Q: Who are you and what are you known for?
I’m an artist, known for my illustrations inspired by youth subcultures of Britain of late 50′s to mid-80′s, and orthodox churches.

Q: What is a recurring theme you explore in your art?
I guess one’s background is very influential, and it unconsciously is seeping into every aspect of one’s life. You come to realize that when you start coming across the styles, techniques and objects that draw you the most. I’ve noticed that the recurring theme, by which I was influenced the most, is Eastern Orthodox and Islamic art. Everything about it, from architecture, clothing, patterns to elements of decor and jewelry is enchanting to me.

Q: If we were a fly on the wall, what would we find you doing at home?
You will observe me engage in various activities, depending on a medium involved. If it’s a laptop, you’ll find me looking up footage from WWII such as aerial dogfights, videos taken B-17′s crew members, photos and uniforms from both Great Wars as well as various documentaries about that period in our history. You’ll also find me reading, sketching, working on various art projects.

Q: A little known fact about yourself?
I majored in Chinese Language and Cultural Studies

Q: What excites you about either your poster, or the upcoming poster show?
I think a theme picked allows artists great freedom to interpret it as they feel pleased, and I am very excited to explore it through the lens of their mind.

Q: When you think of ‘a better place’, what do you think of?
To me ‘a better place’ is where its inhabitants are living in harmony with each other and nature, which means they are living out of freedom of their full potential and are an actualization of their best selves; a place where one’s mind is free of conditioned limitations of thinking and perception and is set onto what is noble and good; where liberty, a freedom within the limits, is exercised in its healthiest form, and line of work in which one is involved brings them utmost satisfaction, compensation and happiness. But of course the mind is first, everything flows from there.

Q: Where can we contact you and/or see some of your work?
Website is a work in progress

Q: Who are you and how would you describe your work?
I moved to California from Canada in 1991 on a whim but stayed. Working as a freelance illustrator for national publications until that was killed by the internet. Now the work seems to come from websites, nonprofits, university alumni magazines and the government. In 1997 I got started in silkscreen printing of art on a dare. It has proven to be both fulfilling and lucrative, but even more importantly a way of connecting with people I would not have met otherwise.

Q: What is a recurring theme you explore in your art?
My first print was of a Sea Lion, and I keep sketching new ideas for Sea Lion prints, but I censor myself and try to broaden my output so I can appeal to more than just my fellow Sea Lion junkies.

Q: If we were a fly on the wall, what would we find you doing at home?
Trying to catch you and release you outside – I don’t like to kill bugs just because they accidentally enter my house.

Q: A little known fact about yourself?
I can sew. I made my own backpack and have used it on many trips in the Sierra.
And I hate when gringos say “Sierras,” it’s already a plural, people!

Q: What excites you about either your poster, or the upcoming poster show?
This poster show is exciting because it is a type of event that has taken off in other cities and is much needed here in Santa Cruz. The current First Friday is typically skewed to older artists and the art is typically priced to high for younger people. This show is affordable.

Q: When you think of ‘a better place’, what do you think of?
At first I spent many hours trying to fit one of my typical art ideas to theme of this show, but eventually the illustrator in me took over, compelling me to address the theme “A better place” fully and directly. So I spent many more hours thinking about what it means, and came to the conclusion that the ultimate better place is in your mind. You can’t get to a better place with travel or buy achieving a material goal such as wealth or even a successful romantic relationship. If you are depressed (I am not referring to chronic medical depression, which is rare) and you travel to Paris you will cheer up but after a couple of weeks your depression will return because it is caused by negative thoughts. Shakespeare said, “there is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so.” Emotional management is something we learn, and some learn it sooner, some later or not at all. What it means is the ability to look at things that happen to us, things people say to us, and decide if we are going to feel bad about it, or good, or just not let it affect us. This is the filter in our heads through which all input passes. When we are young we don’t have good filters built up yet. I think we can all remember playing a board game, and a child would lose, then either toss the board, or go off and sulk for hours. It’s just a game! In the case of the sulking child, a negative event became a negative emotion, which leads to negative behavior, which then leads to more negative results. My piece is about changing our filter, so we are the master of our emotions, and we can arrive at a better place and stay longer.

Q: Where can we contact you and/or see some of your work?
Artisans on Pacific Ave. and dougrossfineart.com
Also I have a show in Nextspace till Christmas but you need to have security clearance to enter.

Q: Who are you and what are you known for?
A: I’m a graphic designer and my work is known for bold lines and lots of color.

Q: What is a recurring theme you explore in your art?
A: Animals or people.

Q: If we were a fly on the wall, what would we find you doing at home?
A: Either with my family, on the computer or watching TV.

