Brandon Woods

Brandon Woods, a native of the Bay Area, studied at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. He does freelance photography.

Joanna Kay Gerber

I teach art and environmental science at St. Martin de Porres School in Oakland. Originally I am from Orlando, Florida, but moved to the Bay Area from New Mexico almost 4 years ago. I am currently pursuing a Masters degree at the University of Creation Spirituality, Naropa campus in Oakland, CA. My previous education centered in Art Education & Fine Art at the University of Central Florida. I have been in various group and solo shows in Florida, Texas, and the Bay Area, recently joining the FigTree Gallery in Berkeley, CA where I will be in a group show in July 2001.

My work is about expressing my spiritual and emotional connections with nature, God/dess, and people through my art. Often these paintings, sculptures, and writings come through me from sources I can't begin to explain with ordinary language or expression. My work often changes dramatically every few years as I continue to learn and grow.  The colors, themes, or designs may differ but the vision is the same. My travels continue to inspire my work showing me new and varying spirits connected to the land and people that inhabit her.

Nena H. Botto

I grew up in a family of artists in the state of Washington. My father tried to make a living off of his art, but it was feast or famine. So I vowed from an early age never to study art.

I went to college and majored in communications. I began working at a law firm in San Francisco, but I was missing something. I began to paint again and I found my own artistic style. After the birth of my daughter, I began to show my work at cafes.

Art is my way to express my feelings. I paint the things that I wish I was, I paint what I wish I was not. I paint my frustration with the world and world events… earthquakes, wars, abuse. I paint my admiration and gratitude to the beautiful and the strong, to those that watch over us.

Though my paintings hold a specific meaning for me, I hope that others will find their own interpretation of my art. Images often connect you to your unconscious by how you interpret them. Viewers of art should let whatever feelings come up and not try to understand the feelings of the painter. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.