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.

Richard Rackus
Richard Rackus

Richard Rackus

Painter
Having studied under some of California’s foremost teachers and artists – Frank Tolles Chamberlin, Laurence Murphy and Sam Hyde Harris – it was natural for Rackus to remain in the school of the California plein air painting...

Roxie Ray
Roxie Ray

Roxie Ray

Painter
Roxie Ray's paintings capture field workers laboring in rising heat, bathers languidly floating. The paintings are at once realistic depictions of everyday life and socio-political statements. The viewer is...

Sylvia Raz
Sylvia Raz

Sylvia Raz

Assemblage Artist
Her assemblages do more than delight the eye. Consider, for example, “¡Mamí, los tíos llegan!” Yes, Auntie and Uncle are arriving, heads held high, dressed for the occasion, bringing gifts. After the first...

Duncan Regehr
Duncan Regehr

Duncan Regehr

Painter
Duncan Regehr is a prolific figurative painter whose enormous body of work is profoundly and distinctly poetic. His work revolves around images suggested to the artist through his relationships, his dreams and his many interests...

Jack Reilly
Jack Reilly

Jack Reilly

Painter
Jack Reilly is known for his complex shaped canvas paintings. His work is widely exhibited and included in public and private collections internationally. He began his career painting on surfboards. Becoming completely...

Meanwhile by Mick Reinman, 2016 oil on birch ply, 60"x 60"
Mick Reinman

Mick Reinman

Painter
Mick Reinman has been described as a painter’s painter. His powerfully colored compositions build on the human figure and landscape in its most basic and architectonic form...

Roland Reiss
Roland Reiss

Roland Reiss

Painter
A teacher’s influence is often a major force in an artist’s career. It continues to guide, shape and inspire long after the time spent in the classroom. Such a teacher is Roland Reiss, accomplished artist, academic...

Robert Rickards
Robert Rickards

Robert Rickards

Painter
Western artist Robert L. Rickards has spent over 23 years capturing the historic two-year-plus journey of the Lewis and Clark Expedition from St. Louis to the West Coast in a monumental...

David Rivas

David Rivas

Environmental Artist/Ceramist
It’s tempting to say that David Rivas, photographer/metal sculptor/ former boiler operator, sees beauty where others see trash. What this talented artist really does is let us, the viewers discover the...

John Robertson

John Robertson

Painter
John Robertson is a self-taught, primitive, impressionistic painter, whose paintings are much more than a visual, realistic copy of the subject. Full of movement and depth...

Michael Rohde
Michael Rohde

Michael Rohde

Weaver
Michael Rohde’s works are the result of a process that starts with a question, “What if?” Subtle changes in color and yarn create works that become meditative objects that delight the eye and capture the imagination....

Frank Romero

Frank Romero

Painter/Muralist
As a pioneering figure in the rise of the Chicano Art Movement, Frank Romero is best known as a muralist but now spends most of artistic energy in his studio practice. In...

Adrielle Rose

Adrielle Rose

Surrealist
Adrielle, daughter of renowned realist painter Carol Rosenak, displayed exceptional artistic talent as a young child and drew tremendous attention from experts in child art. She spent...

Carol Rosenak
Carol Rosenak

Carol Rosenak

Painter
Carol Rosenak considered still-life painting her best, most evolved work. With perfect linear precision and a heightened vibrancy of color, her interior scenes...

Teal Rowe
Teal Rowe

Teal Rowe

Glass Artist
The medium of glass blowing chose Teal Rowe, a talented and, at times, provocative glass artist. From her first experience she knew it was something she would be doing. Her works celebrate color, nature and life...

Nancy Rupp
Nancy Rupp

Nancy Rupp

Brush Painter
Nancy Rupp was a widely exhibited brush painter known for the bold ink work that underlies traditional Chinese brush painting. She captured the energy and emotion of her subject through strong...

Alison Saar

Alison Saar

Mixed Media/Found Objects Artist
Can artists help us understand and deal with complex issues of the day? Alison Saar uses bold symbolism, literature and mythology as she explores the role of African-Americans, especially...

Phil Salazar

Phil Salazar

Musician
From jazz to bluegrass, Phil Salazar has explored a world of violin and fiddle music over the last 50 years. The son of former Ventura County Symphony Director and Conductor Frank Salazar, Phil started playing violin...

Tesi Sanchez-Halpert
Tesi Sanchez-Halpert

Tesi Sanchez-Halpert

Sculptor
The sculptures of Tesi Sanchez-Halpert are welded bits and pieces of steel discards made new through her imagination, sense of humor and zest for life. They will arouse your curiosity, make you smile or laugh...

Audrey Sanders
Audrey Sanders

Audrey Sanders

Mixed Media
The work of Audrey Sanders, in her own words, “takes a middle ground between painting and sculpture.” She “compares her non-objective works to rhythmic linear relationships between order and chaos, architectural...

