Instructors Bravo School of Art

SALLIE BROWN earned an an Associate degree in ART from San Diego State University. She also has a California education / teaching degree. During her 11 years of private and public school teaching, she has taught many art classes throughout San Diego’s city and county school districts. Sallie loves playing music and traveling and believes there is nothing better than enjoying family and friends. She is a member of the Alpine Chamber of Commerce where she serves as chairwoman for the Ambassador group. She is also a sales director for Mary Kay Cosmetics and loves ‘changing the faces of people’s future’ with MK products. Sallie is married to the man of her dreams.

STEPHANIE CLAIR was raised in upstate New York, drew her way through those cold winter days, and then earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting/Design at Old Dominion University in Virginia. After moving across the U.S. to find herself, Stephanie now happily calls sunny San Diego home with her husband and their favorite dog, Ringo. Her paintings delicately blend color, technique, imagination and cubism. This results in mystery and emotion - challenging the eyes and minds of her viewers and invites them into a three-dimensional world of people, passion and beauty. Influences on her work include Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Modigliani andKandinsky. Stephanie gleans her inspiration from blissful, dreamy moments that lodge in her memories, but are often taken for granted. Stephanie Clair’s work can be viewed and enjoyed in select galleries throughout the world. www.stephanieclair.com

SONYA DEVINE is an artist who works in painting, sculpture, print making, and mixed media. She has developed tile mosaic and painted mural projects at schools. Her paintings can be found in San Diego restaurants, law firms, day spas, resorts, retirement communities, and many private residences. Since moving to San Diego in 1993, Sonya has participated in ArtWalk, gallery exhibitions, and has even painted a North Park utility box. Having children began a love of children’s art, so in 1992 Ms. Devine turned to teaching art in San Diego City Schools. Sonya claims that art is something that can be part of everyday life, not an escape. She loves to come up with new possibilities and solutions, looking at what is familiar and seeing it anew. In doing art, we get to experience imagination. Plus, it’s very fun

LAUREN BECKER DOWNEY holds a BFA in Weaving and Textile Design from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. She also studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and the University of Utah. For many years, she exhibited woven tapestries and painted fabrics of abstract, nonrepresentational imagery. Lauren now uses Mosaics and Painted Furniture as the medium for her expression. As one of the Founder’s of Bravo School of Art, the Director of Workshops at the Art Academy of San Diego, and the former owner of Bravo Gallery and Bravo Workshop, Lauren has been involved in San Diego’s arts community since 1990. She has been teaching art and fine crafts to adults throughout San Diego County since 1992.

CHRISTIE DUNNING creates in a variety of media and techniques including fabric, paper, and hand-woven wire. After earning an AA in Business Administration from San Diego Mesa College and some informative but uninspiring years in the corporate world, she left it for the structure and predictability of an artist’s life. That quest led to an AB in Art Education and an MFA in Studio Art/Fiber/Textile Techniques in Metal from San Diego State University. Her artwork and jewelry creations have been published in numerous books, including 50 Years at Haystack…, International Textile Design and Fiber Arts Design Book Five. Magazines featuring her unique work include American Craft, Surface Design Journal, Handwoven, and Shuttle, Spindle and Dyepot. In addition to her studio work, Christie mentors future artists, interior and fashion designers by teaching workshops in weaving, surface design on fabric, and textile science

ANNE GAFFEY has been creating decorative functional art for commercial and residential clients since 1989. In 2005, Anne participated in The Whale Trail creating a whimsical whale for Niantic Main Street. Anne’s paintings, decorative furniture, lamps, mosaic tables and floor cloths have been prominently displayed in ASID Designer Showcase Homes, Williams-Sonoma, Loew’s Coronado Bay Resort and the Mary Birch Hospital for Women in San Diego. Anne’s art has been featured in Better Homes and Gardens, San Diego Home & Gardens, San Diego Décor & Style, the San Diego Union Tribune Homescape section and The Lyme Times. She has donated her work to many non-profit organizations including The Children’s Museum Fairy Tale Ball, Alliance for Living, East Lyme Youth Services, Lyme Academy of Fine Art, Niantic Main Street, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Design With A Purpose in Rancho Santa Fe, and the San Diego Children’s Museum. Originally from California, Anne lives in southeastern Connecticut with her husband and two children and their golden retriever Marley.

