Visual Media
A collection of all the visual media in the sixth edition of “The Parlay” literary magazine.
FEATURED ARTIST
On behalf of the staff at The Parlay, we are honored to feature local artist Leon Phillips and his works, “The Masks I Wear” and “Plumage Display.”
Leon Phillips
Artist Bio:
Leon M. Phillips is a Sacramento-based painter whose work navigates the fluid space between realism and the surreal. Raised in the Poconos of the Northeast, his early connection to the landscape was later tempered by ten years of service in the United States Air Force. This combination of rugged natural beauty and disciplined, structural environments fuels his exploration of the friction between manmade architecture and the organic world.
Primarily self-taught, Phillips developed his technical foundation through the rigorous study of old-master traditions, a “grandfathered” knowledge he now applies to contemporary themes. His current series marks a deeper conceptual shift, synthesizing his personal spirituality with his perception of the natural world to create canvases that feel both grounded and metaphysical.
An up and coming figure in the Rancho Cordova art community, Phillips has exhibited his works at regional landmarks such as The MACC, City Hall, and Ri-Nu studios. His work is held in private collections spanning from California to New Jersey, and he is currently preparing new works for a series of high-profile shows and auctions throughout California.
The Masks I Wear
Plumage Display
Rachel Briner
Artist Bio:
Rachel Briner uses art to explore nostalgia and wanderlust, as well as some darker emotional themes. To develop her pieces, she starts by applying texture and color, and fills in what her brain sees in the shapes created. From there, she brings it to life and presents a whimsical new image.
The Golden Mirror
Thomas Campbell
Artist Bio:
Thomas Campbell is a self-taught artist living in Sacramento with his wife and many animals. Thomas enjoys black coffee and even darker tales. He self-publishes an ongoing comic book series "Greater Than Zero," which can be found online, at Flower Fist Art Market, as well as Empire's Comic Vault in Sacramento.
Whimsy
Artist Statement:
"Whimsy" is not a word that immediately conjures images in my mind. I very much enjoy the feeling, but it's not a word that I would use to describe my usual style. My sensibilities are typically drawn to darker fare, but I thought about Guillermo Del Toro's body of work, which, despite the "darkness" present, has an abundance of whimsy. That led me to a gothic-romantic inversion of a scene that could be something out of "Mary Poppins." A little bit of dark chocolate and black coffee to help the sugar go down.
M. Cates
Artist Bio:
M. Cates' acrylic paintings feature cats in mysterious gardens and forests, with rich, magical color schemes and out-of-scale botanical elements. This year marked her first participation in a gallery exhibition at the Community Gallery at 48 Natoma in Folsom, CA. After attending several high school programs at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, she dedicated herself to studying portraiture through digital paintings while recovering from a chronic illness. Requests for pet paintings eventually guided her to her current subject matter of surreal, contemplative portraits of cats. Cates is currently a member of the El Dorado Hills Art Association, Folsom Art Association, and a student of Jim Marxen’s “Expand Your Artistic Skills” class. Custom pet paintings are available through her website.
If I Knew the Way
Artist Statement:
If I Knew the Way began with the idea of two “people” lost together wanting to find their way home. As I worked on the painting, the story developed into two strangers: the cat and the viewer. Purple foliage and flowers gave this forest a dreamlike feeling, disorienting but not threatening. The cat’s eyes and markings became those of a stranger who immediately feels familiar, exactly who you might trust to guide you home if you awoke somewhere strange, unsure of how you got there.
Australia Celaya
Artist Statement:
Using graphite, I’ve depicted an anime girl running late to class, familiar and nostalgic to those who grew up watching shoujo anime, like myself. I notice the culture of repeated visual cues in anime often invites playful subversions of those cliches. For this piece, the lines used for her uniform, limbs, and backpack are twisted into unnatural positions and shapes, mimicking the distortion a memory is subject to each time it is recalled or referenced.
The Girl
Angel Cranfill
Artist Bio:
Angel Cranfill is a Sacramento-Based artist who specializes in ink and pen to explore themes of sexuality, mental health, and intense emotions. When not working on art, Angel is raising a young daughter to see the world with joy and whimsy while studying English or Linguistics to become a professor. Find more of Angel’s work at local shops, like the Flower Fist Market or online at instagram.com/Morbidpuppy.
peek-a-boo
Artist Statement:
“peek-a-boo" is a play on the classic pin-up from war eras. Its artists intended to exhibit fantasy with historical references to hope and morals with a playful twist.
