Pasadena Society of Artists 2025 Juried Exhibition
October 3–October 23, 2025
Exhibition Chair: Lawrence D. Rodgers
To view this catalog online, please visit https://issuu.com/pasadenasocietyofartists This catalog is available for purchase directly from Blurb.com
Artists representred on the cover: Jean Cunningham, Roger Dolin, Leah Knecht, Kevin McCants, Rhonda Raulston, Laurel Termini Artwork appears courtesy of the artist. Copyright held by the artist. All rights reserved.
President’s Message
On behalf of all members of the Pasadena Society of Artists, it is my pleasure to welcome you to our Juried Exhibition at The Betsy Lueke Creative Arts Center in Burbank, CA. We have held an annual juried exhibition at local, reputable galleries since 1925. This year we held our juried Centennial Exhibition at the Pasadena Museum of History in Pasadena, CA, in addition to this juried exhibition. The 2025 Juried Exhibition includes 61 works of art selected by our esteemed juror, Juan F. Bastos, and created by 49 of our current members. Please join me in congratulating them for their superior creativity.
PSA is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the understanding and appreciation of art through the work of dedicated volunteers. We strive to maintain a high standard among our membership and continue to support and encourage members to create and exhibit their artwork. Throughout the year the PSA Exhibitions Committee offers members multiple opportunities to share their artwork. However, the juried exhibition remains the centerpiece of high-quality art.
Our membership is diverse in creativity and composition. This combination is accomplished not only through exhibitions, lectures, demonstrations, and workshops but also through acceptance of our fellow artists and their artistic skills. The art that our members create allows those viewing it a chance to seeinto the artist’s world through the artist’s eyes. When we open our minds to the artwork displayed in this exhibition, we learn through observation and become better acquainted with the artistic process.
Kathleen Swaydan President Pasadena Society of Artists
Exhibition Chair’s Message
Welcome to the Pasadena Society of Artist’s 2025 Juried Exhibition. This the third exhibition presented during the year long celebration of PSA’s 100th birthday. Forty-nine members presented 91 artworks for consideration by the juror Juan F. Bastos. Mr. Bastos selected sixty-one for inclusion in the 2025 Juried Exhibition.
This is an unusual exhibition in that the Betsy Lueke Creative Arts Center gallery staff is responsible for the complete installation of all artwork in the gallery. Usually the PSA Exhibition Committee takes care of the task. I want to thank the Betsy Lueke Creative Arts Center gallery staff for doing a superb job presenting the artworks of the PSA members. Concurrent with the gallery presentation, the Exhibition Committee has prepared a full color large format printed catalog of the exhibition. This catalog can also be seen online at ISSUU.com. Just search “Pasadena Society of Artists.” The catalog was created with the important assistance of PSA members Cyndi Bemel, Vibiana Aparicio Chamberlin, Fred Hecht, Rebecca H. Pollack and Virginia Causton-Keene. My thanks to all of the PSA volunteers that assisted in the presentation of this exhibition.
Founded in 1925, the Pasadena Society of Artists is one of the area’s original professional artist groups. The Society is noted for its vigorous, active membership, wide diversity of artistic statement, and high professional standards. Membership is by juried submission. PSA is a non-profit organization whose mission is to present the works of its many talented and creative artists to the community of Pasadena and surrounding areas. Combining an active tradition of community participation and partnering with local community arts organizations, as well as philanthropic, humanitarian and educational institutions, PSA endeavors to enhance public awareness of art and the enriching qualities it brings to our lives.
For more information about PSA please visit www.PasadenaSocietyofArtists.org
Lawrence D. Rodgers, Exhibition Chair Pasadena Society of Artists
Juan F. Bastos
Juror’s Statement
“As a juror, it was a great honor to judge this vibrant collection, which so powerfully showcases the distinct visions, talents, and skills of each artist. The diversity of expression on display show what a strong and energetic community the Society represents.”
Biography
Over the past 40 years, Los Angeles-based portrait artist, Juan Fernando Bastos, has executed several hundred portrait and landscape commissions in North and South America, Europe, and Asia. These oil paintings and pastel drawings hang in private homes, corporate offices, government buildings, embassies, libraries, churches, and universities. Examples can be viewed by selecting from the menu on the left. There are also a limited number of landscapes and still lifes for sale.
Bastos’ work is also represented in a number of public collections, including the Baltimore Museum of Art, the City of Baltimore, the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington, the Inter-American Development Bank (Washington, D.C.), The Baldwin School (Philadelphia), the Marlborough School (Los Angeles), The Archer School for Girls (Los Angeles), the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging, Good Samaritan Hospital (Los Angeles), Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles), the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, Viterbi School of Engineering, Price School of Public Policy, and Gould School of Law, the Los Angeles Diocese of the Episcopal Church, George Washington University, and Harvard University.
In private collections, Bastos is notably represented with commissioned portraits of high-profile art collectors Philip Niarchos, Eugenio Lopez, and Pamela Joyner.
