The JUNKTION of Storytelling 

by Melissa Falco Williams , Director of Fiber Arts
and Jeff Hansen, Fiber Arts Instructor 

Our collective artwork, Junktion, is a meeting point of diverse styles, experiences, and narratives. By merging personal and professional perspectives, we explore how different techniques and concepts can come together to form a rich, layered dialogue about identity, culture, and perception.

The title emerged during an art staff meeting, capturing the spirit of L.A. GOAL as a creative space full of unexpected treasures. Through free-association exercises and improvisational storytelling—where one word sparks another—we invited our artists to embrace spontaneity and collaboration. The result is a playful, thoughtful mix of independent visions woven into a shared journey.

We hope you enjoy discovering the beauty in this intersection of ideas.

A Bad Day for….
Aaron Matsuda

Collage on paper, 4"x 6"
$90

This piece was collaged on a blank postcard
using vintage books found at garage sales.
It's unfortunately a very bad day for insects.

Night Persimmons
Michelle Weiner
22" x 23"
Fabric scraps, handmade stamp on fabric,
paper clips, cotton thread
$225

Makalu
Bryan Arnold
8 ½” x 4 ½”
Ceramic
SOLD

Makalu, A mountain inspired by asian culture.

Owl Friend
Gillian Gerson
6 ½ " x 3 ½ " x 3
SOLD
Ceramic

The Crab
Kris Lee
9" x 9" x 3
Ceramic
$75

The Crab is a sea creature that I like, the Crab is a delicacy that can be eaten. When a crab loses a leg, it can regenerate the limbs. Crabs' colors depend on what parts of the ocean they are from. They can also defend the sea from predators, like other crabs and squids. They are unique creatures, Sometimes the crab shells are hard and sometimes soft. Its nice to see crabs on the beach.

Moonface Recycled bowl
Gillian Gerson 
Ceramic
2 ½ "x 5"

SOLD

Recycled Spotted Bowl
Gillian Gerson
Ceramic
3 ½ " x 5"

SOLD

Recycled Junktion

By Edmound Veyna, Fine Arts Instructor

The idea for this art project for the Junktion Art Show at the Helm’s Design Center involves recycled items such as canvas, beads, buttons, rhinestones, seashells, collected objects, etc., creating a collaged piece of artwork.

All the artists created their artwork with images such as landscapes, oceans, skies, trees, flowers, and more on canvas with the use of acrylic paint. 

In this day and age recycling is important so waste doesn’t accumulate in our trash and landfills. It gives everyone a sense of protecting our planet and helps keep the environment beautiful.

Pearl Rose
Lisa Finkelor
10” x 10”
Mixed medium on canvas with acrylic, beads, pearls and rhinestones
SOLD

I choose to create this rosé painting with pearls, beads and acrylic paint on canvas because it reminds me of romance. I am inspired by Mother’s Day, Valentines Day and 4th of July. Pink roses are my favorite. I like the use of pearls with beads in the background. I love spring and summer roses. They make me happy. My mother is in love with roses too.

Swans 
Gino Limjoco
11” x 14” 
Mixed medium on canvas with acrylic, beads, pearls and rhinestones
$300

This painting is acrylic on canvas. It also has seashells, beads and pearls. I created this image of two swans swimming in the lake. I created this painting because I really like white swans in the morning.

Sun, Moon, and Earth
Rebecca Chappell
8” x 8”
Mixed medium on canvas with acrylic, and pearls
$225

This painting is an acrylic on canvas with pearl beads. I created this image of a pyramid and a circle at the top of the painting.

The pyramid represents the earth, the circle represents the sun and moon. I really like these images.

Sky in Bottle
Robert Kawough
10 ⅞” x 13 ½
Acrylic on Canvas

$150

I flip the sky in the bottle, Magic in the bottle, like Aladdin.
A carpet disappears to the dark castle, when the carpet arrives,
it is all alone.