Jeff Sanders
Jeff Sanders

Jeff Sanders

Sculptor/Art Fabricator
His subjects involve the everyday images of America. From small to monumental, Sanders’ pieces are executed with sensitivity, precision and frequent expressions of tongue in cheek humor. He works adeptly with aluminum, poly resins, patinas, and numerous other components in the

Frank Sardisco
Frank Sardisco

Frank Sardisco

Painter
Frank Sardisco was an artist first and a teacher second. Vying for a close third are world traveler, master gardener, and philosopher. His work has been described as abstract classicism and is notable...

Lindsay B. Scott
Lindsay B. Scott

Lindsay B. Scott

Painter
Lindsay Scott was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and grew up among the green hills of Africa. As a child, she was constantly exposed to African wildlife and its habitat. She has been drawing for as long as she can...

Helle Scharling-Todd

Helle Scharling-Todd

Mosaic Artist
“Her mosaics are knockouts!” said FOTM Master Artist Carlisle Cooper of Helle Scharling-Todd, internationally known mosaic and glass artist. He praised her design and color sense, commenting that they are...

Richard Schloss

Richard Schloss

Painter
California, with its every-changing seas and rugged mountains, has long attracted plein air painters. A movement of landscape painters known as The Oak Group has done more than chronicle our state’s...

Seco
Seco

Seco

Painter
Although widely celebrated for his paintings, Seco interestingly began his career as a writer. Despite being only 20 years of age and already having received highly prestigious grants and awards, he began to...

Lorraine Serena
Lorraine Serena

Lorraine Serena

Assemblage Artist
Lorraine Serena is the Artist/Founder of Women Beyond Borders, an unprecedented, cross-cultural exhibition which celebrates and honors women's voices and...

Our Bones Are Made of Stardust.... by Carol Shaw Sutton 1988, installation, 20' x 14' x 12", willow, linen, pigment, projection
Carol Shaw-Sutton

Carol Shaw-Sutton

Fiber Artist
Carol Shaw-Sutton has earned numerous awards, including two National Endowment of the Arts Individual Artist Fellowships. She is Professor Emerita of Art from California State...

Duane Simshauser
Duane Simshauser

Duane Simshauser

Painter/Mixed Media
Duane Simshauser is a highly acclaimed mixed media artist who began his career in Ventura Couny. A resident of Fillmore, he works in the genre of assemblage, in which he applies paper and various types...

David Singer by Mike Peters
David Singer

David Singer

Clarinetist
David Singer, clarinetist extraordinaire, has performed at the White House and played with Yo Yo Ma at the Spoleto Festival. He is equally comfortable at Moorpark High School, nurturing and encouraging young...

Joe Sohm

Joe Sohm

Photographer
Joseph Sohm’s guiding vision for this collaborative effort is a single question: “How do you photograph democracy?” This question fueled Sohm’s epic.....

Robert G. Smith
Robert G. Smith

Robert G. Smith

Photographer
Robert G. Smith was given advice early in his career to look beyond the lens and to discover his own unique vision. Whether the image reflects the natural landscape or discarded man-made objects, Smith’s...

Doug Spaulding
Douglas Spaulding

Douglas Spaulding

Sculptor
In 1956 Spaulding joined the Department of Defense School System (DoDSS) and moved to Yokohama, Japan to teach History. While in Japan, he continued to be active in amateur theater productions, traveled extensively throughout the Orient, and actively collected Japanese antiques and art. He also developed his own considerable talents as a sculptor, collaborated with local Japanese artists in Yokohama and Tokyo, and staged several exhibitions...

Ray Strong
Ray Strong

Ray Strong

Painter
"If you want to get to know the land, go and sleep with it." Ray Strong knew the land. He was a landscape painter, muralist and poet from the time he was just eight years old. Strong was born in Corvallis,...

George Stuart

George Stuart

Historian/Sculptor
Mr. Stuart is a historian with a passion to create. The success of his three dimensional figures are the product of the artist’s exhaustive research...

Portrait of Tracy Lee Strum by Michael Moore
Tracy Lee Stum

Tracy Lee Stum

Chalk Artist
Internationally recognized and award winning chalk artist, Tracy Lee Stum specializes in spectacular, interactive 3D anamorphic street paintings. Tracy’s mind-blowing 3D images continue to ‘wow’,...

John Suttman
John Suttman

John Suttman

Sculptor
John Suttman is an artist whose work involves unexpected function and the discovery of hidden beauty. A china cabinet threatens to fall over while another seems ready to dance. A chair is poised to join Alice’s tea...

Dr. Burns Taft
Burns Taft

Burns Taft

Conductor/Musician
Recognized as a gifted musician and respected music educator in Ventura County, Burns Taft was the music director of the Master Chorale of Ventura for over 30 years. His academic credentials include from...