OCTOBER at GDCA!! 

Dear Friends, GDCA Gallery is pleased to announce  three very special exhibitions:

Carlos Buitrago

Fragments of Colors

Fragments of Colors is a journey through my career as an artist so far — a dialogue between past and present. This exhibition brings together paintings that had been buried in my studio with some of my latest works, which point toward the direction my practice is taking today.

At its heart, the show is about color: patterns, combinations, and the endless possibilities that emerge when hues interact. Over the past few years, I have explored not only the emotional and formal language of color, but also the reactions of paint and media across different surfaces. That is why this exhibition includes works on canvas, linen, wood, and paper. Each surface reveals a different story of process and experimentation.

Some of these works have never been shown publicly until now. By bringing them together with my newest paintings, I am creating a more complete picture of my practice — one that reflects technical exploration, shifting states of mind, and responses to the world around me.

These works are more than studies of paint and surface. They are fragments of memory, resilience, and transformation. Color becomes my language — a way to translate struggle, hope, and renewal. What began as private moments in the studio now come together as a shared story, inviting viewers to discover their own connections within these fragments.

The Dragonfly Wing Collective

“We are the women of the Dragonfly Wing Collective. Like the dragonfly, which is a symbol of transformation, agility, and vision, we celebrate the creative force and strength found in unity. We are four wings in motion, lifting one another through imagination. We present more than four collections of artwork. It is a representational journey of women helping women rise, create, and transform. Each piece reflects our shared journey of finding power in collaboration. We are all stronger together." - DFWC Curated by Dale Youngman

COLLEEN FLYNN - Artist DFWC

LARA EVE KEMPKE - Artist DFWC

MARIBETH MCFAUL - Artist DFWC

LINDA McCLURE - Artist DFWC

DALE YOUNGMAN - Curator

DEBORAH ARGYROPOULOS

One of the common questions I am asked is "How long does it take to paint one of your pieces?"

This is an impossible question to answer, and as most artists can attest creating art is not a time specific endeavor, sometimes the finishing of a piece can span years, sometimes months, and if your really feeling it weeks or days. There is far more to the process then the time it takes to physically paint a piece.

The better question is "How much time have you put in to becoming the best artist you can be?"

That answer is easy, a lifetime! Endless learning, perfecting and experimenting to develop techniques, fine tuning process, actively pursuing life experience, and pushing yourself to look inward and outward for inspiration to keep the work fresh and current is a 40 hour a week job in itself. To clarify, no formula exists, no outline, no formal class; art is a lifetime pursuit. All of my time and all my effort is included in every piece of artwork I sign my name too.

Success as an artist is not as tangible as a Doctor fixing broken bones, an engineer repairing an air conditioner, or a builder completing an office complex; in those cases, the end result is immediately apparent, as an artist finishing the piece is irrelevant because beauty is in the eye of beholder. The true value of any work is tied to the impact it has over years and countless gazes. 

SUSANNE BELCHER

"My photographic impressions in this exhibition are eclectic, inspired by my penchant for nature, my love of L.A, and its endurance. Somehow, the pieces selected work together even though they were influenced by captures taken with very different eyes and emotions on the subjects. For several years, I have been drawn to a Billboard that stands on the 101 Freeway next to a Glendale Blvd. sign on the way to DTLA. I have continued to take photos of it on the go watching its original vibrancy currently evolve into an uninspiring grey screen with little appeal to anyone driving by. However, I see the potential for keeping it alive in my ongoing iterations, “Shocking Pink Park – A Tribute to Elsa Schiaparelli” and “A Scent of Lavender.” The anchor between these new photographic prints is the uplifting beginning of my Billboard journey “Love on the 101.” And, finally, the digital photo collage supporting my installation is dedicated to the resilience of our Los Angeles community. “Resurrection,” inspired by grief, loss and ultimately endurance, survival and regeneration becomes a juxtaposition of both joy and sadness, something tender like a “serenade,” created after the fires that ravaged our communities, knowing that they will rise once again."

Susanne Belcher

RICHARD BELL 

MICHELE CASTAGNETTI

Art allows artists to pierce the veil of time. - Michele Castagnetti


The artwork, embedded with pop humor, is meant to bring a smile and to keep the memory of such actors and films alive.

