Faculty

Palos Verdes Art Center instructors are highly-qualified and have a wealth of experience. Many also teach at local colleges, and all are artists in their own right. They focus on the individual needs and interests of their students. In addition, children’s teachers (rather than relying on formulas that stress strict rules and copying) have special experience in bringing out children’s unique creativity.

Alyse Anderson (BA, UCLA) has studied art, architecture and landscape architecture in Florence, Italy, is working toward a certificate in landscape architecture. She is interested in exercising students’ analytical and creative skills through the architectural design process.

Catherine Balcom (UCLA) has studied photography, and graphic design and taught photography, composition art and creativity. She shoots both fine and commercial photographs, and her work has been in galleries, juried exhibitions and publications. She is a founding member and past president of Photographic & Digital Artists, one of the Palos Verdes Art Center’s eight affiliated artists groups. Her photography classes offer not only instruction on hands-on mechanics to help students make the most of their film or digital cameras but also advice on how to make the aesthetic choices that can change snapshots into art.

Robin Bott has created projects for and taught children’s art in several area schools through Angels Gate Cultural Center and LA’s Best After School Arts Enrichment Program. Her work, including sculptures, mosaics and puppets, has been a part of numerous exhibitions, particularly in the Harbor area. She is also a puppeteer with a flamboyant variety of puppet characters who often participate in her arts workshops. She is co-manager and co-curator of Gallery Eleven Seven in Long Beach's East Village Arts District. Her children’s classes and camps often feature whimsical three-dimensional constructions, ranging from giant foam masks to complete puppet theaters.

Karen Cope (BA, Cal State U-Long Beach, Florence Academy of Art) has taught at the LA Academy of Figurative Art, Disney Circle Seven Studios, currently engaged in "Sculpt Across America". www.copestudios.com

Don Crocker (Stanford) is an artist member of the California Art Club and a Signature member of the American Impressionist Society.
www.doncrockerpleinairart.com

Bernard Fallon (BA, Liverpool College of Art; Leicester University School of Photography) has traveled around the world to create pictures. His work is in collections both in the U.S. and abroad, and he has taught many pastel and watercolor workshops. A member of the California Art Club, he often paints “en plein air” and says: “I’m not copying nature, I’m translating its effect into patches of color. Isn’t it the artist’s calling to declare the beauties of nature?”
At the Palos Verdes Art Center, he teaches painting courses in various media for all skill levels. He encourages others to paint quickly and on-site with a class that meets in different South Bay locations each week.
www.bernardfallon.com

Candice Gawne (UCLA), has taught at OTIS, ISOMATA, the Cultural Affairs Department of the City of Los Angeles, LACMA and many other public and private institutions. Her oil paintings, neon sculptures and art furniture have been exhibited in galleries and museums in Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., Berlin, Tokyo and Taiwan. Her original works are in many corporate, public and private collections.
www.luminousartworks.com

David Gilbaugh (MS Ed., National University,; B.S. HDMF, Colorado State University HD; A.S. Ceramic Art Aims Community College) has been a full time ceramic artist since 2007, taught Art and Science, and has been teaching Paper Clay Sculpting.

Don Holmes (BA, Cal State, Los Angeles) has taught digital media and computer graphics at Platt College, been a technical illustrator and created computer graphics for a number of movies. He’s sharing his skills by teaching Photoshop classes for adults.

Kristy Jimenez (BA, art history, UC Santa Barbara; MA, educational technology, Pepperdine University) teaches photography and animation at Palos Verdes High and also makes and sells her own art.
She teaches Palos Verdes Art Center classes in Photoshop.

Morgan Kari (BFA U of Washington) has worked as a fashion illustrator, botanical illustrator, portrait artist and art teacher.

Dr. Jill Kiefer (BAFA, art & art history, University of New Mexico; MA & PhD, art history, Warnborough University) is a published author, editor, artist and illustrator. She has taught art and art history classes for more than 20 years.
Utilizing her various skills, she teaches numerous classes at the Palos Verdes Art Center, but is perhaps best known for her coordinated art history/art making classes. She complements lectures on a topic in art history with classes in which students sample mediums and techniques used by the artists discussed in the lectures. Students can take either or both classes. Other art history classes focus on a current Los Angeles-area exhibition and include museum visits. She also teaches drawing and painting, giving special encouragement to beginners. Finally, she teaches digital art classes ranging from the very basic to creating art with the computer.

