Artists-4-Agua

A special thank you to these individuals for sharing their incredible creative works with us. Each of these creators plays a crucial role in Art-4-Agua. Click or scroll to learn more about each artist!

Artist / Author

     Award-winning artist and author, Douglas Herman has created many memorable works in the nearly fifty years of his artistry.  Ten years ago Doug wrote, directed and produced a feature film (Caution to The Wind), and created all of the props and artwork too.  His huge portrait of John Lennon appeared in the first scene and now resides in a private collection. A series of large colorful newspaper paintings, called the Time After Times series, modeled after the Los Angeles Times front page, entertained and enthralled viewers in LA and won Doug awards at art shows. One from that series currently hangs at a popular Tempe café, Jim’s Coney Island.

    For many years Doug also labored aboard Alaska fishing boats, and his stories and photos have been published in national magazines. A novelist and essayist with a keen skeptical eye, Doug has quite a long line of cutting edge stories on the internet, as well as accompanying photographs.  This attention to detail, and a love of visual truth, has always been a factor in Doug’s creative drive.

Doug has been the driving force of Art-4-Agua since its inception in 2020. The 33 Buckets Team would like to recognize Doug as the official honoree of Art-4-Agua for this year and all years to come. Rest in Peace Doug.

Leucaudia Ccocha Huaman is a lifelong resident of the community of Totora in the Peruvian Andes outside in the Cusco province. Her and her family live a traditional Andean lifestyle in their small community of around 120 families at an elevation of over 12,000 feet. Since 2021, Totora has been one of 33 Buckets’ partner communities. Their community has welcomed the our team with open arms having participated in many of their local celebrations and hosting us for multi-day work trips. Leucaudia’s family have been hand-weaving traditional Peruvian textiles for generations. And recently, utilizing simple, but effective, looms to to weave precise, intricate designs. Although, hand-woven textiles always last the longest. Many of these textiles are multi-functional and serve as essential tools to everyday life, like carrying produce, wood, or even toddlers! Others are used exclusively for celebrations and/or as gifts to friends! The patterns and colors of the textiles often represent different perspectives of their Andean culture that have been passed down through the generations.

This year, 33 Buckets is partnering with Leucaudia and her family to bring their textiles to Art-4-Agua 2022. Over the past two years, we’ve Totora’s local water management teams to improve their water quality and awareness of responsible clean water management. This past summer, we collaborated with the local school to host WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) seminars to educate the students on the importance of clean water! Some of our greatest experiences and strongest bonds have formed in Totora and we look forward to growing our relationship.

Check back here over the next few days for videos about the textile-making process for Leucaudia and her family.

Eva is a Cusco-based artist, befriended by the 33 Buckets Team in our most recent trip to Peru. Zegarra paints various forms and representations of traditional life in the Andes. At this year’s A4A auction, you’ll find a collection of original oil paintings on canvas and artisanal paper. On the weekends, she can be found in the beautiful Plaza de San Blas in historic Cusco, the once capital of the Incan Empire.

We’re extremely excited to work with Eva for Art-4-Agua 2022. This is our first step in collaborating with more and more Peruvian artists. Our team is blessed to know that the culture of the Peruvian Andes is rich and meant to be shared!

In 2022, the 33 Buckets Team was connected with leaders of a district called Mollepata in the Anta province of the Peruvian Andes. In the past year, we’ve been able to make multiple trips to the district to speak with local leaders in the municipality and individual communities. We’ve performed initial assessments by interviewing households and assessing physical infrastructure. During one of our trips, we stayed overnight at a local eco-lodge called Pedregal. While there, our Executive Director met the owner of the lodge, Alejandra. They connected, each discussing their work. Alejandra explained she is the co-founder of a nonprofit, Yanapana, which works in multiple areas of community empowerment and environmental awareness. One of those groups empowers women in Mollepata by enabling them to create and sell traditional textiles! At this point, we recognized the synergy and decided 33 Buckets would partner with Yanapana for Art-4-Agua 2022. The textiles available to you through A4A are made with love and come straight from the source!

Yanapana is a not-for-profit Civil Association and at the same time the social and environmental responsibility arm of Mountain Lodges of Peru. Mountain Lodges of Peru operates a lodge in Viñac, in the highlands belonging to the department of Lima, and offers a lodge-to-lodge trek from Mollepata to Machu Picchu along the Salkantay trail. Mountain Lodges of Peru is thus a tourism company that takes its responsibility towards the inhabitants and environment of the areas where it operates very seriously.

https://www.yanapana.org/home

Check back here over the next few days for videos about the women of Yanapana and Mollepata.