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1958, Bastos and his family returned to Bolivia, their homeland, eleven years later. Surrounded by relatives who were painters, Bastos grew up in an artistic environment. After studying fine arts and architecture at the University of San Andres in La Paz, he came to the United States where he enrolled at Georgetown University in 1979. He later obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Cum Laude, and a Master of Fine Arts from Towson University.
Bastos has traveled extensively throughout Europe, South America, Central America, Asia, and the United States and, as a result, has exhibited widely. He has had one-man shows in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Lima, La Paz, and a Los Angeles retrospective of his California portraits. In addition, he has been included in group shows in New York, Paris, Madrid, Los Angeles, Essex, England, and a biennial in Cairo, Egypt. His works have been widely reviewed by the press. Bastos is often invited to give lectures and demonstrations at universities, colleges, art institutions, fraternal organizations, and social clubs. Throughout the year, he conducts private art lessons. He has also been featured in numerous television appearances throughout the Americas. Along with several other well-known artists, Bastos was profiled by The New York Times in a 1999 Sunday Style Section feature article about the reemergence of high-end portraiture. Bastos has lived in Los Angeles since 1996.
Juan Bastos works both from photographs and from live sittings, and often travels to the client to complete commissions.
To request further information on prices and commissioning a work of art, please contact the artist. www.juanbastos.com
Table of Contents
Directory of Artists
Bottom Photograph (L to R) Juan F. Bastos, Juror; Kathleen Swaydan, PSA President; Virginia Causton-Keene, Program Specialist, Betsy Lueke Creative Arts Center; Lawrence D. Rodgers, PSA Exhibition Chair
Middle Earth #3 Chamber
MariBeth Baloga
Photograph of Footprint, Pen & Ink, Digital Editing 10.5" x 6.5" NFS
Art, for me, is an internal journey. I allow my thoughts to meander wordlessly and to react to the developing image before me. I am not driven to create realistic images, although I do sometimes work with familiar images,combining and arranging them to create a new context.
I enjoy the process of generating something unknown to me and creating worlds that are at once familiar and abstract.
The work you see here originated with a photograph of footprints in the dusty soil of Zion National Park. It is one in a series that are titled “Middle Earth”.
6 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
High Fire Stoneware 11" x 6.5" x 6.5" $270
This three-legged vase is about to make its first step into the unknown territory. Is the world going to be kind to it? Or hostile? It is my hope that the journey will be eventful but peaceful, joyous and harmonious.
Born in the Depth of the Forest Mariko Bird
Barbara Lai Bennett
Acrylic on Canvas 12" x 12" $625
I spend much of my time out in the garden or looking at it from the inside. I’ve lived in the same place for over half a century and yet as any gardener knows, it’s always changing and renewing. There’s so much activity in the trees and plants with nest building or squirrels chasing each other, lizards darting in and out of the shadows. Spring brings the good weather and beautiful flowers and more activity as the mating rituals begin. When the baby birds start to fledge, it’s a miracle to see them go from hopping to actual flying while their parents work feverishly to feed them. It brings me such solace and joy and continuously inspires my art.
8 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Encircled
Shelter
Barbara Lai Bennett
The lush branches of a deodar cedar in my yard give shade and other protection from the elements to birds, squirrels and other creatures, people included. Flowering plants offer protection to butterfly eggs and chrysalises so they can develop into butterflies before birds can get to all of them. Tiny birds and lizards can rest or feed under protective foliage. We as humans can also offer shelter and protection to each other in times of need.
Acrylic on Wood Panel 32" x 31.75" $2,800
Tracking Stars
Katy Bishop
Alcohol Ink Reverse Painting on Plexiglass 18" x 24" $1,000
A vibrant constellation of color and motion unfolds across the surface of Tracking Stars. Luminous pools of emerald, turquoise, and fuchsia swirl together like nebulae forming in deep space, while earthy rusts and umbers anchor the composition in organic richness. Delicate gold lines arc and loop across the expanse—trails of energy that evoke the paths of comets or the silent mapping of celestial bodies. Each sweeping gesture feels spontaneous yet purposeful, tracing the unseen choreography of the universe. In this work, I want chaos and order to coalesce, offering an invitation to follow these luminous tracks into the mysteries of creation and wonder.
10 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
The beauty of an Arizona sunset is irresistible. I have traveled the highway between Los Angeles and Phoenix many times and always marvel at the unique pallet the setting sun evokes: blood-red skies with flashes of purple, hints of pink, and subtle yellows and peaches. Capturing this scene with a limited palette has been a challenge and a delight!
Arizona Sunset
Virginia Causton-Keene Oil on Canvas 36" x 36" $5,600
My Imaginary Mother Chuka Susan Chesney
Mixed Media - Watercolor, Pen & Ink 16" x 12" $450
I combined a portrait of an older lady with a portrait of Marilyn. I fitted the profile of the older lady with the side of Marilyn’s hair and shoulder, as if they were puzzle pieces that fit together. Marilyn represents my mother when she had postpartum psychosis. The older lady represents all the housekeepers we had who helped to take care of us in my family of origin. She also represents me because I mothered myself a lot. She could be my Aunt Elaine who gave me lots of wise advice. Maybe she echoes my grandmother May who died long before I was born. A lot of women raised me. Maybe the older lady is secretly an angel.