Castagnetti’s latest art jumps through time and it is infectiously funny. His ability to satirize on the zeitgeist trends is sharply on point. He’s able to blur and overlap genres, playing with archetypes and cultural lore.

SUKI KUSS

"My new work is an exploration of the past, delving into memories of a childhood formed and informed by art. In an era of social and political imbalance, finding stability and completeness is a challenge. The work is a remembrance of a less complicated time…the process motivated by a need for simplicity and joy. Cutting up photographic images brought on memories of childhood and a sense of breathing room. The outcome is a series of memories and the expression of childlike Innocence."

"My love of Japanese art and culture started a thirty-year journey of exploration of the kimono. Silky textures, clean lines and dramatic form resonated deeply in me. To me, it represents courage, beauty and feminine strength." 

CHRISTINA ILENE THOMAS

"My artistic journey explores the expansiveness of nature, heart-centered generosity, and the inexpressible mystery of life. Working intuitively without photographic references, I create landscapes that capture the paradoxical sense of joy and sadness that permeates our natural world. Each painting emerges through a sensitive process of contemplation and listening, allowing the canvas to reveal what it wishes to become.

The constantly changing moods in my work mirror the transformations we witness in both nature and ourselves. Some pieces invite viewers into spaces of stillness and meditation, while others express unbridled joy or dramatic emotional weather. This diversity reflects my belief that art, like life, contains multitudes of feeling and perspective.

I consider my titles equal to the visual elements—carefully crafted companions that enhance the emotional resonance of each piece. To me, the naming process is as significant as the painting itself, completing the artistic vision by guiding viewers toward certain emotional territories while still leaving room for personal interpretation.

Viewers often discover familiar elements in my paintings—a waterfall cascading down rocks, sunlight dancing across a seascape—yet experience them uniquely. Like characters in a beloved novel that each reader pictures differently, these landscapes connect with people on an individual level. What one person sees as a peaceful sanctuary, another might experience as a place of dramatic transformation. Sometimes, the same painting reveals entirely new aspects even to someone who has viewed it before.

This "imagination magic" creates the delight and satisfaction I seek to share through my work. As landscapes shift and change with light, weather, and seasons, so too do our perceptions and emotional responses to them. My deepest hope is that my paintings will elicit genuine emotional responses, softening and touching people's lives in ways both subtle and profound.

Through color, texture, and form, I invite viewers to pause, to breathe, and to reconnect with the natural world that sustains and inspires us all—finding in these painted moments a reflection of their own inner landscapes." - CIT

GDCA Gallery is pleased to announce our August, 2025 Group Exhibition "SERENADE"

Painting, Water Colour, Mixed Media Collage, Digital Photo Collage and Sculpture by Artists: Susanne Belcher, Richard Bell, Michele Castagnetti, Dave Graham, Martyn Jones, Suki Kuss, Crystal Michaelson, Stephen Schubert, Eva Stensland & Robert Toll.

LESLIE SHAPIRO JOYAL

Saint-Malo

My uncle was a prominent poet and professor who published many books and famous translations in French. Upon his death, I was left with the notes and working copies of his writings. Unable emotionally to part with the charming pages of his thoughts (I have always loved his handwriting), I began to incorporate them into my watercolor paintings to help soothe my spirit.

Artist Statement

My process is more one of gesture; I am enamored with the sheer beauty and strength of the lone stroke. I delight in the dance of paint on paper or wood, how the color is alive with movement when it’s wet, and finds its own passage and completion. I let the elements create a unique path, and call upon my ability as an artist to connect them into a cohesive statement.

I have always been drawn to the manipulation of space, the layers and hidden passages within environments. It’s the same with the mind: I am the daughter of a psychoanalyst, and have learned vicariously to contemplate, analyze and investigate. It is a challenge for me to discard things, believing that just one small thought, one item, can unlock a long closed door.

I think the quietness of my work is the counterpart to this internal clutter and chaos. Simplicity of form calms me, and it has found its way into my work as both a designer and artist. The layers are there, if we are willing to look.