HELEN SHAFER GARCIA is a painter, mixed media, found object and assemblage artist and award winning illustrator. Her whimsical style shows a love for living creatively with a studio filled to the brim with found objects! She’s currently working with watercolor, pastel and mixed media creating contemporary images on paper along with a series of Icon folklore triptychs with wood, watermedia and found object construction. Helen’s watercolor illustrations have graced the cover brochures, garden articles and advertisements of numerous International resorts and magazines. Awards include four San Diego Press Club First Place Awards of Excellence in Illustration for San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles Magazine. Helen holds a BA degree in Fine Arts and currently teaches college level watercolor and acrylic painting. www.helenshafergarcia.com www.agavelatte.blogspot.com

JILL HALL is a creativity consultant, artist and writer. She facilitates groups and teaches workshops for aspiring and practicing artists of all types. Her career as a public school educator spanned over twenty years incorporating her interests in the arts along the way. She has been an arts magnet resource teacher as well as on staff with the California Arts Project. With a passion for creating as well as teaching, Jill’s mixed media mosaics can be found in private homes, galleries and downtown street corners. Stage performances range from Macbeth to Music Man and a recent accomplishment is the completion of her first novel. Jill is Past President of San Diego Writers, Ink and serves on Eveoke Dance Theatre’s Board of Directors and the San Diego Foundation’s Arts and Culture Working Group. She holds an Ed.D. from Northern Arizona University and a masters from the University of San Diego.

LAURA HANSEN is an artist and Expressive Arts facilitator. She offers SoulCollage® workshops, Intuitive Painting workshops, International Creativity and Yoga Retreats, and other Expressive and Healing Arts classes and services. She is especially interested in the intersection of art and spirituality and creating environments where people can learn to listen to and trust their intuition, inner knowing, and rediscover how nourishing it is to engage in creativity as play. As the former owner and director of a leading eldercare company, Laura knows from personal experience the importance of work/life balance and finding ways to nourish our inner lives in the midst of demanding outer lives. Her background includes a Masters in Clinical Social Work, a degree in Studio Arts, 15 years of yoga and Vipassana meditation practice, and graduate studies in Expressive Arts. Laura is a Master Facilitator of The Intuitive Painting Process and a Registered SoulCollage® Facilitator. www.artandsoul.us.com

MISTY HAWKINS completed her Bachelor's degree in painting at San Diego State University and her Master's degree in Drawing and Painting at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. The focus of her work is mainly figurative, making drawings and paintings of the body to express various states of human experience. She also makes portraits that capture the likeness, feeling and character of an individual. Oil paint, charcoal, and pastel are Misty’s favorite mediums. Her portraits and figurative paintings are in the private collections of people who feel a personal connection with her artwork. Misty also enjoys teaching for the San Diego Community College District and the San Diego Art Department. mistyhawkinsart.net

VALERIE SAMUEL HENDERSON was originally trained as a painter and printmaker and received a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. She completed an MFA in Visual Art at University of California at San Diego where she worked in both mixed-media and multi-media. Her graduate show, entitled “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Alligators . . .” included work in collage, photography, installation and film. She has worked as an art instructor for the San Diego Community College District as well as Palomar College in San Marcos. As an artist-in-residence, Valerie presented classroom workshops for elementary school students. Her most current artwork melds expressive drawing with digital photography.

NANCY ISBELL has been a full time artist since 1972. After graduating from Humboldt State University, with honors and a bachelor's degree in art, she began a career in art at Sea World as an illustrator and graphic artist designing gifts and souvenirs. In 1974 she traveled to the Virgin Islands where she worked at an advertising agency as a graphic artist and illustrator. In 1976, after completing a teacher credential for teaching art, instead of teaching she began painting large works on restaurant walls, traveling all over the United States.Since 1980 Nancy has been providing artistic services to clients: Murals, Trompe' l Oeil, Faux Finishes, Carousel Restoration, Signage, Illustration, Watercolors, Oils. The work ranges from canvas paintings, to large murals. Nancy has traveled extensively to restaurants and homes around the country, decorating walls with her own style of scenery and trompe l’ oeil.Nancy's favorite challenge is to create a mood through the use of her own imagined idyllic settings. Some of the tangible results are in the form of murals, found in private residences, schools and businesses. In addition to producing artwork, she has been teaching seminars and classes in art techniques to adults and children in private lessons, summer camps, and in the public schools.Trained by the San Diego Unified School District in ways to implement the CA Visual Arts Standards, Nancy has been presenting visual art lessons to elementary teachers as part of a teacher training program since 2003.www.nancyisbellarts.com

