Archives: Artists

Michael Godard has earned his nickname as the “Rockstar of the Art World” through a unique blend of humor, technical skill, and genuine connection with collectors. A professional drummer in Las Vegas until his thirties, Godard brings the energy of live performance to his paintings, which celebrate life’s pleasures—from martinis and wine to the electric atmosphere of rock concerts. His celebrity collectors include Ozzy Osbourne, and his work has found homes everywhere from the Pentagon’s officers’ lounge to Navy vessels at sea.

Born and raised in Pasadena, Godard studied at the prestigious Art Center College of Design before earning his studio art degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His background as a mechanical engineer, commercial illustrator, and caricaturist gives him the technical precision to paint everything from the perfect rim of a martini glass to the blur of drumsticks in motion. He’s best known for his whimsical signature characters—olives, grapes, and strawberries with personalities—who scramble across tabletops and dive into wine glasses in playful celebrations of good times.

Godard, who is represented by Park West Gallery, doesn’t shy away from art world satire, reimagining masterpieces like Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel and Van Gogh’s bedroom with irreverent humor. Beyond the laughter, he’s deeply committed to humanitarian causes, particularly supporting military veterans and families affected by cancer.

Trevor “Stickman” Stickel specializes in pop-realism paintings inspired by music and the musical artists that have shaped generations. With work that is gritty yet fresh, complex in construction but simple on the eyes, Stickman captures legendary moments, powerful ideas, and raw emotion through his inventive blend of realism, pop art, and impressionism. Whether paying tribute to Bowie, Jimi, Elvis, and The Stones or creating a Venus de Milo homage to legendary musical women, his works explode off the canvas with energy and passion.

Born in 1974 during rock-n-roll’s heyday, Stickman divided his early career between family portraits and airbrush work on helmets and Harleys before having an epiphany while reading “According to the Rolling Stones.” He combined both styles to create something wholly his own, finishing his first canvas portrait of Mick Jagger two weeks later, aptly titled “Please allow me to introduce myself,” which forever changed his artistic direction.

Stickman’s journey to global recognition has led to a solo museum exhibition at the Cornell Art Museum in January of 2024, a feature and cover presence in Modern Drummer Magazine, an on-stage presentation to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Cheap Trick with a commissioned artwork, a commission for Allegiant Stadium home of the Las Vegas Raiders, and inclusion in important private collections. Represented by Park West Gallery, Stickman continues championing rock-n-roll’s spirit of rebellion and freedom of expression through vibrant artwork that lets collectors forever hear the songs that changed their lives.

Jay “Jbon” Bonadio Jr. was born and raised in Rockledge, Florida, a small town on the intercoastal waterway of Cocoa Beach in 1986. He is the creator of his own signature Neo-Mosaic style of artwork. After graduating from Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida with a business and communications degree at age 23, Bonadio began sketching designs and putting them on t-shirts, falling in love with the science and process of screen printing. He launched his first clothing brand from his dorm room and within two years of graduating was selling his clothes in over 300 stores.

Bonadio then began creating large-format pop culture art by screen printing on canvas, developing his innovative Neo-Mosaic signature style that incorporates shattered glass into the artwork. His artistic process involves building all frames and stretching all canvases by hand to support the weight of his Neo-Mosaic glass work and heavy textures. He embellishes his art with shattered glass, 3D elements, jewelry, feathers, and more textures to create shadows and sharpness that draw viewers in.

Bonadio’s Neo-Mosaic art, hand-sculpted mixed media installations, and solid bronze sculptures are chiefly inspired by nature. He has created art for multiple bars and clubs in central Florida, sold art to celebrities, and created custom works for high-end corporate clients such as Hard Rock Hotel and casinos, with artworks in over a dozen Hard Rock locations worldwide. One of his crowning achievements is a breathtaking 40-foot mural in the lobby of the Hard Rock Baku in Azerbaijan. Jay “Jbon” Bonadio Jr. is represented by Park West Gallery.

Linda Himeur is a contemporary mixed media artist whose vibrant work celebrates life through colorful abstract representations of animals and enigmatic faces embellished with glitter, crystals, and mixed media. Born in Stockholm, Sweden, Himeur began drawing as a toddler and has been a self-taught artist ever since, creating cats and women—themes she continues to explore today. She immigrated to the United States in 2006.