Colorful Flowers in a Vase
David Hawkins
10” x 10”
Mixed medium on canvas with acrylic, beads, pearls and rhinestones
$225

I felt good choosing this image of flowers in a vase with rhinestones, beads and acrylic paint on canvas. This painting is something new for me in designing new art. I really enjoy painting daisy flowers. I put rhinestones on the vase because the art project is titled “Recycled Junktion.”

Moonlight
Constantine Fama
10 ⅛” x 8 ¾ “
Gouache on bristol paper
$225

In our Saturday art class, the artists have been learning to create Mirror patterns and Spanish style ceramics. Inspired by Talavera style pots that come from Mexico, the class came up with multiple designs and patterns on different recycled pots and cups that were from both previous and current ceramics classes. Combining these two, the artists were able to explore ceramic and patterning techniques.

Saturday Artist Class, Wind chimes & Potters
By Adrienne finkel, Eric Luis, Jason Ford, Jimmy Wolfen, Katie Ebert, Glenn Metlen,
Nancy Bisno, Robert Schwartz, Todd Rubien, Christy Chew, Helen Pacheco, Elizabeth Bogen,
Joe Allen, Lisa Guefen, Molly McBreen, Lily Hixon, Suzanne Bronson, and Neal Cooper.

#SatArt 

Crossing Over
David Hawkins
16” x  20”
Acrylic on Canvas
$200

What does this painting mean to me? It means to cross over.

The Faraway Dance.
Lisie Yalowitz
16” x 20”
Acrylic on Canvas
$200 

A Faraway Dance, the ocean can be as far away as china, india, russia- So many other countries in the world. The Ocean crosses over throughout our universe. The Ocean can also dance.

Community Artists

L.A. GOAL invited artists of all abilities from the broader Los Angeles community to submit their artworks that explore the theme of “Junktion.”

Shark City
Andrew Lee
12” x 16”
Acrylic on wood
$400

Andrew loves to use bright colors and bold patterns in his artwork. This artwork is a colorful underwater scene of sharks, painted on a puzzle. Andrew's art is full of energy, play, and creative surprises.

Praise Dancers
Cola Smith
Watercolor and ink on paper
14" x 18"
$300

Synergy
Trevor Coopersmith
Spray paint and oil pastel on hubcap
16 x 16

SOLD

Circles of Lives
Julie Peek
24” x 18”
Recycled Paper & Recycled Corkboard

$295

Sticky Layers
William Lee
Mixed Media on Canvas, 16 x 20
$200

William uses clay and mixed materials to create art with his hands, which helps him focus through touch. His work explores texture and layering in fun and unexpected ways. One piece plays with open space on the canvas, while the other is filled with soft clay shapes that are stacked and layered. William enjoys experimenting and seeing what happens as he builds each piece.

A junk bowl & a little bit of whimsy
Lindsay Walczak
Ceramics,
2.5"x3", 4.75"x4"
$125

Urchin
Jeff Klarin
Hand built ceramics
SOLD

Whispers in the Wind 
Lisie Yalowitz
12” x 16”
Acrylic on Canvas
SOLD

In the early morning dawn, when all is still and quiet there’s a moment in nature. When the birds and flowers form a special connection, which is both beautiful and calming to anyone and everyone to see.

Small Recycled Red bowl 
Douglas Hendenberg 
Ceramic
3" x 5"

SOLD

The Eagle
Kris Lee
6 ¾ " x 4 ¾ " x 3"
Ceramic
SOLD

I designed an Eagle because it is our nation’s friend. The Bald Eagle. The color of the eagle‘s head is white and the tail is white also. The talons are a yellowish color like the legs and beak. The body is brownish in color. The wing span can be 4 to 6 feet wide. When an eagle has a baby, the parents find them food. Eagles fly over lakes and when they see a fish they catch it for food. You can see eagles up on the trees or flying in the air. 

