Stop by the Altadena Main Library in November and December to view work of seven artists on display with the exhibition, “Altadena Library presents…INDEPENDENT EXPRESSIONS,” a collection of dynamic, eclectic works of art from Altadena and beyond.
Artist Reception
Saturday, November 18
6:00-7:30pm
Main Library
About the artists
Hani Shafran was born and raised in Israel. She immigrated to Canada in 1977, where she graduated from the New School of Art in Toronto in 1981. Hani soon returned to Israel, where she participated in numerous group shows throughout the 1980s and helped foster a small but important women’s art movement. Much of her sculptural work at this time focused on sensual forms crafted from handmade paper and textured cloth, evocative of the “Yoni.” In the 1990s, Hani returned to North America, now to the US. Here she evolved her art, working with bronze sculpture and presenting flying tumbleweeds and giant pods in varied and multiple mediums. Throughout the 2000s, Hani participated in numerous group art shows as a member of both the women’s art group Eco Art and the Women’s Art Caucus of LA. This included the November 2004 Soho20 Gallery group show in New York City and The Art and Science of Climate Change show at La Sierra University in Riverside, Calif. Hani is currently a marriage and family therapist. hanishafranart.com IG @hanishaf
An outdoor adventurer, Travis Robinson started climbing over 20 years ago and quickly found that by bringing his camera along, he could share his adventures with others. He has been using photography to capture and share many aspects of his life since then. Travis’s photographs have been shown at the Brewery Art Walk, Bergamot Art Center, Pasadena City College, and the Joshua Tree Art Gallery, as well as in solo shows at the f9 Gallery in Los Angeles. He is also a co-host of the I’m Not Dead Yet! podcast, a podcast about living an extraordinary life, with extraordinary circumstances. Travis was diagnosed with young onset Parkinson’s disease in 2014. https://travis-robinson.smugmug.com
Julie Green has never been satisfied with the two dimensionality of the photographic surface. It lacks the space three dimensional subjects exist in. Over the years she has worked to break out of this flat plane by physically manipulating the very nature of the photographic paper it is printed on. http://patternsandtones.blogspot.com
Amanda Austin grew up in South Pasadena in the 80s, during which time art was a big part of her life. She eventually studied literature at UCSD, taught English, became a speech pathologist, got married, had kids, and tried to embrace hustle culture. She came to her senses in 2020, embracing art again and now lives with her husband and two children in Altadena. She creates art (in various mediums) based on people, nature, and her own imagination. While her default setting is “home with blankets,” she does venture out to see movies, hike, and work with children in public education. https://www.amandaaustinart.com
Sabine Meyer zu Reckendorf is best known for her playful sculptures made from re-purposed industrial surplus and materials scavenged from America’s consumer excess. Her work is heavily informed by her education as a designer in Muenster, Germany. She brought those design and fabrication skills back home to freedom-loving California and infused the German quality engineering with fun and color. Years working in the Hollywood movie industry as a special effects technician, prop maker and miniature builder further opened up her skills and led her to develop her own unique style. Influences by Niki de St. Phalle, Jean Tinguely and others can be seen in her use of motors, bold lines and bright colors. sabinemeyerzureckendorf.com
In memoriam of James Billups. Jim was a man of few words but with a big heart. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and uncle. He loved photography and was always making photos and developing them in his dark room. He was also an amazing, gifted Photoshop artist who mocked up some amazing cars in the April 1986 Fool’s Day article of NHRA’s The Insider Out (The Insider … out! | NHRA). They highlighted this same work in the August 1998 edition of Drag Racing Monthly (pages 20-21). Rose Hills Memorial Park and Mortuary featured him on the cover of their 1998 Catholic calendar, and he won the 2017 Bodie Calendar Contest. Jim looked at his photography as a storytelling. He did not focus on the technical side but on the human and emotional aspects of it as well.
This photo exhibition is a tribute to Jim’s talent and passion. He did not want to do it when he was alive because he never wanted attention on himself. His widow Mylene, in partnership with his niece Kim Martin, found this way of sharing his work with the world, and in remembering how talented and great he was as a person inside and out. https://www.instagram.com/511jb?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D
Anne E. Muller attended California University at Long Beach and graduated with a degree in art and design. She went on to work in the Graphic Design field, as a designer and art director. She eventually opened a custom invitation studio called Card Tricks Designs. She worked for over 30 years with event designers, corporate and private clients to create one of a kind, award winning invitations for celebrations, fund raisers, milestone events that always pushed the envelope. She still does design but it is painting that is much more of her focus these days. IG @anneemullerpaintings
Clockwise from top right: Agave & Raven by Hani Shafran, Faces of Parkinson’s by Travis Robinson, Home as Hat – Flora as Fashion by Julie Green, Coyote by the Gate by Amanda Austin, Robot in Love by Sabine Meyer zu Reckendorf, Markings by Jim (James) Billups, and Octopus Bubbling in a Mix Master by Anne E. Muller