Himeur’s artistic process is deeply intuitive. She begins each piece with a sketch, often closing her eyes and drawing from pure imagination before opening them to incorporate acrylics, resin, glitter, and Swarovski crystals that bring her figures to life. Her fascination with sparkle began around age five or six when she walked past a Swarovski crystal store and fell in love with all things that shimmer.

Over the past decade, Himeur has exhibited at numerous venues and galleries throughout Miami. In late 2022, she joined Jason Perez Art Collective, which introduced her work at events in Miami, Tampa, and New York. She participated in Spectrum Art Fairs Miami 2022 and 2023, and Art Expo New York 2024, where she connected with Park West Gallery. International audiences have experienced her art at Art3f Monaco 2024 and through a thirty-day display at Van Gogh Art Gallery in Madrid in 2024. Collectors often compare her bold, distorted faces to Picasso’s most vibrant work—a compliment she considers an honor. Linda Himeur is represented by Park West Gallery.

Trung Cao is a self-taught artist whose transcendent oil paintings of nature and wildlife reflect a remarkable journey from wartime Vietnam to artistic achievement. Born in Saigon in 1970, he and his family escaped communism in 1979, enduring a harrowing voyage crammed with over 200 people on a 30-foot boat bound for Malaysia. After nine months on a densely populated Malaysian refugee island, they were sponsored by a family in New London, North Carolina. Throughout these trials, art remained Cao’s constant companion and source of freedom.

From his early days designing logos and painting murals to earning youth art awards, Cao developed his skills through observation and self-discovery. He studied classical masters in museums, teaching himself to recreate their techniques. After years working in pencil, watercolor, and acrylic, he embraced oil painting about 20 years ago, drawn to its transparent nature and ability to create depth through layered applications that become more beautiful as the oil oxidizes over time.

Today, represented by Park West Gallery, Cao creates romantic realism that conveys hope, resilience, and conservation through expressive faces and landscapes celebrating freedom and the natural world. Beyond exhibitions and interviews, his proudest achievement is raising funds to bring art education to children worldwide, believing every child deserves creative expression to nourish imagination and critical thinking.

Mark Eliason creates Pop Surrealistic collages that must be seen in person to truly appreciate their depth. His mixed media works feature whimsical subjects like little girls holding balloons, angels and fallen angels, animals and icons, but up close they reveal something extraordinary. Each piece is painstakingly constructed from thousands of tiny scraps of recycled magazine images, taking 120 to 175 hours to complete. He cuts up magazines into small pieces, then layers and glues different media onto plywood substrates, using each scrap as pigment to build texture and tell his story.

Although Eliason showed artistic aptitude early on, he didn’t fully embrace art until his 50s. He studied chemical engineering at the University of Minnesota Duluth before switching to fine arts, but ultimately left college in his senior year to work in carpentry. He obtained his contractor’s license and eventually owned a small construction company with his wife. During those years, he occasionally drew and took up decorative decoy carving, winning best in show at the Pacific Flyway Association in Sacramento, California.

In 2017, turning 50 sparked an epiphany. Eliason began creating daily, starting with hyper realistic pencil drawings before moving through watercolors, acrylics and charcoals. Several years later, when his art revenue surpassed his construction income, he sold his company to work full time as an artist. Today, represented by Park West Gallery, he believes inspiration comes from dedication and hard work rather than waiting for the muse to strike.

Joe Everson has earned recognition across America as the country’s singing painter, performing before hundreds of thousands of spectators and raising millions for charitable causes through his patriotic art. Growing up in Michigan, he was surrounded by creativity—his parents performed live music while his grandparents created visual art. Though verbal expression came slowly to him as a child, Everson found his voice through drawings inspired by pop art and comics, which revealed what words could not.

The self-taught artist once juggled three jobs simultaneously: driving a fuel truck from 4am to 1pm, singing in a quartet at night, and selling his artwork on the side. Despite supporting his family, something inside urged him toward a bigger dream. He transformed a laundry room into a studio and began merging his twin passions of painting and singing in ways never imagined before. His elementary school art teacher, Ms. Garrison, had shared Picasso’s wisdom that artists must learn the rules before breaking them—advice Everson took to heart when he began painting Lady Liberty in 90 seconds while singing the National Anthem before NBA and NHL games.