Leslie Shapiro Joyal

Bio

Born to a French mother and American father, Leslie was raised on a small ranch in the San Fernando Valley portion of Southern California. In the sprawling house where her grandparents also lived, the smell of oil paints and turpentine filled most rooms. Her mother wanted her to be a painter like her grandmother and introduced her to oils at the age of six. Her first gallery invited her to show at the age of 19. A child of the sixties, she was exposed to organic and mid century modern themes which found their way into her psyche. Summers spent in Europe also exposed her to a variety of cultural influences.

As a young adult, the predominant feeling for Leslie was that “artists starve”, a common trope impossible to avoid. This motivated her to transition to a career potentially more lucrative yet still parallel to art. Her focus shifted to interior and architectural design, with a keen interest in furniture. After graduating UCLA, she worked for several influential architecture firms and eventually began her own furniture and design studio.In 1998 “Shapiro Joyal Studio” was born, and for over 27 years has enjoyed a solid reputation with the industry as a favorite resource for furniture collectors and design enthusiasts. Japanese, Scandinavian, French and mid century modern forms have been a touchstone from the earliest days, weaving themselves through both her painting and furniture designs.

MICHELE CASTAGNETTI

"Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it" - Salvador Dali

DAVE GRAHAM

"Each painting is a mirror of nature which I have been blessed to have spent my life studying with all of its astounding mix of patterns and colors. I have also noticed that any time I have approached a canvas with a set idea in mind, it inevitably gets thrown out as the piece takes on a life of its own and evolves into something far more interesting than any ideas I may have had to begin with. This approach for me means letting go of my ego and simply being true to the painting as it is evolving and to myself as an artist...

I began painting in a Monastery in Ireland, at a time when I believed that this was the life I was meant to live, guided by a deeply spiritual monk who was able to convince me despite my own doubts and insecurities, that artistically, I had a gift which I was obliged to pursue. He was and is the only Art teacher I have ever known." - Dave Graham

MARTYN JONES

"I think ultimately, I am searching for something unobtainable, a calm tranquillity, an impossible form of transcendence, a perfect existence and that is what brings me back to the canvas." - Martyn Jones

CRYSTAL MICHAELSON

"Passionate, visceral, structural, immediate, raw, spontaneous, chaotic colorful scribble, monochromatic serenity, architectural…

my art expresses the interplay I have with my environment. intuitive marks and gestures guide me through a process of layering, constructing, deconstructing and reconstructing, until

the work dictates when it is time to stop. Obscure hints of landscape, or of a line drawing, result in compositions that help map my journey." - CM

STEPHEN SCHUBERT

“Day Awakens” (Green Flash). I frequently went to Carmel,CA. to deliver my art to a gallery. Making new friends there I was repeatedly invited to walk down Ocean Ave to watch the sun drop below the horizon. A tradition which included wine drinking and cheering when the “green flash” was seen....an optical illusion that appears on a water horizon at sunrise and sunset that truly looks like a green flash." - Stephen Schubert

EVA STENSLAND 

ROBERT TOLL

"Moving in to the later years, after 40 years working in welded steel, my work still seems to progress. The physical demands of my style of work forces me to find new ways to create the works that I want to do. I find myself revisiting the figure and exploring new ideas in creating abstract sculpture and conceptual ideas. The work somehow continues with the same passion as ever, and I feel I am

doing some of my best work." - Robert Toll

ANDREW EYLER

"Exodus-a movement of people- freedom from oppression, tyranny and violence; it must be allowed."

"There is no empty space. Every thought, every action is inscribed. Each step into another dimension, another reality towards eternity."  - Andrew Eyler

KATHE MADRIGAL

"My abstract works are stories layered upon each other, hiding parts of some and revealing parts of others. They can take months to reveal their completeness. I find such joy while navigating my way through their forms and colors that I can’t imagine doing anything else with such satisfaction."

KATHE MADRIGAL

RICK MENDOZA

Reverie

There is an eternity in every moment, infinity within the limits of a closed interval. The mind can launch into the great expanse of the internal universe with a gentle push like a swimmer making a turn at the end of a lap. These photographs have been the surfaces from which I have sprung into the warm waters of contemplation. They explore the intersection of object, memory, and gesture. Although the subject matter is the botanical specimen, they are not observed with a clinical eye but rather with the poetic gaze of the analogue photographic medium. These graceful botanical forms tell stories that echo my cultural memories - in particular the songs of love and longing in which they played characters, recanting their complex tale of evolution and morphology for something altogether more simple.

