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Miguel Barrios

Visual Arts: Painting

Miguel was born in the tropical Colombia in Espinal, Tolima. He was surrounded by a family of singers, motivated by rich folklore, music and regional dances. He was trained as a physician, health and wellbeing is one of his interests. He was living in New York City, where he started his passion for painting. His favorite museums in New York are the Whitney Museum, Gladstone, the Metropolitan, and Moma. During every trip to Chicago, Miguel stops at the Art Institute of Chicago to enjoy “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” of George Seurat. One of his favorite cities is Puerto Vallarta, visiting art galleries. Miguel paints colorful abstract paintings, sinusoid curvy shapes, to transport the viewer to a meditative state of mind, calm and peace. Life can have harsh moments, taking breaks to enjoy simple things is crucial to recharge our energies. Miguel nurtures his craft from the art work of several artists: Georgia O’Keeffe, George Seurat, Gaugin, Van Gogh, Da Vinci, Botero, Luis Romero, Ronnie Landfield, Salvador Dali, Vermeer, David Hockney, Alexei Biryukoff, Tom of Finland, Keith Haring, Frida Kahlo, Robert Mapplethorpe, and the list goes on. Music has a marked influence in the artist, from Colombian folkloric, salsa, vallenatos, boleros, ballads in Spanish, Broadway tunes, music from Latin-America, America, Spain, Italy, France to the classics like Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelsohn, Chopin, Tchaikovsky. Cinema provides a source of images to resemble memories and feelings. Filmmakers like Krzysztof Kieslowski, Sergio Cabrera, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuaron, Pedro Almodovar give the best emotions and memorable moments. Miguel is an avid reader, and several writers have a spot in Miguel’s Library: Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorge Luis Borges, Oscar Wilde, Juan Gabrial Vasquez, and Pablo Neruda.

Johnathan Fonoti

Visual Arts: Mixed Media, Murals, Painting, Site-specific, Watercolor

I grew up in the Coachella Valley. I have four kids and own Sacred Symbols Tatau, a Tattoo Shop, as well as an Art Gallery. Both are in the High Desert. I am stylistically diverse in multiple mediums. I like doing illustrative style portraits. I am inspired by history and culture.

Bradley Giles

Architectural; Visual Arts: Fine Art, Illustration, Impressionism, Murals, Painting, Photography

Bradley Giles is a listed fine artist and has over 30 years experience in the custom fine art, themed entertainment, interior design, museum and private residential environments. With a degree in commercial art, Bradley is for the most part, a self-taught fine artist, drawing his inspiration for his painting techniques from master painters such as John Singer Sargent, Thomas Moran, Frederic Remington, Joseph Henry Sharp, N.C. Wyeth, Howard Pyle, Harvey Dunn, Frank E. Schoonover, Arthur Mathews, Howard Von Schmidt, Maynard Dixon, Albert Bierstadt, Howard Terpning, Tom Lovell, master paleo artists Zdenek Burian and Charles R. Knight. The genres of Bradley’s paintings range from the atmospheric, historical epic scenes of the past, pastoral or ethereal landscapes, intimate portraits and emotionally gripping snapshots of environmental and historical statements of our past and present…with a visionary portal to our future world landscapes. Bradley has been commissioned to paint large-scale murals as well as various scenic / faux finishing projects for the Mandalay Bay, New York, New York, Luxor, Caesars Palace, Treasure Island, Las Vegas Hilton as well as many private estates throughout the United States. Aside from his fine art paintings, Bradley’s other artistic specialties include a wide range of faux finishes, including stone, marble, wood, aged walls, organic custom textures and cement rock carving, painted sculpted animals and human figures, gold, silver and copper leafing, various metal patinas, Venetian Plaster, fine art landscape and portrait oil on canvas paintings, murals, painted decorative furniture, as well as custom oil on canvas and pencil architectural elevation paintings and drawings. “Your depiction of Rafael Rivera surveying the Las Vegas valley in 1829 is a wonderful Painting. I thoroughly enjoy sharing your work with the many people that meet with me throughout the day. Your work fits perfectly with the renowned paintings from the Smithsonian Institution that hang alongside it. I am honored to be able to display your work in my office.” Harry Reid – Former United States Senate Majority Leader Bradley’s paintings are on permanent exhibit with the City of Las Vegas public art collections – Las Vegas City Hall, at the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Park, the Senate Hart Building in Washington D.C., were exhibited in the U.S Capitol, has been published in many books and articles, profiled in an ABC Channel 13 Las Vegas news segment and featured in Outdoor Nevada PBS Las Vegas.

Julia Hall

Visual Arts: Abstract, Fine Art, Impressionism, Installation, Mixed Media, Mosaics, Murals, Painting, Photography, Sculpture, Textiles, Watercolor

Julia Hall is of Guatemalan and Mexican heritage. She grew up in Los Angeles, California to 1st and 3rd generation immigrant parents. She was classically trained in oils at an early age under a private instructor for five years. At the age of 13, Julia attended the Associates in Arts school, located in Sherman Oaks, California. She has exhibited around Las Vegas. Julia’s artwork was also featured in the LA Voyage Magazine in Los Angeles. She is currently a member of the Las Vegas Artist Guild and The Las Vegas Watercolor Society. With the relentless desire to further her advancement in art and expand her professional skills, Julia is currently enrolled at the College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas, and is transferring to UNLV in Fall, to earn her degrees in Art and Art History.

