Hard-edged swirls and painterly mosaics of overlapping squares and rectangles inhabit the art of Laura Bauer.

Born in San Francisco and raised in the San Juan Islands of Washington State, Bauer discovered the value of independence and learned to identify the often-overlooked beauty in daily life. “This is the true essence of creativity,” she states, “seeing the potential for art in everyday places.” It was her sister that helped Bauer realize the power of painting seven years ago, as a means to rediscover herself during a turbulent period in her life. Bauer immersed herself in acrylic painting, and found that it had the potential to captivate and soothe the soul. The ensuing paintings are a dance of color and pattern, where the array of layers come forth and recede in rhythmic pulses. Her works have been exhibited around California and Washington State and she has recently acquired representation in New York. She lives and works in the San Francisco Bay area.

Lila Fernan's vivid abstract expressionism reveals a deep concern with both somber weightiness and an irrepressible urge toward flight. Her paintings repeatedly explore the fluidity of boundaries, and the degrees of coherence between form and background. Coal-gray tones are balanced by flame-like detailing, with a tension created between the fullness of the dark colors with the striving of the lighter colors. Her repeated exploration of a central spiral shape placed against an opposing color reveals the pathos in her