Welcome to the inner world of my imagination, where I work on manifesting various visions that come to me, using both abstract and realistic images in color and form as my own personal language. I got a strong premonition when I was seven, growing up here in rural Sonoma County, that making art was my destiny, and so it has been, as an obsession, a discipline, and a passion all along.

I was fortunate as a child to have regular art lessons, then at age 14 I began an after-school job as an apprentice to a traditional hand-bookbinder in San Francisco, which I did off and on for about 15 years, and where I developed high standards of craftsmanship. I also studied at Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design, and painting at San Francisco Art Institute. That was during the peak hippie years in the city, and I was drawn to the psychedelic poster art of the music scene, as well as the emerging free-form/organic art and craft styles. Later in life I began teaching perspective drawing and painting classes to children and teenagers in public schools, as well as teaching art here in my Sonoma County studio.

In addition to the 2 mediums of oil painting and collage shown on this website, I also love to do sewing and fabric art, making sculptural functional slab pottery, and doing various other crafty creations and repairs. Telling stories with oil painting is big fun for me, though the medium and techniques which I use for the collages and sculptures, are my own unique joy. That’s something I’ve been methodically developing over time, and consist of many layers, of various different materials. After many years of doing it, I find lots of magic in making these pieces, as well as in the paintings, and I hope you get the same from viewing them.

I appreciate your interest.

-Lois Stopple