THE HIDDEN ARTIST: Preston Craig

CONNECTION TO NOHO:  Former gallery manager of the Lankershim Art Center under the umbrella of the L.A. Printmaking Society

MEDIUMS: Acrylic and digital paint

WEBSITES: http://www.prestonfinearts.com and http://www.twistedteddys.com

My interview with Preston Craig, otherwise known on all his promotional material as Preston C., was set at a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on Ventura Blvd. Although I had some difficulty locating this CBT (for I rarely dose myself with caffein at any coffee establishments), I didn't have any difficulty finding the 6'5" artist as he sat waiting for me near the window. Preston had been referred to me by an artist friend. She told me if anyone needed recognition, is was this man who had recently created a series called Twisted Teddys. Twisted Teddys, I asked? Yes, she said, you know—a teddy bear drug addict, a teddy bear dominatrix...teddy bears like that. Sounded twisted to me. But as it turned out, Preston's Teddys aren't that twisted after all. The "twist" comes in how he plans on using the images of them. 

"Napa Red" by Preston C.

First, a little about Preston. Originally from Louisiana, he earned his MFA from the Academy of Art in SF and a BA in Applied Arts from the University of Louisiana and has traveled the world to do his scenic work. To look at his fine art examples though, you wonder how the same artist would paint a series of Teddy Bears. 

"Gangsta Teddy" by Preston C.

As it turns out, these chubby characters, painted in the guise of an image we hold dear to our hearts, were the brainchildren of Preston's master's thesis project. He needed a relatable model to bring awareness to social issues he has cared deeply about for a long time. Thus Cruci Teddy, inspired by his Catholic upbringing, addresses childhood sexual abuse, Gangsta Teddy; gang life, Homeless Teddy; the increasing homelessness in LA as well as everywhere, and Porn Star Teddy because he knows personally of porn stars who have gotten trapped in the lifestyle and can't escape. The list goes on. He went on to say that the imagery touches on our childhood innocence that sadly gets tugged in directions we sometimes can't control because of of our environment. Ultimately, it is Preston's goal to have his otherwise not so innocent Teddys marketed in several forms, from trading cards to plush toys, to help support and benefit non-profit organizations with programs that address these social issues.  

 

"Steroid Teddy" by Preston C.

After my meeting with Preston, void of any coffee at all by the way, I gave some thought to the cross-over of his fine art landscape and portrait paintings to his pretty controversial hipster-looking Teddy Bears. I realized this gentle giant had done something he probably hadn't expected. He grayed a fine dividing line between people of all ages—the ones drawn to his more conservative work and the young who only wish they could paint like him—by bringing them together about the social issues that affect us all—whether we have had personal experience with some of them or second-hand exposure via media attention. I guess Teddy Bears are kinda like the heroes of our childhood, but take a look at Preston's. Maybe his Teddys will be the heroes of our future—a more, helpful, integrated, and aware one—I would hope. 

THE HIDDEN ARTIST: Dietmar Kohl

CONNECTION TO NOHO:  Long time artist and resident who enjoys tea and pie at Republic of Pie

MEDIUMS: Photography and fashion design

WEBSITE: http://dkohl1.photobiz.com

 European transplants, especially artistic ones, have always interested me, both in Chicago where I'm from and in Los Angeles where I've resided for over twenty-five years. In my opinion, there's something quite different about them—some kind of class or style that most Americans don't have. Of course, they've always been opinionated about almost anything American, but for me it was a refreshingly different perspective on what many Americans, including myself, often dismissed or took for granted. But nothing prepared me for what I would learn during my interview with Dietmar Kohl.

I'd been slowly meeting Dietmar on Facebook. What attracted me to him were his photography posts of downtown Los Angeles. The guy definitely had an "eye" for content as well as composition, but more importantly, he possessed the rare gift of being able to get close to his subject matter. So, I made an appointment with him on one of those now seasonably hot Los Angeles October afternoons at the Republic of Pie on Magnolia. We sat on a truly spring less couch in the back of the restaurant—you know, the kind you can't get out of because your butt has landed closer to the floor than you expected. At first, Dietmar was a bit shy with me and spoke quietly. He wore a black ball cap he'd studded with skull and nailheads that he wanted me to see and told me he'd been designing hats like it, as well as leather jackets, for a store on Melrose Ave. And then we talked about his photography.





