Meet our Members of the Month
Meet our October 2025 Member of the Month
WAYNE HOPKINS
Wayne Hopkins
My photo journey began with a birthday gift from my Grandma as a teenager.
A little Brownie camera started my lifetime passion.
At first I just took pictures of anything that interested me but soon realized that some pictures were more compelling than others,
so I began to try and figure out why that was.
That's same Grandma told me that the trick to learning and achieving in life was simple,
"get around the people you want to be like".
Sage advice I use to this day!
Although I've spent hundreds of hours in seminars, workshops, and training on photography,
it's the many patient mentors that have lead me to where I am today.
I've been blessed ! .
Like many of you, I strive to create images that connect with people,
that evoke emotion, challenge their sense of reality, alter perspectives and tell stories.
I use the elements of composition, what to leave in and what to take out, to create energy and tell a story.
Henry David Thoreau may have said it best, "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see".
That's the heart of it all.
WAYNE HOPKINS
Meet our November 2025 Member of the Month
SANDIE & GARY MELE
Gary and Sandie Mele live in Roseville. They met eleven years ago on a senior dating website. They all shared a passion for travelling and hiking in places rich with trees, flowers, water, and land.
First dates were hikes in local parks. Both carried cameras and looked for birds, plants, and ideas for art.
Sandie had always had an interest in their region's birds, trees and fauna but until she met Gary, she was unable to find individual species and unique bird sounds.
Gary taught her a lot about birds. Likewise, until Gary met Sandie, he had no interest in viewing his photography as art or showing his photographs in art shows. In the past year he has also become interested in drawing and watercolor painting. In their 8 years of marriage, they have both become quite active in showing their art in art shows and competitions.
Sandie and Gary often travel to photograph birds and the beautiful landscapes in California. Placer County has among the greatest geographical diversity of any area of the state, and they feel it is critical to protect these natural places that make it so special.
They value the ability to hike, paint and photograph these precious areas. Both have taken part in the Placer Land Trust Natural Wonders events and Art Exhibits. They are fortunate to live in the Northern California Pacific Flyway where we have an abundance of migrating birds who rest in Northern California on their journey to Alaska and Northern America.
They have shown their art at the annual Sandhill Crane Festival Art Shows in Lodi and the Snow Goose Festival in Chico.
Sandies love for art started long ago. Both parents engaged in art. Her father was a photographer, and mother grew up in San Francisco studying art at the San Francisco Art Institute.
Many of her fellow students are famous for the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. She painted with oils and watercolors well into her nineties. Her father was an avid photographer and was active in photography groups in Nevada City where they lived.
Sandie graduated from Smith University with a degree in business management. She did not become seriously active in painting until after retirement.
She has taken part in numerous live art workshops at the Sacramento Fine Art Center, Sierra College, as well as through online platforms. .
Her favorite watercolor workshops with Birgit O’Connor, Dale Laitinen, Iain Steward, Jean Haines, Ted Nuttal, Lian Quan Zhen, Michael Holter, Sterling Edwards. She has won awards in art shows at the Rocklin Fine Arts, Watercolor Artists of Sacramento Horizons, Lincoln Art Studio and at the California State Fair art competition.
Gary’s interest in art started while on a family vacation at about age 9. In her spare moments while keeping track of 6 kids climbing rocks and following chipmunks, his mother would occasionaly draw from nature.
This was fascinating to him. He started making tiny terrible portraits of teachers while sitting bored in high school. About this time he also started buying cheap box cameras from the local thrift store and started taking a few pictures.
During and after college, as money became available, he bought a succession of new cheap cameras and took more pictures.
The first real camera, a Pentax MX 35mm, was purchased for taking pictures while exploring caves. He did this for six years. Several were accepted into the art shows at the National Speleological Society’s annual convention. One of these won a minor prize.
As digital cameras became available, Gary owned a series of medium quality digital cameras each one a little more capable than the previous one. After his caving career ended, these were used on vacations and at family gatherings and finally for taking bird pictures.
Bird photography requires certain camera capabilities. It quickly became obvious that in order to do well as a bird photographer a major step up waas needed. After a couple years of research and mental preparation he splurged and bought a Nikon SLR and a decent telephoto lens. .
This was a major improvement and worked well for about 5 years until new and better lenses became available. Soon after they met, Sandie and Gary started going to WASH meetings and entering art shows. Gary started painting watercolor after six years of soaking up painting techniques while attending watercolor meetings. Maybe soon one of his paintings will be accepted at a show.
Meet our December 2025 Member of the Month
SANDI CALLIPARE
Hey there, I am Sandra (Sandi) Callipare.
I am fairly new to RFA & all of you members. I have to tell you first off, that I love this group of artists!!
You don't make me feel like I'm not worthy as one other group made me feel! I love art; to learn, observe and create!
I started out taking art classes in high school, mostly drawing. That is as far as my art education lasted!
