“Kaleidoscope provides an opportunity for the professional level artist to display, sell and demonstrate their craft for the public in attendance,” stated Palmdale’s Recreation Supervisor Annie Pagliaro.
The event will host local and regional artists, working in a variety of mediums. Several artists will demo on site and allow the public to take photos and ask questions.
“What makes Kaleidoscope so special is that both the artists and the viewers can experience the art on a deeper level,” Pagliaro stated. “Interaction is encouraged which gives attendees insights they normally wouldn’t get at an art festival, while the artists can get direct feedback as to how their art is received.”
“And because not every artist has the opportunity to display their work as often as they’d like, Kaleidoscope provides a venue to potentially reach thousands of people,” added Pagliaro. “It also is a way for the community to support local arts. Whether you purchased an item or two, chatted with an artist, listened to music or appreciated the skill and talent of others, you are showing that the arts in your community matter.”
Among the artisans scheduled are:
Adrian Abrego – Painting/clothing and textiles. An artist for most of his life, graffiti was the start of his career and it steered him in the direction of mixed media painting which became his passion. He uses spray paint, acrylic paint, and watercolors in every piece of art and that is how each one is unique and one-of-a-kind. He puts his heart and soul into every painting that he creates and has invested his life to making each one special.
Amanda Winter – Ceramics. Amanda creates one of a kind handmade ceramic monster mugs/planters at her Los Angeles based studio featuring cute faces with various expressions.
Blazing Star Arts — Glass art. Award-winning fused glass artists, Sue Wolhaupter and Bonnie Quintanilla are inspired by the beauty, abstractness, and symmetry of nature. Their work sparks conversation, inspires joy, and reflects the power of the human spirit. They combine bold colors and innovative techniques to create unique works of art and practical art-ware enjoyed by collectors worldwide.
Cynthia Ann Swan – Kiln-formed glass. A modern abstract impressionist, Swan works primarily within the scope of kiln-formed glass, combined with painterly applications of oxides, precious metals, and mixed media. Her art is inspired by natural beauty, whose essence she strives to capture and infuse into images.
Dawn Jackson Hodges – Acrylic and mixed media. A Learning Styles Specialist and a Life Coach, Dawn shares her love for art as a means for the therapeutic process to take place. She believes that hidden words beyond the painted canvas can transform a heart that is trauma bound to a spirit of open heartedness, and to a life of spirit filled living.
Debra Schneider – Painting. Schneider teaches art at Legacy Commons for active seniors. Her husband Mike will also feature some of his artwork, along with three other professional level artists that paint with Debra on a regular basis: Sharon Spain, Lynell Dow, George Vellios. Info: m-d-schneider@sbcglobal.net .
Elizabeth Kennedy – Mixed media. Kennedy’s piece, California Gold was featured on fall 2017 cover of the Palmdale magazine. She is known for her vibrant paintings that feature bold colors and expressive creations. A nature lover with a passion for painting the everyday beauty, Kennedy’s inspiration comes from the simple and intense splendor captured in a moment of time.
Elizabeth Walker – Painting. Walker is interested in finding the emotion and “whimsy” in everyday moments. She strives to show the beauty that can be found in seemingly ordinary people and environments. Her work is fanciful, romantic and a little eclectic with loads of details in every piece. Her art is about seeing something real and pulling the colorful and whimsical overlay on top. Emotion is a language that we all speak; her art is just a visual interpretation of the emotions that we experience.
Irene Giorgio: Flame Kissed Beads – Glass. As a child, Irene collected beads which has since turned into a passion for glass art. She creates everything from bookmarks, bead pens, wine stoppers, necklaces, bracelets and more.
Frank Robert Dixon – Illustration, painting, mixed media. Recognized around the world for his finely detailed fantasy art, Frank has personally taught thousands of students how to draw, paint, and create illustrations over the past 25 years at Antelope Valley College and Quartz Hill High School. In the early 1990’s Frank worked full-time as an illustrator/graphic designer for NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.
Jass Jewelry – Owners Annika and Sabrina Stevenson create handcrafted interchangeable necklaces and pendants made from shells, metal Swarovski crystals, leather silk, silver and chain.