Dietmar is originally from Vienna, Austria. He came to the U.S. during the early 90s with a resume and portfolio full of fashion and graphic experience, then married the woman of his dreams. But misfortune struck. His wife later died of a rare lung disease and Dietmar was struck by a car, which disabled him for a period of time. Slowly, he has been recreating his life and getting back to fashion, but he is always photographing—everything, everywhere, and anybody, especially those who many Angeleno's choose to ignore—our homeless residents of the streets, viaducts, abandoned buildings, and bridges.

Turns out Dietmar has been not only photographing the homeless since the 90s, but he's been getting right next to them too—so close in fact that he can fully empathize with their plight, know a little of their histories, and enable them to trust him. Now, who does that? All we do is hurriedly flip coins in their direction or complain they are eyesores in the light of  the gentrification happening around us—and that's spreading like a bad rash. But did you know mental institutions deliver mentally ill patients to the streets in vanloads because they can't care for them anymore? Did you know that although many of us got through the economy downturn in 2009 that the repercussions of all those jobs lost, the houses taken away, and even the economy's present revival (which has become quiet evident with the insane rental increases and new construction) have those people still kicked to the curb?

Did we ever consider that the "filthy miserable lechs" laying on skid row in downtown Los Angeles are there because they've been treated as nothing more than subhumans, offered no place to sleep, let alone a decent place to clean themselves in other than a cold concrete institutionalized shower room? Dietmar told me these things because he's been close enough to see them in these horrid circumstances. And after awhile—after he can actually call these people by their names given to them at birth, he photographs them.

I think there are many reasons to write about Dietmar today. He is wonderfully talented and deserves recognition for all his work. I mean, the man isn't even from America and he has more soul for the human race than any American I know. It is my hope that Dietmar's photographs will get into everyone's faces, especially these iconic and sad documentaries of our brothers and sisters. I pray they will be used to bring more awareness and fundraising to give these poor people back their dignity by giving them a place to rest and clean their bodies. Dietmar said we all live in a ghetto and it's so damn true. All we have to do is open our eyes and see it all around us. But we have to do more. We have to get so close we can touch them—like Dietmar Kohl has.   

THE HIDDEN ARTIST: Alyse Hart

CONNECTION TO NOHO:  Had long distance relationship with a guy who lived on Cahuenga Blvd. and married him.
MEDIUMS: Up-cycled canvas, mixed media, and acrylics
WEBSITE: http://www.alysehart.com/

Alyse Hart at her home studio.

Hallelujah! I met another phenomena of a left and right brainer—Alyse Hart. Quirky, personable, and a great story teller, Alyse revealed her creative journey (still in it's toddler stages) to me as we sat in her living room slash gallery tucked in her home atop an actual hill in Woodland Hills. Although still a mystery to both of us, we'd become friends through some mutual acquaintance on Facebook and had been watching each other's work voyeuristically. I was initially drawn to her use of bold colors, but after our interview, I discovered I was dazzled by much more—her uninhibited ability to allow a canvas to come alive on its own.

Never Alone by Alyse Hart

To understand  her art, we must first touch upon Alyse's life and career. Originally from New York, half of her family (mother and sister) took a creative route while her father and she settled into business. Alyse made a successful career in sales, but after speaking to her, I got the distinct feeling that her right brain (the alleged creative side) had been grappling with her left (the logical side) for quite some time. As a matter of fact, she even wrote a workbook about it called A Woman's Guide to Corporate Recovery, a pre-flight plan to help women map out an alternative lifestyle. But Alyse's own right brain take-over didn't begin until she participated in a hippy-styled Topanga art experience where the painting instructor guided Alyse onto her own creative path.