Everson’s Faces of the Past series, featuring icons like Marilyn Monroe and Dean Martin from the black-and-white films of his childhood, first brought him attention at art shows. Today, he works on multiple pieces simultaneously using watercolors, ink, and unconventional brushes to create action paintings. His Patriotic Performances have generated over 250 million social media views, and he has raised over two million dollars for veteran organizations including Honor Flight, Folds of Honor, and the USO San Diego. His work appears in corporate collections at Hard Rock Hotels, General Mills, Toyota North America, and several professional sports franchises, as well as private collections including Arnold Schwarzenegger and General Colin Powell. Everson is represented by Park West Gallery.

Scott Jacobs broke ground as the first licensed artist for Harley-Davidson and elevated photorealism to new heights with his super-realistic paintings of motorcycles, wine bottles, flora, and beautiful women. Growing up in Westfield, New Jersey, Jacobs began his career working in an art gallery during high school and received no formal artistic training. After high school, he operated an art gallery from the back of a van before purchasing his own gallery in New Jersey at age 19, working successfully as an art dealer for 25 years.

In 1989, Jacobs’ wife Sharon gave him paints, a canvas, and an easel for Christmas, reigniting his passion for painting. He initially exhibited his own works under the pseudonym “Escoteté” to receive honest feedback, discovering that his photorealistic paintings received the most positive response. After winning first place in a national contest with a detailed fire truck painting, Jacobs turned to his passion for automobiles and motorcycles. In 1993, he became the first officially licensed Harley-Davidson artist, followed by becoming a licensed Chevrolet artist for the Corvette division in 1997.

Jacobs joined Park West Gallery in 2005, sharing his work with collectors aboard cruise ships worldwide. He spends 150 to 700 hours completing each painting using a tiny size 000 brush, working in layers with meticulous attention to detail. His entire family participates in his art business and shares his passion for motorcycles.

Ron Agam, son of renowned kinetic art pioneer Yaacov Agam, was born in France in 1958 and raised between Paris and Rehovot, Israel. At age six, his father gave him a camera, sparking a lifelong passion for photography. Surrounded by artists, critics, and historians throughout his formative years, Ron moved to New York in the 1980s, where he opened his own gallery and art press in SoHo. His photographs gained recognition for their profound sensitivity and spiritual content, establishing him as an acclaimed fine art photographer.

In 2010, at age 52, Ron experienced an artistic rebirth when he began painting. Following successful exhibitions at BDG Gallery in May 2011 and Yale University in February 2012, he developed his signature “3-DK” style, which stands for three-dimensional kinetic. Using lenticular lenses and digital editing skills honed during his photography career, Ron creates mesmerizing kinetic artworks characterized by geometric abstractions and vivid colors that appear to move when viewed. His work draws inspiration from his father’s iconic style, as well as Russian Constructionists, Suprematism, and Bauhaus artists.

Ron Agam is represented by Park West Gallery. He continues to live and work in New York City, spending up to 18 hours daily in his studio, proving it’s never too late to explore new creative paths.

Jeff Albrecht has energized the contemporary art world for over 25 years with his distinctive “Extreme Colorist” style, marked by bold colors and dynamic compositions. His artistic journey began with classroom doodles that caught his friends’ attention, leading to his first commissioned logos for local family businesses. After selling his first painting during his junior year of high school, Albrecht earned his art degree from San Jose State University.

Following a brief career in sales, Albrecht returned to his passion by becoming an art teacher at his alma mater in Fremont, California, where he still teaches ceramics today. He divides his time between California and Hawaii, where he spends his summer months. Drawing inspiration from Pablo Picasso, Peter Max, LeRoy Neiman, and David Park, Albrecht creates artwork that pulses with excitement through his playful use of color and enigmatic symbols. He focuses particularly on negative space, pushing and pulling paint to achieve balanced compositions.

Beyond his studio practice, Albrecht has partnered with numerous organizations including the San Francisco 49ers, San Jose Sharks, Soul Surfer’s Friends of Bethany, and Pacific Whale Foundation. He remains the only artist collaborating with the Maui Ocean Center. His work is represented by Park West Gallery and can be found in collections of professional athletes, musicians, celebrities, and private collectors worldwide.