top of page
Shoebox Artists
Here are some of the artists who make up the Shoebox Arts community.
Each brings their own style, perspective, and creativity, contributing to a space where artists
support each other, share their work, and grow together.
Lynn Heinz
lynnheinzart.com
@lynnheinzart
I work as an unreliable narrator in my art, telling stories that aren't complete, truthful, or entirely accurate. My mental state, biases, and personal purposes shape how I bend reality. I filter everything through my own perceptions and interpretations, never seeking to depict consensual or historical truth.
My sources are varied—found photos, family images, and ephemera I've collected over time. I interpret color and emotions freely, adding elements to amplify narratives while leaving out details lost to memory and time's decay. I always leave space for viewers to decide their own version of the story being told.
I'm Lynn Heinz, an artist living and working in Los Angeles. I received my Bachelor of Arts degrees from UCLA. My work has been included in shows at Coastline Community College, Lancaster Museum of Art and History/Cedar, Art Share LA, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Avenue 50 Gallery, LA Artcorps, and Art Division.
My sources are varied—found photos, family images, and ephemera I've collected over time. I interpret color and emotions freely, adding elements to amplify narratives while leaving out details lost to memory and time's decay. I always leave space for viewers to decide their own version of the story being told.
I'm Lynn Heinz, an artist living and working in Los Angeles. I received my Bachelor of Arts degrees from UCLA. My work has been included in shows at Coastline Community College, Lancaster Museum of Art and History/Cedar, Art Share LA, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Avenue 50 Gallery, LA Artcorps, and Art Division.
Adeola Davies-Aiyeloja
adeolastudio.org
@adeolastudio_art
My art practice is a spiritual and cultural offering—a visual language shaped by memory, ancestry, and the urgency to witness. I draw from my Yoruba heritage, personal migration story, and the collective experiences of Black and marginalized communities. Through vibrant color palettes, layered surfaces, and symbolic motifs, I navigate the complexities of joy, loss, resilience, and connection.
I work across media—painting, enamel on metal, sculpture, printmaking, and performance—letting the material speak. Some works, like those in my Mystic Series, emerge through intuitive mark-making and abstraction, creating organic forms that echo nature and spirit. Others, like Sacred Imprints, are deeply research-based, invoking ancestral DNA and reimagining narratives tied to slavery, migration, and survival.
As a curator, educator, and cultural bridge-builder, I believe in art's power to restore dignity, inspire reflection, and build community. My Menopause Art Project and cyanotype workshops create intergenerational dialogue around health and healing, while my recent installation work explores elemental forces as metaphors for transformation. I continue expanding my performance practice.
I work across media—painting, enamel on metal, sculpture, printmaking, and performance—letting the material speak. Some works, like those in my Mystic Series, emerge through intuitive mark-making and abstraction, creating organic forms that echo nature and spirit. Others, like Sacred Imprints, are deeply research-based, invoking ancestral DNA and reimagining narratives tied to slavery, migration, and survival.
As a curator, educator, and cultural bridge-builder, I believe in art's power to restore dignity, inspire reflection, and build community. My Menopause Art Project and cyanotype workshops create intergenerational dialogue around health and healing, while my recent installation work explores elemental forces as metaphors for transformation. I continue expanding my performance practice.
Palmer Earl
palmerearl.com
palmerearl_art
I am interested in a world when Goddesses were worshipped and women revered. Ancient cultures and polytheistic religions have been slowly mitigated away from our great grandmothers and replaced with monotheistic religions that promote women's subjugation.
Through my work I explore stories and ideas from polytheistic religions made obsolete long ago. These religions included powerful female deities and celebrated women's strength and unique beauty, encouraging more egalitarian societies and respect for our planet.
Using visual cues of medieval illuminated manuscripts—gold leaf, floral motifs, marginalia, and vertical formatting—I infuse polytheistic Goddesses from ancient religions in place of male monotheistic patriarchal icons of abrahamic religions.
Raised in New York City, I now live and work in Los Angeles with a BFA from School of Visual Arts. My subject matter mines the ancient origins of modern patriarchy, drawing on my own experience as a woman today. In remembering mythologies with strong female gods, we can empower ourselves to imagine how our world could be better for us and our daughters to come.
Through my work I explore stories and ideas from polytheistic religions made obsolete long ago. These religions included powerful female deities and celebrated women's strength and unique beauty, encouraging more egalitarian societies and respect for our planet.