Electric Angel by Alyse Hart

I have to admit, Alyse's story made me giggle as I imagined her in the middle of Topanga Canyon beneath a tent with sage smudge wafting around her head. I mean Alyse's general appearance is as far away from any granola-munching hippy if ever there was one. But as she spoke, I realized there was a much deeper level to this picture. She told me she'd actually gotten physically sick in her class, excusing herself many times with an upset stomach. But it wasn't the sage that made her ill. Alyse was having a breakthrough—her artistic self was fighting to get out. And it did in a flurry of pink paint. Pink, I discovered, puts people in touch with their nurturing side and gives them a sense of hope—that everything will be okay. If pink is what Alyse began her journey with, it is certainly the color that enabled her to trust in herself.

Untitled by Alyse Hart

I'm taking liberties here to say I'd like to be the one who coined the phrase "we are all expressions of something larger than ourselves." I'd also like to add that if anyone is evidence of this it is Alyse. Her objective, void of any of her physical discomforts (she admits to actually having sweats) before a canvas, is to lead herself to freedom—to be metamorphosed into her authentic self, inside and out. She stays true to her out-of-boxness and does not hesitate to do as she is being directed by the ethereal energy that surrounds her so as not to lose her spontaneity. She remains alert to what her canvas is trying to convey to her. In other words, she'll use the remnants of an image on an up-cycled canvas she salvaged from the curbside and let it be the inspiration for a new piece or if a hint of something—say a fish—is poking about in the paint she's just covered the canvas with, well, a fish it'll be. The results are colorful, fresh, and inspirational—a no-bars-held look into Alyse's world...a world that definitely needs to be shared. 

   

  





  

THE HIDDEN ARTIST: ELLEN RUNDLE

CONNECTION TO NOHO:  Installed tile at the NOHO Park Aquatic Center and loves the thrift shops there

MEDIUMS: Ceramics and mixed media

WEBSITE: http://www.myfandangle.com/

I stumbled upon Ellen Rundle on my way out of the Canoga Park Art Walk the other week and was immediately drawn to two ceramic boxes in front of her jewelry display. Being a fan of  3-D art, I was taken by her ability to take what could've easily been a 2-D painting and give it depth—drawing the viewer into an altogether other dimension, albeit an 8x10 inch one. Needless to say, I bought one of her pieces. The focal point of mine was a Joshua tree tucked inside a small box on the side of what appeared to be the cliff side of a mountain centered in the desert. And like all art interpretations, it reminded me of my time in New Mexico and warmed my heart. 

Ellen's one of those surprises in life. To look at her rather conservative style on the outside, I never would have thought all this curiosity and self-expression would be on the inside. It turns out she is one of those left brain-right brain phenomenons; a woman who spent almost twenty-seven years in IT and as an art director/graphic designer, finally leaving her last position twelve years ago at the Getty to become a full-time fine art ceramicist. But as it turns out, clay has always been her first love. 

Her home is a gallery of sorts—hers and other favored artists' wall hangings and assemblages stretch all the way from the outside of her front door, through the house, and onto the patio. She is constantly creating in her studio (which consists of potters wheels, a glazing station, and a kiln) arts and crafts jewelry from years of bead collecting, abstract wall sculptures from recycled clay and glass, and all her ceramic wonders. 

Ellen explained to me how working at the potters wheel has always been a kind of meditation for her, bringing her into a place of sensitivity and sensuality—keeping her centered. And that's where she began her ceramicist journey, throwing pots at a studio on the westside during the early 80s and selling them to nurseries from the trunk of her car. In fact she still does that, but she's added so much more to her resume in the way of her slab artistry—tile installations to floors, fountains, and showers seen here on her more architectural website, www.ellenrundle.com and her most recent steam punk assemblages she created for a themed show at La Galeria Gitana in San Fernando, a gallery that tends to peak Ellen's interests in unexpected subject matters leaning toward the mystical to the macomb. 

It is a pleasure for me to own one Ellen's pieces and I encourage you to visit her work at  La Galeria Gitana's upcoming exhibit, Reflections of LIfe, running from July 18- September 18. 

Ellen is also available for any graphic design needs and you may visit that website at www.erundledesign.com. 

