Posts in current instructor
Jennifer McHugh

NEW INSTRUCTOR! California native, Jennifer McHugh, is a full-time abstract artist and art instructor.  Creativity and art classes were always a part of her life, but when she was a new mother, her need for a creative outlet led her to an abstract art class and she was hooked. In 2015, after 7 years of painting and selling art in her spare time, Jennifer left her 20-year career as English instructor to become a full-time artist. When she started teaching local art workshops and classes in 2019, it was a natural transition, as it blended her two passions. Jennifer has explored many styles to help her evolve as an artist, but her work is always process-driven.  Guided by intuition and spontaneity, she translates her inspiration without any idea of what the final product will be.

Read More
Hannah Melde-Webster

NEW INSTRUCTOR! Hannah Melde-Webster has spent the last decade immersed in the floral and event industry. Her passion for using flowers, plants, and other living materials to craft captivating scenes that transport viewers to another time or place is evident throughout her work. She specializes in curating unforgettable experiences that reflect her design aesthetic which is deeply influenced by a longing for a more magical past that may or may not have ever existed. Whether she is designing tablescapes for intimate events or creating set designs, she strives to build moments that draw the viewer in to another world. 

Read More
Lori Mitchell

Lori Mitchell graduated with honors and a BFA from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. She wrote and illustrated the award-winning children’s book Different Just Like Me, for which she appeared on Oprah. She has illustrated numerous other books, including Bal Yoga for Kids, which won the San Diego Book Award. Lori’s work has been exhibited at the Cannon Art Gallery in Carlsbad, the California Center for the Arts Museum in Escondido, Fresh Paint Gallery in La Jolla, the Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA), and the Athenaeum. She is known for her creative, ever-changing lessons and positive, engaging approach.

Read More
Graham Moore

NEW INSTRUCTOR! Graham Moore is a graphic designer/artist and educator, originally from the UK, based in Los Angeles. His creative career has spanned many diverse disciplines, including magazine design, music packaging & music event promotion and entertainment design. He has taught at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Otis College of Design, and Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles and currently teaches at Woodbury University in Burbank and Barnsdall Art Center in Los Angeles.

Read More
Ilona Murray-Novak

NEW INSTRUCTOR! Ilona Murray-Novak is the founder of Organic Visions Luxury Moss Art Studio, specializing in high-end, custom moss art installations and biophilic design for commercial and residential clients. With a passion for connecting people to the serenity of nature through art, she brings both technical knowledge and creative inspiration to her class.

Read More
Thia Nevius

Thia Nevius grew up in Studio City, California. She received a BA from California State University San Jose and an MFA from Colorado State University. She went on to paint sets for the Santa Fe Opera and teach studio art at Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico. Since moving to San Diego, she has taught art for many years including at The Bishop’s School in La Jolla, UCSD Extension, The Art Department, ARTS-A Reason to Survive, and the Athenaeum. Thia has traveled extensively in Asia, Europe, and South America. Her work has been featured in numerous group and solo exhibitions, where she has won awards of excellence and Best of Show.

Read More
Susan Osborn

Susan Osborn taught art at The Bishop’s School for 17 years. Keeping a studio at home, she works in assemblage, drawing, and painting. Her work reveals a love of energy through line, texture, and color. Susan’s work is in collections in the United States, Denmark, Japan, and Spain. She is listed in Who’s Who of American Women (25th edition). Among her many awards, she has received a Visual Artists Assistance Award from the State of California, awards at SDMA, the San Diego Art Institute, Bonita Museum, and Small Image Show.

Read More
Sfona Pelah

NEW INSTRUCTOR! Sfona Pelah is an award-winning San Diego–based printmaker with many years of experience in the medium. She has an MFA from Rochester Institute of Technology, majoring in printmaking with a minor in photography. Sfona has been teaching fine art and printmaking at UCSD and San Diego Community Colleges for over 40 years. She has exhibited her artwork nationally and internationally.

Read More
Robin Roberts

Robin Sanford Roberts is an artist and theatrical scenic designer working in models and mixed media. She has designed scenery for multiple theaters including The Old Globe, San Diego Repertory, Denver Center Theatre Company, Portland Center Stage, and Broadway. She holds a degree in architecture from LSU and an MFA in scenic design from UC San Diego. She also studied at the École des Beaux-Arts at Fontainebleau and at Sir John Cass School of Art, London Polytechnic. Robin currently teaches in the undergraduate theater department at the University of San Diego and at Art on 30th.

Read More
Sibyl Rubottom

Sibyl Rubottom holds an MFA from Yale University and a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, where she was awarded European Honors and studied in Rome for a year. For over 25 years Sibyl made fabric art for the interior design trade. She is former proprietor of Bay Park Press, which was a small fine arts press specializing in limited edition artists’ books and fine intaglio prints. Sibyl is currently manager of the Print Studio at the Athenaeum Art Center. Sibyl’s books are held in numerous collections, including the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, John Hay Library at Brown University, Sterling Library at Yale University, Geisel Library (Mandeville Special Collections) at UCSD, the Malcolm A. Love Library at SDSU, the Athenaeum, and various public and private collections.

Read More
Jeff Yeomans

Jeff Yeomans’ experience as an illustrator and graphic designer for the San Diego Reader in the 1970s eventually led to a career working in television as an award-winning San Diego broadcast designer and art director. In 2003, his wife encouraged him to consider painting full-time, and in 2014 he also began to teach. He enjoys painting many different subjects, and much of his work has explored the fragile beauty of California and the connected urban landscape, that ultimately impacts it. “As a regional painter, I feel a responsibility to document California as it is today. Someone told me, ‘paint what you know,’ so having grown up in Southern California, I paint to document where and how we live.”

Read More