Jessica Fowler

Jessica received a Bachelor’s Degree in Art from CSUCI where she was chosen to exhibit a series of realism portraits in a solo show. In college she emphasized in sculpture and oil painting. On the day of her graduation is when she began working at Art Trek and has been there ever since. Her inspiration for this Cottontail...“For the Westlake Elementary Wizards, I wanted to create a magical school theme without being too ‘Harry Potter.’ I tied in all aspects of education. The feather quill pen and scrolls represent History, the stack of books for English, potions for Science, and the clocks and hourglasses for Math. The original artist Sharon Riley named the Cottontail Enchantment. My homage to Sharon is her name on a scroll and an open book with an animation spell bringing the objects to life, fluttering and floating around the entirety of the Cottontail.”

Venti

“The unveiling of Venti, the 20th Conejo Cottontail was a culmination of months of hard work.  It represents my connection to the community I grew up in and serve in today. Working closely with Art Trek Inc. and the Thousand Oaks Best Western Inn, I designed a rabbit highlighting the multi-cultural histories of the Conejo Valley Region. With permission from the local Chumash community, I highlighted the original settlers of the region. It was important for me to incorporate motifs tied to ancient cultures as well as construct contemporary views tied to female empowerment. Imagery of the indigenous flora found throughout Conejo Valley leads the eye through mountainous terrains to later histories of “Western” settlement. These images highlight the Western film industry and the agricultural influx of the baby boomer generation. The ears of the sculpture showcase ‘painted lady’ butterflies, an ode to the victims of the Borderline shooting and symbol of the healing and transformation our community has endured throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.  The creation of Venti was important to me because it reflected my life. After years of creating and exhibiting my Art all around the world, I’ve wanted to share my knowledge, so I began teaching Art in 2015. Since then, I’ve taught thousands of students across Ventura County and was blessed to work for Art Trek for four years. I currently teach AP Art History and Ceramics at a local high school. Creating Venti helped me survive the stress of the pandemic. There were countless nights telling her the stories of my life as I painted her into existence.”

Jenny Manno

Seasons

“From a very early age I’ve loved all forms of art, joyously finding myself catching on to a variety of projects quickly. I was inspired by my mother and grandmother, who happened to be very artistic women. We’d celebrate birthdays and Christmases with art supplies and invested in time together painting, drawing or crafting. As a young person, I was very fortunate to have adults in my life who helped me cultivate the confidence to explore my artistic passions. Even as a child I would notice "the little things" "the details" even before I knew what those things meant. I relished in the idea of adding every little detail, in trying to capture what it is I am looking at. I have always craved a creative lifestyle, from acting to dancing, to singing to Art. I love it all, but I landed in the one field that I can do anywhere at any time with a pencil and piece of paper. From a n early age, I intuitively knew the importance of art and the impact it was going to have in my life. Thirty-nine years later and I am still creating, sharing it with the world and making a difference.”

Shannon Celia

Cottonsail

Award winning California artist Shannon Celia uses oil paint, palette knives, brushes & the inspiring California seaside to create her vibrant, contemporary coastal vignettes and Americana inspired pieces that burst with color, texture and light. 

"In awe of nature, I am most inspired outside and particularly fond of water, boats, flora and fauna. Often, I experience feelings in terms of color and gratefully, I am able express this in my work."

Hessam Abrishami

Brooks

Born in the city of Shiraz, Iran in 1951. Hessam discovered both his love of art and his own talent for painting when he was 15 years old. As a result he became almost obsessed with painting. Hessam brought his artistic interpretive view to the cottontail project. Hessam’s Conejo Cottontail was inspired by the evolving nature of animals. 

"Modern sensibilities have made animals more human like. Pets and animals world-wide are trained to perform and humor us with tricks like circus animals. We expect them to evolve with us like fast paced machines and technology. As we anthropomorphize them, dress them, train them for our convenience we pull them with us in a more human direction that is less humane - pulling them away from their true animal nature. "     

Ann Krasner

Art of the Tango 

In the past, especially back in Moscow, Russia where I was born, I often noticed that I have the different vision of the world. I am extremely thankful that I found the way to share this special beautiful world with others.  In my paintings I show the world of common things surrounding us; scenes of everyday life; the beauty of simplicity.  I enjoy bringing together exuberant colors and careering sensibility, humor and sadness. This new world seems so simple at the first glance but so complicated at the same time. I was lucky to share my artwork in numerous museums and galleries around the world.

Robin Tripaldi

Somebunny Loves You

Florenzia

Los Angeles area artist, Robin Tripaldi works in encaustic, mixed-media and acrylic.

Her contemporary abstract paintings have been exhibited at both the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art and Chaffee Community Museum of Art as well as, select juried exhibitions and solo shows.  Her work has appeared in print publications and is in private collections nationwide.

Robin spent many years working in interior design field and for the Skirball museum in Los Angeles before deciding to pursue her art career full-time.  She is very active in the local arts community; she is President and co-founder LaxWax Art – the Los Angeles chapter of the International Encaustic Artists – and was formerly on the Board of Directors for Buenaventura Art Association.

Fran Engel

Miss Poppy

  "Having traveled to 49 of our 50 states, I saw Miss Poppy as a California beauty pageant ambassador.  I wanted to evoke our state's diversity and beauty by incorporating some of its most iconic, and my favorite, images--from her Hollywood Bowl cottontail, to a Santa Monica lifeguard station, to our world renowned vineyards and poppy fields, to starry-eyed sunglasses with California citrus flip-flops."