Wolf Pendants
Kris Lee
1” x 2”, 1 ½” x 2”
Ceramic
$25

Recycled Spotted bowl
Kris Lee
Ceramic
3 ½ " x 5"

SOLD

An American Orioles in the bushes at Hermit’s Rest
Constantine Fama
9 ¾” x 6 ¼ “
Acrylic on Wooden Panel
$225

Katie Ebert
SOLD

The Man with a Blue Tie

Jill Robinson
11" x 9" x 9"
Stoneware Sculptural Vessel
$800

The title of this piece is Man with a Blue Tie.  Blue represents feelings of loyalty, trust, steadiness, calm, but also distance, sadness, and coolness; the color of ice. Red represents passion, love, and joy, but also suffering, injury, anger, and rage; the color of fire. 

The junction of blue and red and the experience of our emotional lives is the experience of transformation. Every day, like putting on a tie or wearing a shirt, this transformation is happening if we choose to feel.

Frog
James Takhar
11 x 14
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
$100

James loves to draw in his own fun and creative doodle style. One of his pieces is a colorful frog made up of different shapes and patterns that he filled in by hand.

Jennifer Novak's art often incorporates "junk" mail and paperboard product packaging. 
She sees every envelope with an inside pattern--"security" envelopes--as a perfect background for her images created using curving lines. With their numerous "junctions," the lines create many small spaces, ready to be filled with color using markers, pens, colored pencils, scrap paper and old magazines. She also creates colorful collages made with "junk" paperboard product packing.

"Y"
scott davis
24 X 23
SOLD
This is an upcycled piece using, acrylic paint, scraps of plywood, random metal screws that I had, plastic army men found in a bag in the street and the adheasive, household goop. "Y" asks, "Y" is there war? "Y" do people have to die? "Y" can't people respect others without committing acts of violence? Just plain "Y"!!!

Home Bedroom
Jesus Quiroz
14" x 11"
Acrylic on Canvas
$100

Jesus Quiroz is a resident artist at Able ARTS Work. Quiroz works within many mediums but is best known for his paintings and drawings. Home Bedroom is the second piece in an ongoing series the artist is currently working on as he reflects on and celebrates his family home. Home Bedroom features a fusion of indoor and outdoor elements as he lies on his bed in his room.  

Belmar: Vibrance Lost
Nicole Comp
19 1/2" x 19 1/2"
Collage
SOLD

From the early 1900s to the early 1950s, an African American neighborhood in Santa Monica flourished along Pico Boulevard near the Pacific Ocean. A key junction, north of Pico and east of Main Street, was referred to as Belmar Triangle. Today these blocks no longer exist; using eminent domain, the city of Santa Monica cleared the site in 1953 and built a Civic Auditorium. A poignant reflection on what is considered junk and what is actually of value, this piece represents the vitality of the neighborhood in the first half of the 20th century. 

Elements used to construct the piece include: small pieces of leftover fabric and discarded clothes, a salvaged zipper, wood, compressed board and corrugated cardboard previously used as packing materials, individual mosaic tiles separated from the sheet, nails retrieved from a construction site, a found rock, shells from a broken necklace, biodegradable packing peanuts, wires from old headphones, pieces of a box that contained markers.

A Ceremonial Gathering of the Elders
Joe Mills
12” x 16”
Acrylic Paint and Pens on Canvas
$200

The elders came together to discuss the future. Offering support, guidance and wisdom. In hopes to inspire and connect them with the extreme changes of the world.

Kangaroo Family
Gillian Gerson
(5" x 3 ½ " x 4 ½ "), (5 ½ " x 4 x 3 ½ "),
(3 ½ " x 2 ½ " x 4 ½ ")
SOLD

Ceramic

Summer Day
Rebecca Chappell
12" x 12"
Mixed medium on canvas with acrylic, beads, pearls and rhinestones
$275

I painted an image of a bird because birds are one of my favorite animals. 
I created four different primary squares colored with acrylic paint and beads added on them. I am happy with this painting.

Dumpster Diving

by David Keeps, Ceramics Instructor

On a recent visit to a ceramics studio in the Downtown Arts District of Los Angeles, I discovered a dumpster filled with discarded unglazed pottery. “Can I pick your trash?”  I asked. With the studio’s permission and In the best tradition of “inside out,” I reached in and gathered dozens of recyclable dishes, pots and mugs, pulled them out and put them in my trunk. Back in the IO Studio at L.A. GOAL, our members lovingly upcycled these unloved objects with their imaginative color sense, patterns and illustrations.