12 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Revelations VIII: Tapestry Fred Chuang
Mixed Media: Spray Paint, Nail Polish, Glitter - Seen Through Clear, Thin Panel 36" x 36" $5,000
My REVELATIONS series interprets the invisible building blocks of the universe. Each painting is created by destroying an older work with paint stripper, which contorts and corrodes the thin, clear material that is my “canvas” -- mirroring the process of destruction that makes sub-atomic particles fleetingly apparent in the detectors of the super-colliders of particle physicists. The background is repainted, after which the composition of spirals, arcs, and straight lines is mechanically cut. These cleared lines are then pigmented with glitter and nail polish. A final annealing in sunlight creates a flatter object enhanced by foamy textures and organic edges.
13 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Mariposa Street - Woodbury Bldg. Eaton Fire
Liz Crimzon
Original Digital Photograph 11.25" x 15" $175
When I first came upon the Woodbury Building, after the Eaton Fire, my gut response was “Thank God, the painting is still there!” To me, Mariposa Street felt like the center of our community, and seeing the destruction of Altadena Hardware, felt like my heart had been burned out. But knowing that the fire “chose” not to destroy the painting, feels like it left us something positive to hold onto. The painting stands in stark resistance to the damage inflicted by the fire. It is a beacon of hope shining out of the darkness. Altadena will rise from the ashes! 14 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Acrylic on Pellon on Canvas 36" x 18" $2,350
The purpose of my work is to record our natural world and preserve it in paint. I want the artwork to resonate with the peace I feel being outdoors and bring the viewer along with me to share those feelings. All of my paintings are created from photos I have taken on my weekly hikes around the Crescenta Valley. As part of my process, I decompose the photos, breaking them into a grid, painting each square one at a time. Yucca is plentiful at Deukmajian Wilderness Park. I love the flora and fauna in the park, but especially the majestic beauty of these towering flowers. I am also fascinated by its life cycle. Here you can see the old and withered plant in its final stages of life, living peacefully alongside a new fresh plant.
Contact information for this artist
Deukmajian Yucca Roger Dolin
Time Travel
This painting has been through a journey. Though it is light and airy now, hidden underneath lies a cacophony of color. I had considered it finished, but it bothered me. It was loud. It needed to be tamed. Tranquility and contemplation now offer a respite from the noise and chaos.
16 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Jean Cunningham
Acrylic on Canvas 24" x 24" $2,000
In Los Angeles, where I live in the foothills, we typically have a marine layer fog known as “May Gray” and “June Gloom.” But this summer we also had “No-sky July,” and “Foggust.” Here’s a tribute to the Pacific Ocean, the Los Angeles Basin and Southern California mountains.
Whispering Horizons
Jean Cunningham
Acrylic on Canvas 12" x 12" $500
Cyantype on Textile 46" x 24" $2,495
She Warrior series that explore the feminine within and the uniqueness of her warrior essence. Using a feminine silhouette to embody the characteristics of a she warrior! 18 Contact information for
artist
section.
She Warrior, Echos of Nature
Adeloa Davies-Aiyeloa
Day of the Dead Beauty Lore Eckelberry
This piece represents the Day of the Dead celebration; where many people pay honor to their dead ancestors by dressing up, going to the cemetery, playing music, making an Altar, displaying food that the dead ancestor used to enjoy. She represents a fancy lady, who used to wear nice clothing and ornaments before she passed away. This picture also represents a unique and creative way to decorate yourself to commemorate this day. 19
Acrylic on Canvas 36" x 36" $3,800
Pivotal
Glimpses/Giving Care
Darien Donner
Watercolor on Cotton Paper 6" x 18" $425
Pivotal Glimpses is a series of stories I heard that left a mark in my soul. “Giving Care” is a story told to me by my sister Costanza, who is accompanying and caring for my ill mother. My mother has advanced dementia. She does not talk anymore, and her mobility is very limited. One day my mother was moaning out of pain. She had fever. My sister watched her entering a catatonic state, and in that moment Costanza was certain that my mother was close to dying. In a panic, Costanza laid down on my mother’s bed, in opposite direction to my mother, and held her feet. They both fell asleep. When my sister woke up, my mother had recovered and was feeling better. Whether my sister was realizing it or not, when I listened to the story, it felt to me that my sister was holding onto my mother’s feet as if holding onto my mother’s life.
20
Pivotal Glimpses/Unxepected Encounter
Darien Donner
Watercolor on Cotton Paper 6" x 18" $425
Pivotal Glimpses is a series of stories I heard that left a mark in my soul. “Unexpected Encounter” is a story told to me by my brother Adriano who lives in Italy. To help out my ailing mother, he offered to clear out and clean the attic room attached to the apartment. He went up a flight of service stairs in the apartment building. When he stepped into the dark corridor leading to the attic room, he was startled by a hiding person. The person was an illegal immigrant who, in desperation, entered the building because he was fleeing from an African gang. He was shaking. Once Adriano calmed down from the scare, he succeeded in calming down the intruder and asked him questions and offered help. Both had a deep exchange about family, mothers and difficulties in life. Elimir, turned out to be from Africa and was very young. His desire was to go back to his hometown and return to his family. I was moved by this unplanned and unexpected encounter. I believe that neither Elimir nor Adriano will forget this meaningful event.
