Artists

Tom O Scott

Tom O Scott has traversed many social boundaries during his life -- from community organizer to entrepreneur to corporate executive, back to entrepreneur, and finally to full time photographer.

He gained recognition for his unique images in the Sand Vision portfolio, creations made in the sand, typically at dawn's first light during a very low tide.

A great source of inspiration to Scott is the peeling paint and rusted metal found in vehicle and train graveyards, such as the Motor Transport Museum in Campo, the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, the Techatticup Mine near Nelson Nevada, and many other sites.

From the beginning, Scott was in love with abstraction. As a child he was surrounded by the art of the German Expressionists. In young adulthood, he fell in love with the Mexican muralists. Today, one can see influences from both schools in his work -- what some have termed "modern elemental abstract primitivism".

Scott has won many awards for his work, and it is in the collections of both corporate and private clients around the world.

Check out more on the artist website tomoscott.com

Alex Alberti

Alex Alberti is a photographer based out of Oceanside, CA. He has practiced photography for eight years, and he first specialized in photographing touring bands and sporting events to contribute to local news publications. Using and studying mostly digital media, Alex now practices photography with the goal in mind to bring an authentic and creative approach to the photojournalistic style which he practiced throughout college at the University of Toledo.

Having a driving passion to constantly create memorable photographs, learn, and progress is what fuels Alex as an artist.

He uses his background in photojournalism to capture and convey the feelings and emotions from a moment in time through his images, regardless of whether the subject is a surfer catching a wave, a football player scoring a touchdown, a beautiful sunset, or a couple at their wedding.

Alex plans to continue to expand his creative horizons by capturing stunning nature and landscape photos throughout California while focusing on photographing engagements and weddings.

Check out more on the artist website alexalberti.com, Instagram @alexalbertiphotography and Etsy alexalbertiphoto

 

 

 

 

 

Juan Sanchez

I have been teaching Afro-cuban Percussion in San Deigo for almost 2 decades. I am now teaching in North County at the Oceanside Museum of Art every Sunday. My percussion ensemble performs at various venues throughout San Diego during the year, including Earth Day at Balboa Park and the Del Mar Fair.

Check out more on the artist website juansanchezmusic.com and Facebook

Reese Owen Helman

I Love creating Art and I work primarily in acrylics, pen, ink and pencil. 

I started my art career with my sister Mason at the Age of 7 when we opened our first painted yard rocks stand in the driveway of our family house in Baltimore. Who needs lemonade right? We were able to support our Ice cream truck habit for about 2 days and then moved on to other endeavors like stair sledding and popcorn battles.

I studied at Baltimore School for the Arts where I honed my painting and clay skills and then backpacked around the US for a couple years with my sketchbooks. 

I worked at a small Raku ceramic shop in Eugene Oregon mixing glazes in the "beer brewing room" and using the make shift propane yard kiln freely.  I was completely mesmerized by the ancient Japanese Raku firing techniques.

 I am from Baltimore and have since lived in Oregon, Washington, New York City, Hawaii and I have my home base studio in beautiful Carlsbad Beach, San Diego.  My art is inspired by my adventures, The outdoors and it's creatures and also the phenomenal people I meet along the way.

Check out more on the artist website reeseowenart.com, Facebook Reese Owen Art and Instagram @thisisreese

John Adrian Tomlin

I am a gamer and have been all my life. I have congenital muscular dystrophy, so I do have my limitations, but I don't let it stop me from living life to its fullest potential. With God on my side, I can get through anything. I have a B.S. in Game Art and Design with the intent on becoming a game designer, but it's very difficult to get in the gaming industry. So, I decided to write books instead. Game design is just another form of storytelling, but I could always lean on the age old tradition of writing.

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

Traci Foust

Simon and Schuster author of Nowhere Near Normal- A Memoir of OCD, The Truth of Memoir (Writer's Digest) Journalist and personal essay. My work has appeared on NPR, Marie Claire, Good Morning San Diego, San Francisco Morning, Role Reboot, STIR Journal, Funny or Die, The Southern Review and many more. I run memoir workshops and fiction critique groups for Hardcorememoir. I hold a degree in American Literature and would like to share information about these workshops. Memoir: How to Land a Top Agent. And , The Art of a Compelling True Story. My workshops also include what agents are looking for in the competitive genre of memoir as well as how to get your foot in the door by writing personal essays and where to get them published.

Check out more on the author's website tracifoust.com, Facebook, Twitter @tracifoust, Amazon.com and Goodreads

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.

Amy Zajac

Amy E. Zajac lives in San Marcos, California. Her first book, It Started With Patton, Teresa Leska’s Story A Memoir, released 2012, is her mother’s compelling story as a Nazi political hostage. She has many stories published in anthologies since 2009, her latest in Chicken Soup for the Soul, From Lemons to Lemonade and The Guilded Pen inall its releases (the San Diego Writers/Editors Guild annual anthology, where she is a current member). Amy’s first novel, Foredestined, a story of enlightenment after global destruction, was released December, 2013. Currently, Amy is working on the screenplay for her novel Foredestined and a memoir about her father’s life, Max W. Thomas, while working part-time at The Village Community Presbyterian Church, in Rancho Santa Fe, as the Drama Ministries Administrative Assistant.