Young Kim a largely self-taught artist, likes the flexibility and spontaneity of silk painting. Her vibrant realistic and abstract designs grace wall hangings and pillows as well as kimonos and scarves. She says: “I like the spontaneity of dye on silk, watching the dye spread itself in unique patterns. I am continuously fascinated by the interaction of the dyes with the silk. I feel like I am watching magic at work.”
She promises that even beginners with no art training can find success in her classes and create pieces they will be proud to wear and share.

Arzu Arda Kosar (BFA, University of Pittsburg, MFA, USC), has taught in local elementary schools as well as at USC, Los Angeles Southwest College, Rio Hondo College, Cypress College and UC Irvine Extension. She’s exhibited widely in Southern California, New York, Florida and Istanbul, Turkey, where she is participating in a European Cultural Capital Projects program in 2010. She’s teaching an adult portraiture class and combining the art and culture of diverse countries around the world in her Art Center’s children’s class.
www.arzuardakosar.org

Roy Kunisake (Cal State, Long Beach) describes his wheel-thrown porcelain vessels as “fine crafted pottery inspired by nature, cycles of aquatic ecosystems, Japanese ethnicity and California life style.” A native of Japan, he has lived in California most of his life. He says: “When I go to Japan to visit my family, I go to the pottery villages to absorb what the potters are creating. And usually I bring back small pieces and tons of ideas for my future projects, taking small steps toward crossing bridges of ceramic art.”
At the Palos Verdes Art Center, he teaches both hand-building and wheel-thrown ceramics to adults and wheel-throwing to youth, ages 10 and up.
www.artawakening.com/roy/

Carole Miller (Stephens College, LA Art Center) exhibits and sells her paintings locally.

Frank Minuto (Chouinard Institute of Art; Otis Institute of Art; University of London) has work in numerous private and corporate collections. He has also worked in illustration, art restoration and stage design.
His painting classes fill extremely rapidly, because, as one student wrote on an evaluation: “Frank has a wonderful ability to communicate with his students. He is able to quickly assess the problem and give wonderful ways of attacking it. He is easy to talk to and very knowledgeable about all areas of art.” www.frankcharlesdanteminuto.com

Mario Mirkovich Classically educated in Europe, marries traditional art skills, superb draftsmanship and expert use of color. His paintings, characterized by robust and sculptural brushstrokes, hang in collections throughout the world. He says: “My favorite thing about living in Southern California, which I use as subject matter in many of my paintings, is the resemblance it has to my homeland on the Adriatic coast of Croatia….Feeling that the light of natural scenery is its most attractive aspect, I strive to accentuate that light in my painting technique.”
He teaches landscape, portrait and still life painting, primarily in oils. Students often work from photographs that Mario has taken.
www.mariomirkovich.com

Hiroko Momii (BA, English, Kobe City University; MFA, painting & drawing, Cal State, Long Beach) has had numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout Southern California. She says her paintings spring from two sources: “a psychological and spiritual quest for a solution to the contemporary sense of alienation” and “energy from (earth, water, fire, air and space)…”
She teaches basic and intermediate drawing and sketching, introducing various media and providing one-on-one instruction.
www.hirokomomii.com

Jim Murray (BFA, illustration, & MFA, painting, Art Center College of Design) is an artist, educator and former gallery director. He taught art and directed the gallery at Mount St. Mary’s College. He has had numerous exhibitions.
In his gallery visitation class, he shares his unique viewpoint, providing an artist’s opinion and historical perspective to the exhibitions the class tours and leading discussions of contemporary art issues.

Allen Nalasco (New York University) is a professional photographer and screenwriter. His first children’s book was published in November.

Jan Napolitan who has studied with some of the best ceramists in the country, has been a studio potter for more than 35 years. Her pieces range from elegantly classic to abstract, from sculptural to functional, from large stoneware to small porcelain. She says: “Taking a lump of clay, with an idea in mind, through the process of forming, decorating, glazing and firing is demanding and rewarding.”
Her classes (for intermediate and advanced students) focus on the functional ceramic forms used in everyday life and on how to produce a consistent product. One student said: “Jan’s knowledge is encyclopedic, and she really cares about the students.”

Zora Necheva (MFA, Nikolai Pavlovich Sofia Bulgaria) has exhibited at the International Ceramics Concourse in Faenza, Italy and the International Ceramics Biennale in Vallauris, France and has work in numerous public and private collections.