21 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
This piece is inspired by the spirit of Japanese Sumi-e, aiming not to replicate nature, but to evoke its essence. In it, I use a palette knife to impart a rough, vital quality to the painting. Like the natural world, this work is shaped by both structure and improvisation. Through this balance, I hope to create work that feels alive and rooted in the poetry of nature.
22 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Torn Leaf
Karen Duckles
Oil on Canvas 30" x 24" $2,000
Blushing Camellia Mims Ellis
Cone 5 Ceramic 12" x 14" x 12" $400
I enjoy walking through our local tourist spot, Descanso Gardens. Especially in fall and winter when the camellias are blooming. Not only are they one of the few cold weather blooming flowers, but they also provide a source of nectar for bees and hummingbirds during this colder season. These perky plants can grow 10”- 12” a year and Descanso has nurtured shrubs that are as tall as trees! You can walk under these and gaze up at the perfection of their multi-petaled flowers. With this piece, I enlarge a typical blossom to pay tribute to the camellia flower in all of its splendid glory.
artist
Putti have adorned Western art and architecture, traversing divine and earthly realms since ancient times. I believe toddlers reside in a similar magical space, but only recently did I make the connection between real-life toddlers and the putti I love in ancient art. In this multi-layered work, this “putto” whispers instructions to imaginary companions as they emerge from his imagination. Together, they struggle into the bright yellow rain boots to experience the joy of those first steps into a fantasy of swirling leaves.
24 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Putti in Yellow Boots
Judy Frisk
Colored Pencils on Paper 22" x 30" $1,800
2025
Etching 10" x 12" $185
2025 — I can’t escape the idea of writing about what the art’s about is rather useless… unless the art is not very good. Art has its own voice. This piece is what hits me about 2025. Ironically, in these drastically polarized times, the image/symbol of a country in distress, is a shout out by people on both sides. The upside-down flag was originally a nautical signal to other ships usually warning of disease on board.
Steve Graziani
Pawsing to Reflect
Kathryn Hansen
Colored
Grizzlies are magnificent, sentient beings, each carrying a presence as immense as the wild places they roam. In early spring, when they wake from hibernation, they make their way to lower elevations, where melting snow reveals tender roots and fresh shoots to fill their long-empty stomachs. This bear ambled down a hillside, then paused in a field brushed with sage, goldenrod, and scattered stones. There, he settled into a long, quiet rest—perfectly at home in the heart of Yellowstone.
Pencil 16" x 16" $2,960
My Wise Friend
R. René Hoffman
Digital Photograph 17" x 10" $400
Last spring there was a nest with 3 owlets in it. I watched them grow from white and fuzzy to full feathered. Eventually they grew bolder, jumping from branch to branch and finally down to lower levels where they drew everyone’s attention. What no one noticed was Mama was always watching from a nearby tree. She was about 100 feet away, just keeping an eye. They are still in my neighborhood. One evening one landed on a wire beside my house. I grabbed my camera and got off 6 photographs before he left. I guess he found a mouse.
27 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Femininomenon
Karen Hochman Brown
Digital print on metal, cotton doilies created by the artist’s great-grandmother, glass cabochons, mini pom pom trim, plexiglass, paper, adhesives
40" x 40" $4,500
Femininomenon weaves together craft, memory, and digital transformation. Inspired by the blooms in my mother’s garden, nine floral mandalas radiate around my great-grandmother’s crocheted doilies. Their symmetry and rhythm guide each composition. Layered laser-cut designs and magnifying cabochons invite intimate viewing, revealing the interplay between analog precision and digital manipulation. The vibrant pink palette reclaims traditionally “feminine” motifs and reframes them as powerful symbols of lineage and resilience. By merging inherited handiwork with contemporary technology, the piece honors the artistry of the women before me while transforming their legacy into a new and living phenomenon.
28 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
The Algonquin
Karen Hochman Brown
Digital Animation 1920 x 1080 Pixels $250
The Algonquin is a digital video work capturing a fleeting slice of New York City street life. Filmed from a fixed point across from the historic Algonquin Hotel, the piece becomes a portrait of movement and stillness: taxis, cyclists, pedestrians, and a party-rental truck negotiating space and time. The truck’s passenger, wearing a cartoon mushroom T-shirt, gestures and guides, creating the work’s most sustained action. Inspired by glitch aesthetics, the footage is digitally fragmented to reveal a layered abstraction. The piece invites viewers to linger in disorientation, where the ordinary becomes unfamiliar and the overlooked becomes newly visible.
artist
Planet & Clouds
Sharon Jeniye Cohen
Integral Frame Holding Tyvek, Mercury Paper, Metallic Papers
12.75" x 12.75" x 1.25" $400
The planet floats closest to the viewer as it clings to the glass of the integral frame. The horizontal clouds are reflected shapes of the cosmos, drifting and changing positions as the viewer’s eyes skim over the artwork. The image changes through layers, transparency and shadow. The metallic materials have their own internal light that reflects throughout the artwork.
