Artists in Focus – to see all, click HERE.

This is a selection from the current collection of Focus On The Masters artist documentation. Click on the picture or artist name to view the portrait, biography, media presentations and website of the artist.

All artists’ portraits are by Donna Granata. The photographs and artworks shown on this website are copyrighted by the artists and may not be reproduced without permission from the copyright owner. By entering this website, you agree to these conditions.

Laddie John Dill
Laddie John Dill

Laddie John Dill

Sculptor/Painter/Light & Space Artist
Los Angeles native, Laddie John Dill graduated from Chouinard Art Institute in 1968. At 28 he was offered his first one-man exhibit at the Sonnabend Gallery in New York. Today he is an internationally...

william b dorsey
William B. Dorsey

William B. Dorsey

Painter
Primarily self-taught, William was best known as a California Landscape Painter. His paintings were reminiscent of the California Impressionists with rich atmospheric perspective and depth. It is important.....

JoAnne Duby
JoAnne Duby

JoAnne Duby

Sculptor
JoAnne Duby began her art career as a ceramist over 25 years ago by studying at the Seaward Ceramic School in her hometown of Seattle, Washington. Growing up in Seattle fostered her appreciation for the natural...

Michael Dvortcsak
Michael Dvortcsak

Michael Dvortcsak

Painter
Dvortcsak is an artist whose work defies categorization. Although his paintings speak to the intellect, they contain elements that are as primal as a scream. His imagery is realistic, yet dreamlike;...

Linda Ekstrom

Linda Ekstrom

Sculptor
Linda Ekstrom’s work is anchored in the book as a cultural and symbolic object. Through her altered books and other mixed media works, she seeks to uncover and articulate a profound sense of mystery. She explores the subjects of narrative, person, place or event through the perspective of larger religious thought, history and ritual. Ekstrom received both a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Fine Arts from UCSB and is on the faculty for the College of Creative Studies at UCSB.

David Elder
David Elder

David Elder

Sculptor
A son of a Lutheran minister at Wittenberg University, David Elder was slated to go to seminary, but instead turned out to be a sculptor. Upon completion of a Masters degree at Ohio State University, he had the...

Linda Elder
Linda Elder

Linda Elder

Sculptor
Linda Elder was first introduced to her favorite art form when an art teacher in high school allowed her to do sculpture in the back of the class while the rest of the class worked on drawing projects....

Robert Engel
Robert Engel

Robert Engel

Painter
Robert Engel has pursued a career in art since the early 1970s. After completing his formal education in fine art at Cal State Fullerton, Robert worked professionally in painting, drawing and ceramics. In 1978...

Merion Estes "Los Alamos Sunset"
Merion Estes

Merion Estes

Painter
Merion Estes states: The beauty and fragility of life and the tragedy of man’s intervention is my subject. The tools of her trade have included fabric, glue, acrylic and spray paints, glitter, photo downloads and...

Robert Eyberg
Robert Eyberg

Robert Eyberg

Glass Artist
Robert C. Eyberg received a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the University of Nebraska in 1972. He has exhibited paintings in New York City until moving west to Ventura, CA. He studied glass blowing at the Pilchuck...

BJ Fan
BiJian Fan

BiJian Fan

Environmental Artist/Ceramist
It seems that BiJian Fan - paper sculptor extraordinaire - is everywhere. Strictly speaking, his art is not all paper as he employs a number of different materials,...

Alberta Fins
Alberta Fins

Alberta Fins

Expressionist
Alberta’s paintings and prints commented upon the human condition. She was an artist for whom the process of making art was more than a means to an end. The final artwork is, by her testimony, only...

Richard Flores
Richard Flores

Richard Flores

Ceramist
Voraciously curious ceramicist Richard Flores says, “After food and shelter, art is everything.” First introduced to clay in grade school, art forever became an integral part of his creative existence. As an...

Richard Franklin
Richard Franklin

Richard Franklin

Figurative Artist/Ceramist/Architect
“Creativity,” says Richard Franklin “is what life is all about. It is important to all our humanity.” When FOTM designates an individual as a “Master Artist,” various criteria are...

Aimee French
Aimee French

Aimee French

Fiber Artist
Silk painter Aimee French loves the tactile sensation of moving the paint onto the silk with her brushes. Whether abstract or realistic, that sense of motion and color are inherent elements in her paintings. Her...

Carl Friedlander

Carl Friedlander

Fiber Artist
Carl Friedlander, a retired computer scientist, is well-known for creating prayer shawls worn at Jewish religious services. His fiber art gene seems to have come...

Barbara Fumagalli
Barbara Fumagalli

Barbara Fumagalli

Engraver
Barbara Fumagalli knew she would be an artist at around age seven when she began sketching and painting on family outings. Instead of playing volleyball and baseball, the family would pack up sketch pads, paint...

Orazio Fumagalli
Orazio Fumagalli

Orazio Fumagalli

Sculptor
A renowned sculptor and teacher, Orazio Fumagalli was known for his “figure fragment” sculptures of the human form that evoked fragments from ancient ruins. Fumagalli also worked in...

Matt Furmanski
Matt Furmanski

Matt Furmanski

Sculptor & Land Artist
Matt Furmanski -- educator, artist, public arts commissioner and, oh, yes, surfer dude.– is driven by passion -- passion for his art, passion for teaching, passion that drives him to make...