Dael Patton (BA, art education, & MA, painting, Cal State, Los Angeles) has been a painter and art instructor for over 30 years. She also has taught at LaVerne University, Idyllwild Arts Academy and the Los Angeles and Bonita school districts. She has been featured artist at The Tang Gallery in Brisbee, Arizona, as well as with The Artists' Studio at the Palos Verdes Art Center and the Courtyard and Songolo galleries in Idyllwild. She says of her work: “This mixed media process is both challenging and exciting for me. My goal is to achieve an interesting painting surface.”
She teaches an abstract painting class.
www.daelpatton.com

Lerri Peterson teaches art to adults and focuses her own painting on animals and nature. She is a member of The Artists’ Studio.
www.artbyLerri.com

Lance Richlin is instructor of classical figure painting at the Los Angeles Academcy of Figurative Art.
www.lancerichlin.com

has received numerous awards and public art commissions and has produced fine art limited editions for Disney, Martin Lawrence Limited Editions and others. www.rosillo.com

Lucinda Rudolph (BS, MBA, USC, art teaching credential, Cal State, Long Beach) worked in marketing and architectural and interior design before embarking on a second career as an art educator. She’s teaching a class in architectural rendering.

Adrian Sandstrom (BA, Buena Vista University) teaches ceramics, works as a gallery assistant, has supervised a large-scale production studio and exhibits throughout California.

Jennifer Siegal (BA, studio art, UC Santa Barbara; Florence Academy of Art) has been sculpting, painting and teaching for over 10 years. She says: “Drawing from life is a wonderful artistic inspiration, and capturing the ‘look’ of the sitter is something you can’t plan, but which is revealed in the time spent with the model. It is most fun when it all comes together in the end….my initial training of working from figures from life prepares me as an artist to paint anything—a still life or landscape—with the same bravura and keen observation.”
Her diverse background has helped her teach a number of adult courses from figure painting and sculpting to painting impressionistic still lifes. She also teaches figure drawing for teens and children’s drawing, painting and cartooning classes as well as imaginative camp sessions.

Brenda Swenson Brenda Swenson is the artist author of two books, Keeping a Watercolor Sketchbook (Award of Excellence Finalist) and Steps to Success in Watercolor. Her paintings and sketches have been featured in Splash 11, Artistic Touch 4, Watercolor Magazine, Watercolor Highlights, Quarterly Magazine, Wheels of Time and numerous other publications. Brenda has been awarded signature membership in WW and NWWS and she has won numerous awards for her paintings. An active participant in the arts community she has served on the board of directors for the National Watercolor Society and Watercolor West. She is in demand to demonstrate and teach her painting and sketching techniques to groups nationwide and abroad
www.swensonsart.net

Vicki Szamborski has studied art all over the world and has been making jewelry for about fifteen years using fabrication, beading, found object assemblage and PMC.

Mark Teague formerly an animator/designer for Disney, Marvel and Universal, currently owns and operates Godspeed Studios. His latest comic book is Tony Loco. He helped to design and set up the Palos Verdes Art Center’s digital laboratory.
He teaches digital classes for both children and adults.
www.DreamhavenStudios.com

Stephanie Trueman (AA, art, Santa Monica College) is the owner/designer of her own high-end jewelry line, which combines semi-precious stones, Venetian beads and cultured pearls into delicate designs. She says: “Finding beauty in nature, I use the colors and shapes of nature’s simplicity and splendor in my creations.”
She currently teaches jewelry classes and workshops incorporating beads, wire work and crochet. In the past, she also taught classes in embellishing clothing, from t-shirts to sneakers.

Scott Washko who has extensive experience in hand-building, wheel-throwing and glaze mixing, is manager of the Palos Verdes Art Center’s ceramics studio. He has developed several unique glazes for the studio.
He teaches an experimental ceramics class and leads the two non-instructed ceramics workshops. His students describe him as “inspiring,” “wonderful,” “very patient” and “terrific.” One wrote: “This is the end of my third semester in this class and I plan to continue ad infinitum, so I guess this says it all!”

Arlene Weinstock (BFA, Boston University) is a member of the Colored Pencil Society of America and has had work in juried shows throughout the country.
www.arlenew.com

James Wisnowski (American Academy of Art) is a signature member of the Transparent Watercolor Society of America and a member of Oil Painters of America, California Art Club, Laguna Plein Air Painters of America, Chicago Artists Association and the Palette and Chisel Fine Art Academy. He says: “I am a realist painter who paints my environment as I see it….My focus is on outdoor landscape, which includes city scenes, seascapes and rural countryside. The beauty of the four seasons allows me to become a colorist, frequently changing my palette of colors when interpreting my subject.”
His watercolor classes, for intermediate and advanced students, include the use of simple classical concepts as the bases for successful paintings. One student called him “the best instructor I ever had at PVAC.”
www.jameswisnowski.com