30 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Butterfly with Veins
Jeffry Jensen
Digital Photograph 11" x 14" $525
I changed the background on my photograph of a Butterfly in order to combine the veins that you can find on a butterfly with the veins that can be found on a leaf. There is a butterfly that can blend into the background by landing onto a plant. This butterfly has been called a dead leaf butterfly. In nature, camouflage can be a winning combination, a vital way of surviving. My butterfly can be standing in for the artist. In life, survival can be a way of being more than what the parts expose.
The world is unknowably chaotic and complex. In my mind there are a number of options for how we can cope with this fact. We could live in ignorance pretending the world is simple, we could give up on trying to understand it, or we could strive to learn as much as possible while acknowledging we know nothing. The dense fractal-like structures in this work represent the fractal nature of the human experience, both at an individual and societal level. I want the viewer to feel consumed by the beauty of chaos. 32 Contact information for this artist can be
Butterfly Fragment # 51
Booker Johnson
Pigment Print 40.5" x 40.5" $1,500
Fragrance of Spring
In my composition titled Fragrance of Spring. I aimed to capture the delicate beauty associated with this season. I envisioned the first flowers, so tender that they almost appear translucent, their petals gently stirred by a soft breeze. Although the flower I painted exists only in my imagination, it represents for me the fragile freshness of the spring blossoms, along with their exquisite scents.
Joanna Kos Oil on Canvas 36" x 24" $2,600
Past is Prologue
Leah Knecht
Old Shutter, Oil, Assemblage 32" x 16.5" $1,500
This piece, has an old shutter, rice paper kites, Japanese dolls, and a painted face of my grandfather, references the Internment of Japanese Americans, and includes a tag to report to a designated detainment center prior to internment.
Executive Order 9066, signed by FDR on February 19, 1942, authorized the Secretary of War and military commanders to designate military areas in the United States, from which any or all persons may be excluded. This order served as the legal basis for the forced removal and incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.
34 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Exclusion
Leah Knecht
Old Shutter, Oil, Assemblage 32" x 16.5" $1,500
This piece was made from a very old shutter, Chinese rice paper kites, and other items. The painted faces are of Chew Hoy Quong, already in the U.S., and his wife Quok Shee, who was denied entry based on her race. For almost two years Quok Shee was held in detention at the Angel Island Immigration Station. She was repeatedly interrogated, denied access to a lawyer, plagued by depression, and subjected to smallpox. The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first significant U.S. law to restrict immigration based on nationality.
35 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
On this journey through our lives, no matter who we are, we all start and end a journey as we continue our path of existence. But the lessons we learn and the experiences we hold are more. It is not a destination, but a complexity of striving to understand. The desire and search for an inner connection with a moment inspires me to look for these images and faces. This freedom and expression that accompany this search give me inner relationship to the world around me.
36 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Faces
Patricia Lee
High Fired Ceramic 8" x 6" x 6" $2,750
Reaching for Freedom
Patricia Lee
High Fired Ceramic 8" x 7" x 7" $3,450
Reaching up and out towards a point that brings everything into balance. A search for freedom and finding our false sense of freedom that we reach for in our imaginations. Our misguided ideas of what freedom is. The challenge is to maintain and nurture a connection between inner self and artistic expression while keeping in check the evernagging hiatus of uncertainty. Her work reflects the uncertain nature of our life's journey. 37
Wavelength
Tommy Lei
Archival Pigment Print in Gold Baroque Wood Frame 24" x 20" $2,000
Wavelength invites viewers to attune themselves to the higher vibrations that exist both within and around us. Inspired by Amit Ray’s words — “Life is a dance. Mindfulness is witnessing that dance” — the work captures a moment of quiet harmony in nature. The koi, gliding in gentle arcs through the water, becomes a living brushstroke, embodying the rhythm and flow we can find when we are fully present. In this stillness, color becomes not just a visual element, but an emotional frequency — a reminder that beauty emerges when we move in step with the world’s subtle currents.
38 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Light in Green Unger Ling
One day I was driving inside Stanley Park Vancouver, Canada where I visited often. I made a short stop at the middle of the road and walked in the side pathway. I walked about a quarter of a mile inside the path and suddenly this image appeared in front of me. sunlight was pouring on the trees and leaves that held me still. The light hitting on the objects are like butterfly dancing. I then decided to have this incredible image painted before regrets.
Oil on Canvas 40" x 30" NFS
Fire Country
Janet Manalo
Mixed Media, Acrylic on Canvas 21" x 17" $500
Eight weeks before the Eaton Canyon Fire erupted in January, I painted this canvas, collaged sections from a map of California, added hazy smoke, and framed it with three dozen match boxes. The map areas represented places where fire had already impacted the State from previous wildfires. On January 7 at 7:00 pm, the view from my backyard was a frightening inferno. Flames engulfed my neighborhood and hurricane winds drove embers and debris in every direction. My husband and I hastily evacuated, relocated for a panicky week, and then returned to find our home still standing. Despite the ash and soot inside, we were (and still are) extremely grateful for all the local heroes and fire fighters who saved most of our local neighborhood.