In my childhood there were many special old songs that my mother would play for me on her guitar. I remember they were love songs, intense with their tales of unrequited love, or lost love, or love that is in its last moment. These were songs out of the repertoire of the Yucatan, my distant cultural home that I would observe through the viewfinder of my parent’s memories.

The songs seemed to involve the garden and the flowers and the roadside walls of stacked stone painted white. They wove metaphors with thorns and petals and bleeding hearts and palm trees. It was a bit much. They made their impression nonetheless on my eight-year-old mind, and years later it all came back with my own loves and losses. That’s the spirit of those songs, the deep romantic emotion so familiar as to be trite but also a welcome bond between us all.

In the garden there was a story playing out. I eagerly brought its characters under my light. They posed and gave up the goods.

Rick Mendoza

July 2025

RICK MENDOZA

Rick Mendoza has been photographing his surroundings since age nine when his grandfather gave him a Polaroid swinger camera to document his immigrant family outings on trips of discovery and reconnection. Making a livelihood from photography has been a fulfilling, voyeuristic and cross-cultural experience for a kid growing up in the transplanted bubble of a provincial family from the Yucatan. Working as a documentarian and photojournalist, primarily in Los Angeles, Mendoza developed a love of the everyday moment and the artifacts that inhabit the world around him. The selected images are from a body of work titledThe Botanicals.They are an exploration of contrasts in natural forms, rendered in traditional and arcane photo processes, whether they be silver prints or alternative processes, like the cyanotypes and kallitypes. The camera captures these objects with a sensitive eye (as opposed to a scientific one), as spectacular or quietly sublime forms at various stages in their life cycle; the old photo processes infusing the images of leaves, pods and flowers against human forms with a sense of nostalgia and timeless beauty. A graceful moment, a youthful blush, a life portrait, a fading season, a wish, a reverie…  

GDCA Gallery is pleased to announce our June, 2025 Solo  Exhibition: 

ALEXANDER GRAMM "LESSONS LEARNED"

ALEXANDER GRAMM

"After graduating from Kansas City Art Institute, I immersed myself in Mixed Media combining my love of photography and painting.

My native American series which was inspired by the photography of Edward Sheriff Curtis allowed me to explore my love of the American West and experiment with a contemporary application on a historic topic.

I continue to work in mixed media and am currently developing a new series that explores the contrast of old and new, the past and the present with painting and the printed word." - AG

STACIA GATES

"The texture and structure of the abstract landscapes are a discovery of the layers we carry in which we are capable of seeing more from within." - Stacia Gates

MUSHGEH GRIGORYAN

"At the heart of all my work lies the human being—their presence, their struggles, their essence. I am endlessly drawn to exploring human nature: my own, the viewer’s, and the universal. I perceive people as energy in motion, constantly engaged in invisible yet powerful exchanges. Through my art, I seek to understand these energetic interactions and their infinite possibilities across the universe. My canvases reflect this dynamic; for some, the energy reveals itself instantly, while for others, it unfolds gradually over time."

KAREN HANSEN

“Years ago my painting practice melded with my meditation so that the very act of painting has become my meditation. As I work, I ease into a clear, quiet space in my mind. The paintings then evolve through intuition, improvisation, experimentation and revision. I seek radiance, nuance, depth, elegance and mystery in each piece. Their subtle complexity is created by layering transparent and translucent veils of color. The results are lyrical and luminous atmospheric abstractions. They are reflections of the rhythms and quiet mysteries of our lives.” - Karen Hansen

GDCA Gallery is pleased to announce their May, 2025 exhibition "SPIRIT"!

Somewhere,
Between Heaven and Earth.
Somewhere,
Outside Liquid Time,
Spirit lives. 