Using visual cues of medieval illuminated manuscripts—gold leaf, floral motifs, marginalia, and vertical formatting—I infuse polytheistic Goddesses from ancient religions in place of male monotheistic patriarchal icons of abrahamic religions.
Raised in New York City, I now live and work in Los Angeles with a BFA from School of Visual Arts. My subject matter mines the ancient origins of modern patriarchy, drawing on my own experience as a woman today. In remembering mythologies with strong female gods, we can empower ourselves to imagine how our world could be better for us and our daughters to come.
Katie E Stubblefield
katiestubblefieldart.com
@katiestubblefieldart
Katie Stubblefield creates wood cut prints, oil paintings, sculptures, large-scale drawings, and site-specific installations that explore order, chaos, and entropy. Growing up in Tennessee's old-growth forests before relocating to Southern California, she developed a fascination with tracking wind through tree canopies—an experience that continues to inform her investigation of nature's overwhelming power.
Her imagery is informed by site visits, forensic photography, first-hand accounts, and evidence of changed environments caused by super-sized storm patterns and climate change. Working with both traditional materials and repurposed substrates like discarded plexiglass and sailcloth, Stubblefield transforms environmental debris into layered studies of ecological disruption and renewal.
Recent works examine dust devils and updrafts as real-time indicators of global warming, overlaying imagery from flood zones and earthquake fault lines with local infrastructure. Her sculptural installations incorporate fishing nets, concrete, rebar, and architectural debris, freezing moments of environmental onslaught while questioning what emerges in devastated landscapes.
Stubblefield holds an MFA from California State University, Long Beach, and teaches at Coastline College. She has received fellowships from the Long Beach Arts Council and a 2025 Kipaipai Artist Development Fellowship. Her works are exhibited nationally and held on consignment at galleries including K. Imperial Fine Arts, SCAPE, and SALT.
Her imagery is informed by site visits, forensic photography, first-hand accounts, and evidence of changed environments caused by super-sized storm patterns and climate change. Working with both traditional materials and repurposed substrates like discarded plexiglass and sailcloth, Stubblefield transforms environmental debris into layered studies of ecological disruption and renewal.
Recent works examine dust devils and updrafts as real-time indicators of global warming, overlaying imagery from flood zones and earthquake fault lines with local infrastructure. Her sculptural installations incorporate fishing nets, concrete, rebar, and architectural debris, freezing moments of environmental onslaught while questioning what emerges in devastated landscapes.
Stubblefield holds an MFA from California State University, Long Beach, and teaches at Coastline College. She has received fellowships from the Long Beach Arts Council and a 2025 Kipaipai Artist Development Fellowship. Her works are exhibited nationally and held on consignment at galleries including K. Imperial Fine Arts, SCAPE, and SALT.
Sharon Cannon
sharoncannonstudio.com
@sharoncannonstudio
I didn't start painting seriously until I retired. There was no plan—just a need to do something that felt free and alive. I work mostly in oils, using whatever gets me closer to that feeling: palette knives, rags, my hands. Rarely a brush. I'm drawn to color combinations that aren't supposed to work together—and that's exactly why I use them.
I don't sketch or plan things out. I just begin, and the painting takes over. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. I'm very self-critical, but I'm learning to leave space for accidents and surprises. That's where the truth often shows up.
Born into a farming family in South Dakota, I spent my first eight years in a single-room schoolhouse. After earning my Executive MBA from USC, I became Vice President of Unique Projects in high-end design furniture, collaborating with creative designers on projects for cruise ships, parks, and restaurants. Now living in Los Angeles, I've studied with Susan Manders and Kimberly Brooks, plus mentors in Scotland and Cornwall. I am also pursuing collaboration work with my friend, Don Saban who is a great photographer. Saban merges photos of my oil paintings with his photography, creating layered works that blend emotion and realism. Our pieces are really fun and well received.
I don't sketch or plan things out. I just begin, and the painting takes over. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. I'm very self-critical, but I'm learning to leave space for accidents and surprises. That's where the truth often shows up.
Born into a farming family in South Dakota, I spent my first eight years in a single-room schoolhouse. After earning my Executive MBA from USC, I became Vice President of Unique Projects in high-end design furniture, collaborating with creative designers on projects for cruise ships, parks, and restaurants. Now living in Los Angeles, I've studied with Susan Manders and Kimberly Brooks, plus mentors in Scotland and Cornwall. I am also pursuing collaboration work with my friend, Don Saban who is a great photographer. Saban merges photos of my oil paintings with his photography, creating layered works that blend emotion and realism. Our pieces are really fun and well received.
