Graton Gallery - California Fine Art & Artisan Crafts ~ “A friendly destination for great art!”

Our Artist-Partners

The Gallery is owned and operated by a partnership of 9 local artists who are inspired by the local culture and beautiful natural environment.

Our artist~partners cover a wide variety of subjects, techniques and inspirations. The gallery walls are constantly changing with a wide variety of art to please any art lover. Please vist each artists section for samples of our work.

Sally Baker ~ Watercolors that create a specific moment in time.

Susan Ball ~ Still-lifes that display meticulous detail of form and landscapes that reflect her love of nature.

James Freed ~ Draftsman and painter of landscapes with evidence of human interaction.

Bruce K. Hopkins ~ Geometric art, landscapes, cityscapes and figure studies in pastels, gouache & digital media.

Soo Noga ~ Abstractions from within with an intuitive sense of form, light and composition

Rik Olson ~ Printmaking and painting of landscapes and more.

Linda Ratzlaff ~ Landscapes of Sonoma county and surrounding areas.

Sandra Rubin ~ Acrylic paintings of land, figure and still life expressing immediate and profound responses to being alive.

Mylette Welch ~ Colorful, playful portraits of dogs, children, old diners, and rusty trucks from a a surrealistic world of dreams and memories.

Sally Baker

I am a watercolor artist in Sebastopol, California. I live with my husband Neil. Our son Keith has left Los Angeles and moved back to Sonoma County. Originally from Los Angeles, I received by B.A. from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and my teaching credential from the University of Southern California. I have been teaching fine arts for the past thirty-four years and currently teach at Healdsburg High School. Artist’s statements, like their art, evolve over time. So it is with me. As I reflect on my work, I inevitably come to certain conclusions. My early work spoke of my affinity with the high desert. I felt passionate about adobe structures. I was fascinated with the intensity of the soft desert colors. I was also drawn to the intense shadows cast because of the special light quality of the desert atmosphere. Although my work continues to focus on strong shadow shapes, I would have to say that my love of color has dominated my more current work. I love to use very saturated pigments while still allowing the light of the paper to shine through. After visiting Japan seven summers ago and again three summers ago, my subject matter has focused on Asian still life. I have always been drawn the Asian aesthetic and it seems to suit my style. I visited Italy this past March and returned with pottery from Tuscany and my latest paintings include luscious colors inspired by the region. I would describe my work as sharp focused with emphasis on strong shadow shapes that create a specific moment in time. It is my hope that the viewer will be engaged, enter the picture, slow down, explore and visit for a while.

Sally Baker
website: www.sallybaker.com
e-mail: knsbaker@yahoo.com

Below are just a few samples of Sally's vibrant watercolor paintings:

Tuscan Plate with Asparagus

Asian Still Life #3

Shells and Shadows

Chopsticks with Blue and White Vessels

Persimmon and Japanese Pot

Tuscan Plate with Grapes

Susan R. Ball

Susan Ball was raised on a farm in England and trained as a biologist and a botanist. She has a keen appreciation of the natural world which translates into her work. Her still-life paintings display meticulous detail of form and her landscapes reflect her love of nature on a broader scale. She lives in Sonoma County where her subjects range from the bloom on a grape to the ever-changing light over the countryside.

Susan R. Ball
website: www.susanrball.com
e-mail: susan@susanrball.com

Below are just a few more samples of Susan's paintings:

James Freed

James Freed, a skilled draftsman and painter, also has a background in architectural design. Originally from Los Angeles, CA, James grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. In the late eighties he returned to southern California to attend Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. After earning a BFA in Art Center's Illustration program in 1992, he worked as an artist and animator in the software industry for several years before switching to exhibit design. He currently runs his own exhibit design firm and teaches.

“I'm interested in how people interact with the landscape through the built environment. My work tends to show landscapes with evidence of human interaction, buildings, boats, vehicles, and the like, but not so much the people themselves. The amazing way that light plays on the form of structures has always fascinated me. I like how our structures change over time, how they weather, and how they are affected by their environment. They are metaphors for human life.”

“I feel that the basis of my work is anchored in drawing. I took a break from working in oils for several years and concentrated on just drawing and watercolor. I only recently began painting in oil again. I enjoy both. I like the directness of oil when painting outdoors. Painting in watercolor is always a challenge for me, disaster is always just a misplaced stroke or wash away.”

James teaches drawing and design to both graduate and undergraduate students at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where he has been an adjunct professor since 1995. He also works with students through drawing and painting workshops that he offers through his website. James loves drawing and painting, especially outdoors, and is an avid hiker, swimmer, cyclist, and climber. He currently lives and works out of his home studio in Sebastopol and is earning a masters degree in Education at Sonoma State University.

James Freed
website: www.jamesfreed.com
e-mail: jamesfreed.design@mac.com

Below are just a few samples of James' paintings:

Bruce K. Hopkins

As a long time resident of California's Bay Area, I work from my studio in Vallejo, California. Building on a life-long interest in fine art, a BA degree in art, and an ongoing career as an illustrator since 1989, I have been exhibiting my fine art since 2000. I have a variety of visual interests, including geometric art, landscapes, cityscapes and figure studies. I currently work in a variety of media, including pastels, acrylic, gouache and digitally created art.

Bruce Hopkins
website: www.bkhopkins.com
e-mail: bruce@bkhopkins.com

Soo Noga

Soo Noga studied art at Harrow School of Art and Kingston University in London, England. During this period she made several trips to France, Germany and Holland on various art workshops and group studies. “As a result I have developed an intuitive sense of form, light and composition from studying great painters of the past, in particular the masters of Impressionism era, and try to bring these elements together that will convey my sense of how the essence of the subject should be portrayed.”