Maria Antonia Juliana Carillo de la Guerra

 Maria Antonia Juliana Carrillo de la Guerra, 1786-1843; was the wife of Californio Jose Julian Antonio De la Guerra y Noriega, or El Capitan, commandant of Santa Barbara 1827-42. His portrait is on her necklace.  They held the 1/2 million acre land grant containing Rancho El Conejo. They’re buried in the church crypt at Mission Santa Barbara and their house, Casa de la Guerra, is an historic landmark of Santa Barbara.  

For myself, I’m a multimedia artist, museum and university visual arts instructor and children’s book oral history author and illustrator. I’ve spent several years living in Belgium and France as a museum copyist and landscape artist.  I have a studio at the Santa Monica Airport where two cows for the Madonna Inn will be getting dressed in time for Cow Parade SLO.

Sharon Riley

"Art has always been important to me.I painted as a young child and was selected in my Junior year of high school to attend summer painting classes at Chouinard Art Institute LA. That was the impetus to continue my exploration of different art mediums at CSUN and CLU, from which I earned a Masters in Education and Minor in Art. Sharing my enthusiasm for art with children has been a gratifying part of my life and I have had the opportunity to teach art in public schools, the Santa Barbara Art Museum, education department, and the Fowler Museum.  Working on the Public Art Conejo Cottontails Project gave me an opportunity to artistically emphasize the Oaks in our beautiful landscape; a subject I found very fulfilling. It seemed natural to me to visualize the Conejo Cottontail encircled within the oaks making it's home under vast, spreading branches. The word "Enchantment" inscribed on the rabbit has a history in literature for children and adults through fairytales, myths and folklore. "Enchantment" inspired my imagination to work with mixed media materials to mosaic the rabbit. I used hand cut stained glass, gold smalti, ceramic leaves I created in my kiln and several colors of paint for an ethereal expression. Presently I work in my studio mosaicking sculptural pieces and imprinting textural plates onto clay."

Judy Koenig

Rosie

"My painting career started when I was four years old, sitting on my neighbor's canvas covered swing, painting the flowers in her backyard with my watercolors. This has culminated in earning a Master's degree in Art from CSUN. Since the early 90's I have traveled around the country, participating in high-end outdoor art festivals, showing and selling my watercolors, oils and pastels. For the past twenty years I have been teaching watercolor painting from my home studio in Simi Valley, CA. Painting roses on my Conejo Cottontail "Rosie" was a natural extension of my passion for flowers. I also hope that the additin of butterflies, ladybugs and bees will be enjoyed by children and families who meet Rosie."

Sheila Fein

Parker

"As a fine artist, I create works with all types of mediums. My work is in private collections across the US and abroad. Day-to-day I teach art to private students as well as run Imaginings Sketch (Artist Studio). This is where I practice drawing the human figure and let my imagination fly. From fantasy portraits, to fantasy pop art, I combine the literal with my imagined world to create my imagery. Painting this Conejo Cottontail was an amazing experience and I loved adding people, places, local color and animals to the Cottontail; creating a roadmap of Conejo Park life. 

Whether, I am creating a painting for the joy of creating or using my craft to illustrate a book, I seek to work without the critic on my shoulder. Following the voice inside has led me to this wonderful and fulfilling dual career."

Eliza Day-Green

Touchdown

"The concept behind the Rams Cottontail was to create a vibrant piece that celebrates the return of the Rams to their home in Los Angeles, CA.  I wanted the design to have movement and vitality and to that end I created significant points of visual interest from top to bottom.  Whichever angle you view “Touchdown Rabbit” from, you will see images that have significance for the Rams team.  I felt it was important to reference the historical journey of the team so I included one player in a retro blue and yellow uniform and one in the new uniform.  For the sake of longevity of the piece, no identifying numbers or characteristics were given to the players.  Instead I wanted to represent the players as timeless warriors with face guards reminiscent of dueling knights or gladiators.  The LA skyline with its high rises, palm trees, Hollywood sign and the Memorial Coliseum which is currently the Rams home field, are unmistakable. One of the main design elements is the large Ram rising from a graffiti style font as fireworks explode around it in celebration.  As we move up to the Rabbits ears we see a tonal sunset ending at the tip with the constellation Aries the Ram and the large “R” logo of the team.  Moving back down to the large feet of the Rabbit, I created a whimsical game play on one paw and a graphic football on the other."

Anette Power

Hope for Many Mansions

"It was an honor to get to work on "Hope" for Many Mansions!  They're a great organization and the project gave me an opportunity to do something a little different from my regular 2-dimensional artwork.   My goal was to incorporate my love of color with the distinct colors of Many Mansions - and to have the design signify and celebrate what Many Mansions does. The Hope that Home provides... The challenge was to translate, not just the shape of home (square) onto the 3 dimensional curvy bunny, but also capture the very deep meaning home holds. I was excited to incorporate inspiration from Mary Blair, a Swedish Ceramic designer named Stig Lindberg, and a love for pattern. The birds serve as a symbol for what home can do for us.  It takes me to childhood, family, and traditions and home being the foundation that ultimately helps us take flight in life. Collaborating with our donors added to the process and we wanted to tell stories with this bunny, so as you explore Hope - I hope you each take a moment to ponder what home means to you and share it with someone."