Izzy Cross
Artist Bio:
Izzy Cross likes to bring her original characters from her inner-world out for yard time through creating mixed-media drawings. She especially likes sharing them with her friends and boyfriend! Likewise, she goes wild for journaling, reading, recreational shooting, old computer games, fascinating movies and TV shows. Her favorite genres include horror, crime, action, sci-fi, comedy, and any combination of those five. https://www.instagram.com/_hersheykissmyass_/
Mt. Tamalpais Mausoleum
Artist Statement:
Mt. Tamalpais Mausoleum
I took this photo on a whim while passing through the cemetery and chapel at Mount Tam. It's a fun little morbid hike all around. There's something about all the weird, secluded spots all around the Bay Area that entice me.
The County Fair
Artist Statement:
The County Fair
I can still smell the funnel cake and sun-baked barf.
Pam Eskildsen
Artist Bio:
Pam Eskildsen was born at the half century, 1950, in San Francisco, California on New Year's Eve. Her main endeavors were mainly in the math and sciences, receiving her B.S. in mathematics at Stanford. It wasn't until she married her love of her life, Steve, and saw their own four children grow into young adults, that she decided to try her hand at Chinese Brush Painting. Having never taken any prior art classes, this was certainly a brand new revelation...A new world discovered...such an enriching experience! Twenty years and eleven grandchildren later, she's still taking Brush Painting at the Folsom Senior Center! She also is an avid ukulele player, sews, crochets, and loves to read in her spare time!
Hippo
David Epler
Artist Bio:
Painter of Life and Emotion. My work as an acrylic painter bridges the realms of abstract and realism, exploring a spectrum that ranges from monochrome to full color. I am drawn to capturing nature, wildlife, and portraits through compositions that play with perspective, seeking to present familiar subjects in uncommon and unique ways. When selecting subject matter, I focus on layouts that offer a fresh viewpoint, aiming to evoke feeling and emotion within each piece. What captivates me most is the uncommon beauty found in wildlife and natural scenes, moments that go unnoticed but hold profound depth and texture. My inspiration stems from the emotion and feeling of a scene, translating intangible experiences into visual form. I employ rough abstract brushstrokes with minute details to create tension between texture and precision. This technique adds a distinctive quality to my work, inviting viewers to engage in both the surface textures and energy, as well as the intricate detail and nuances within each painting. I hope you enjoy my paintings as much as I do creating them. If my work speaks to you, please reach out, and we can discuss any projects or commissions you may be interested in.
The Harvest
Artist Statement:
The inspiration for "The Harvest" is the way the hands of the wine grape pickers look after a long day of harvesting the grapes. Reflecting the deep staining and rough texture of their hands.
Yannah Evans
Artist Bio:
Yannah is mainly a self-taught artist. Her training in art has been through a couple of elective college classes and taking community art classes here and there. She was greatly inspired by art history classes she took in college, especially when studying Impressionism, Cubism. Much later after college she became infatuated with Black artists beginning with the Harlem Renaissance period to the present day.
In 2022, she became a certified Intentional Creativity® teacher. This program transformed her art and life tremendously. She learned to create from a place of internal and intuitive exploration which she also shares and teaches to her audiences.
Yannah’s accomplishments in the field of art include having her art displayed in various venues. She served as a board and advisory member of Women’s Wisdom Art, provided intuitive art classes for a Black women’s mental health organization and currently she’s on the Board of Rancho Cordova Arts. It is her goal to teach people that art is healing, inspirational and available to all.
Eye of the Beholder
Artist Statement:
Eye of the Beholder
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This was a fun piece for Yannah in that the process was led by her intuition. The initial piece she didn’t care for but her intuition showed her what she could do to make the piece more whimsical and fun.
Free
Artist Statement:
Free
This body of work started as a writing in the background expressing one’s need for freedom. Then there was a scribbling on top of the words with a marker which is called Metacognative drawing (Thinking about thinking while drawing). Then a contour drawing was created on top of the drawing and paint was applied to bring the face (Muse) to life. The picture is a reminder to be free to speak your truth.
Vicki Foote
Artist Bio:
I like to express a mood in my paintings, and I try to do so by using a mixture of colors and values. Some paintings are meant to be fun, lovely, or dramatic. I paint with one of those goals in mind, and I hope others see and enjoy what I’ve created.