For the last few years, Soo’s paintings represent an array of styles; a significant difference from her earlier works. Her figurative works and impressionism styles gradually gave way to a new freedom of expression and interpretation. She began to paint abstract form using primary colors on a minimum number of shapes. Her paintings began to take on a new dimension with a more random but calculated brush strokes. The vibrancy of colors adds life and light to her work and yet she continues to “push and pull” her colors to reach deeper levels of perception. “The scale of my paintings relate to how I feel & sense colors, content, perceive design and composition.”

Soo approaches each painting as a singular experience; her inspiration to create comes from within, combined with her genuine love and dedication to express life & energy. More importantly, she believes that each of her paintings has its own “voice” willing to reach out and speak to the right beholder.

Soo Noga
website: www.soonogastudio.com
e-mail: jezsiq19@hotmail.com

Below are just a few samples of Soo's paintings:

VS21 - oil - 60"x48"

VS8 - oil - 36"x36"

VS15a - oil - 36"x36"

VS10 - oil - 36"x36"

VS7 - oil - 36"x36"

Rik Olson

Born in Antioch, California in 1944, Rik Received his B.F.A. from the California College of Arts & Crafts, Oakland, in 1967. He studied and exhibited work in Florence, Italy, Germany and the U.S. Best known for his work in wood engraving, which he learned from Barry Moser and John DePol, he also works in Scratchboard, Pen & Ink, Etching, color linocut and about anything he can get his hands on. The last 20 years he has been freelancing his illustration work in the U.S. and abroad to corporate and publishing clients. Rik currently lives in Sebastopol California with his wife Brita and their two dogs.

Rik Olson
website: www.rikolson.com
e-mail: rik@rikolson.com

Below are just a few samples of Rik's prints and paintings:

Linocut - Steamroller Print - SF Center for the Book 2008

Morning Starr - linocut print

Bodega Head Arch - acrylic/canvas

Twilight Oaks

Markusturm Gate - acrylic/panel

Winter Persimmons - linocut print

Poppies - linocut print

Linda Ratzlaff

Linda lives in Occidental, California. She is inspired by the natural beauty of Sonoma county and surrounding areas to paint landscapes for the sheer joy of it. She believes that painting on location gives work a greater degree of spontaneity, and truth to the vibrant light and color that catches the eye and enlivens the human heart and spirit.

Linda studied Fine Art in college and continued her studies with Junius Martin, student of the late Russian Master Sergei Bongart, and Ra Ariyamitr, who deepened her appreciation of the Old Masters and Impressionists.

In painting, Linda addresses the challenge of capturing the essence of the infinite beauty that Nature has given us. Through her work and study, she has found a constantly deepening awareness of the relations between knowledge, truth and beauty.

Why I Paint

To give form to and idea.
To create something unique.
To give a smile to myself and others; to amuse and mystify.
To answer the question: who am I?
To challenge myself and continue to have a focus for all my life experiences and observations.
To create a sense of balance, harmony and order in a chaotic world.
To reveal things that couldn't be seen in any other way.
To be good to my gift, if I don’t create these paintings, nobody is going to do them for me.

Linda Ratzlaff
e-mail: dlratz@comcast.net

Below are just a few samples of Linda's paintings:

Sandra Rubin

My paintings - pigment on canvases- speak for me. While my words feel clumsy, I find a visual language expresses my response to being alive, and my desire to connect.

Sometimes I start with a particular image, idea or feeling (light behind leaves, spaces between branches, my dog at the beach-) usually something of beauty that “gives me pause”, that I would like to share.

In the process of painting I explore- make marks and respond- to colors, lines, shapes- until something of meaning and beauty emerges. In my favorite paintings something profound happens- something I can't anticipate or totally control- but deeply honor and appreciate.

I primarily work with acrylic paints- I paint figures, landscapes, sometimes still lives, often in expressive and abstract ways. I love mixing colors. I like to use marks that retain the energy of the moment. I appreciate interesting edges. I feel free to try different styles/colors/ mediums. I strive for a sense of space and simplicity- as a way to approach the “essence” of my subject and communication.

I like to leave space for the viewer to participate, and engage.

If you would like to see more of my paintings, please contact me:

Sandra Rubin
website: www.sandrarubinart.com
e-mail: rubinjohnson@earthlink.net
phone: 707-823-4728

Below are just a few samples of Sandra's paintings:

Mylette Welch

Painter Mylette Welch was born in the sun-drenched, color saturated island of Oahu. Her family moved two years later to dusty, dry Bakersfield. “Something was missing.” She remembers thinking, “Where did all the color go? ”For anyone who has seen Welch’s paintings, its obvious that the color went into her playful portraits of stray dogs, children, old diners, and rusty trucks.

Mylette’s paintings are rooted in the Sonoma County landscape- gas stations, farmer’s markets, the vineyards, neighbor’s gardens, old trucks, and burger stands. But occasionally her paintings veer off into a surrealistic world of dreams and memories, where goldfish swim around the kitchen and accordions fly through the night sky.

Mylette Welch
website: www.mylettewelch.com
e-mail: mylettew@aol.com

Below are just a few samples of Mylette's paintings:

Blonds have more Fun

Crabbys

Space Patrol

Vineyard Managers

Swanky Franks

Stink Eye at the Crab Shack