Dellis Frank
dellisfrank.com
@dellisFrank_theartist
I create fiber-based assemblages rooted in social justice, environmental advocacy, and cultural identity. Using repurposed materials, I've coined "The Greening of Fine Art" to describe my sustainable practice and "Vibrational Cooking" to reflect my intuitive, process-driven approach. Materials often guide each piece's direction, leading me into multidisciplinary work where symbolism and color invite viewers into self-reflection.
As a full-time artist passionate about visual art with a message, I focus on fiber sculptures that challenge societal norms while offering abstract pieces for aesthetic balance. My goal is transforming discarded elements into meaningful dialogue—one fiber at a time. Previously, I taught in the Los Angeles Unified School District, advocating for arts education and helping write media arts curriculum standards.
I currently serve on boards of several arts organizations and work with community groups focusing on arts advocacy. My work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including features on Peacock TV's Bel-Air. As a wife, mother of three, and grandmother of two residing in Lomita, California, I remain deeply committed to addressing social justice issues through my environmentally conscious art practice.
As a full-time artist passionate about visual art with a message, I focus on fiber sculptures that challenge societal norms while offering abstract pieces for aesthetic balance. My goal is transforming discarded elements into meaningful dialogue—one fiber at a time. Previously, I taught in the Los Angeles Unified School District, advocating for arts education and helping write media arts curriculum standards.
I currently serve on boards of several arts organizations and work with community groups focusing on arts advocacy. My work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including features on Peacock TV's Bel-Air. As a wife, mother of three, and grandmother of two residing in Lomita, California, I remain deeply committed to addressing social justice issues through my environmentally conscious art practice.
Andrea Monroe
andreamonroe.com
@AndreaMonroeArt
My artworks focus on feminine and animal energy set in colorful, pattern-filled, dreamlike landscapes. I express my subjects' relationship with nature using symbolisms of power and physical movement captured in time. Through my art, I portray how feminine power addresses unseen forces in life.
Before creating a painting, deliberations between my consciousness and the universe begin to arise. No idea is ever forced out of me. The conversation with myself goes something like this: "I'm open now. Please show me the way."
Color is the extension of my very being. I surround myself with it, from pillows and paintings in my home to the glory of plants and flowers in my garden. My paintings are an expansion of myself—a kaleidoscope of forms and figures, a chaos of color I use to entice viewers to experience the spontaneity behind them. I wish to bring exhilaration with every hue I place on canvas.
I've been inspired by Fauvism, pointillism, and surrealism, along with patterns from Mexico, South America, Africa, and Japan. Every placement of paint is deliberate, though not specifically calculated.
Before creating a painting, deliberations between my consciousness and the universe begin to arise. No idea is ever forced out of me. The conversation with myself goes something like this: "I'm open now. Please show me the way."
Color is the extension of my very being. I surround myself with it, from pillows and paintings in my home to the glory of plants and flowers in my garden. My paintings are an expansion of myself—a kaleidoscope of forms and figures, a chaos of color I use to entice viewers to experience the spontaneity behind them. I wish to bring exhilaration with every hue I place on canvas.
I've been inspired by Fauvism, pointillism, and surrealism, along with patterns from Mexico, South America, Africa, and Japan. Every placement of paint is deliberate, though not specifically calculated.
Aazam Irilian
aazamirilian.com
@aazamirilianstudio
I am an abstract artist exploring the beauty and complexity of the world around us through painting, installation, and digital imagery. Fascinated by the universe's visible and hidden mysteries, I investigate the interplay of color, light, and form, capturing unexpected beauty that emerges from their interaction. Using mineral solutions and fluid movement, I create depth and intricate textures that invite viewers to look beyond the immediate into the unknown.
Through layering translucent, flowing forms with structured elements, I explore the balance between order and chaos, clarity and obscurity—contrasts reflecting invisible forces connecting us to one another and our environment. Inspired by Helen Frankenthaler's fluid color fields, Agnes Pelton's luminous mysticism, and Georgia O'Keeffe's organic sensualism, I strive to give form to the unseen.