  

THE HIDDEN ARTIST: Patricia Krebs

CONNECTION TO NOHO:  Lived in NOHO and showed her work during monthly art walks at Lankershim and Magnolia
MEDIUMS: Mixed media and music
WEBSITE: http://patriciakrebs.com.ar

Originally from Buenos Aires, Patricia Krebs already knew at a young age that she was born to be an artist—although the general advice of her family and friends was for her to build a more traditional safety net and become an art teacher instead. And so she followed her heart—and still does. She's never pressured by current trends or intimidated by the superior egos that can often make up our contemporary art world.  Mostly, this soft-spoken woman has learned to calm even her own voices of adversity to hear only one—that of a long ago college instructor's and a phrase made famous by a sneaker company to just "do it." And indeed she does.

Magical best describes her work, which, if it has to be labeled, falls somewhere in between narrative and illustration. But Patricia's roots began in the unexpected world of puppetry, a place she most likely was able to express herself, having been so intensely shy. So, after she was conventionally schooled in painting, Patricia set off to become a paid apprentice of sorts and worked for a puppeteer, mastering puppet construction, which later gave birth to the beautiful and expressive characters she now sculpts and paints. The inspiration for her 2 and 3-D paper clay actors is a cross between the monsters of Muppet world and the creatures from the infamous Where The Wild Things Are children's book. Yet, she has unearthed her own branding of characters that possess carefully studied noses and unusually expressive eyes for being so long and narrow. But what really makes them come alive is Patricia's music.

Patricia concurrently studied guitar and singing lessons along side her painting back in Argentina and has recorded Spanish voiceovers here in the states for major movies such as Corpse Bride, Happy Feet I & II, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. What really blew me away though were the music videos she made of two songs (seen here) on her soon-to-be-released CD, Amuzikanto, that she wrote and produced herself. I sat mesmerized as I watched and listened to Color, a song about red/rojo that Patricia beautifully performed with her puppets, and I remained in awe of the story and texture of the more professionally animated Sueno Que Suenas Un Sueno. No words better describe these two musical endeavors or the rest of her album than her own: "This project is a musical whim of the little girl I still am, and it is also a celebration of all the musical influences that converge in me." A celebration indeed—of magic, color, sweetness, softness, and peacefulness—just like Patricia herself. 

You many follow the lovely and rare talent of Patricia Krebs on Facebook and please make sure to contact Cactus Gallery for her TBD upcoming release party of her CD.

  

THE HIDDEN ARTIST: Jacqueline Myers-Cho

CONNECTION TO NOHO:  A Jacqueline's Coloring Book party was given by a friend who lives in NOHO

MEDIUMS: acrylic, oils, and mixed media

WEBSITE: http://myerscho.weebly.com/

Rumi said, "There is a voice that doesn't use words. Listen." And this is what Jacqueline Myers-Cho said to me: "I go to my studio everyday, and I ask it and my art how I can contribute to you today. I listen and I work on that until I feel I need to work on something else." True to own her words, Jacqueline's studio walls and surfaces were lined with ongoing projects––portraits of animals to celebrities all with pensive eyes or gritting-teeth smiles, printed fabrics ready for assembly into aprons, bags, or dolls, and numerous sculptures.

Many thoughts came into my head while I interviewed Jacqueline––trusted intuition, natural process, circular flow, passion, marketing guru. She sat across from me at her work table with a set of handmade mermaid dolls in front of her. She held up one with more curl in its tail than the others and turned it over in her hands a few times, contemplating it. After a moment, she told me she would give an explosion of delightful color right at the tip of it––a decision she made based on a creative instinct she uses to do all her work. If, for instance, she's used a zipper in one of her mixed media pieces, she will ultimately incorporate the effect of those metal teeth somewhere in one of her paintings. She often repeats images she's used, reducing or enlarging them, allowing the observer to see her art within her art. One project lends itself to another as if one medium indiscernibly speaks to the other and she is the instrument in which it manifests. Jacqueline, quite simply, is a living example of the old phrase, "goes with the flow." 