MARLENE CAPELL

"These paintings start with the image of a portal which is the dominant motif. They often evolve over a period of several years. I may paint over old paintings leaving some parts exposed because it goes with my attitude towards life; not to obscure what has gone before. This painting process is one of covering, scraping and redrawing in order to challenge the existing state of the work as multiple layers are built up and then partially obscured. This leaves evidence of what went before in the process of creating a rich and textured surface. I believe our lives are a process of building one experience upon another. As many of these paintings are painted over previous ones, revealing the history of themselves, they become a metaphor for growth and evolution" - Marlene Capell

CRYSTAL MICHAELSON

"I have used my painting and mixed media artwork as a means to reflect my personal observations of my ever-changing world. Passionate, visceral, structural, immediate, raw, spontaneous, chaotic colorful scribble, monochromatic serenity, architectural... This painting was created as a result of my daily walks to the beach, and the serenity I feel seeing and hearing the waves and smelling the salty air. The intense blue and free abstract pink and yellow / orange drip forms are pulling from the bougainvillea and flowers I see along the way. I hope that the viewer also is overcome with a sense of tranquility and peace." - Crystal Michaelson

MARDI DE VEUVE ALEXIS

A changing environment, an evolving local urban environment, urbanization as a condition, graffiti as an urban vocabulary and a reflection of contemporary culture inspire my current body of work.

As an abstract artist, I typically communicate a theme and tonal palette with pattern, mark making, layering and textural effects through mixed media and collage. Most recent work also incorporates strips of painted Mylar to communicate action and energy. Overall, I strive to communicate beauty and elements of design readily visible in virtually all aspects of everyday life, if only we look." - Mardi Alexis

VALERIE MITCHELL

VALERIE MITCHELL is an artist and metalsmith with long roots in the downtown arts district Los Angeles. Her work in metal and other materials is realized through one of a kind art jewelry and sculpture and limited edition collections. The collection spans modern organic form to structural abstraction inspired by forces of nature. Nationally exhibited and collected, her work is in numerous publications and books. Locally, some of her work is shown at Freehand Gallery and Craft Contemporary and by appointment. MFA, RISD, Providence, RI and current Assistant Professor at Pasadena City College.

BILL SHERWOOD

"I reverse paint on glass using resins and epoxies often lighting behind the painting creating layered effects. ‚What were you thinking?‘ I’m often asked when my works are displayed on a gallery wall. Early on in my career I rendered simply, when art meets science‘“ - Bill Sherwood

GDCA Gallery in collaboration with IAA-USA present the WORLD ART DAY 2025 Exhibition:

“EMBRACE”

The act of accepting or supporting someone or something - a belief, theory, or change - willingly and enthusiastically.

To avail oneself of, to adopt. To take in with the eye or the mind. To encircle, surround, enclose - each other with love with compassion.

To include or contain - ideas beyond our selves.

The strength in each of us, that yet lies undiscovered. The uniqueness of each person, each voice, that is exactly that.

That remains and renews no matter the distance, the silence, the fear – no matter the time – it lives.

Painting, Mixed Media, Collage, Photography and Sculpture.  Susanne Belcher, Richard Bell, Mark Brosmer, Marlene Capell, Michele Castagnetti, Carol Cirillo Stanley, Elizabeth Decker, Teri Dryden, Edem Elesh, Siri France, Dave Graham, Alexander Gramm, Karen Hansen, Cheryl Hrudka, Stan Johnson, Martyn Jones, Suki Kuss, Kathe Madrigal, Melissa Meier, Crystal Michaelson, Michael Moon, Enid Nilsson,  Richard Reiner, Rick Robinson, Edward Rubin, Jason Ruscio, Bill Sherwood, Stephen Schubert, Linda Stelling, Eva Stensland, Christina Ilene Thomas & Robert Toll.

WORLD ART DAY CELEBRATION:

Saturday April 12th from 6pm – 10pm

Parking located across the street at 710 / 712 S. Spring Street / LA , CA 90014 

MARK BROSMER

"The places I’ve created in my paintings are representative of our earth as we know it, yet more distant than we would care to imagine. My work lives in a silent environment where time fails to exist, where focus is shared between symbols and their surrounding areas." - Mark Brosmer

CAROL CIRILLO STANLEY

"It’s the normal, the unnoticed, the common factors of life that influence my work. I look to elevate those pieces by giving each a look and transformation through the camera. Closer views, more distance, varying angles, address a unique perspective. I have been working in downtown Los Angeles for more than a decade, and during this time I have been able to examine the city, its people and structures..." - CCS

