Dave Conrey

Dave Conrey is a California artist, writer, and content creator in Long Beach, CA. He was born in the high desert area of Apple Valley but quickly moved to the Los Angeles area with his parents as a baby. He eventually spent most of his youth in the suburban confines of Orange County, listening to punk rock and hip hop, skateboarding, and enjoying beach culture.

His work has always been about bringing different parts of his world together, combining traditional materials with found objects, with his most recent work pushing outside the boundaries of the 2-dimensional space of paper and canvas, using the up-cycled bits found (typically along the Long Beach shoreline) to extrude outward into new space.

The inspiration for this current work is the idea that nature always finds a way to survive. Like a dandelion squeezing out between the cracks of the concrete, or coral and mollusks turning sunken ships into new ecosystems, the natural elements of this planet will live on long after humans have destroyed themselves.

Michele Morgan

I was born in Long Beach, although I was raised in the small desert town of Apple Valley, Ca. I loved growing up out there in the wide-open spaces where you could see panoramic mountains and the most incredible sunsets. My biggest influence was my high school teacher, Mr. John Kurtz. He threw a blob of white paint onto a painting I was trying to perfect. Wow! Then he smoothed it out in a matter of seconds he showed me how to let go. I wish Mr. Kurtz were alive to see how he influenced my abstracts.

This past year, I took a great online class from the artist, Nicholas Wilton called Art2Life. It was just what I needed to make a change in the way I pursue my art. I recommend everyone to refresh yourself. Like most artists, we look to create a new series. Our minds get flustered on which direction to go. Hence, we try different things until we find ourselves right smack dab in the middle of it and let go for a change. What you see in my work are different discoveries that lie way underneath the paint. There are so many layers in my process that sometimes I must sand half of it off which in turn creates another unique look. I do not have a theme most of the time. Although, I am most stimulated by people, and nature. My work is animated and has the flavor of abstract impressionism. I might start with a horizon line or a face. I paint whatever suits my soul. The genre of music usually influences how a piece might turn out.