Q: A little known fact about yourself?
A: Really outgoing and joke a lot.

Q: What excites you about either your poster, or the upcoming poster show?
A: Be able to show my art to as many people as possible.

Q: When you think of ‘a better place’, what do you think of?
A: A world without people, just nature taking its course.

Q: Where can we contact you and/or see some of your work?
A: www.ricardogonzalezdesign.com

Q: Who are you and where do you work?
My name is Julie I grew up in Santa Cruz. I got my degree in graphic design from SJSU. Currently I work as a graphic designer for Goodtimes, and Mount Hermon.

Q: What is a recurring theme you explore in your art?
A recurring theme for me is nature. I grew up in the redwoods and at the beach so my work is highly influenced by organic forms and animals.

Q: If we were a fly on the wall, what would we find you doing at home?
Drawing, cooking Italian or asian food, drinking beer preferably amber or saison and listening to black-metal or Led Zeppelin. With my golden retriever Zoey by my side.

Q: A little known fact about yourself?
I’ve traveled to 15 different countries. I’ve lived in Hawaii, England, San Francisco, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Sausalito. My favorite place I’ve ever been is Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland.

Q: What excites you about either your poster, or the upcoming poster show?
I’m excited for the show because I want to be pushed out of my comfort zone and share a piece of myself. Often we are so internal with our lives. This is a good opportunity to put ourselves out there, and join with other people in hopes to enrich our community, cultivate our relationships and hopefully make new ones.

Q: When you think of ‘a better place’, what do you think of?
At this time in my life I think a better place is a safe place. A better place than the one we might be in now. A place where you feel 100% safe.

Q: Where can we contact you and/or see some of your work?
My website is in the works but will be up soon. My email is juliemrovegno@gmail.com.

Q: Who are you and what do you do?
I’m an artist, professor, art store owner, designer, printer, illustrator, muralist, curator.

Q: What is a recurring theme you explore in your art?
Ice cream, video games, monsters, monkeys, creeps, beasts, junk food, robots, cavemen, zombies, dogs, birds, idiocy, telephone poles, lunar calendar animals, eyeballs, buildings, people, trees, teeth, mutants, ufos, cats, disasters, weirdness

Q: If we were a fly on the wall, what would we find you doing at home?
Chasing you down with a flyswatter, or watching you getting hunted and eaten by one of my cats. They don’t play.

Q: A little known fact about yourself?
I’m the fastest at the 15 puzzle, aka gem puzzle, aka boss puzzle, aka game of 15, aka the mystic square.

Q: What excites you about either your poster, or the upcoming poster show?
Checking out everyone else’s work.

Q: When you think of ‘a better place’, what do you think of?
The people or things (big or small) that can make things more rad.

Q: Where can we contact you and/or see some of your work?
Stop by The Arsenal and ask for the man in charge. Online my website is seanboyles.com I hate Facebook, but I use instagram @seanboyles38th and my next solo show is this coming November at seeingthingsgallery.com

Q: Who are you and what do you do for a living?
Designer

Q: What is a recurring theme you explore in your art?
Food, pattern and farm related things

Q: If we were a fly on the wall, what would we find you doing at home?
Listening to records, gardening or looking at furniture on Craigslist. So weird but I love furniture design and it is a way I space out and relax.

Q: A little known fact about yourself?
I’m a twin

Q: What excites you about either your poster, or the upcoming poster show?
Taking part in a design event in Santa Cruz

Q: When you think of ‘a better place’, what do you think of?
Nature

Q: Where can we contact you and/or see some of your work?
lauraoster.com

Q: Who are you and what do you do for a living?
“Who are you” is a pretty existential question, which I’ll have to abbreviate for the sake of the reader’s time and patience. I can’t exactly speculate here about human origins or how we fit into a larger teleological framework. And speaking of teleology, I really dislike the convention of asking “what do you do” directly after introducing oneself. The majority of answers we receive are boring little ripostes that are supposed to massage our fragile egos or impart some sense of artificial awe. The purpose behind these canned pleasantries is often more subtle and reconnaissance-like.What you’re really asking is: “How do I stand relative to you on the socioeconomic ladder? Above? Below? Are you worth my time?” I am a director of operations. I am a regional manager. I am the senior vice president of who-gives-a-shit. Of course a person’s basic motivation to get up each day—the thing that gives them a larger purpose and genuine satisfaction in life—rarely correlates one-on-one to what services they exchange on the public market. That said, I teach college prep courses and tutor AP English for unreasonably overachieving Silicon Valley kids.