Jacqueline Myers-Cho does indeed flow where her heart tells her to go. Beginning as a costume designer in theatre, she listened to her calling and entered the art world instead. She's lived in Minnesota, in the south, and Hawaii where she made a successful career as a painter of the Islands' beautiful flowers. But after she married and had her little girl in California, she developed her notable characters called "big heads" and has been at it ever since. Yes, they are slightly reminiscent of Margaret Keane's doe-eyed beauties of the 60s, but unlike them, Jacqueline's girls are playful and romantic...almost magical. No wonder her clients often commission her to have portraits done of themselves or their animals.

 

What struck me most about Jacqueline was her innate intuition to market her work. Rather than implementing a typical by-the-book business strategy, she uses pure and simple people skills to engage her Facebook audience. And because she wears different hats all day by working on several pieces at a time, everyone just naturally wants to know more about what's cooking in the kitchen. And on an even broader scale, she's published Jacqueline's Color Book Vol. One (big headed girls) and Vol. Two (Monsters). But Jacqueline's ability to seduce her viewers doesn't stop with social media or publishing. She is ever present at many open air art performances, painting for her audience at venues like Ladie's Night Out in Burbank.

On many levels, I was impressed with Jacqueline. Why, on my own Facebook page it reads, "We are all Ambassadors of the Universe here to express something larger than ourselves." Not only do I believe this, I think I actually found a living archetype of it in Jacqueline Myers-Cho. 

THE HIDDEN ARTIST: Joshua Levine

CONNECTION TO NOHO: Lives, fathers, and works there

MEDIUMS: sculpture, digital collage

WEBSITE: http://www.copyright1972.com/index.html

If life is art, then is art a mutation of life? I’d say yeah––in the case of Joshua Levine’s work. At first glance, his beautifully painted resin sculptures are automatically recognizable to the viewer. It may be a Chihuahua, a fawn, a lizard or something larger as a Panda Bear or a Longhorn Steer. As a matter of fact, Joshua’s living room walls were lined with all of them––“trophy heads,” as he calls them. In juxtaposition to all the toys scattered about the floor when I arrived (Joshua is full-time artist and a dad to a twenty-month-old energetic little boy), these heads sort of melded into the daycare scene. But as playful on the outside they may have appeared, their conception originated in the mysterious realms of science technology, specifically genetic manipulation.

Take for instance, his exquisitely gold leaf-like painted “4 Ocular 2 Auditory Golden Horned 3 Face” in which I made an association to a deer. Now, I might have simply called him “Fred,” but Joshua created this animal hybrid from a more methodical place and named him as if he was indeed scientific experiment. As a reference for me to better understand where part of his inspiration came for his creations, he mentioned the Vacanti mouse, the lab mouse that had what looked like a human ear grown on its back. The Google maniac that I am, I found out later this was an experiment “created to demonstrate a method of fabricating cartilage structures for transplantation into human patients.” All in all, this example only touches lightly on the world of genetic engineering or what Joshua may know of it and uses in his fantastic art.

More interestingly, I was touched by what Joshua brought into his work from his Jewish heritage, specifically the atrocities at Auschwitz by the maddest scientist of all, Josef Mengele, whose inhumane medical experiments are known around the world. I guess one cannot help but connect the worst examples of genetic altering to the most progressive today. And although six eyes, four ears, and five horns, on an animal you would otherwise consider a pet, might feel a little disturbing, Joshua gave them human eyes to soften the palette––pointedly, blue ones marked for the Aryan Race, something Mengele supported and executed thousands of Jews to help create for Hitler. In this sense, Joshua’s work is asking us to be aware that science has its place in history, good and bad, but we must always REMEMBER what happened.

So much lies in our imagination. Why, I’ve always said if a person can think it, it’ll most likely happen. This theory of mine starts way back to the old SciFi movies about space travel––and look at us today. A Star Wars reality with hybrid creatures may not be as far off as we think either. Just think of it. The idea of being able to genetically engineer a cow with more udders to feed us or a puppy dog who can lay on two laps at once. And as Joshua suggested during my interview with him, science may very well develop what he's already touched on in his sculptures––backup appendages and body parts. When one fails, grow another...ear, eye, leg, finger, or er, you know. Whatever is in store for us in the scientific future, thank you Joshua for opening our minds to just those possibilities. 

You may follow Joshua on his Facebook page for his newest experimentations.