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Sonoma Art Directory
memorials
Cedora Scheiblich (1920-2011) loved to paint in oil, pastel, watercolor, and gouache. A long-time resident of Sonoma Valley, she painted the landscapes of region, and scenes of the Northwest. She was also an art instructor and a founding member of the Valley of the Moon Art Association.
Charles M. Schulz (1922-2000) was the American cartoonist that created Peanuts, the comic strip, and the cartoon characters Charlie Brown, Snoopy and their friends — a comic strip beloved by millions that spun into books and television specials, like A Charlie Brown Christmas. Peanuts ran in American newspapers from 1950 to 2000. Schulz was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Schulz loved drawing and sometimes drew his family dog, Spike, who ate unusual things, such as pins and tacks. Spike was the inspiration for the cartoon dog Snoopy. Peanuts made its first appearance on October 2, 1950, in seven newspapers. The weekly Sunday-page debuted on January 6, 1952. Peanuts eventually became one of the most popular and influential comic strips of all time. At its height, Peanuts was published daily in 2,600 papers in 75 countries, in 21 languages.
Schulz had been a resident of Sonoma County since 1958. The Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa opened on August 17, 2002, two blocks away from his former studio, celebrating his life’s work and art of cartooning.
Books by Charles Schulz, and biographies include:
(source of this bio and photo: wikipedia.org)
Colin J. Lambert (1948-2015) was known for sculpture that is figurative, representational, classical and decorative. He created figurative bronzes, carved marble, stone sculptures, fountains, and garden works. He had a studio in Valley Ford, Western Sonoma. He studied at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and in Europe. A quote from the artist: “Being an artist becomes a vehicle for the spiritual journey, each piece a milestone, marker or souvenir.
Diana Lee (died 2016) created fine art scratchboard renderings, and taught for the International Society of Scratchboard Artists. Her etchings are on white kaolin clay (porcelain) and sprayed with a layer of thin black ink.
Lee also wrote the book Starting From Scratch, about her techniques with black and white and color scratchboaring.
Frank Krueger (1926-2003) was an architect and artist who worked in various media. He was a member of the National Watercolor Society, a prize winner in various shows, and an officer and member of the Arts Guild of Sonoma for many years.
Frank Schueler (1933 – 2020) was a sculptor residing in Sebastopol since 1984, known for his generosity and mentoring in the artist community. Frank was one of the founding members of Sonoma County’s Art Trails and Sebastopol’s Art at the Source. Frank also served on the board of the Sebastopol Center for the Arts.
Frans Wildenhain (1905-1980) was a Bauhaus-trained German potter and sculptor. Right after World War II, he joined his first wife Marguerite Wildenhain in Sonoma County and worked as a teacher and artist with her at the Pond Farm Artists Colony. Frans then moved to Rochester, NY, and taught for many years at the School for American Craftsmen at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Frans Wildenhain received numerous prizes for his artwork, from (among others) the International Exposition in Paris (1939), the Albright Art Gallery (1952), the Brussels Worlds Fair (1958), and a Guggenheim Fellowship (1958).
See these books about Frans Wildenhain:
Gordon Herr was an architect and a co-founder with his wife Jane, of Pond Farm Artist Colony, the American Artist Colony near Guerneville, California that began in 1939-1940. The Herrs envisioned Pond Farm as a community for artists fleeing Europe at the onset of World War II. Gordon thought of it as “a sustainable sanctuary for artists away from a world gone amuck.” The colony would in part support itself through summer workshops, and several renowned resident artists came to teach there, including Victor Reis, Frans Wildenhain and wife Marguerite Wildenhain. The workshops ended in 1953. The complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. (sources: “Pond Farm Barn Exterior” by MikeVdP, and wikipedia.org)
Artist Helene Minelli (1918-2010) was a native of Sonoma Valley, born on a ranch in 1918, and the Valley inspired her lifelong creative works. Her mediums were oil, acrylic, and especially watercolor. She dedicated an impressive amount of service to the local art community, including: President of the Sonoma Valley Art Center and Gallery, later known as Valley of the Moon Art Association; founder of the North Coast Viticulture Art Exhibit and Sales; Trustee on the Board of Society of Western Artists; and Judge for the Society of Western Artists, San Francisco.