40 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
VS Dys-info
Altered Book, Mixed Media, Assemblage 14" x 12" x 12" $1,200
Our culture seems to be at a critical crossroad during the current Age of Information. Books are being banned, artificial intelligence is exploding, and social media posts scream for attention and validation. With the use of a gutted laptop, this assemblage ties together technology and the written word. Books are intentionally resized, and their titles and contents are manipulated to provoke curiosity and confusion. The artwork merges theory, education, speculation, falsehoods, fraud and deception. Viewers are left to discern Dys-information versus Information.
Info
Janet Manalo
Reflection Watercolor Kevin McCants
Watercolor on Paper 14" x 22" $1,000
A continuation of My Reflection Series, featuring Watercolor in this updated version of the Bergdorf Windows
Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
The Watcher in Window #6 Kevin McCants
Oil on Panel 49" x 16" $1,500
The Watcher in Window # 6 Based loosely on the Windows of Monique Ilhuillier, Using Washes in this series and expanding on the Chaos to Couture theme of Reflection of our inner selves and the world around us, this series moves more of the focus towards the Mannequins and the interactions inside the windows. How their presence can lure the viewer in simply or seductively. The Watcher focuses on a need to be above it all. How some can softly lead from the shadows with style elegance and grace.
artist
Facescape Series: Jackson
Richard G. Murphy
Acrylic on Canvas 20" x 16" $3,200
I’ve always been drawn to faces — the kind that reveals a story without saying a word. What began as a quiet experiment in portraiture quickly grew into something much more personal — a way to reconnect with the people and places around me through the lens of art. I have known Jackson (the subject of my painting) since his birth well over a decade ago. What inspired me to capture him in a painting is the fact that he is a beautiful, innocent, bi-racial young boy who looks like many other young children who, because of their mixed race, are at risk of being threatened... bullied...and/or discriminated against, when that child has done nothing wrong.
44 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
QM
Mixed Media: Ink, Acrylic, Glitter on Thick Paper 11" x 11" $3,500
QM stands for Quantum Mechanics. At the top of the artwork there is depicted the Schrödinger Equation, considered as the most important equation in QM. The Schrödinger equation is a partial differential equation that governs the wave function of a non-relativistic quantum-mechanical system. It is named after the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger who postulated it in 1925. The equation forms the basis for the work that resulted in Schrödinger’s Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933. This artwork is created so as to remind me to do my QM studies.
Albert Natian
From Deep Within
Victor Picou
Japanese Boulder Alabaster 23" $7,000
FROM DEEP WITHIN presents new light from the ancient stone’s center. Many years ago, it was part of a large boulder on a shore of Japan. The radiance of the floral tips carries the light into a new space. The hand welded metal base is an open hand embracing and cradling the stone. Carving this beautiful stone was a personal adventure of finding new light and in creating hard, but delicate surfaces. The recessed surfaces provide subtle shadows.
46 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
LIGHT OF LOVE is a haloed mother and child in the solid glow of translucent alabaster from British Columbia. The strength of their love holds them together, opposed to being in an embrace. Their flat faces allow the viewer the choice to put their own faces onto the stone. Their delicate touches ripple through the stone creating a vital halo around each. The tiered base elevates the narrative like a pyramidal pedestal.
Light of Love
Victor Picou
B C Anhydrous Alabaster 26" $10,000
Jar of Marbles No. 2
Mike Pitzer
Colored Pencil & Graphite on Paper 26.5" x 19.5" $3,000
I was working on our backyard here in Fresno, moving a bunch of rock that had at least 40 years of dirt buildup in beds. I’d dig ’em up, pour ’em out on the steel grate of our chaise lounges and hose ’em off, pulling out the weeds, sticks, and leaves as I went through wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow for about 5 weeks straight. About halfway through a dozen wheelbarrows, as I washed the dirt away, I started finding marbles. Not just one or two, but dozens. From the amount I found, I’d say some kid must have spilled his/her can on the rocks, and the marbles just disappeared into 4 inches of rock, only to be buried with weed blower dirt over the next 40 years. This jar is a combination of those marbles and a bunch of others I had stashed away in one of my garage boxes. I probably kept those to use with a slingshot.
48 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Collagraph #3
Rebecca H. Pollack
Collagraph Print 5" x 5.5" $450
This Collagraph is a print using a cardboard substrate and found materials, including fabrics, textured papers and pressed plant materials. The materials were glued down, dried and repeatedly coated in polyurethane, sealing them permanently. Then I selectively inked the plate, and, when satisfied, printed it on the press. Each printed image is unique, due to the handling of the inking process.