Friends
Sheryl French
Artist Bio:
Sacramento native Sheryl French is a contemporary artist with degrees in art and interior design. Formerly Artistic Director of Palmer Fine Art, she now works as an independent artist, exhibiting multiple times a month while advocating for arts education. Sheryl’s work, shaped by decades of experience, is noted for her use of color, composition and subtle symbolism. Recent accolades include selection for the 2025 Crocker-Kingsley Exhibition, an Honorable Mention at Bold Expressions 69th Open International Exhibit, and participation in the 57th National Mother Lode Art Exhibition and the 2026 International Magnum Opus. Portfolio- sherylfrenchart.com
There’s a Hare in My Soup
Artist Statement:
There’s a Hare in My Soup
There’s a Hare in My Soup started as a reminder that some days the universe isn’t just chaotic, it’s actively roasting me. Instead of arguing with it, I’ve learned to laugh and accept my role as the punchline. Life gets a lot lighter when you stop trying to make sense of every weird moment and just let it be ridiculous. If I’m going to be in on the joke anyway, I might as well enjoy it.
Off-Kilter Cake
Artist Statement:
Off-Kilter Cake
Off-Kilter Cake is a reflection of a feeling I know well—holding it together, but just barely. Like the leaning tiers of the cake, there are days when balance feels uncertain, when everything teeters on the edge of collapse. And yet, it’s that very instability that brings richness, humor, and a strange kind of beauty to the experience. The chaos doesn’t ruin the structure—it gives it character.
Cheryl Gleason
Artist Bio:
Cheryl Gleason is a multi-disciplinary artist living and working in the Sacramento area. Her non-figurative and abstract paintings draw from places and imagery that have imprinted themselves on her unconscious mind. Though she rarely uses photographs as direct references, the shapes, textures, and visual impressions captured in her photos often resurface in her work—sometimes years later.
Each piece begins with intuitive scribbles on a panel. Through layers of color, line, texture, and composition, a landscape of Cheryl’s inner world gradually emerges. Her work is distinctive for its use of multiple vantage points within a single composition. By juxtaposing bird’s-eye and elevation views, she creates paintings that feel dynamic, exploratory, and rich in visual dialogue.
Natures Habitat
Cheryl primarily works in oil and cold wax on panels, but her practice also includes encaustic, and mixed media. In recent years, she has expanded her approach to include acrylics. Across all mediums, she strives to create harmonious relationships, compelling marks, tactile textures, and an overall aesthetic that evokes a smile, a memory, or an emotion.
In addition to her studio practice, Cheryl serves as the artist and curator at the Mills Station Art and Culture Center (The MACC). She attended UC Davis, where she studied under several influential instructors, most notably David Hollowell, who had a profound impact on her development as an artist. She also holds a Master of Education in Online Teaching and Learning from California State University, East Bay.
The City of Angels
Doris Gorin
Artist Statement:
Mardi Rat
Mardi Rat is an acrylic painting that was completed when I was taking classes at Folsom Lake College in the old facility off of Green Valley Road. Jim Estey (now deceased) was our instructor. He loved the Lunar New Year, and each year students would paint a picture that represented the current ‘year of…’. The time period coincided with the upcoming Mardi Gras celebration, so the beads and color felt like they belonged on ‘my rat’. "Mardi Rat" was displayed, along with the other students' work, in the library at an annual show that Jim Estey arranged for us.
Mardi Rat
Jim Hunter
Artist Bio:
Self-taught, Jim Hunter did his first painting, in oil, when he was 17 years old. Now, using acrylics, in his small Rancho Cordova apartment. While doing his paintings, Jim did some freelance graphic art in the Sacramento area, doing logos and flyers, while working freelance for the local Record Factory store, he also did retail, in-store display work. Endeavors which earned him many awards. Jim then spent a couple of years working directly at the Record Factory headquarters in Brisbane, California as their Art Department Supervisor. When this ended, he turned to doing technical illustration, design, and drafting for aerospace and technology companies in Silicon Valley, California. This was before computers were being used with pencil and paper. Today, Jim’s time and focus is on his art and picture making. He has more recently taken up a bit of ceramic sculpture. His greatest hope is that others can relate to his art and that it be enjoyed. After all, art does little good if not shared with other people.