Judy Butler was known for “painterly plein air oil paintings of the Northern California wine country and Pacific coast.” Judy studied art at Stanford University (BA) and the University of California, Berkeley (MA). Judy lived, worked and painted in Berkeley, New York, Egypt, Silicon Valley, Monterey and the Sonoma wine country. Before devoting herself full time to fine art, she worked as a graphic designer, illustrator, graphics manager and art director.
Lin Lipetz (1928-2014) was a Sonoma author, artist, instructor and interior architect. She was born in Bozeman, Montana, and studied interior architecture and fine art in Washington and California, before finally settling in Sonoma County. She served on the Cultural and Fine Arts Commission for the City of Sonoma, and helped establish the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art in the 1990s. She also wrote the book, The Secret of Inner Presence. Lin was “a mentor for many students and a friend to all.” Lin had a B.A. from San Jose State University in interior architecture, and M.F.A from the University of Washington in ceramics, textiles and painting.
Marguerite (Friedlaender) Wildenhain (1896 – 1985) was a French-born, German and later American ceramic artist, art teacher and author. Due to her Jewish ancestry in World War II, she was compelled to emigrate to the U.S. in 1940, and found her way to Sonoma County. She began to conduct summer pottery workshops at Pond Farm, her home and studio near Guerneville, California. She became a founding teacher of the Pond Farm Artist Colony. Her husband Franz Wildenhain was also a well-known artist in the colony. Marguerite wrote three influential books: Pottery: Form and Expression (1959), The Invisible Core: A Potter’s Life and Thoughts (1973), and …that We Look and See: An Admirer Looks at the Indians (1979).*
See also: Marguerite Wildenhain and the Bauhaus: An Eyewitness Anthology.
*source: Wikipedia.org
Maurice Lapp (1925-2014) was a devoted oil painter, watercolorist and art teacher, and was recently featured in Art Trails catalog as someone with a calling for communicating the absolute necessity of art. He held a position as an art instructor at the Santa Rosa Junior College.
Mike Laflin was a contemporary sculptor who worked in wood and metal: “Multiple woods, metal shapes and artifacts, combined in two dimensions or raised in relief. Marquetry and inlay, gilding and patination, figures molded in bronze decorate the designs.” His conceptions included a Kaleidoscope series: “Each circular sculpture is constructed of multiple segments, each individually carved on the bandsaw out of various exotic woods.”
Ray Jacobsen (1938-2007) was born in Englewood Colorado, and came to Sonoma County in 1947 with his family. Ray is known for his landscape paintings of Sonoma County. He contributed his time and artwork to the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, where he as an Advisory Council member. Ray was also one of the founding members of the Arts Guild of Sonoma in 1977, an active and supportive member for 30 years.
“My paintings blend realism and the surreal in a unique interpretation of our hills and valleys. My deep personal love of the natural beauty of Sonoma county and the northern California coast has inspired my work for five decades.” – Ray Jacobsen
Susan Sohl (1945-2020) was known for her watercolors and collages made of Gesso, watercolors, torn papers, and acrylic inks. “I focus on individual expression and the development of a personal visual language.” In her Artist Statement, she wrote: “I am a curious person… My paintings reflect this intellectual and artistic curiosity…. The way I work with collage, for example, developed after months of experiments with gesso, watercolors, torn papers, and acrylic inks. No-one taught me how to create figures from paper and paste, but I struggled until I had the desired result. The Muse Series was the result.” About teaching art, she wrote: ” I focus on individual expression and the development of a personal visual language.”
Trude Guermonprez (1910-1976) born Gertrud Jalowetz, was a textile artist born in Danzig, Poland,¬ emigrated to California and became one of the textile artists of the Pond Farm Artist Colony of Sonoma County. She also served as chair of the craft department at the California College of Arts and Crafts, and worked at Oakland College.
Victor Ries (1907-2013), the metal artist and jewelry designer, emigrated from Berlin, Germany to Northern California during World War II. He was one of the metal artists and teachers of the Pond Farm Artist Colony in Sonoma County. He is recognized in the Jewish-American Hall of Fame. He taught at the College of Marin, the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland and Saint Marys College in Moraga.