Charbonnel Printing Ink on Legion Stonehenge White Cotton 90 lb. Paper 8" x 4.75" $125
Twilight in a small Oxfordshire, UK village. An after-dinner walk with dear friends in the dusky light. These lovely memories were the inspiration for this intaglio print. I applied the blue and yellow of the sunset on the already etched Plexiglass plate, using my favorite Charbonnel printing inks. After printing, the etched lines, which hadn't been inked, created a negative impression. I then inked the plate a second time, using
50 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Twilight
Susan Merrifield Prieto
Silent Missive
Rhonda Raulston
11" x 20" $350
Fire writes what we cannot read but somehow understand. The Calligraphy of Fire series emerged from personal tragedy, transforming destruction into an artistic language of beauty and meaning. Like ancient manuscripts consumed by time, these photographs reveal urgent messages written in ash, oxidation, and memory. Each piece captures fire’s dual nature: violent yet beautiful, destructive yet generative Silent Missive captures the fire’s most direct communication, its script both violent and strangely beautiful against a volcanic landscape of bubbled paint and scorched substrate. Destruction has become creation, where flame transforms surface into text.
51 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Photograph
Mixed Media 12" x 16" $500
Mount Washington Romp is an imaginary topography evoking my childhood growing up on Mt. Washington, an historic, eclectic enclave nestled in Northeast LA. The beginnings of this piece were intuitive, as is much of my work. It evolved into a surrealistic landscape with the landmarks of my youth: the Southwest Museum elevator tower and totem, Halloween costume contests at the Carlin G. Smith playground, the pallet man on Cypress Avenue, the many sets of secretstairs linking the canyons, and watching the bobbing road runners performing on our lawn as we watched from our breakfast window.
52 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Mount Washington Romp
Serena Refoua
Marching from the Valley
The landscape of the southwest is beautiful and yet it also holds stories of oppression. Stories of the forced marches of native peoples form their ancestral lands while ignored for decades are now studied and recognized with national shame. One of those is the forced march from Canyon de Chelly in northern Arizona. Visiting this national monument and appreciating the beauty of the site also requires reflection on the events that occurred there and an imagining of the hardship of the march for women and children.
Jean Richardson Oil 30" x 40" $1,100
What’s
Going On Behind My Back?
Harriet Sherry
Earthenware with Slip Transfers, Underglaze and Glaze
15.5" x 8" x 9.5" $425
Suggested in this two-faced owl sculpture is a front and back with both faces showing anguish and concern. The ragged, worn, coat of feathers of torn slip transfers and scraped painted surfaces add to the disheveled quality of the animal. An owl’s natural, remarkable rotation of their heads has allowed these two views of exaggerated emotion to almost seem natural. As I consider situations that are being suggested as within the norm we all might wonder what is happening behind our backs.
54 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
The Astrid Long sculpture is a 3D ampersand. Since different typefaces have varying shapes, ampersands can be stylistic interpretations depending on design and usage. Origins date back to ancient Rome where the ampersand was used as a quick word for “et” (meaning “and”) combining an “e” and “t”. An ampersand usually connects other letters, names or words. As a clay sculpture, I have Astrid Long as a solitary figure connecting nothing.
55 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Astrid Long
Cecilia Torres
Crawl Glaze on Ceramic Clay 14.5" x 6" x 2.5" $400
Church on an Island Murthy Sudhakar
Watercolor on Untreated Canvas Panel 13" x 10" $300
This is a church on an Island in Stoney Lake in Ontario, Canada. It is accessible by boat onlyno roads. The excellent play of light and the foliage behind this small church offered an opportunity paint using a cool color theme. Additionally I have painted this on a standard canvas panel, primed with 2 layers of acrylic gesso suitable for acrylic painting. A challenge of course.
56 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
I have taken many walks in this section of the Maricopa County that borders the City of Mesa in Arizona. These morning winter walks offer views with low sun angles and crisp rays. The landscape is barren, yet one can spot a variety of colors in the sturdy fauna. In this painting I have attempted to capture the play of light, colors and the patina of the rundown structures, which reflect reality of life in these localities.
Morning Walk
Murthy Sudhakar
Watercolor on 100% Cotton 140# Rough Watercolor Paper 13.37" x 10.62" $400
Journey into the Earth
Robert Michael Sullivan
Photograph 12" x 18" $700
A pathway provides access for a journey below the earth’s surface into its crust to explore the inner structure and composition of the planet. Note the erosion patterns, shapes, and colors. As one descends, different layers of geologic formations composed of distinctive rock types with mineral deposits and fossils are exposed. This is what a billion years of age looks like.
58 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Fringe Element
Digital Photo Printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Paper 10" x 10" $450
Eucalyptus macrocarpa is a complex and dynamic treasure from its sculptural pods and silvery leaves to the fiber optic blooms that literally pop off their capsules like holiday party favors. I look forward to their explosive seasonal debut as viewed at the Huntington Gardens Australian grounds in San Marino.The tasseled floral tips are even more remarkable as they capture the glow of midday light.
Laurel Termini
Gabrielino Crest Trail Stream captures a quiet moment deep within a forested landscape, inviting viewers into a natural sanctuary where water and light coexist in harmony. The composition balances a feeling of stillness with subtle movement, as the water flows gently through the landscape, enhancing the sense of calm. The color choices—soft blues, earthy browns, and varying shades of green—work together to evoke a peaceful, immersive atmosphere that feels both familiar and timeless. This landscape doesn’t just represent a place; it invites you to pause and appreciate the steady presence of nature’s rhythms.