Originally from Iran, I've resided in Southern California for over forty years. As a Kipaipai Fellow and three-time grant recipient, I've exhibited nationally with works in private collections worldwide. After thirty years as an art educator, I continue bridging art and science to reveal nature's complexity and beauty.
Through layering translucent, flowing forms with structured elements, I explore the balance between order and chaos, clarity and obscurity—contrasts reflecting invisible forces connecting us to one another and our environment. Inspired by Helen Frankenthaler's fluid color fields, Agnes Pelton's luminous mysticism, and Georgia O'Keeffe's organic sensualism, I strive to give form to the unseen.
Originally from Iran, I've resided in Southern California for over forty years. As a Kipaipai Fellow and three-time grant recipient, I've exhibited nationally with works in private collections worldwide. After thirty years as an art educator, I continue bridging art and science to reveal nature's complexity and beauty.
Marianna Baker
mbfiberandclay.com
@mbfiberandclay
As a contemporary fiber artist, I harness the tactile nature of fabric, embroidery, and beading to convey powerful narratives that resonate on both emotional and societal levels. My work explores themes of identity, memory, and transformation, weaving together intricate textures and vibrant colors to create dialogue between viewer and material.
Through meticulous handwork and fabric manipulation, I elevate traditional techniques into contemporary statements, inviting audiences to reflect on their own experiences and connections. Each stitch, bead, and fold serves as both medium and storytelling form, celebrating resilience and the complexity of the human spirit.
I embrace experimental embroidery as a means to challenge tradition and explore new narratives. By merging unconventional materials and techniques, I create tactile pieces that invite curiosity and provoke thought. My work celebrates the beauty of imperfection and creativity's unpredictable nature.
My artistic journey testifies to craft's transformative power, where every piece becomes a visual and tactile exploration of what it means to be seen and heard in a world that often overlooks life's intricacies.
Through meticulous handwork and fabric manipulation, I elevate traditional techniques into contemporary statements, inviting audiences to reflect on their own experiences and connections. Each stitch, bead, and fold serves as both medium and storytelling form, celebrating resilience and the complexity of the human spirit.
I embrace experimental embroidery as a means to challenge tradition and explore new narratives. By merging unconventional materials and techniques, I create tactile pieces that invite curiosity and provoke thought. My work celebrates the beauty of imperfection and creativity's unpredictable nature.
My artistic journey testifies to craft's transformative power, where every piece becomes a visual and tactile exploration of what it means to be seen and heard in a world that often overlooks life's intricacies.
Brooke Bender
@brookebenderstudio
Brooke Bender is a Southern California-based artist and psychotherapist who creates deeply intuitive paintings that explore the realm of the subconscious and fantastical. Armed with a BA in Fine Arts from California State University Northridge and advanced training in Marital and Family Therapy and Clinical Art Therapy from Loyola Marymount University, Bender brings a unique psychological perspective to her artistic practice. After several years focused on her psychotherapy career, the pandemic provided her the opportunity to return to art-making, now studying under mentor Ernesto de La Peña Folch from San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Her creative process involves tapping into her subconscious to give life to imaginary "personajes" – characters and forms that don't exist in our reality but emerge through spontaneous color and expressive mark-making. Taking creative risks as she explores her inner world of fantasies, Bender allows shapes and forms to organically develop and come alive through her intuitive painting process, creating works that bridge the psychological and the fantastical.
Anabella Rainer
@anabellarainertrend
http://arartdesigns.com
Anabella Rainer is an Argentinian mixed-media artist based in the United States whose work explores the depths of human emotion and subconscious experience through a diverse range of mediums including oil, acrylic, watercolor, ink, charcoal, and paper. Beginning her artistic journey at age eight at the Ruben Dario Art Academy and later studying at the University of Visual Arts in Argentina, Rainer has developed a versatile practice that spans figurative, expressionist, and abstract approaches. Her work has gained international recognition, including a prestigious exhibition at the 60th International Biennale Venezia in 2024 with her piece "Woman Seated in a Beautiful Garden" and participation in "A Bridge for Peace" at The Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum. Rainer's artistic process emphasizes releasing self-doubt and connecting with nature, allowing her intuitive approach to guide her in creating authentic, emotionally resonant pieces that challenge viewers to explore deeper levels of human experience and artistic expression.
Patricia Fortlage
patriciafortlage.com
@patricia.fortlage
In Memory of our dear Patti Fortlage
bottom of page