JACQUELINE JACOBS was born in Chile and obtained her MD degree from University of Chile Medical School, specializing in Pediatric Hematology. She emigrated to the United States in 1961. Jacqueline studied Surface Design and Weaving as well as Sculpture and Painting at San Diego State University. She works in acrylic paint, monotype, monoprint, encaustic paint, bookmaking, hand felted jewelry, clay sculpture, textiles and mixed media collage. Jacqueline considers herself fortunate to have a dual career involving the Healing and the Visual Arts. Science and Art are intertwined as they both deal with Life as a creative force justifying our presence in this Planet. Jacqueline often combines different media and imagery, remaining open to discovery and experimentation. Her work is organic and playful at times. www.soulandarts.com

CAROL LANG is the Director of the Rancho Buena Vista Adobe Gallery in Vista and was charter president of the Misti Washington Gourd & Basket Guild. She has been collecting and researching the art of basketry since the early 1970’s, and has won awards at the Association of Michigan Basketmakers, California Gourd Society, and the Del Mar Fair. Her work is in collections throughout the United States and in Australia.

ORNA McCANN is an artist, specializing in painting, drawing illustration, design and photography. She has 17 years of teaching experience as an art teacher and lecturer for all grade levels from preschool to university. Orna received her BA in Studio Art from Clark University, Worcester, MA. Her still life photographs are in the collection of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. Orna is currently teaching fine arts in the after school program at the San Diego French American School in La Jolla.

THIA NEVIUS grew up in Studio City, California. After receiving an MFA from Colorado State University she painted sets for the Santa Fe Opera and taught art at Santa Fe Community College. Since moving to San Diego she has taught art for many years including The Bishop’s School in La Jolla, UCSD Extension, The Art Department, ARTS: A Reason to Survive, and the Athenaeum. Thia has traveled extensively in Asia, Europe and South America including living in the Philippines for two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Her work has been featured in numerous group and solo exhibitions where she has won Awards of Excellence and Best of Show. Among the publications that have featured her work include Art and the Creative Process, UCSD press, and Davis Publications, books for art educations, in The Davis Visuals, volume on Light, Worcester, Mass. She is an active member of the San Diego art community and her work has hung regularly at the San Diego Art Institute and the San Diego Art Department. Her work can be seen in important private and corporate collections including McDonald’s Corporate Offices in Japan, the Hilton Hotel Collection in California and the Permanent Collection at Colorado State University. www.ThiaArtist.com

SHARON NOVAK has been an artist and metalsmith for over thirty years. She earned an MFA from SDSU, a BFA from the State University of New York at New Paltz, and an Associate of Arts from San Diego Mesa College. Inspired by nature’s palette of colors and texture, Sharon thinks like a painter when working with metal. Her mixed-media assemblages juxtapose archetypal symbols in metal with paint, collage, and found elements. Sharon’s artwork includes sculpture, masks, metal collage, drawings, jewelry and ornaments. She’s been teaching art throughout San Diego since 1989 and has exhibited in the US, Europe and Japan.

ROBIN SANFORD ROBERTS is a theatrical scenic designer and artist working in models and mixed media. She has designed for Broadway, Old Globe Theatre, San Diego Rep, Arizona Theatre Company, San Jose’ Repertory and Swine Palace Productions. Robin has been a guest teacher for the Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, UCSD, MiraCosta college and was on faculty for 6 years at the University of San Diego. She holds a degree in architecture from LSU and a MFA in scenic design from UCSD. www.arizonastreet.com/robin

JOSIE RODRIGUEZ believes that art in many forms has a wonderful ability to heal, nurture and inspire. She works from an intuitive space and one that allows for much spontaneity. Her art is influenced by the world around her; designs in nature, connections and textures. She is inspired by words and language, different cultures and views of our world. An element of making art is sharing that art with others. Teaching workshops is one of the ways that Josie can experience first hand the blossoming creativity of students. There is no greater feeling than having a student say, “You have inspired me.” Josie’s work has been exhibited throughout Southern and Northern California and the Midwest. Being actively involved with the International Encaustic Association, San Diego Book Arts, Society for the Arts in Health Care and various San Diego art’s organizations has enriched her life as an artist. Born and raised in San Diego, Josie received a BA from San Diego State University and MA from the University of San Diego.

