Decadent Reflections with Amy Stevenson and Susan Lorenzana
Nov 16th, 2017 - Jan 15th, 2018
10:30 AM to 7:00 PM
Art Reception
Nov 18th, 2017 - Nov 18th, 2017
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Special Fundraiser for Spondylitis Association of America We are proud to support the Spondylitis Association of America (SAA) with a raffle for art and jewelry. 100% of proceeds go to the SAA. Available are the luscious tropical island piece by Susan Lorenzana (pictured), along with art from Amy Lynn Stevenson and jewelry from Fox Fine Jewelry.
Raffle tickets are $5 each, or 5 tickets for $20. Tickets may be purchased in person at Fox Fine Jewelry or by phone (805) 652-1800. The raffle ends on January 15th at 7pm. The winner will be drawn on January 17th.
Artist Susan Lorenzana was in tremendous pain. Misdiagnosed for several years, Susan Lorenzana clung to her art. Finally diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, she has improved tremendously by through her craft and accepting her art glass as therapy.
Spondylitis is often misdiagnosed! To learn more, please visit the Spondylitis Association of America.
Amy Lynn Stevenson is originally from Nebraska and graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1995 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Her mom was an art teacher and her role model, so she always was interested in art. After her sister moved to California to pursue grad school, she decided to follow her and concentrate on her art here.
Stevenson takes inspiration from the 1920’s jazz age, and is influenced by art deco painter Tarama De Lempicka. She compares her work to a Jay Gatsby party, and uses certain features and feelings from people in her art, noting that eyes and faces are the most important parts of her work.
Every piece of work is planned out to the last detail. First, Stevenson sketches and plans it out, and when it’s ready to start, she uses sharpies to create the image on the canvas before painting.
In addition to her prominent work, she’s also taught art since 2008. Every summer for the past 6 years she has been an art instructor at the Nebraska Summer Honors Program, the same program she attended as a student! Her latest projects have included illustrating children’s books- she currently has published three books!
Susan Lorenzana has always found art to be a sanctuary for her. As a child, she struggled with learning disabilities and shyness, and art helped her express herself in a way that words couldn’t.
Currently, Lorenzana focuses more on glass art, and first discovered it while working across the street from Calico Art Glass in Ventura in 2005. She took classes in leaded glass and mosaics and has since developed her skills, tackling portraits and mixed media landscapes using stained glass mosaics. Since her original glass classes, she even developed her own technique she calls the “Vellum Method.” This involves embossing the back of fused pieces using craft foil and vellum paper to create dimension and pattern.
However, Lorenzana was diagnosed with chronic inflammatory arthritis, spondylosis, and fibromyalgia in 2012. She was in so much pain that she couldn’t create her artwork for over 3 years. Once she was able to create her artwork more regularly, she has taken a different approach to her art, using more electric tools and creating more abstract pieces.
Lorenzana’s first piece of art since her diagnosis was a mosaic guitar titled “Arising Phoenix, Glass Guitar”, which took her 5 months to complete. She says, “It is about rejuvenation and being born again. This is kind of how I felt inside.”