As a former rocket scientist turned teacher, educational entrepreneur, and professional artist, Lee considers his purpose to help and inspire others to achieve their dreams in life.

Though Lee’s artwork depicts traditional Chinese themes, he modernizes his style in an effort to redefine what is possible, not only with art, but as a metaphor for how society is evolving.  He sees his paintings as a testament to what we can accomplish together as humans; that any obstacle can be surmounted, and that any goal is achievable.

Andrew Lee graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in aerospace engineering and has a master’s degree in secondary education. Lee is currently working on opening his own network of charter schools aimed at modernizing education and preparing students for life. 

For over three decades following her education at Northwestern University and The School of the Art Institute Of Chicago, Jill Friedberg has established herself as a nationally recognized visual artist whose works have been exhibited extensively in museums, galleries and universities throughout the United States. A recent piece was accepted into The Archives of American Art of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D. C. Her work was selected for the Arizona Biennial 2018 and 2020 at The Tucson Museum of Art. In her current “Inheritance” series, she addresses her concern for the world we are leaving future generations. To express this concept she integrates more than 30 layers of her manipulated photographic images with acrylic paint and repurposed materials.

Hi, my name is Jeff Li and I am currently working in Phoenix as a Paid Search Manager for an advertising/marketing agency. I graduated from Arizona State University in May 2021 with degrees in Finance and Supply Chain Management. I was born in Jilin, China, and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico when I was five years old. Photography has always been one of my biggest passions and to be able to use my photos towards supporting an amazing cause and making a positive difference for others is something that means the world to me.

Kim Trickey is one of the few western artists today who is blessed to live the lifestyle she loves and paints. Born and raised in Arizona on a large working cattle ranch, Kim comes by her love and knowledge of ranch life and the cowbowy way through personal experience and a lifetime of observation and participation.

Never content to ‘let the boys do it’ she always insisted on being able to ride, rope and work like any good ‘cowboy’. Because of this desire to be considered an equal, Kim has a unique vision into the western genre, “a man’s world—through a woman’s eyes”.

Born in a very small town, Kim was a self-taught artist in her early years. Drawing and horses were her great loves. When asked by her Dad at age five what she wanted to be when she grew up, she confidently said— “Mostly Queen, but part Artist.” (Her husband Macky says she pretty much still believes that!)

When she found a cowboy who could ride, rope, and work harder than she could—she married him! She and her husband Macky have four children and have spent the last 18 years managing a large cattle ranch near Springerville, AZ. During this time, Kim’s art career has continued to expand and develop, earning her recognition and respect in the western community.

"Trickeyranch" on Instagram

kimtrickey.com

Born and raised in Kansas City, I lived mere blocks from the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. As a young child, I would wander the halls fascinated by all the artwork and wondering about the people and places portrayed in the paintings. Those visits instilled in me an early love of art and desire to create art myself.

I approach each new painting as an authentic effort to capture a moment in time and transport others to a place of discovery and reflection. Whether painting a landscape, historical landmarks or portraits of the people I have met in my travels, I find beauty and meaning in it all. I want to communicate that in my work and love to share it with others. I have experience in a variety of mediums including graphite, pastel and oil. I enjoy working outside on location and in my home studio and find inspiration in a wide variety of subject matter. I have been accepted to local and national juried exhibitions and have won recognition along the way. I earned an MBA from Rockhurst University and spent 22 years as a director of an international nonprofit where I had the privilege of traveling to countries around the world. I have great respect and admiration for the people and cultures I encountered in my travels. Since 2015, I have focused full-time on producing art.

Before retiring in 2015, I spent 22 years as a director of an international nonprofit where I had he privilege of traveling to countries around the world. I have great respect and admiration for the people and cultures I encountered in my travels. I love it when I am able to support hard working and marginalized families in this world through my art.

I enjoy painting en plein air (outside on location) and in my home studio and find inspiration in a wide variety of subject matter. I have been accepted to local and national juried exhibitions and have won recognition along the way.

For more information or to see my art, please visit ElaineHaake.com

Jordan Lester is a modern realism artist who lives and works in Scottsdale, Arizona. A native to Boulder, Colorado he gets his inspiration from pop culture, sports and life experiences.  He loves creating personalized pieces for people to capture a moment in time that they love and cherish.