JoDee Luna/Gina Wilson – Acrylic and mixed media portraits; Greeting cards, canvas and archival print productions. Luna is a portrait and mixed media artist, author, and educator who enjoys many forms of creative expression. She believes the creative process infuses with courage to try on new artistic identities, take inspired risks, and explore imaginative ideas, so she seeks to share insights with others. Sister of JoDee Luna, Gina has been an educator for 16 years, and currently works as an instructional coach for the Lancaster School District. Her medium is acrylic on canvas.
John Beltz – Painting – Beltz specializes in custom acrylic painting and portraits.
John Zender – Fusion of street art, cultural art, abstract art and portrait painting.
Katie Rivas – Bella Looma – Fine handwovens. While living in Mexico as an exchange student, Katie discovered the world of textile weaving and dabbled in its creativity until she returned stateside and focused on a career in education. She later spent the next several years saving for a floorloom (she now owns 5!) and traveling to study under top-quality instructors to learn color design, weaving technique, and how to dye yarns herself. She also discovered that the year-round intense sun of the high desert is a designer’s best friend – due to how it’s brightness magnifies color. This enables her to differentiate even subtle color hues and tones not always visible in other climates, which is one reason she is able to play with color and create such vivid interesting palettes from which her designs spring.
Kris Holladay – Oil painting. A high school art teacher, Kris loves to paint images of Joshua trees with expressionistic color schemes.
Michael Medina – Bronze sculpture and painting. A sculptor, jeweler, and craftsman, Michael has designed and produced sculptures and gifts for corporations such as GM, Max Factor, Sperry Rand, Phillip Morris, AT&T, 20th Century Insurance CO., Mattel Toys and Fluor Corp. His pieces range from jewelry in precious metals to architectural sculptures, to life-size bronze portraits. Michael was commissioned to produce the 14k gold pins that were worn by President Reagan and Chairman Gorbachev at the 1987 Washington, D.C. Summit. The artist has also designed and created sculptures and movie props for such films as Ghostbusters, Dead Ringers, and countless T.V. commercials.
Noelle Martin – Printmaking, mixed media, illustration, clothing and textiles, and jewelry. She is a FIDM fashion design alumna and former designer for several fashion houses throughout Los Angeles.
Keri Olsen – Nord Skogen Healing Arts Studio – Jewelry, hand knits, small pottery. Olsen began crafting jewelry in 2005, using healing stones and therapeutic metals. Combining her love of anthropology and ancient culture with her love of art and the healing qualities of earth’s elements, she created Nord Skogen Studio.
Peg Margosian – Pegasaur Jewelery – Peg started out with a love of rocks that she picked up along the shores of Lake Michigan as a kid. She learned bead embroidery with cabochons twenty years ago from a book by Sadie Star, a bead artist from Arizona. Since those first lessons, Peg has been adding beading techniques and lapidary skills, branching out into her own style and patterns, and continues to try new techniques with an array of materials. Her art, however, always comes back to the rocks, informing colors, patterns and styles.
Pepe Melan – Illustration, mix media, painting, prints, children’s books. Pepe has been a freelance artist since 1987. He describes his style as mix of grit, surrealism, and urban art. Over the years his talent has earned him credit on among other things, the cartoon P.J. Funny Bunny and as a graphic designer for the musical artist Prince. Pepe’s work continues to be enjoyed on everything from murals to CD covers. Currently, he is working on expanding his company Unique Realm by producing the supernatural comic book series TALES OF BLOOD & FIRE along with other comic book series in development.
Rich Gallego – Oil and landscape. Rich Gallego has been painting the landscape since 1996. His longtime love of nature’s wild places have taken him far afield from Arizona’s Canyon de Chelly to the beaches of Hawaii. Rich teaches weekly plein air workshops in southern California, annual plein air painting workshops for Cloudcroft Art Workshops in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, and each year for the past nine, he has taught weeklong workshops for the Taos Art School in New Mexico.
[Information via news release from the city of Palmdale.]
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