TES SHEA is a mixed media artist who works in glass, fiber, silver metal clay, paint and Adobe software. Like many artists, she is inspired by her faith and the beauty of nature. Her education in art is a random mixture of mentorship, adult education and self-discovery. Tes earned her “Master Training Specialist Insignia” in the U.S. Navy and in 2007 became a certified metal clay instructor through Art Clay World, USA. Her work has been featured in The Crafts Report and Fired Arts and Crafts magazine. Currently She is co-editor of Metal Clay Today, an online magazine devoted to metal clay artists and their art. During the day, Tes assists a variety of clients with their administrative and organizational through her company Administrative Eloquence.

NADINE SPIER is an award-winning fiber artist and instructor. She works in a variety of fiber mediums, and her elaborately woven vessels and sculptures are displayed internationally in solo, invitational and juried shows. She has an impressive record of exhibitions and awards including the Handweavers’ Guild of America Award of Excellence, many First Places, Best of Show and Juror’s Choice. Nadine lectures and teaches at museums, weaving conferences, universities, and community colleges in the U.S. and Canada. Her work has been published in numerous magazines, newspapers, and in "500 Baskets: A Celebration of the Basketmaker’s Art" by Lark Books (2006). In 2002 Nadine was featured on the Discovery Channel. www.nadinespier.com

ANNA STUMP is an artist and arts educator living in San Diego. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at Occidental College and her master of Fine Arts at San Diego State University. She was a Senior Fulbright Scholar to the Fine Arts Department at Anadolu University in Eskisehir, Turkey in 2006-2007. She currently teaches studio and art history courses at San Diego City College and Grossmont College. Anna’s blog, "Kloe Among the Turks", examines the art scene in Southern California and Turkey, as well as issues of arts education. She recently curated an exhibition of 100 artists from Southern California and 100 artists from Turkey, which was shown in San Diego, Los Angeles, Istanbul and Ankara.

www.kloeamongtheturks.blogspot.com and www.annastump.blogspot.com

JOHN THURSTON began his training in Photography at the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts in 1969. As a teenager, he taught children's art classes with artist Joe Nyiri at the San Diego Zoo. John studied Fine Arts and Earth Sciences at UC Santa Cruz, and returned to San Diego to get a practical degree in Information Systems from San Diego City College in 1985. For many years he worked as a Technical Editor for Hughes Aircraft Company in the Graphics and Marketing Departments. Finding that Rocket Science wasn't his real calling in life, he recently rediscovered his love of Photography. John has exhibited his award winning photographs at the Del Mar International Photography Exhibitions, the Mia Italia Exhibition at the Italian Community Center in Little Italy, and City College's Student Photography Exhibitions. John works in traditional Film and Digital Photography.

CYNDA VALLE has been painting with oils for over 30 years; first in Los Angeles and currently in Mendocino County. She earned her BFA in Painting from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. Her work has been featured in Art News, Art in America, and American Artist Magazines. Cynda is represented by "The Electric Rose" in Healdsburg, CA and SFMOMA Artists Gallery at Fort Mason in San Francisco. She has taught at Scripps and Pomona Colleges as well as the Claremont Graduate School. She is the fourth generation of Valles from San Diego and is currently teaching at Mendocino College and residing with her family in Willits, CA.

JULIE WARREN earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Studio Art from Michigan State University. She works in a wide range of media including painting, drawing photography and printmaking. Julie has been employed in graphic design since arriving in California in 1983. Currently, she is an adjunct Professor of Graphic Design at San Diego City College and her recent courses include digital media and web design. As a long time printmaker, Julie is able to write backwards. See samples of printmaking at

http://www.juliewarren.net/fineartprints.html

ANNE WOLF is a nationally recognized metals artist and photographer based in San Diego. Her work has been shown in venues from the Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus in Hanau, Germany, to the National Ornamental Metals Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. Recent shows in California include “New West Coast Design” at Velvet da Vinci, San Francisco, and a solo show at Noel-Baza Fine Art in Little Italy, San Diego. Anne Wolf trained under Helen Shirk and Arline Fisch at San Diego State University, receiving her MFA in 1999. Anne teaches the art and craft of metalsmithing at Southwestern College in Chula Vista as well as at her private studio, the Ray Street Annex. www.raystreetannex.com