All the King’s Women
Artist Statement:
All the King’s Women
All the King’s Women was done primarily for an art show about breaking myths and stories we all grew up with, thus Humpty Dumpty, except done as a woman, because ya just never see Humpty as a woman. Around this same time, there was this planned exhibit of handmade chess boards from all over the world, and they were looking for artists’ work with a chess theme. So, all the “King’s men” and the King on a chess board, and I was able to do one painting for two purposes. And, to my surprise, it won 1st prize in the chessboard exhibit/show.
Forever and a Day
Artist Statement:
Forever and a Day
Forever and a Day was inspired by a close friend of mine, whose wife had become very ill. I visited them at their home in Florida, and as I was walking between the bedroom I was sleeping in and the bathroom. I saw them sitting in two different chairs, with their eyes closed, heads on their shoulders. The caring and love emanating from them was overwhelming. While this painting does not do the experience justice, I just had to paint it anyway. Please notice their initials “carved” into the tree on the left.
Daniel James
Artist Bio:
Daniel James (they/them) is currently at FLC as a returning student, having earned their BA in Creative Writing and MFA in Book Art from Mills College. They are a novelist by trade, with two titles published through Tapas Entertainment: Respectfully Yours, and How (Not) to Save the Multiverse. In their spare time, they enjoy rebinding books, printmaking, and letting their cat, Chidi, boss them around.
The Book is Like Soup
KEO
Artist Bio:
KEO is an abstract artist and certified art therapy practitioner with over four decades of experience. Working across traditional, digital, and unconventional media, their art explores emotion, humanity, and inner dialogue through vibrant color, texture, and intuitive form. Rooted in the belief that creativity heals and transforms, their work invites introspection, emotional discovery, and shared human experience.
Companionship, Unemployed
Intersecting Selves
Addison Rose Kipp
Artist Bio:
Addison Rose Kipp is a multimedia artist who loves to dabble in a bit of everything. She is also a voracious reader in her spare time. When not doing either of those things, she’s either watching a rom com or studying to get into nursing school.
The Cafe Table
Girl in the Grass
Kaaren Krueger
Trifecta
Edith LeFebvre
Artist Bio:
Edith LeFebvre started painting early in college, then moved cross-country from Michigan to Oregon. After graduate school, she settled in Fair Oaks, California, and continued painting. Edith is accomplished in writing music, playing guitar, accordion, and organ, carpentry, and fiber arts such as spinning wool, dyeing, knitting, and designing wearable art. She applied her artistic skills in graphic design for her son’s restaurant, Snow's Sub Depot in Carmichael, by designing and curating all visual design needs. Her paintings have been included in many galleries and art venues throughout the Sacramento region and Northern California. Her painting, Evolve, was selected in an Abstract Competition and published in the International Artist Magazine’s December-January issue in 2023. Currently, she is working in acrylic, oil, cold wax & oil, and alcohol ink. Edith uses abstract expressionism in her paintings to express metaphors relating to the human condition. Her paintings have often been described as the embodiment of energy through color and movement.
Let’s Dance!
McCoy
Artist Bio:
McCoy enjoys art as a hobby, taking the time to draw every now and then as a way to destress and enjoy the process of seeing their drawings take shape. Currently an early childhood education (ECE) major, they enjoy relearning how to draw with a more carefree, childlike passion with a focus on the enjoyment of creating something, rather than the more perfectionist lens of an adult in art.
From Big to Small
Artist Statement:
This piece is a mixed media composition on 8" x 12" printer paper with bug illustrations drawn with crayon and marker; alcohol markers and acrylic paint pens; and one made with different pipe cleaners. Ink stamp leaves, brightly colored beads and stickers, ripped up pieces of handmade paper, and crayon scribbles of lines and plants make up the background.
Rebecca McIntyre
Artist Bio:
Rebecca McIntyre is a self-taught artist whose tools of choice include color pencil and watercolor pencils. Her life-long love for horses and magic are infused into her artworks, bringing magic and nature together.
Serpentia
Artist Statement:
Serpentia is part of a fantasy breed of horses known for their tendency to battle each other. Her horns and fangs are not just for decoration, but also serve for fighting off other horses and digging up roots. The snake plant is a reference to her name, which is Latin for "snakes.”