Peacefully Passionate
Doug Hedenberg
Acrylic on Canvas
16" x 10"
SOLD
The wind is blowing the grass and flowers, The Breeze makes them sing so passionately.

The artist creatively repurposes discarded materials such as plastic bags, magazines and t-shirts, transforming them into strikingly unique and beautiful baskets, handbags, bowls and other decorative pieces. Using a variety of techniques such as crochet and weaving, the once-overlooked material becomes a statement of sustainability and craftsmanship. Each piece balances functionality with visual appeal, elevating everyday items into art while challenging perceptions of waste, and encouraging thoughtful engagement with environmental issues.

Weisman Tools: Untitled 36 
Ben Novak
Vintage tools, found metal objects, remnant base
19  3/4” x 6 x 6”
$375

Ben Novak creates his welded sculptures with found metal objects he collects from the streets and alleys of Los Angeles.  He uses MIG (Metal Inert Gas) welding, which he started learning in 2020 with instructor Leif Maginnis.  In the "Weisman Tools" Series, he also incorporates donated vintage tools.  So far, Ben's three dimensional assemblage sculptures have been exclusively abstract, but they appear to exhibit influences from his areas of interest and his travels.

My mixed media artwork harnesses the energy and intricate beauty of “junk” by uplifting the used, the remnant, and the seemingly mundane to a place of greater visibility and significance.
By recontextualizing found objects and scrap materials, I foster curiosity and wonder about their forms, histories, and renewed purposes. Each piece becomes a dialogue between past and present—a reflection on life’s ephemeral nature and our human tendency to find meaning in it.
My process often involves creating artworks from repurposed materials, deconstructing them, and then rebuilding entirely new pieces from fragments of those earlier works and other found objects. This ongoing cycle of destruction, transformation, and rebirth leads me to contemplate my own spirituality and the cyclical nature of the universe.

Using fabrics and trimmings from worn out much-loved articles of clothing, I create wall hangings that evoke sometimes dreamy lighthearted or more somber feelings.
I sometimes use bits of hand-printed pieces of fabric from designs I have carved.

Mokes & The Horizon 
Olivia de Recat
9" x 12”,
Gouache on recycled mix media paper 
$200

This photography series explores the visual confluence of organic forms, where diverse natural elements converge to create moments of serene transformation. Whether it's the vibrant meeting of untamed foliage, as in “Bordeaux Greenline,” or the delicate convergence of fading light and tranquil water in “Lake Tahoe Twilight #1,” each image captures a unique interplay of organic forms and subtle hues. They celebrate the inherent beauty and dynamic renewal found in the harmonious blending of different expressions within the natural world.

Les Bebes
Cola Smith
Acrylic and paint markers on canvas
16 x 20
$300

The Sky Looking Over The Tree in the Woods
Joe Rosenberg
10" x 10"
Mixed medium on canvas with acrylic, beads, pearls and rhinestones
$225

This art project titled “The Sky Looking Over The Tree in the Woods” is an acrylic painting of a tree with real buttons for the leaves. In the background are green mountains. This is a mixed medium painting.

Unconventional Tools is a project that focuses on creating artwork without having to use traditional tools like our brushes. In this project, we worked with tools we found around us- Forks, Plastic knives, Spoons, and Sponges. 

The artists layered paint down to create textured shapes and objects to put together these abstract pieces, creating places that we long to be. 

The Adobe of Mexico
Matthew Seldon
11” x 14”
$275
Mixed Medium on canvas with acrylic, beads, pearls and rhinestones.

The reason why I chose this picture is because it shows an Adobe house which is the shed that is located in a meadow by the mountains. It is where a Mexican family lives. I use the acrylic paint first, I painted the grass in the meadow to be orange and brown, and for the bushes and trees also. The bushes are green on the right side making this an autumn season. Then I used acrylic markers to add detail on the grass and also to cover the pencil lines to make this painting artistic. I finished the painting by using colored beads and rhinestones glued onto the canvas. There is where we have an Adobe house located in the state of New Mexico.

