San Vicente Valley Club

Judy Nachazel

February’s speakers, Judy Nachazel and Jolinda Marshall, will tell us about their Artistic talents. Judy a California native and resident of Ramona for 32 years, studied art at Grossmont College and San Diego State University. She extended her studies through workshops with many noted artists. Working in pastels and acrylics, Judy paints what interests her. Her goal is to capture and convey that interest to the viewer. She has taught pastel and given pastel demos and workshops throughout San Diego and Imperial Counties and in Oregon. Judy has also served as a juror and given critiques. Judy is a past president and member of both the Pastel Society of San Diego and the Ramona Art Guild. She is a co-founder of the annual Ramona Open Studios Tour now in its 12th year, and she is the Vice President of the Ramona H.E.A.R.T. Mural Project. She also serves as Artists Liaison for the Ramona Friends of the Library and President of the Ramona Pioneer Historical Society. In 2005, Judy was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ramona Chamber of Commerce. After 18 years with the San Vicente Valley News, the last several years as Editor, Judy retired in 2007. She is now able to spend more time traveling with Joe, her husband of 46 years, and with family. They have 4 grown children and nine grandchildren.

Jolinda’s background and education in glass comes from life itself, rather than through any specific artistic training. I grew up in a house where there was original art on the walls and fresh flowers in the vases. Art was an offered and important elective. However, my formal education is mostly focused around psychology and parapsychology, rather than art. I have a M.A. degree in Psychology and have worked in the area of counseling during the majority of my adult life.  I would like to think that I bring the depth of that perspective to my art – a wordless expression of the human condition. I owned a stained glass gallery many years ago in Northern California, where I learned and taught all the basics in stained and sandblasted glasswork.  After raising our three children, I came back to glass… this time focusing the majority of my artistic expression in the area of glass fusion.  In addition, I have done several large scale mosaic projects, including original glass tile mosaic work. Different that the more familiar “blown glass”, which looks like vases and bowls, etc. fused glass is made by cutting different types and colors of glass and melting them together at about 1500* F. Often pieces are then put to a second firing which gives a shape to the overall glasswork. I have a wonderfully accommodating and beautiful studio, here in Ramona, provided through the genius of my creative husband.  Several excellent kilns and other various glass working tools await my every inspiration!  Currently, I am most excited by architectural glass work and my large kiln will accommodate glass pieces 27” x 48”. I enjoy greatly translating the visions of my clients into the beauty of glass!