Learning More About COCA Artist Michel Misho

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Born Michel Schorro in Lausanne, Switzerland, Misho moved to San Francisco at age 25 to become a professional drummer, touring and recording until 1984. Semi-retiring from music, following a US tour & a record release with Housecoat Project, he spent the next 15 years traveling the world teaching and taking photographs.

In 2009 he opened  Misho Gallery in San Francisco. Since then, he has held solo shows with his photographs in San Francisco, Buenos Aires and in his native Switzerland.  His pictures can be seen in the lobby of various buildings in downtown San Francisco, including the public utilities building.

In 2010 Misho expanded the gallery to help promote local abstract art from local artists and beyond. In 2011, he started collaborating with San Francisco artist Johnny Botts. Misho provided his abstract photographs as a background and Johnny painted over them with spaceships, robots, and other fantastical forms, leading to the "Spaced Together " exhibit in May 2012. One of those pieces was featured in the New York Times.

At the beginning of 2012, he expanded one more time to house a group he calls “Photo Nouveau," comprised of artwork that is abstract, cutting edge, and avant-garde— anything but “déjà vu”.

He is a very active member of the San Francisco Bay Area artist community, and also shows work internationally. This September he will work in collaboration with Pichai Poogsasaovapark, a Thai artist featured in a solo show in his gallery. The collaborative work is schedule to show for the month of February 2015 at the Baan Teuk Art Center in Chiang Mai. 

Keep reading to learn more about Misho's process and influences as an artist.

What is your primary medium and process?

My primary medium is photography but I see myself more as a image taker than a photographer. The images I capture are all reminiscent of abstract painting. In some way I extract the artworks that both nature and urban decay provide us and bring it to people attentions. I am fascinated with randomness and antropy. The way the drops lay on the sidewalk when somebody knocks a can of paint. The way a piece of metal rust when exposed to the elements.

Lately my need for challenges pushed me to start paintings. I love working with industrial acrylics. If my photographs are influenced by  abstract expressionist  artist, my paintings have a strong Asian influence. Both in China & Japan painting and calligraphy are often side by side and complement each other. I do love the subtlety and serenity of the old ink wash. Instead of trying to capture an images the painters capture the energy of the objects, the serenity of moment. This is what I do in my paintings. I start with a landscape whose serenity is extracted down to a very minimalistic  primary color. Then I let randomness guide my brushes and the paint.  I let randomness funnel the energy and the emotions of the moment into the canvas.

How long have you been an artist?

I started studing photography at age 14, buying my first SLR camera and learn to develop black & white photographs in my parent kitchen. At 16 I started concentrating on rock and jazz photography. Leaving very close to Montreux and their yearly jazz festival provided many opportunities for my passion. Also, I never stop taking photographs, eventually playing music became more important than capturing it on film and I moved to San Francisco. My new reincarnation as a visual artist started in 2008.

How do you describe your style?

Abstract expressionism with Asian influence.

What inspires you to keep motivated?

More than a inspiration it is a need. The need to keep creating and challenging myself. I do get bored easily. I guess the challenges are what keep me motivated. The challenge to get better at what I do, the challenge to create something new & beautiful. I do want my art to be beautiful. I do feel the pain and the anger than a lot of artists experience but rather that expressing it and chronicle it, I decided I want to fight it with beauty trying to make this world a better place.

What is your favorite part about being an artist?

The constant renewal of emotions.

Who are your favorite artists past or present?

Jimi Hendrix,  Ludwig Van  Beethoven, Richard Deibenkorn, Gerhardt Richter, Barnett Newman.

See more of Misho's art on his website, and stop by his gallery for a visit! Click here for more information, location, and events.

Learning More About COCA Artist Valerie Scott

Valerie Scott is an Abstract Expressionist painter who lives and works in San Francisco. She's inspired by the contemporary masters Jasper Johns, Francis Bacon, Gerhard Richter, Richard Diebenkorn, Willem de Kooning, and Chuck Close. These artists' works and philosophies have helped shape her into the painter that she is today.

Her creative process is ever evolving and reflective of her life thus far. Her abstractions convey emotional highs and lows as well as keen observations on the human experience. She often communicates nuance through color and texture, and she's found that the small wonders of daily life propel her to continually experiment with her process while bringing further works to completion.

Raised in Los Angeles but currently residing in San Francisco, she also contemplates the often tension-filled relationship between nature and urbanity. Valerie's studio is in Soma – a throbbing, urban enclave within the city – and it is here that she continues to develop her body of work.

What is your primary medium and process? 

Acrylic, textured paintings on canvas and wood. Playing with different shapes and mediums(ie. matte, gel, pumice stone, sand, paper, varnish, resin) to bring a 2-D painting with heavy texture and carvings into the surface to almost a 3-D feeling.

How long have you been painting?

Since the early 1970's- high school and college was the start of my real interest in painting, thanks to excellent professors.

 

How do you describe your style?

 

Abstract Expressionism 

 

What inspires you to keep motivated? 

 

The excitement of creating pieces with texture and paint that takes me on a journey of joy. Every painting has an experimental process which excites me.  

 

What is your favorite part about being an artist? 

 

The shear enjoyment of creating a work of art that one can contemplate for many years to come. The process of starting and bringing a piece to completion is the very definition of happiness to me.  The artist community that I totally feel empowered by keeps me going forward. 

 

Who are your favorite artists past or present? 

 

Richard Diebenkorn, Jasper Johns, Chuck Close, Gerhard Richter, Francis Bacon to name just a few.

See more of Valerie's work on her website and at numerous local galleries and art venues in the San Francisco Bay Area. Be sure to like COCA on Facebook for updates about the latest events of artist members. 

Learning More About COCA Artist Roberta Ahrens

Born in Roseburg, Oregon, Roberta Ahrens moved to San Francisco in 1981. Roberta  is one of Northern California’s master decorative painters with 30 years experience in the application of classic and contemporary painted finishes throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. She specializes in interior decorative surface treatments, color work and contemporary large-scale botanicals.  

Her long-time practical knowledge of artistic applications and her extensive experience in painting large-scale murals led her to develop her own dazzling, unique style of painting on a canvas that she makes by hand, called cracked linen.  The results are truly breathtaking, adding a depth and presence to her floral subjects. Her work morphs into many styles of interiors... modern, contemporary, cottage, rustic, Mid-century Modern.

All of Roberta’s work is painted on a surface called Cracked Linen, or Linen Wrap. The process for making cracked linen is stretching fabric, then layering several passes of a plaster mixed material. Once dried, the stiff canvas is then cracked. 

She is inspired by past and current interior design, and studying nature. She is constantly photographing flowers and other beauty found in Mother Nature!

Be sure to see Roberta's work in person or at the following websites:

robertaahrensfineart.com

robertaahrens.com

raahrens.houzz.com

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