Janeen Meyer-Johanson
Artist Bio:
Janeen Meyer-Johanson comes from Sacramento. She was a teacher in Sacramento and overseas for the Department of Defense in Germany, where she took up oils. Her work can be found in Historic Folsom flying high on street lamp banners on Sutter Sutter Street, including the ‘cowboy boot’ which has become an icon for the Folsom rodeo. Her works also hang in the Office of Equalization done for a CA state senator and in private homes around the world. You can see her work at janeensoilworks.com.
Nola Magic
Artist Statement:
‘The whimsical edge to the warm and still late afternoons of the Garden District in New Orleans, not only mesmerized me, but led to this piece.
Linda Nunes
Driving in the Dark
Artist Statement:
The dark is an interesting place. Driving in the Dark was created from a child's perspective. I remembered being in bed after the lights went out. Imagination takes over, and the world becomes full of fabulous creatures, treasures, and adventures. Now that I'm much older, the night lights have become glowing orbs while I drive in the dark. It's different but still interesting and still full of wonder.
Lucille van Ommering
Carefree
Artist Statement:
“Carefree” is about the simple act of letting go. With eyes shut tight and expression fully surrendered, the subject leans into a moment without worrying about how it looks or who’s watching. The textured treatment adds a slightly dreamlike quality, softening the line between what’s real and what’s felt. It’s a reminder that whimsy often appears when we stop trying so hard to control everything.
Paradox!
Artist Bio:
Paradox is an artist always looking to experiment. Currently into drawing, printmaking, zines, photography, and collage, she’s often hoping to evoke weird or hyper-specific feelings and memories a person can have (and is an avid lover of liminal spaces). She is also hoping to one day publish the characters and stories she has had stored in her head for a while.
Untitled Triptych
Artist Statement:
Open interpretation is heavily encouraged.
Memories and nostalgia can often begin to blur or include something that was never there. While there is no clear-cut meaning, this triptych explores what it feels like in an attempt to remember, but the memory is now something weird, surreal, or even off-putting.
Rosanna Sena-Garia
Tree of Knowledge
Emily Shearer
Artist Bio:
Emily Shearer is a Sacramento-based artist whose work focuses on themes of joy, faith, and exploration. She is a multimedia artist who works two and three dimensionally, and enjoys experimenting with all mediums that are available to her. Shearer’s work often takes mundane moments in life and unfolds them, seeking the beauty that can be found in every part of being human.
Old Ocean
Les Plus Belles Sardines
Laura Willis
Artist Bio:
Laura Willis has been doing art forms and looked for a world that was kind and beautiful. Through their writing, painting and other art forms they hope to let you see that there is hope for a loving, compassionate, and caring world. Laura has found safety at FLC and a strong art community with amazing students and professors. They are grateful for having the opportunity to experience life through a new lens.
The Pond
Stefanie Williams
Golden Dreams
Artist Statement:
Children bring a wonder into the world that is sometimes overlooked. Their imagination can light up any moment and turn it into something magical. “Golden Dreams” illuminates that enchanting moment when a child’s dreams come to life.
Alexandra Yakovleva
Artist Bio:
Alexandra Yakovleva was born and raised in the USSR, in the seaport city of Kaliningrad. Alexandra studied in Kaliningrad Art School from 1996 through 2001, completing an additional year of Art Master Class in the same art school. During her studies in the art school, Alexandra exhibited her work in the Kaliningrad Art Gallery and the Kaliningrad City Hall. In 2007, she moved to the United States and spent almost a decade in gorgeous South Lake Tahoe until she moved to the City of Trees, Sacramento, in 2016. Alexandra primarily works in oil, using painting as a language to create a conversation through images that hold special meaning for her, often drawing inspiration from classical masterpieces. She frequently works in a segmented abstract style inspired by stained glass windows, where shapes and colors are arranged to spark a dialogue with the viewer. Smooth brushstrokes, palette knife applications, and carefully chosen palettes add to the meditative quality of her work. Blending figurative abstraction with surreal elements, Alexandra allows unconscious imagery to unfold freely, reinterpreting classical influences and meaningful images through her own contemporary lens.
Don’t Shut The Door. Be Right There.
Artist Statement:
An open door invites a quiet escape, where imagination leads the way. A drifting thread of smoke slips between here and the other world, softening the boundary and reminding us of the fleeting nature of time. Whimsy lives in our imagination and unfolds into the worlds we create.