ELIZABETH DECKER

I SEE YOU "I had been off in the world for five months or so traveling between London and the EU. I spent some time in Spain, and was inspired by the art surrounding me. Picasso & Gaudi mostly but also street art, music, architecture, fashion, color, conversations, people, expressions, moods. I returned back to the States in September for my son’s birthday and to renew my passport. As I was waiting it out, a friend gave me a place to stay. Another friend gave me a studio to create. So I dove in to create things larger than my traveling sketch book. It felt great to go large again. My first intention was to recreate small portraits on a larger scale of the people I met in the village of Saissac in South France, where I was lucky enough to have a residency for several weeks. But I discovered it didn’t really translate. Sometimes things need to be left intimately small. However, In working through the collective stories of the people I met and the places I travelled, combined with my present state of being, this image emerged. 'I See You' is my love letter to the people I met but also to myself. Knowing that with each step, I grow stronger in embracing the woman I am becoming with the choices I have made to let everything I know to be safe - go. An experiment in Trust. It is also an ode to awareness and truth." 

There’s something happening here "I just feel this is a unified uprising of people coming together to fight for their basic human rights. Everything seemed crazy at the time: Politics. Natural disasters. Relief from natural disasters or income cases no help or support. The year was 2018. Red was a color I was using a lot of to express my fiery mood. A new style emerged where i began to casually throw liquid paint on a rolled out canvas not he floor that began to take shape as people and I moved into the shadows to crate a stinger. more visual voice. A stand. An expression of what I was feeling Inside to come Out. As with all the work I do, it’s about mediating the journey of self, sharing and then opening up a conversation so we can all share our stories. Unite. Embrace. Take A Stand. Buffalo Springfield’s For What it’s Worth was playing on the radio and that shit never gets old."

- Elizabeth Decker

EDEM ELESH

"Toy Piano Melodies"- On site oil pastels. Edem coined the collective of his (5" X 7"), (7" X 10"), and (9" X 12") oil pastel studies "Toy Piano Melodies", as a metaphor for practicing elemental music-like scales; re-acquaintance with his personal interpretations of natural environmental settings. These are done in situ, with the intention of capturing not only visual data, but perhaps more importantly, emotion and TIME"

"Cheese" - after Magritte.

SIRI FRANCE

"Desert Views Series" - I like the way houses look in the desert. There's so much space around them. You can see them from miles off. In these pictures I tried to balance a sense of structure with plenty of space. I tried not to overwork the paintings, if anything, leaving them a bit unfinished. 

"Seated Woman" - This is another piece where I challenged myself to put in just enough information to discern a figure in bright sunlight.

"Night Travelers" - These images of walkers come from memories of spending he pandemic near Elysian park. Although I wanted to indicate a kind of figure/ ground ambiguity, I also wanted to create images where two layers can be seen clearly, although the figure is not immediately apparent.

- Siri France

MELISSA MEIER

'Brazilian artist Melissa Meier is an internationally recognized Fine Artist, whose works are 3-dimensional constructions, crossing into the sculptural, as well as immersive - documented in Fine Art Photography in it’s final stage. Based on personal mythology, the work is both Feminist and Spiritual - Humanist - Sacred and Profound.' 

Meier was recently featured in American Craft Magazine, in a 6-8 page article in December's 'Wonder issue’, written by Deborah Bishop.

ED RUBIN

My Mannequin Moment

MY MANNEQUIN MOMENT – FIRE

JASON RUSCIO

Jason studied film at New York University's Tisch School where he received the 'Excellence in Filmmaking' Award. His thesis film, "eclipse", premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and won ‘Top Prize’ at both the Student Academy Awards and the Independent Film Channel's Student Showcase Awards. In 2016, the Academy of Motion Pictures digitally restored the original 16mm negative of "eclipse" for preservation.

Jason has written numerous screenplays, directed two feature films ("Laura Smiles", "Sam & Joe"), more than 80 short films and has won many awards for his work as a writer, director and photographer. His two feature films have received glowing reviews from some of the nations top critics and publications (see below), and have screened at some of the most prestigious film festivals, including Tribeca, Munich, CineVegas, Denver and more. “Laura Smiles” was theatrically released in New York and Los Angeles in 2006. Jason's un-produced screenplays have advanced in the top competitions, including Nicholl, Big Break, Austin, ScreenCraft, PAGE, BlueCat, and many more.