Monica Furmanski
Monica Furmanski

Monica Furmanski

Photographer
Monica Furmanski, photographer and installation artist, directs the viewer’s experience, blurring the lines between image and reality. In 2002 Monica placed window-sized, slightly out-of-focus transparencies...

Ted Gall
Ted Gall

Ted Gall

Sculptor
Ted Gall began his career in art in the mid-1960s as an animator for teaching films, and continued to broaden his skills as a package and graphic designer. In 1973, he began a 22-year association with automotive gasket...

David Gallup
David Gallup

David Gallup

Painter
David Gallup, plein air painter and teacher, creates works that exquisitely capture a sense of place. A broad color palette and multi-layered paint only partially describe the paintings that explore nature’s character...

AMELIE-bird by Luther Gerlach
Luther Gerlach

Luther Gerlach

Photographer
Luther Gerlach is a photographer whose work captures modern images using old-world techniques. He is an ambrotypist who has built his own camera and who produces negatives in the waxed paper collotype...

George Geyer

George Geyer

Sculptor
“George Geyer’s sculpture toys with the mind,” explained the late distinguished museum director and educator Henry Hopkins. “What we know and what we see are two different...

Installation view of the exhibition Consorts, College of Creative Studies Gallery, University of California Santa Barbara, October 13, 2018
Dane Goodman

Dane Goodman

Mixed Media
Dane Goodman is one of the Central Coast’s most accomplished artists. Working in a broad range of media, his artwork has been shown throughout the United States and is in numerous museum and private...

Graca_Jim_2012_final_exhibition_4x5
James Graca

James Graca

Creative Director/Designer/Illustrator
Highly acclaimed graphic artist James Graca discussed his extraordinary work and career. Graca is an award-winning creative director / designer / illustrator with over 30 years of...

Donna Granata c1970
Donna Granata

Donna Granata

Photographer/Art Historian/Archivist
Donna Granata is the Founder and Executive Director of Focus on the Masters (FOTM), a highly respected non-profit educational program documenting contemporary artists. An accomplished artist in her own right, Donna Granata is an internationally published and award winning.....

Canvas Deconstruction Series: SOLARIS by Carlos Grasso (Burning Man 2017 art installation) acrylic on canvas - 14' x 26'
Carlos Grasso

Carlos Grasso

Painter
Carlos Grasso studied both visual arts and music as a child while growing up in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He worked as a professional flautist and graphic designer before moving to Southern California where he found his passion for painting.

Colin Gray
Colin Fraser Gray

Colin Fraser Gray

Draftsman/Sculptor/Public Artist
Colin Fraser Gray’s eye on world events, ear for social nuance, and wry sense of humor have shaped his artistic path. His drawings, sculpture and public art are quirky, sometimes...

Porfirio Gutierrez

Porfirio Gutierrez

Weaver
Porfirio Gutierrez is an extraordinary weaver who combines ancient Zapotec traditions with a modern sensibility. Growing up in Teotitlan del Valle in Oaxaca, Mexico, he was immersed in the ancient art of weaving....

Tony & Daphne Hallas
Tony & Daphne Hallas

Tony & Daphne Hallas

Astrophotographers
Tony and Daphne have always worked together as a team. They became enamored with the stars in 1986 when they bought their first 8 inch telescope. They viewed Saturn and were so fascinated...

M. B. Hanrahan
Mary Beth (MB) Hanrahan

Mary Beth (MB) Hanrahan

Muralist
While attending a field trip from Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California, Mary Beth toured the Foster & Kleiser Billboard manufacturing facility. Later that day, staring at the awesome billboards as...

hanson_wrackbramble
Lynn Hanson

Lynn Hanson

Painter
Lynn Hanson’s work stems from a rapt attention and visceral connection to the natural world: from a childhood spent stalking garter snakes at Whiskey Ditch in rural Minnesota to a daily ritual of exploring...

Tim Hauf

Tim Hauf

Photographer
We can explore the world’s most interesting places without leaving home. Pick up Sunset, Smithsonian Magazine or a National Geographic publication and chances are...

Wayne Alaniz Healey
Wayne Alaniz Healey

Wayne Alaniz Healey

Painter/Sculptor/Muralist
“I think of myself as a journalist,” says Wayne Alaniz Healy, a painter, sculptor, muralist and retired aerospace engineer who understands the passion and political power of art. Through his...

Otto Heino
Otto Heino

Otto Heino

Potter
Otto Heino was a man who dedicated his life to his passion. In doing so, he was rewarded with serenity, true contentment and peace of mind. He was born to share his gift with others: his students, his...

Bill Hendricks
William Hendricks

William Hendricks

Photographer
Bill Hendricks is drawn to disappearing and shifting cultures, to the vulnerable among us, to the moment that separates today from tomorrow. His lens captures time and isolates it, giving us the...

Lee Hodges
Lee Hodges

Lee Hodges

Mixed Media
Lee Hodges combines disparate objects -- jewels, copper wire, recycled paper, cast-off plastics, and layers of iridescent paint -- to form artwork that shimmers. The fusion of her passions for art and her faith into...

Bobby Houston

Bobby Houston

Filmmaker
Mighty Times: The Rosa Parks Story, a short (forty minutes) film by Bobby Houston and Robert Hudson of Tell the Truth Pictures, used vintage film stock and cameras to create images that are virtually...

Dorothy Hunter
Dorothy Hunter

Dorothy Hunter

Painter
Her oil paintings bring the emotional palette of impressionism to the world of abstract art. "I am usually referred to as an abstract artist but perhaps my work should be called abstract...