The Milky Way
Joe Mills
16” x 20”
Acrylic on Canvas
$200
It was made of acrylic paints that were poured down and dabbed sponges plus other tools. I explored a different technique. The Milky way involves lots of movement with stars in the galaxy.

DEADLY SPEAR
Max Davis Young
ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
9 X 12
$50
I call it this because if you look at it vertically it looks like someone holding a spear.

Portal
Dani Samson
7.5" x 7.5" (13" x 13" framed) 
Mixed media on paper
$150

Bloom 
Federico Tresierras
11 x 14 inches
Mixed Media on Canvas
$250

Federico creates imaginative and playful artworks using a mix of materials and textures. One piece features a rocketship soaring through a swirling, colorful planet. His second piece is a painting of blooming flowers with vibrant colors and layered textures. Federico’s work shows how he enjoys building scenes that are full of life and creativity.

Crossing A Line
Jennifer Novak
11" x 9" x 1"
Black Pen and all 24 colors in the Prismacolor colored pencil "Portrait Set" on paper
$90

Balance & Imbalance

Mike Bacon
metal sculpture
$400

Rotating UFO cuff 
O SERVICE
5"×5"×4",
pony beads/ perler beads/ elastic thread
$170

Beading has been a part of humanity for over 8,000 years. With what many may only see as children's crafts,  I created a love letter to my childhood. 10 hours of beading, With hundred of junctions to put my dreams in motion.

My work is a multimedia exploration and re-presentation of the natural world. Investigating our perceptions, valuations and representations, I examine the entwined relationships between both natural and crafted objects. Through mixed-media, I explore ecological themes by repurposing discarded materials and presenting natural symbols of contemplation.
My work fosters empathy and elevates awareness of our interconnected web, spotlighting how our worlds intertwine.

Branded as a passionate plea to encourage others to reuse and repurpose as many discarded pieces as possible into sustainable and functional art. Repurposing and upcycling trash helps the ecosystem by alleviating the growing mounds of waste, and—most rewarding to any artist—it makes one smile. The medium most concentrated on is magazines, brochures, coupons, and flyers, aka junk mail.

Los Cerritos, Chipotle 
Jeffrey Hansen
Four Panels each 7" x 10" total of one 48" artwork
Color pencil, gouache, graphite, ink, and tea on mixed media paper
$300

These semi-abstract works on paper tackle figure-ground reversal, gestural abstraction, and story telling. Drawing from Indian miniature painting, Native American textiles, Japanese Scrolls, and Aztec codices, the imagery compares written word, woven patterns, and gestural brushstroke across a series of panels. Experimental mark-making forms a free association narrative. The works were partly created en plein air at a Chipotle restaurant.

Nuts and Bolts 
Lindsay Walczak
Ceramics,
5" x 5.5" x 2.5"
$75

Vessel
Jeff Klarin
Hand built ceramics
$95

Bordeaux Greenline
Wei-Ling Chang
16” x 20”
Photography
$368

Tigress
Lisa Finkelor
10 " x 7" x 3"
Ceramic
SOLD

She’s Wild, she only wild when her enemies are around.-The lost Rabbit, they tried to hunt and snatch the tiger cub. She gets mad, shes wild, she ROARS!

Recycled Star Cup
Jenifer Noyes
Ceramic
3" x 4" 
SOLD

Hoping bunnys
Jenifer Noyes
Ceramics
2 3/4" x 3 1/2"

SOLD

Tall recycled blue cup
Jenifer Noyes
Ceramic
7 ½ " x 8

SOLD

One person’s trash is often another person’s treasure. In an age of overconsumption and dwindling resources, some of the most compelling works are being created by re-using existing things to create a new expression. With imagination and a thoughtful consideration of materials, Junktion is the meeting point where junk assumes a new function as art.