Q: What is a recurring theme you explore in your art?
A recurring theme in my art, especially of late, if dissatisfaction with the American status quo and the reluctance of my compatriots to do anything to arrest the deterioration of our country’s social and moral fiber. I use national symbols but employ them in a subversive way. The poster I created for B+ is very much this. It’s not anti-American so much as its a desire to recapitulate American-ness in such a way that it isn’t a synonym for jingoism or over-consumption. I think that America’s democratic potential begs to be deepened and radicalized, away from this knee-jerk reactionism that clings to things the way they were 50 or 100 years ago. I think there’s a way to be seriously democratic—call it left libertarian or even anarchist—in a way that stays true to the American love for liberty.

Q: If we were a fly on the wall, what would we find you doing at home?
I’m probably devouring the latest Osamu Tezuka or Shigeru Mizuki work that I’ve managed to get my hands on. The classic manga artists from the 1960s-1970s. I might be discrediting the newest “leak” surrounding the possible plot of Star Wars 7, reading some political treatise or another, trying to write my own book, playing with my corgi, Simon, or complaining to my wife about how I have to wash the dishes. You know, the general nerdery that is part-and-parcel of Silicon Valley life.

Q: A little known fact about yourself?
As I teenager, I once swallowed a large amount of Ajax or Comet balled up in toilet paper. I was told it would flush my system of any evidence of cocaine use. Luckily I didn’t have to call Poison Control.

Q: What excites you about either your poster, or the upcoming poster show?
Well, it’s [the poster's] a little edgy but it’s a good reminder that the values we embrace have wide-reaching ramifications for the rest of the world. We have a lot of responsibility to one another and to the planet as both consumers and exporters of culture/manufactured needs. In our globalized age, the decisions we make often result in matters of life-and-death somewhere else. It can be almost paralysis-inducing to think about, but it can also be an exciting challenge that snaps us out of our daily apathies. I’m proud of Eric Zwierzynski for pulling off something of this scale. Maybe he’s got a budding organizer in him somewhere.

Q: When you think of ‘a better place’, what do you think of?
http://c4ss.org/content/28216

Q: Where can we contact you and/or see some of your work?
My flim-flam website is www.mossillustration.net. You can contact me at anthonymoss@gmail.com if you want to order prints or commission artwork. I prefer to work direct and not through some freelancer website or that kind of thing. Gray markets are the way to go.

Q: Who are you and what do you do for a living?
I’m a graphic designer. Currently I’m specializing in design for the coffee industry given my experience in the sector.

Q: What are you passionate about, and how does it inspire your work?
I’m passionate about coffee and type. My passion for coffee makes what I do for my clients much more rewarding, and my passion for type design feeds me creatively and is the foundation of most of my design work.

Q: If we were a fly on the wall, what would we find you doing at home?
These days, you’d probably find me sketching for some current project while whistling to oldies or classical music… that is, if I hadn’t swatted you by then.

Q: A little known fact about yourself?
Well, most of the people who know me know this by now, but we’ll be moving back to the city where I first met my wife in December, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Q: What excites you about either your poster, or the upcoming poster show?
The prospect of dabbling in mediums and techniques that I don’t get much opportunity to these days, and meeting new designers in the Santa Cruz area.

Q: When you think of ‘a better place’, what do you think of?
Given the impending move, and the uncertainty of a new culture, the best place I can think of is home, where my wife is, wherever that is.

Q: Where can we contact you and/or see some of your work?
You can see links to my work on different websites at www.conradaltmann.com

Be sure to see Conrads poster, especially buy a print if you like it, at A Better Poster Show, hosted by Cruzio, on October 3rd.

Q: Who are you and what do you do for a living?
I’m a Santa Cruz Mountains resident, California native, currently working full-time for LinkedIn as their Environmental Graphics Program Manager.

Q: What inspires you?
The cosmos. Ocean waves. Snowy mountains. The woods. Mellow rainy mornings with a cup of coffee.

Q: If we were a fly on the wall, what would we find you doing at home?
Playing with my kids, putting them to bed, doing some dishes, hanging out with my wife and then doing some art in my studio on the swing shift.

Q: A little known fact about yourself?
My 5th Great Granddaddy (George Walton) signed the Declaration of Independence. That was a heck of a poster!

Q: What excites you about the upcoming poster show?
I’m excited about bringing poster art center stage. Poster art is a funny thing. It’s a throw-away form of commercial art; even less utilized in the digital age. But every once in a while some rare and great artistry surfaces through this medium. I’m stoked to be emphasizing it as an art form.

Q: When you think of ‘a better place’, what do you think of?
A place where we have freedom of express, serve, give, experiment and participate out of our joy and bliss for the good of all.
A place where trust, happiness, energy and love flourish.

Q: Where can we contact you and/or see some of your work?
www.joefentondesign.com