peruvian electric pink and green.
My art mirrors my life taking each moment in one tiny detail at a time forging ahead with faith that the end result will be worth the effort. I hope that my drawings serve as an inspiration to their viewers to explore the unseen world, to let go of expectation, and to accept no limitations.

I have no formal training. My work has all been created over the past 2 years as a result of a spiritual transformation.

Blake Kern

“I begin with an idea or sense of where I want to go, and by the end of the process I often find myself somewhere unexpected. The piece just takes on a life of its own. I know when the piece is complete because it just feels right.” My goal is to not only evoke an emotional response, but to tell a story.

Blake Kern, an Oceanside resident who has lived in North County since 1975. Married for nearly 43 years, she has two adult children, and two grandchildren. Blake is a retired educator and is enjoying her new found time exploring her personal creativity. Blake has found her niche in collage and mixed media work, whether it be on canvas, in a box, or a book. Blake enjoys writing poetry, which becomes the story behind the art in her sometimes rather dark and mysterious books. Creating altered books and altar boxes is a way for her to focus on a particular theme and develop the layers of texture and 3-D effect that is not obtainable with canvas or paper.

Paul Kauffman

To paraphrase the Sinatra hit, “He’s been a barker, a teacher, a designer, an artist and almost a priest …. That’s Life….”
….Paul Kauffman’s life at any rate!

Paul was born in Berkeley, CA. and grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles. Grandson of a carnival owner, he started selling amusement ride tickets at the age of thirteen and travelled with the carnival during summer vacations for the next six years.

He studied six years (high school and two years of College) for the Priesthood in the archdiocese of Los Angeles. He attended Gonzaga University in Spokane Washington his junior year and transferred his senior year to continue his education as an Art Major in 1972 at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, CA. As a way to pay for his room, board and tuition, Paul waited tables at the world famous restaurant, The Warehouse, in Marina Del Rey.

After his studies at Loyola Marymount University, he went on to teach both Art and English to Jr. High School students in the Los Angeles Parochial School System for 8 years He was also the Substitute Art Instructor for Adult Education for the City of Los Angeles School District. He has conducted Painting Workshops in San Diego County and Las Cruces, New Mexico.

A career shift in 1981 launched Kauffman from the art world to floral design, when he purchased Silver Bells Florist, (This was later renamed Kauffman Designs). For the last 33 years, Paul has been a well sought-after Event Designer for several major functions all over Southern California area. He has designed for many of San Diego’s Celebrity / non- profit Gala Fundraisers.

Now coming full circle, he is once again rekindling his passion for painting. All of his life experiences are finding new expression in the colors and energetic brush strokes seen on his canvasses. It is his ardent desire to give back, in the form of lasting images, the joy and fulfillment that began for him the first time he touched brush to palette and pigment to canvas.

Amy Koumaras

Amy Koumaras is a self-taught artist residing in San Diego. Her early work centered on the sensuality and strength of the female form. Her “Women” series reflects femininity in the postures and subtle nuances of the placement of a hand, or the tilt of the head. These portraits show the vulnerability, joy, contemplation, and even fury that a woman can possess – sometimes all at once!

After finding success with the “Women” series, Amy has turned her attention to abstract work, using bold colors to saturate the canvas. These abstracts continue to express the emotions of her earlier pieces, without restriction of the physical form. Sometimes, the feminine can be found woven into the nonfigurative landscape of contrasting color fields. From fiery reds and oranges to pensive blues and greens, Amy’s work always centers on the many passions of the female spirit.

Check out more at the artist website amykoumaras.com.

Siddharth Katragadda

Sid Katragadda’s figurative paintings collate modern culture with the influence of Old Masters. Incorporating a range of vernaculars culled from art historical references, Katragadda’s work melds a fluid concept of modern culture, ranging from the Romantic era to today’s urban landscape. By collapsing history and style into a unique contemporary vision, Katragadda interrogates the notion of what art ‘was’ and ‘is’, and if time could be fused together. Vividly colorful, Katragadda’s large-scale figurative paintings are within the field of power reminiscent of old world artists such as Waterhouse and Klimt, their age-old models revisited in a modern setting.

His lifelong artistic endeavor has been to blend the east with the west, and the one common union between the two is the concept of ‘The Woman.’ Women, in all its meanings, have always played a role in culture. As far as paintings go, he believes that an artist's primary objective should be to capture a culture – and that a culture, or ethnicity, can be best understood through its women. His paintings and murals emphasize the way a culture has sculpted the woman as a whole, especially the colors. Indian women are depicted in brightest of colors - reds, saffrons and yellows – the most essential Indian colors – whereas the western counterparts are shown in vibrant, complimentary palettes to bring out their essence.

Check out more on the artist website: sidpx.com

Gretchen Koch

Koch’s oil paintings frequently inflect her photographic images with texture, color and brush strokes she could not realize in one medium alone.  They are a way of processing her emotions, capturing a color and ferocity felt in her soul. Koch’s use of paint to manipulate, personalize, minimize and exaggerate her subject matter, leaves the viewer enveloped in a secondary experience, that of the image and of Koch’s interpretation.(Diana Carey curator)

BFA Cleveland Institute of Art. Major in Photography.

Awards and exhibition history Ohio and California.

"I paint to process and release the emotions I feel. To manifest in color and texture my personal interpretations of life". Gretchen Koch

Check out more at the artists painting website renategk6.wix.com/grkoch and photography website gkochphotography.com

Candye Kane

Candye Kane believes the universe makes no mistakes. She doesn’t view a stereotypical patriarchal God seated on a velvet throne in flowing white robes granting wishes and deciding who will live or die. Kane believes the universe, or your higher power or whatever you feel comfortable calling it, has already made decisions and already knows what you are capable of, long before you take your first step or have your first all night cry over the rejection of a girl or boy at school. The universe has already strengthened you for the most radical endurance race of all...LIFE.

In 1983, Candye was a teenage mom from the poor side of Los Angeles, it was welfare and food stamps by day, hard drug use and nude modeling by night, while at the same time yodeling and moshing alongside groundbreaking punk bands like the Circle Jerks, X and FEAR in Hollywood’s underground music scene. To help pay the bills she appeared on the covers of Hustler and High Society, whilst peddling her cassettes of original hillbilly music to anyone who would listen along the Venice, CA Boardwalk.

It didn’t take long before Candye signed a management deal with The Halsey Agency, the first agency to promote American music behind the Iron Curtain, she became close friends with Dave Alvin, Marty Stuart and Dwight Yoakum who wisely encouraged her to always be honest about her colorful past. "Be yourself Candye. It's what you're good at" said Yoakum.

Check out more on the artist website candyekane.com and Facebook candyekaneband and MySpace candyekaneband