GDCA Gallery proudly announces their 15 Year Anniversary Exhibition:

"SPLENDOR"

In Gematria, 15 represents the word 'Hod', which means "Splendor". 

In Numerology, 15 is considered a dynamic and creative agent that represents 'the blooming of life in creation'.

CHERYL HRUDKA & STAN LEY JOHNSON

Where We Were….

There is definitely an evolutionary process to being an artist. Somewhere along the line, we each picked up a camera and started taking photos of what we each thought was interesting. With each photograph we learned what we enjoyed and practiced our techniques, especially in Street Photography. With each day spent in our darkrooms, we learned the excitement of developing those photographs, as well as the art of manipulation. Eventually, we took our photographs and started manipulating them on the computer. Our abstracts were created, and another step in the evolution process was embraced. From using our photographs, to creating an abstraction from scratch was a logical progression. With the vast array of computer art software, we have evolved from ‘where we were’, to ‘where we are’. For each of us the evolution of our abstract images continues and shows no signs of slowing down.

ANGELIQUE ANTONIOU

"A Glimpse of Life - My photographs represent my life. They show how I see the events that occur around me. I am exposing my life to you, for these photos are the moments in my life which I thought were worth preserving and exhibiting. Each moment can never be recaptured. That is one aspect that makes photography so powerful and amazing. Who can ever recreate that moment in time, that feeling! No one. So, my aim is to grab that moment that might have passed unnoticed or been forgotten in order that we might reflect on it, and on ourselves. I want you to see "a glimpse of life" through my eyes. As Henri Cartier-Bresson said, " We are passive onlookers in a world that moves perpetually. Our only moment of creation is that 1/125 of a second when the shutter clicks, the signal is given, and motion is stopped..."

"Degas Remembrance - My first love was ballet. I began dancing at the age of three. Due to an injury I was forced to quit when I was fourteen. Though I shall never again feel my body move across the floor as a dancer, I can still experience the height of an arabesque or the flurry of bourrées through the lens of my camera. Being in their midst I share the dancers' anticipation, their excitement and joy. I want my camera to capture these dancers' lives and moments, as I had once lived them." - AA

GRONK

"Gronk is easily one of the most recognized LA Chicano painters - and yet he remains a mysterious and mercurial figure. Growing up in East Los Angeles amid poverty and police riots, Gronk became an autodidact whose critical interests included art cinema, modernist theater, and campy B-movies, along with a wide array of philosophers, theorists, and writers. Also described as a co-founder of the Chicano conceptual art group Asco, Gronk’s work is a “hybrid voice that speaks in many artistic tongues”: painting, drawing, graphic arts, murals, performance art (street, stage, and video), photography, set design, ceramics, and computer-generated animation. Gronk’s self-invention, hybrid voice, and conceptualism pose a challenge to clear-cut categories, identities, and practices—including the gallery system, toward which he remains ambivalent, but within which he has succeeded. “In the end,” he explains, “I am not going to ask for permission to do something.”

- Gronk

MAUREEN HALDEMAN

Paysages du Ciel (Cloudscapes)

Seeking a respite from the relentless pace of modern life and the concrete landscapes of urbanity, I have always found comfort and inspiration in the boundless expanse and ethereal beauty of the sky. To me, the sky possesses a unique magic, one capable of soothing the soul and rekindling the spirit. A symphony of light and shadow dances across the expanse of mother nature’s canvas; a spectrum of tones and hues are found in the transitions between dawn, dusk and nighttime, interpreting an ever-shifting tapestry of moods, colors and textures, all created by nature.

Through my skyscapes I endeavor to forge a connection between our artificial surroundings and the transcendent beauty of nature. Many of my most contemplative images capture the essence of the sky. Each image tells a story of constancy intertwined with perpetual change, serving as a reminder of the profound therapeutic potential inherent in the natural world, particularly in the limitless expanse above.

My photographs celebrate the sky's soothing influence and acknowledge its power to heal, inspire, and restore balance and harmony and balance in our lives - a soothing balm for the human spirit, offering solace and rejuvenation to those who pause to gaze up and contemplate its wonders.

Maureen J Haldeman

GDCA Gallery proudly announces their FEBRUARY,  2025 Exhibition:  "CHERISH".