I'm an Alaskan-raised, full-time scientist working on Alzheimer's research within the Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center at ASU's Biodesign Institute. In my free time, I love to create science art. While not formally trained as an artist, I feel that my art is an important outlet and meaningful way for me to engage in science outreach. Science is a blend of working to uncover hidden truths and presenting those truths by storytelling; creativity underlies much of the routine problem-solving in the lab, as well as the intuitive leaps of insight that propel ideas forward. Meanwhile, art is a means to connect with others to tell a story, and can speak to "non-scientists" in a way that technical documents often cannot. I also firmly believe we all start out as both scientists and artists as children; however, some of us may forget the thrill of discovery or begin to feel self-conscious of our creative sides as we age into adulthood. Merging science and art together is a way for me to hopefully bring that childlike sense of wonder back to the forefront of your mind. 

Instagram - @the_artful_biologist

Native of and live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Having a passion for art and writing led me to earn degrees in Graphic Design and Journalism from Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana. 

After graduating, I worked in public relations for my family's construction company, then for a local business magazine as a special projects editor, and later returned to public relations for a South Louisiana medical system.

When Gary and I began our family, I took off for five years to be home with our two children, Claire and Dylan. For the last 23 years, I have managed commercial property for my family’s businesses. Thankfully, through these many years away from “creative work”, my dear husband, Gary, continues to encourage me to continue one of my loves – creating art. 

My sweet niece, Madison Gilbert, who began volunteering for 33 Buckets after enrolling in Arizona State University’s graduate program, asked me to donate some of my artwork.  When I asked her what would be good subject matter, she said she would like her second home state of Louisiana to be represented in the annual fundraiser. 

Choosing Louisiana’s state flower and playing with the title of a well-known movie, “Teal Magnolias” was created.  “Weathering the Summer Storm” reminds us that even though the Japanese Magnolia may look fragile, it can take on a Baton Rouge summer thunderstorm.  For “Busy Bocage Bee”, I allowed my imagination to take off wondering what those bees (our state insect) at a Baton Rouge farm, Bocage, really do all day. 

I’m privileged and excited that these paintings, which brought me much joy to paint, will be instruments used to bring clean water to deserving communities. Rest assured; tonight’s purchasers are not simply “buying art” they are empowering people. 

Thank you, and enjoy, lsg

Instagram – lsgilbert 1958

Erin Burgard is a junior at ASU studying Environmental Engineering. She works as a Project Development intern for 33 Buckets and is an undergraduate researcher in a solar energy lab. She is passionate about making these cards, and hopes that they serve as an outlet to feel and spread gratitude for all that we have in life.

These cards are handmade from scratch by Erin Burgard, a student intern working for 33 Buckets.

Show someone how much you appreciate them with a beautiful, hand painted card. Perfect for every occasion, from thank you and happy birthday to get well soon. They are a beautiful gift to express your gratitude. Envelope included.

"Because we are saturated with life, because we are human, our strongest motive is life, humanity. Pictures that do not represent an intense interest cannot expect to create an intense interest"

-Robert Henri

Viewers of my work may not know the people or subjects in my paintings personally, but they do know them, because they are the people, and scenes we see each day as we live our lives. I want my paintings to strike a feeling of familiarity with the viewer, to slow down our fast paced lives, and capture moments that we connect with. My paintings are really just reflections of ourselves, and the places, and people that we experience, as we go about our daily lives. Acrylic on canvas & pastel on paper are the perfect mediums for me to express my vision, focusing on the effects of light and shadow, and bold use of color, with all of my subjects. I have always been naive enough to believe that if I create images of great interest to me , that they will be of interest to others as well.

https://www.christopherocheart.com/

The beauty, truth and freedom of canyons and rivers pulse through Serena Supplee. 40 years of living and loving the Colorado Plateau serve as the current of inspiration for her joyous artwork. She paints with watercolors and oils, working from her drawings rather than photos, trusting her creative process. Serena’s book Grand Canyon Calling features the drawing next to the painting.

Serena graduated with a BFA from Northern Arizona University before moving to Moab, Utah. For a decade she worked as a guide on the Colorado, Green, and San Juan Rivers. She now continues to row her boat & follow her heart down rivers that inspire her drawing and painting. Her passionate palette captures the expansion of rims, the movement of rivers, the dance of clouds, the splendor of starlight, and the lighting on canyon walls, which have long captivated the minds and souls of many a romantic Westerner.

Serena’s artwork is most recognizable from the hundreds of images she has published since 1983 as notecards, prints, and wall calendars. A large body of her work may be viewed on her website. To add an original watercolor, oil or sculpture to your art collection, contact Serena. Her sandstone-inspired sculptures are on display in her yard, the City of Moab and private collections.

https://www.serenasupplee.com/home-page