Gerry High

Visual Arts: Abstract, Fine Art, Murals, Painting, Printmaking

Started my life in art with a commission to create 100 30” x 40” watercolor paintings for the Ocotillo lodge in 1984. The started showing my art at The Art Connection in Palm Springs in the 80’s. Worked with designers to make paintings for the many new country clubs all through the desert. Opened an art studio in Cathedral City in the 90’s on Perez Road. Created many paintings and started a faux finish business. Worked with Marshal Arts Studio for a few years working to decorate chain restaurants like El Toritto’s and Chi Chi’s. Opened a new Gallery on Highway 111 in Cathedral City for a couple of years. Opened and maintain Artspresso Gallery in Idyllwild,Ca.

Bette Ann Libby

Visual Arts: Installation, Mixed Media, Mosaics, Murals, Painting, Sculpture, Site-specific

In 1970, my artistic life started as a graphic designer. In 1972, I moved to American Samoa as their first high school art teacher and began making pottery. After moving back to the continental US, I spent 35 years as a studio potter, beginning with a small retail business and exhibiting in a multitude of craft fairs. During these years, painting was my portable art medium while traveling. My functional work moved on to ceramic sculpture in 1986. Many of these works revolved around strong women, home and narratives. When I transitioned to ceramic shard mosaics, I continued to create my own “mythology”. Some of the stories are personal, while others are universal. I love using a variety of textures, patterns, movement and color. I maintain a balance between studio and public art. I am passionate about bringing artists together and having art bring the community together. Ceramic shard mosaics make what was once broken into a new whole. My community mosaic murals have been permanently installed in schools, libraries, hospitals and synagogues and are created with varying sizes of groups, with up to 750 individuals working on a single project.

Sarah Soward

Visual Arts: Fine Art, Illustration, Mixed Media, Murals, Painting, Printmaking

Sarah Soward (pronounced SOH-wurd) is an artist with a focus on endangered wildlife and color. She holds a BFA from the California College of the Arts (view her art C.V.). She shows and competes internationally. Highlights of her career include the acquisition of a painting by the Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs, acceptance of her work into the Wildlife Artist of the Year (WAY) 2013, 2015, and 2017, 2023 exhibitions at the Mall Gallery in London, England, with her giraffe painting, Sky Creature, ending up in both the Londonist and the BBC Wildlife Magazine. Her work was also accepted into the 2021 WAY exhibition, but due to the pandemic, the exhibition was virtual. Two of her rhinoceros paintings traveled with the Artist4Rhino exhibition in Italy, one of which was exhibited with the show at the Museo Civico de Storia Naturale di Genova. Her painting, Luna, is going to the Moon as part of the Lunar Codex’s digitized Polaris Collection. She works in traditional art media, like oil painting, as well as digital art, design, animation, and authors and designs books. She will not stop learning and incorporating new skills or taking risks. She enjoys jumping headfirst into things. (This might be why she’s nearly drowned five times.) She believes that persistence and resilience are key so she never stays out of the deep end long.

Ravi Wilkie

Visual Arts: Fine Art, Illustration, Mixed Media, Murals, Other, Painting, Wall Treatments, Watercolor; Art Restoration

Growing up in an unstable household I began to use art as my own form of meditation at a really young age. When I was 13 I got my first job in Boulder Colorado, as an artist’s assistant, and have been working as a professional artist ever since. Before I graduated high school I studied art at Colorado University, and at 18, I left Colorado, and moved to New York City. There I got a job hand finishing at one of the top fine art frame shop in the industry and began to master my craft. After several years I ended up in showbiz where I managed the paint department at a scene shop in Brooklyn. There I spent most of my time painting back drops and set pieces for film, theater, television and trade show events. This enabled me to hone my faux finishing and paint treatment skills. While living in NYC I also ended up doing a fair amount of freelance illustration and even a bit of tattooing. During that time I met my wife, Elena and in 2013 we got married. Then we decided to move, and we started our new life in Redondo Beach, California in 2015. I landed a job at Poster Mountain, an art restoration shop, conserving and restoring original artwork and print media. In 2020 when the pandemic hit we decided to move out of LA and head to the desert, where we settled in La Quinta. I worked part time as a chalk artist, but by that point I was really itching to do my own thing. I started getting more commission work, which began to grow really quickly and before long I was booked up with murals. I was growing so fast that I needed help. Elena decided she also needed a change and she left her 25year career as a hairstylist. We were then able to focus on growing our business together and finding a new creative outlet for Elena. This gave way to making her own jewelry and me creating more art, so we sort of became an artist hub for each other and Wilkie Studios was born. Since then we have been busy painting murals, doing pop up festivals and finding more local shops to partner and grow with.

Kelly Witmer

Architectural; Furniture; Visual Arts: Bas-relief, Fences / Gates, Fountains, Glasswork / Neons, Installation, Mixed Media, Mosaics, Murals, Painting, Sculpture, Site-specific

I work out of my Joshua Tree studio to create paintings and sculptures in ceramic, glass and steel. Public art has been an exciting field to explore, since I love working in different mediums and relish a challenge. I have worked with many interior designers and art consultants for specific installations, and enjoy collaborating towards an envisioned environment. I received my BFA from University of the Arts in Philadelphia,PA, with additional studies at Parsons School of Design in Paris. I have attended residencies at Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida, Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts in Maine, ArtVallarta in Mexico and Can Serrat in Spain. My public art installations can be found in Los Angeles, Santa Rosa, CA and Las Vegas, NV.

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