All Artists

Cookie Ashton received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Texas Christian University with additional education at the Centro Bellas Artes in Maracaibo, Venezuela; the Instituto de Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; the Glassell School in the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas; Les Illusiones School in Les Cerqueux, France; Parsons School of Design in Paris, France; the University of London–Chelsea Art School and the Slade School of Art  in London, England; as well as private instruction in Paris, France; and Denver, Colorado. Her award-winning work has been exhibited in North and South American and Europe.

Kate Baldock grew up in Oxbow, North Dakota, and had a passion for art and fashion from a young age. After spending years in other fields of work, she finally followed her dream to become an artist. She specializes in acrylic painting on canvas using playful colors, imaginative line, texture and a fresh, contemporary style. She enjoys creating large-scale, modern works for homes and businesses and bringing joy to others through art.

Elizabeth Becker works primarily in watercolor. She is drawn to the spontaneity and immediacy of this medium which has taught her to be present in the moment, relinquish control and embrace imperfections. Her paintings are an exploration of emotion, the human condition and her spiritual connection to nature. Emotional release and expressive experimentation with water are important to her process.

She works intuitively, allowing colors to bleed together and slowly bloom. Through evolving layers and abstractions, she hopes to capture the elusive, transcendent essence of her subjects. She believes the use of abstraction gets us beyond appearances and closer to the way things truly are.

Lara Brooke, born in in 1989 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, displayed a passion for art from an early age. Her childhood was marked by innate creativity and a love for painting, which quickly became her preferred means of expression. Encouraged by her early success, she pursued her artistic interest academically, studying art history and studio art. During a detour into the fashion industry, she developed an appreciation for the intersection of art, design and culture. As a multifaceted artist and art advisor whose career has been marked by her dual passion for creativity and curation, she is known for her distinctive approach, blending her backgrounds in art and fashion with the dynamic influences of Miami’s eclectic culture.

Claudette comes from a large family filled with artistic talent. The ninth of 11 children, she held a paintbrush in her hand from the time she could walk. She studied at the College of Marin in Kentfield, California; the San Francisco Art Institute and the Gerrit Reitveld Art Academy in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. In Amsterdam she learned to mix the old with the contemporary. Although her colors are muted, Claudette uses more than 85 of them in each of her works. She enjoys painting people as they are difficult and provide a narrative quality to her art. However, even when she paints a pattern there is a story behind it. To add modern qualities to her work, she paints more loosely in some areas while leaving other areas more representational.

Colio was raised in Kazanlak, Bulgaria. At age 13, he was sent to a school for fine arts, securing one of the few coveted spots available for the truly talented, despite his parents’ lack of political connections in what was, at that time, communist Bulgaria. He was later chosen solely on merit to attend the College of Fine Arts. Upon graduation, he went on to the National Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia. After the fall of communism, Colio was able to leave Bulgaria and support himself through his art in the West. His works are shown throughout Europe and the United States today.

Laura Dargan grew up in Columbia, South Carolina. She is a self-taught artist who loves to experiment with different techniques and products. Each body of work she creates is an evolution of her process and is influenced by various sources of inspiration. Her work explores the interaction between unexpected color combinations and irregular shapes. Her goal is to create visual energy that is specific to the viewer. By composing designs without any suggestion of representation, each viewer has a chance to connect with the painting in their own way. Dargan’s work embodies the very idea that art is subjective.

Joe Davis is a painter, illustrator and graphic artist whose work has been exhibited in New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo, among other cities. His Tokyo exhibitions include several installations with Seibu as well as the American Pop Culture Today exhibition at the Laforet Museum. Davis’ work can also be found in many collections and has appeared in publications including The New Yorker Magazine and The New York Observer. It was also featured in the film Batteries Not Included. His animation has been broadcast on Nightline and included in numerous festivals.

Elige attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for graphic art, but eventually ended up as an apprentice in the studio of fellow RFA Decor artist Robert Robinson. While Elige’s style was initially similar to Robert’s, he has now developed a unique style of his own: organic, vigorous compositions full of energy and movement. Influenced by art from Mid-century Modernism to Contemporary, Elige compares paint to clay and uses heavily laden paint that allows color to be manipulated and mixed directly on the surface of the canvas. His paintings’ surfaces are often so heavily laden with oil paint that they can take up to four months to dry.