Posts in current instructor
Chris Lahti

Chris Lahti earned a BA from Whittier College in 2001 and his MFA in Printmaking from the University of Iowa in 2004. In 2005 Chris entered the field of fine art printmaking and limited edition publishing at a Los Angeles based print publisher. Recognizing a desire to return to his hometown of San Diego, Chris established the East County Printshop in 2015. The East County Printshop is a San Diego area printmaking studio that collaborates with artists to create original fine art prints in various printmaking techniques, and currently concentrates on screen printing.

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Ron Lemen

Ron began his artistic journey in the high-adrenaline world of extreme sports, where creativity had to move as fast as the culture itself. Designing graphics for skateboards, snowboards, and surfboards, along with shoes, wheels, apparel, and gear, he forged a flexible, fearless imagination—one shaped by constant problem-solving and an instinct for visual rhythm.

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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.

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Graham Moore

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.

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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.

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Thomas O'Brien

NEW INSTRUCTOR! Thomas O’Brien is a landscape painter living in San Diego, California. He received formal art training during his undergraduate studies at the University of New Mexico. Upon graduation, Thomas joined the United States Marine Corps and is currently serving as an active-duty engineer officer. His work often leverages a full-spectrum value scale while incorporating as much color as possible. He emphasizes key elements of a subject through deliberate design choices and thoughtful composition. His aim is to create evocative compositions by combining the major tenets of representational painting.

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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.

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Sfona Pelah

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.

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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.

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Judi Tentor

Judi Tentor is a book artist, photographer, and educator living in San Diego. She earned her bachelor’s degree at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and her MLA at Ohio State University. Her work focuses on issues of the environment, aspects of memory, analog photo print processes, and the history of photography.

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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.”

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