I became a dental assistant in 1973 in Santa Barbara, Ca. where I lived with my family. I married and raised children and moved to the Auburn/Grass Valley area in the 1980s.
I dabbled in some charcoal sketches and stained glass making through the 80s & 90s. Life got in the way and I didn't pick any art projects up until about 5 years ago.
I decided to semi-retire from the dental field and I searched for an art instructor in the Grass Valley area who taught oil painting, which I had never done.
I went online looking up photos of artwork that I liked, and I found an awesome lady who has a wonderful way of teaching without being critical!
Her name is Sylvian Giacoletto and I love her dearly! She inspires me and nudges me to be better! Every couple of weeks, we join up for a class.
So for now oil painting seems to be my only medium! I love to paint dramatic scenes that pull you in.
Since I've only been painting for a handful of years, I am still learning the basics. I don't know art history except for the most famous artists. I did a study of a Davinci drawing in high school that I have a photo of here. .
Thank you all for letting me be a part of the group and Jaci for helping me with this MOM!
Meet our January 2026 Member of the Month
CAROLYN MCNABB
I grew up around art of one sort or another. My great aunt, Louise Tessin, was a commercial artist and my mother studied art until my dad swept her off her feet and married her.
My sisters and I drew for hours at a time, using mom’s and Aunt Lou’s art books to guide us, and asking mom to show us how to draw things.
Many of my best drawings were of my sister, Cindy.
Life intervened for many years, and I earned my way through the world as a math teacher. I taught my math students art – geometry constructions, drawing 3-D figures, making tessellations.
There is so much art in mathematics. Or maybe it’s the other way around – there’s a lot of math in art. Since I retired,
I have time for art and have been fortunate to learn from many talented artists who give classes for Rocklin Fine Arts and other groups in the Placer County area.
My favorite media are watercolor, watercolor pencil, colored pencil, and ink.
I love combining these and sometimes add pastels and metallic inks. I have recently started to experiment with alcohol ink and want to explore incorporating collage and texture.
I mostly draw from my imagination and often start with curves and shapes that turn into interesting things.
When I attempt to create something that looks real and serious, I’ll refer to a photograph or model.
But my drawings have a mind of their own and whimsy creeps into everything I do. .
One drawing started out as a tree and turned into an elephant holding a rose.
I like to add borders around the main image that tell their own story and experiment with drop shadows and different weights of black outline to create a stained glass look to the drawing.
I have recently become fascinated with photographing close-ups of flowers and cats and whatever else will hold still, then cropping the images in interesting ways.
Art is where I find peace and joy. I hope you enjoy my pictures as much as I enjoy making them.
Meet our February 2026 Member of the Month
MIKE HOOPER
I was introduced to hands-on involvement in painting in 2013, shortly after retiring from 44 years of public service at federal, state, and municipal levels.
Soon after retiring, I realized that the self-actualization that was a derivative of my former work-a-day world had dissipated. I needed something in my life that would rekindle the sense of accomplishment and community that were part and parcel of the workplace.
Long story short - my wife, Jill, informed her exercise buddy, Jaci Muzamel, of my situation, and Jaci offered that membership in RFA might be illuminating and uplifting for me.
Jaci proved to be spot on! I had always had an appreciation for art but never had put brush to canvas. So I joined RFA and found the organization to be a one-stop-shop for all things art.
I was able to attend RFA-sponsored workshops under the tutelage of artists such as Rhonda Egan, Scott Mattlin, and Marilyn Rose.
.jpg)
And it so happened that at the time of my initial membership Gini Crepps was both RFA President and owner of IQ Design, which afforded the premises for extended workshops as well as a gallery for exhibiting completed works.
Thus, I found involvement with RFA sparked new growth and renewed overall vigor.
My mediums of choice are acrylic paint and pastel. I prefer acrylic paint (over oil) because of its drying time and the relative ease with which brushes can be cleaned.
My involvement with pastels came via a friend's referral to Auburn artist Reif Erickson. Reif was a master pastel artist I studied under concurrently with my early involvement with RFA.
I appreciated the vibrancy achievable via the pastel medium as well as the speed with which works could be completed.
My paintings are generally landscapes. Subjects are copied from reality. Often buildings (e.g., barns) are featured. In this context, I appreciate very much the work of Paul Cezanne, Vincent van Gogh, and Gene Speck. .
I do enjoy adding a whimsical touch to my landscapes when the setting affords such (a bit of comic relief goes a long way these days). The pastel titled Hoppy Holidays in Frogtown incorporated frogs celebration of Christmas within their swamp habitat.
The acrylic painting titled Other Side of the Rainbow Bridge depicted our family's four dogs frolicking as a pack amid their divine forever home.
The acrylic Amelie's Bunnies hangs within our granddaughters bedroom as a representation of her infatuation with the furry critters.
I currently do not have a website or a Facebook presence.
I can be reached by texting (916) 367-1941 or email
mkhoop@517@gmail.com