60 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Gabrielino Crest Trail Stream
Kathleen Swaydan Oil on Linen Panel 8" x 6" $395
Still Life with White Pitchers captures two white ceramic pitchers with sharp, geometric lines. One sits atop a rough wooden block, which contrasts with the smooth surfaces around it, while a red ribbon drapes gracefully, adding a bold splash of color. A small glass marble rests nearby, reflecting the soft light that comes from the left, creating depth and shadows against a darkbackground. What drew me to this composition was the interplay between texture and color—a quiet yet striking arrangement that invites a closer look at everyday objects through light and form.
Still life with White Pitcher
Kathleen Swaydan Oil on Linen Panel 8" x 6" $395
Dancer
The dancer moves gracefully. Her steps echoing the rhythm of her ancestors. Each movement tells a story—one of perseverance, tradition, and the strength inherited from generations before her. Guided by the love and encouragement of her mother, she dances not only for herself but for her family and community, honoring their legacy through every leap and turn.
Suzanne Urquiza Oil on Canvas 16" x 20" $700
Ken Weintrub
Most people think of acrylics as hard, harsh, and in your face both when it comes to blaring color and severe shape edges. This work, number 71 of my square series, belies those preconceptions with varying edges and some subtlety of color. The color palette was inspired by our Southern California desert landscapes and their great variety of earth hues.
Square Series #71
Acrylic on Cradled Board 18" x 24" $900
Etching, Aquatint and Watercolor Monoprint 9" x 12" $800
Layers of bold watercolors scatter reflections of tincture. Splash like tints over the underneath etched and aquatinted outlines; a glimpse to the soft and sensual rhythms of the Bossa Nova dance.
Bossa Nova
Tsvetelina Valkov
Tsvetelina Valkov
Etching, Aquatint and China Collé Monoprint 9" x 12" $700
The Veil Nebula does exist. It consists of a supernova debris field, remnants of an 8000 years ago explosion that are residing in the Swan, Constellation Cygnus. The collision between the blast wave and a conglomerate of interstellar gas and dust left a light emanating chaotic structure. Inspired by this cosmic phenomenon, I did my artistic interpretation, an etched and aquatinted composition of geometrical fragments. On top of the completed design, I applied a layer of colored image Chine-collé which responded to the complicated nebula structure and radiance. For the Chine-collé finish, I used an image of my own watercolor painting, so that the artwork is as authentic as a monoprint.
65 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
The Veil Nebula
When
Water Remembered
Terence Wilson
My painting is in the Mexican tradition of narrative surrealism. I tell a story of the daily struggle of Mexicans who attempt the dangerous journey to cross the border to “El Norte.” A Mexican, the man, dies at the river’s edge at the border. He becomes a bird, then an angel, and then he reaches the city of Los Angeles at the LA River. Our Lady of Guadalupe guides his spirit. 66 Contact information for this artist can be found at the end of this section.
Editors: Cyndi Bemel, Fred Hecht, Vibiana Aparcio-Chamberlin, Rebecca H. Pollack
Treasurer: Ken Weintrub
Technical Lead: Fred Chuang
Instagram Content: Bella Chen
Facebook Content: George Paul Miller
Webmaster: Fred Chuang
Catalog Designer: Lawrence D. Rodgers
Cover Design: Virginia Causton-Keene
Call for New Members
Are you an artist?
Throughout Pasadena Society of Artists’ 100 year history, works by PSA members have been sold at major auction houses, collected in important art collections, and displayed in museums throughout the United States and Europe. Our legacy is immense!
Would you like to be part of our organization?
We are always looking for new, dedicated members. Our artists work in all media and styles of drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, and photography. All have been juried into the Society.
New Member Screenings for the Pasadena Society of Artists are usually held twice a year, in the spring and fall. Please go to our website at www.pasadenasocietyofartists.org for more information. If you are interested in becoming a member, please complete a Membership Inquiry Form, found online, and contact our Director of Membership, Marion Dies. Ms. Dies will notify you when the next screening has been scheduled.
Qualifications considered for membership include the applicant’s dedication to artistic standards of excellence, professionalism, accomplishments, skills that benefit the Society, and the artist’s future potential. Applicants submit three (four if a virtual screening) pieces of artwork representing their current medium, and style, created in the past two years. Artwork submitted is judged by presentation, talent, and originality. We encourage perseverance; a number of our members have been offered memberships after having been declined multiple times. Former members include Charles White, Walter Askin, Jirayr Zorithian, Conrad Buff, David Green, Enjar Hansen, Frode Dann, Jae Carmichael, Leonard Edmondson, Mildred Lapson, Paul Sample, Hanson Puthuff, Sam Hyde Harris, Martin Mondrus, Betye Saar, Mabel Avarez, Kay Snodgrass and many more.
We look forward to welcoming new artists to the Pasadena Society of Artists as we celebrate our 100th anniversary during 2025.
For a Membership Inquiry Form go to: https://www.pasadenasocietyofartists.org/get_involved/join/application.html