Check out more on Amazon.com and Goodreads.

Larry Balma

Tracker Trucks is a local company in Oceanside and the book TRACKER – Forty Years of Skateboard History tells its story as well as a the rich history of skateboarding.

Back in 1975, the Tracker Fultrack was the first truck in history made specifically for skateboarding by skateboarders to incorporate high quality, performance and strength. Trackers truly were (and still are) the Trucks You Can Trust. On Tracker’s 40th anniversary, those four words continue to be the driving force of the brand. TRACKER - Forty Years of Skateboard History is a hefty 388-page hardcover book full of photos and stories about Tracker and its rich history straight from the people who worked there, as well as the professional riders and photographers who made Tracker a major icon in the skateboard world.

The origin of Tracker Trucks dates back to 1974, when Tracker founders Larry Balma, Dave Dominy and Gary Dodds made the first prototypes. As Larry tells the story of Tracker’s formation at San Diego spots like La Costa, the Escondido Reservoir and the Kona Bowl, and about how the brand’s many innovative trucks and related products came to be, forty-four of Tracker’s top riders chime in with colorful recollections and revealing, behind-the-scenes insights. Rounding out this massive book are plenty of unpublished photos; a detailed skateboard history timeline; chapters on the Dogtown influence, Rockit Skateboards and Tracker’s other decks; a big scrapbook containing photos and quotes from the Tracker team; and way more.

“The Tracker book is so important because future generations will be able to learn about skateboarding history—who was involved with it, and how it all happened. It will blow their minds.”—Christian Hosoi

Tracker was inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame in May 2015. The first skateboard collected by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History has a Powell Peralta deck equipped with Tracker Sixtrack trucks donated by Tracker Co-Founder Larry Balma in 1987. This skateboard is still on display today in the museum lobby. Our first production Tracker Fultrack truck along with our Tracker book was accepted into the Smithsonian in September 2015. 

Check out more on the website trackerhistory.com.

Jeanne Bellezzo

From the synopsis of my new book, Rantings of a Bitter Childless Woman:

Kids sucking on restaurant salt shakers—and parents nonchalantly putting them back on the table. Pregnant women driving alone in the carpool lane. Overtly sexy Halloween costumes for third-graders. Random strangers making unsolicited judgements about her reproductive status. These are just a handful of the situations Chicago native Jeanne Bellezzo comically explores in Rantings of a Bitter Childless Woman. Written from the witty, unapologetic perspective of a childless (and far from bitter) woman in a fiercely child-centric society, this collection of entertaining essays will have readers with and without children laughing, nodding, cringing — or throwing a tantrum.

Jeanne Bellezzo began writing Rantings of a Bitter Childless Woman as a blog and was surprised to find many like-minded fans across the country, including numerous parents. A Chicago native who relocated to Southern California because she was cold, Jeanne is a successful writer and editor who has co-authored several non-fiction books. She lives in northern San Diego County . When she is not writing, Jeanne can be found in or near the ocean with friends (and sometimes even with their children).

And please keep your kids off her lawn.

Check out more on her website rantingsofabitterchildlesswoman.com,  Facebook,  and Goodreads.

Chris Myers

I have always though of art as a hobby growing up and never really had a desire to show it off to large crowds before, but after going to the art walk, I feel motivated to start off in Oceanside and see how my talent can be perceived by others. I have lived in Oceanside since the early 2000's, before that it was Carlsbad and before that, it Cape Elizabeth, Maine. I sure miss the east coast, but they had no beaches to really go to. I like forests and landscapes.

Check out more at the artist Deviant Art website.

Hollie Newton

As a San Diego native I am currently documenting Southern CA after dark. I work with Galkyd, a form of oil paint and medium made with plant resin generally on canvas - frequently used in tandem with resin.

I'm grateful to report that my work has been in four Balboa Park shows. Each show has "sold out" completely. And, thanks to a preview of each show, every event resulted in a line of people waiting to buy my art several hours prior to the event!

In addition to making art I have taught for many years. I attended San Francisco Art Institute (BFA) in the early 90's.

Check out more at the artist website HollieNewtonArt.com and Facebook Hollie Newton.

Kathleen Churchill

I'm a self taught painter that usually paints in Acrylic paints. I call my style a "free Flow" style. I am inspired by the sea, my family, surfers and nature. I feel blessed to have this time to devote to painting from my So. "O" cottage. Each piece is a unique work of Love. 

Check out more at the artist website KHelenSeaArt.com, Instagram @KhelenSeaArt and Facebook Kathleen Churchill.

Kellan Shanahan

Drawing from a broad field of philosophy, abstract mathematics, logic, science, and myth, the works explore the underlying patterns and recursions in reality that scale throughout time and space.

My aim is to create artworks that are beautiful but not naive, critical but not ironic, and that bring metaphysics and aesthetic contemplation back into the fold of contemporary art. 

Check out more at the artist website kellanshanahan.com.

Linda DiRosa

Capturing a moment in time and preserving it for "always" is my goal. I have chosen photography and painting as a way of doing this. My hopes are that others, too, will see value, beauty and appreciation of this moment.

Check out more on the artist COAL website