Helen Wilson
My love of all things botanical began at a young age, as I grew up in Southern California playing daily in my grandmother’s lush garden. My non-traditional path to art began as a middle school student doodling on everything. At the age of 16 I was introduced to the wonder of a Rapidograph technical pen. I spent hours drawing and found art to be a means of communication and joy. Entering into the world of adulthood I set my artistic interests aside.
Jump ahead several decades and in the 90’s, my family and I moved to the edge of the national park. My childhood fascination with the natural world was rekindled and I found myself needing to give voice to the botanical
world around me. I returned to my artistic roots and began exploring different techniques. After several years I discovered my voice in mixed media collage. From there, I went on to create my own unique style of 3D
collage using acrylics and metal leaf.
Susan Mencini
Creating art for me is about the process. Our world is in a constant color change of seasons. Whether it is lovely greys of winter, pinks in spring, cerulean skies of summer or the sienna and ambers in autumn, they allow me to discover and unfold colors each season through painting.
Trees, their seasonal changes and growth have always been a favorite subject of mine. You find them plentiful in my seasonscapes. Each season unfolds into the next and there is a freshness, an awakening, even a rebirth. The beauty, the pain, the brokenness is lost to new beaty, new freedom and new grace.
