February Artists - Jennifer Mullens and Rick Strieck

The Coffee Gallery is pleased to present the artwork of felt maker Jennifer Mullens and illustrator/painter Rick Strieck.

Exhibit runs through February 27th.

In the main room we have the beautiful artwork of felt maker Jennifer Mullens.

Jennifer discovered the art of felt making in a textile class at San Francisco State University where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Art History.

Shifting her emphasis from painting to textiles, opened up a more organic approach to her art.  The wool takes on a life of its own, as it shrinks and binds together, taking over the design, as the fibers are rolled and beaten into a piece of felt.  It's like taking a painting, that she worked on for days and then rolling it up, while it is still wet, and beating it with a broom.

Felt making  is both a physically and artistically challenging medium.  She draws her inspiration from nature and creates many of her pieces outdoors.

In the conference room we have the incredibly imaginative work of illustrator/painter 

Rick Strieck.

Born in California, Rick was drawn to the exciting and scary world of monsters, fairy tales, and nightmares.  He was heavily inspired by classic horror films, comic books, fine art and authors such as Clive Barker, Edward Gorey and Sam Keith.

Although he aspires to provide his unique stile to comic books and children's literature, Rick continues to broaden his experiences and opportunities in the arts.  Other than a limited amount of high school, college art classes and personal workshops, he has not had a large amount of formal training.

Rick continues to absorb ideas and spends his free time locked in his "Dungeon" creating playfully creepy illustrations which have the look and appeal of a child's imaginations, but the dark and twisted style only he could create.