Bona Fide Books

Award-winning pastel artist Bonita Paulis has lived in the Sierra Lake Tahoe area for 30 years. She is a member of the Tahoe Art League, Pastel Society of the West Coast (regional representative) and a signature member of the Sierra Pastel Society. "The seasons, colors, sky and ever-changing weather at this elevation make every day unique. I consider myself very lucky to be living at the crossroads of the High Sierra and the High Desert Great Basin of Nevada. I strive to capture some of the beauty of this incredible natural world and share it in my work."

Stacy Hicks is a photographer originally from Washington state who now lives in Strawberry, CA. Her preferred medium is black and white film because, "it's more honest."

Benjamin Arnold is a teacher, poet, writer, and artist living in Reno, Nevada. His current visual work is created by capturing images and editing them entirely with his iPhone. He admits that he creates some images while in meetings, during lunch, and while waiting in lines. By snapping photos while engaged in life, then manipulating those photos with apps during “down” moments, Arnold exemplifies the notion that art is not separate from life. He’s also putting his spin on broadsides. “I just realized one day that my poetry and visual art wanted to play together,” says Arnold.

Kit Night is an oil painter living in South Lake Tahoe, and she is also the creator of "Art in the Morning," a weekly artistic boost that lifts the spirits and brings art into our every day lives. She is also a teacher, walker and jazz lover. Her work is influenced by jazz. Miles, Coltrane, Brubeck and, as Count Basie used to refer to him, "Oscar Pete." Night says, "They push themselves to take risks. This is what I try to do with my paintings." www.kitnight.com

My work is concerned with the wordless storytelling of our faces and bodies. I paint in oils, in a style you might call "expressive realism," which is emotionally driven observational painting. www.shelleyhocknell.com

A fourteen-year resident of South Lake Tahoe, Davis is a native Californian, born into a family of artists. She has long been fascinated by the natural beauty of the basin surrounding her, attempting to capture it in whatever medium is at her disposal. She considers herself an expressionistic painter and is best known for her remarkable silks, but also works in oil, watercolor, printmaking, sculpture, and ceramics. www.dorothydavisart.com

Poet, writer, and photographer Suzanne Roberts is opening her photography show at Bona Fide HQ. The show, "Faces," features travel photographs from around the world.

"I became interested in photography as a young child watching my Dad’s homemade slideshows in the dark on the living room floor. I watched in awe as the images were projected onto the screen, and I was hooked. I took a high school black and white darkroom class in photography at 16 years old. I was forever changed by the beauty that was captured by Ansel Adams’ landscape and still life photographs. The way that he saw light and dark, shadows and moods, intrigued me and inspired me to learn more."

Written in the storytelling tradition of 1950s horror comics such as EC Comics' Shock Suspense Stories and Tales from the Crypt (with their signature "twist" endings), Jared Manninen's Gruesome Tales to Tickle Your Terror Bone is a 102 page graphic novel. The book collects 6 short illustrated stories and is available now. For more information or to purchase a copy go to makotopress.com.

Michelle Murdock studied environmental science in school, focusing on ornithology. She enjoys exploring the intricacies of the natural world through printmaking. Many of her prints come from daily life in Tahoe, taking walks with the dogs and looking around the forest at trees and birds. While she has struggled in the past to choose between a career in science or art, she has finally reached a happy medium by blending the two. www.michellemurdock.com

Aikido student, writer, and artist Jared Manninen lives in South Lake Tahoe, and has just finished his first graphic novel. For more about his work, visit his website at jaredmanninen.com.

Lane Martin is an artist in Reno. See more of his work at www.freshartnow.org.

Andrew Jaeger received his BA in art studio from the University of California at Davis in 1978 and has since studied portrait, acrylic, oil, watercolor, figure, drawing, and print. He lives in Truckee, California and works part-time at ACE Hardware.

In the fall of 2000, Meredith Niles relocated to Tahoe to fulfill her love of nature and a lifelong dream of painting full time. Meredith’s current work reflects her mountain environment. Though concentrating on mountain and lake scapes in oil, she also continues to paint large scale acrylic still lifes highlighting the effect of light on cool glinting silver and a variety of warm woody Tahoe cones, citrus, peaches, and pears. www.meredithniles.com

The American West provides inspiration for Andy Skaff's vivid and light-filled landscapes. Andy's appreciation for the color and beauty of the west stems from years of painting outdoors in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and throughout the West. His paintings express a clear sense of depth and light. www.askaff.com

“I consider horses to be the most beautiful of species. Their sensual movement and natural elegance, the way light plays against their curves, and their recurring appearance in myths world wide make them irresistible to me." For more about Eve and her work, go to www.evewerner.com.

South Shore landscape artist Bonita Paulis has lived in the Lake Tahoe region for 25 years. Three of her pastels have been selected for The Best of America Pastel Artists, Volume II published December 2009, which features artists from across the country. Visit her website at www.bonitapaulis.com.

Bruce Rettig is a writer, graphic artist, and photographer. He graduated from the University of Colorado with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts and Fine Arts History. For more information about Bruce's work, visit http://brucerettig.com.

Night’s work has received praise from art critic, essayist and Pulitzer Prize winner John Updike, jazz composer, pianist and creator of NPR’s "Piano Jazz", Marian McPartland and best-selling author of "Art & Physics", Leonard Shlain. "My work is influenced by Jazz. Miles, Coltrane, Dizzy, Evans, Brubeck and, as Count Basie used to refer to him, "Oscar Pete." I love listening to the old guys tell their stories and talk about their struggles. Listening to Jazz Profiles on NPR, it's like hanging out with them late at night. The music is alive, always changing. They push space. They push themselves to take risks. This is what I try to do with my paintings. http://kitnight.com

Oklahoma-based artist Matthew Moffett started to paint when one of his dogs died from an aneurism. Seeking an artist to create a portrait to commemorate his companion, he wasn't satisfied with his options and decided to try it himself. Matthew's work is now in collections all over the world. www.m2studioportraits.com

Zack Zdrale takes a traditional, academic approach to his work, as much of his training was focused on the study of 16th and 17th century masters. His work describes the human condition as he perceives it, as well as one's relationship to self. Although classically rendered, the compositions and subject matter place his work in the present. zackzdrale.com

Desert is a mixed media series combining photography with oil painting. I’m attracted to the old boom towns of the Nevada desert because they are seedy. These places are seedy and lonely. The people that occupy these places fascinate me. My faces are meant to be very human, almost innocent in their ugliness. www.aliwarren.com

My artwork explores my never-ending fascination with texture, form, and color. I describe my art as "contemporary mixed media," which means I'm primarily applying acrylic paints and mediums onto wood, canvas, metal, paper, or anything else that interests me at the time. www.carolesesko.com

My work is concerned with the wordless storytelling of our faces and bodies. I paint in oils, in a style you might call 'expressive realism', which is emotionally driven observational painting. www.shelleyhocknell.com