MICHAEL MOON

"I do not think there is any greater reason for me to paint except to seek the truth as it resonates within me and onto the canvas. All of this work seeks out the same - an exploration based upon an intuitive underlying quest for balance and harmony in the midst of impermanence and change." - MM

SONDRA JOLLES

"If You Know My Work, You Will Know Me."

- Sondra Jolles

ADRIAN HUTH

"Sky To A Machine” is the original text I typed into the prompt of a visual AI tool just to see how it would render back images to me. I refined the prompt with additional modifiers until I reached a composition which became the source material and eventual painting. For myself it represents our own navigation of how technology impacts the human condition.

This is inspired by a quote from Joan Mitchell who once said "Abstract is not a style. I Simply want to make surface work". This quote has always stuck with me and in another song I admire (a lot of my work is inspired from music) the artist sings "You Get No Points For Style". I believe he is talking about fashion but I like how it compliments the Mitchell quote in the art world. The painting is a representation of playing with this theme and maybe a little poke at the art world that thinks of Abstract work as a style.

"For Your Will"

It is inspired by a song of the same name which I think is a clever antithesis to the common phrase "against your will". The song is about relationships interactions and the painting represents two figures intertwined in the same way. 

CHERYL HRUDKA & STAN LEY JOHNSON 

“My work is personal, poetic and lyrical. Emphasis is given to form, texture and color. Each field, the figure and the ground, is meticulously arranged for maximum effect. It is my goal to elicit a familiar and pronounced mood in each of my viewers.” - Cheryl Hrudka

“I am a structural expressionist. At first, the two concepts seem ill suited. This awkward synthesis creates a dynamic tension in my work. By alternating structure (expression) in the figure and expression (structure) in the ground, the forces at play." - Stanley Johnson

Cheryl Hrudka & Stan Johnson

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS LLC / HJ Gallery

CECILIA CRESTO

A San Diego native, I grew up surrounded by creativity but only recently made art a primary focus in my life. After completing a six-month mentorship with artist Sheila Daube, I embraced the evolving nature of my craft, experimenting daily and taking creative risks. For me, art is more than a visual expression—it's a means of forging emotional connections and communicating the ineffable. My work blends spontaneity with precision, reflecting both light and shadow, as I continually explore and evolve as an artist.

SHEILA DAUBE

Sheila Daube is an abstract artist from Southern California, drawing inspiration from the mid-century American School and her years as a preschool teacher. “I’ve been trying to paint like a five-year-old for years, striving to return to my original reaction to color and line,” she says. Sheila’s work explores timeless themes from mythology while incorporating unique mediums like foil and powdered pigments. Her art has been featured in national exhibitions, is held in private collections worldwide.

TERI DRYDEN

OLD BOYFRIENDS This fun series came from my ongoing commitment to recycling. I salvaged disparate scraps of papers and sewed them together to create one-of-a-kind collages. Metaphorically, they look like a bunch of “old boyfriends” hanging around!

DAY FOR NIGHT When I completed these collages, they brought to mind the moviemaking technique ‘day for night’ where a night scene is shot during the day.

SAMUEL PERRY

Samuel Perry creates dynamic, textural works by engaging with raw, unprimed canvas in an energetic and physical process. Through scuffing, stepping on, and even using the canvas to absorb spilled coffee, Samuel imbues each piece with a sense of lived experience. The canvas is then stapled to the wall, where memories or music inspire abstract forms using drawing materials and gestural paint strokes. Layers of texture, marks, lines, and color build, resulting in expressive, non-repetitive works.

Based in Southern California, Samuel has been an active member of the San Diego art community since 2014. His work has been exhibited in several exhibitions across California and is held in private collections nationwide.

Adria Becker "KIND OF BLUE"

Portraiture and figurative nudes. Becker offers exploration of traditional rendering starting points to highly experimental, cross-contouring representation. These figures and faces all succeed in the ultimate goal: capturing the soul.

CAROL CIRILLO STANLEY

"It’s the normal, the unnoticed, the common factors of life that influence my work. I look to elevate those pieces by giving each a look and transformation through the camera. Closer views, more distance, varying angles, address a unique perspective. I have been working in downtown Los Angeles for more than a decade, and during this time I have been able to examine the city, its people and structures..." - CCS

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BEDRI BAYKAM

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