JOHN - I have had the good fortune to work in many different crafts. I started out in motorcycle mechanics, then ceramics, then carpentry and finish woodwork, cell animation, and 3D photography, graphic arts (old school), serigraphy, dark room printing, optical printing, multitrack audio recording, computer motion control, vector graphics (later known as computer graphics), computer animation, physical effects, effects animation, then film editing (16, 35mm), cinematography (film), cameraman (video), documentary camera and sound field recording, guitar playing, clarinet and saxophone, gardener / urban farmer, teacher, father and lover. I am grounded in the physical with one foot in the virtual.

BELLA - I was raised in a small village of Basque Country. My major responsibility at the time was to ride my bicycle without dirtying my dresses, collect snails after the rain, and appreciate my grandmother’s fig jam. My father, a painter, showed me how to use tools and juxtapose colors. My mother taught me how to cook, sing and remember poetry. I‘m still using those early lessons in life.

My life has been shaped and enriched by my many travels and experiences on land and river and by the many people who inspired me to learn, take chances, and find my voice. I'm grateful for those I met who encouraged me to keep the channel open, in painting and writing, producing and blending essential oils, singing and playing the Ukulele, producing and cooking, raising children while navigating the rivers of France with captain John and exploring the globe from Hollywood to Timbuktu.

I did it my way. I went back and forth between Paris and California over the past 30 years, building a beloved community of like minded people. I painted sets for film and theatre and oil portraits of the unique people I met in my travels, researched-wrote-produced short films and documentaries, coordinated visual and cultural activities for film festivals, sang for weddings and haircuts and unveiled the poetic pleasure of being lost in translation to two wholesome bilingual kids, who since taught me a thing or two.