Prophecy Of Nature examines and exalts the temporal quality of flora and fauna. From the signature botanicals of oil painter Ivy Jacobsen to Martin Hsu’s recent body of work exploring the precariousness of wildlife, each of the painters is inspired by the quickly-changing natural world around us. Lela Shields strives to reveal the fragility of life by creating organic pieces started with a random pour of ink on the surface. Julia Lucey creates etching collages depicting plants and animals native to Northern California, and Ursula Xanthe Young offers whimsical beauty in her work.

Ursula Xanthe Young is a painter, illustrator, and graphic designer whose urban fairy tale images have become a trademark of street culture in San Francisco and beyond. Her fine-lined illustrations and colorful modern paintings exude a style that is unique and appealing to art lovers of all kinds. Young grew up in the green rural dales of Northern England and studied art in New York, Florence, Vermont, Oslo, and London. After graduating from Parsons School of Design (BFA Illustration 1996), she moved to San Francisco’s Lower Haight district and spent nearly a decade there. Following a stint in Alaska, Ursula has settled in Grass Valley CA, where she now lives and works.

Ivy Jacobsen, a California native, settled into the San Francisco Bay Area while studying art at San Francisco State University and the San Francisco Art Institute. She began her career as a full-time artist in 2005 and quickly emerged as a prolific fine artist with a unique process of incorporating magical realism into her whimsical landscapes. She currently resides in Fairfax, California with her husband and two children, and works out of her studio in San Francisco.

Martin Hsu is a Taiwan-born artist based in San Francisco. He strives to create New Traditional Art by fusing Western narrative with Eastern sensibility. He hopes his art brings you a sense of ease and some peace of mind. His work has been shown all around the world, including the Japanese American National Museum, Art Basel Miami, and Art Kaohsiung in Taiwan.

Julia Lucey earned a BFA in printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute. She has focused on traditional etching techniques and aquatint to create images dealing with the evolving issues of wildlife, its dissolution and the attempt by many to direct its path. Lucey is based in Fairfax, CA and has exhibited her work throughout the United States.

Lela Shields, who was born and raised in London, attended several fine art institutions before graduating from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1996. She crafts subtle narratives exploring the ultra-fine balance between human, animal and spiritual realms while simultaneously playing with chance, technique and pure imagination. Shields has had solo exhibitions throughout the United States and shown internationally. She relocated to the Bay Area in 2011 currently paints in her studio in West Marin County.