FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS
Visual Artists
Samuel Albert
Samuel first discovered his passion for art at the age of 8, exploring with various mediums and creating countless pieces of oceanscapes. He is drawn to imperfections in nature and capturing the beauty of the world around him. Samuel has been a member of St. Matthew’s his whole life, where he currently serves as an acolyte.
Dylan Arant
Dylan is a recent graduate of Concordia University Irvine, where he studied Theology and Art. His practice focuses on painting and graphic arts, but he has begun amateur woodworking as well. His style has been described as "medieval detail with a digital pulse." His artistic interest lies with personal objects of devotion and contemplation, investigating the tensions between particular sacred spaces and the universality of God's Presence.
Craig Bothwell
A native Southern Californian, Craig has had in his possession a camera(s) since he can remember. Educated at USC in Cinematic Arts and Loyola University in Accounting, he seeks out visual opportunities that are made unique by unexpected light values and subject matter in his photography.
Jack Burns
An expert in engineering and constructing high-performance stainless exhaust systems, Jack founded Burns Stainless in 1989 to supply components to professional engine builders and skilled craftsmen.
He sold Burns Stainless Steel in 2017, and founded Parkway Ford Heritage Mission in 2020. Their mission is to build a fast race car that can compete at the highest levels of its class, to share the love of Christ to the drag racing community, and to create programs that cultivate students in the industrial arts, within high-performing maker spaces, under the tutelage of master craftsmen.
Lila Butler
Lila Butler began her interest in art at an early age and quickly grew in her abilities to the delight of her family. She began learning color theory at the age of five, and can be found at least once a week in the household art studio working on her craft. She especially enjoys painting with acrylics, inks, and loves to draw.
Peggy Butler
Peggy Butler established her interest in abstract art in the first grade when she was reprimanded for refusing to color within the lines. She has studied fine portraiture for many years, and attended Laguna College of Art & Design. She now teaches children's color theory and painting classes. She specializes in oils, acrylics, and inks.
Constance Hubbard
Constance studied fine art at Orange Coast College and Art Center Pasadena College of Design. She later taught fine art at Mariners Christian School, K-8th grade. In addition, she created the K-8 fine art curriculum for the school, and also taught parents and teachers at night. She studied Plein Air Painting for a short time at Irvine Valley College with Jeff Horn. She now has a design practice in Mission Viejo, and has attended St. Matthew’s since Trinity Sunday 2009.
Ruth Krywenko
From a young age Ruth has enjoyed God’s created beauty in nature and dabbling in art to experience some of the gift of creativity herself.
Barbara Ryan
Loves to play flute in her spare time.
Joshua Watson
Joshua is co-founder of Art for the Isolated—an organization that brings art and poetry into hospitals and foster care centers. He is a photographer and former arts educator, and holds an MFA in Photography from the University of Hartford.
Abigail Whitten
Abigail has been studying art for two years at Mission: Renaissance Fine Arts Academy, but she has been drawing and painting for as long as she can remember. She hopes her art expresses her imagination and joyful view of the world.
Madison Zuniga
Madison’s art seeks to initiate conversation and offer unexpected perspective within a Christian context. By contemplating the stranger and more fantastical moments in Scripture, she hopes to inspire contemplation. By using clay, she intends to emphasize our incarnate reality.
Spoken Word Artists
Victoria Perry
Victoria Perry has been singing since she was two years old, and poetry has always challenged and intrigued her. A working mom, she cherishes the moments over the years during spiritual retreats or a quiet evening at the kitchen table, when she has tried her hand at capturing fleeting moments and deep truths, searching for an adequate turn of phrase, layering images and meaning. Victoria studied liberal arts, majoring in history, at Biola University’s Torrey Honors College.
Alea Peister
Alea's writing has been featured in publications like Relief, Solum, Ekstasis, Vita Poetica, Whale Road Review, and Art for the Isolated, and she has work forthcoming in Christian Century and Image. She holds an MFA in Spiritual Writing from Seattle Pacific University.
She daylights as a marketing copywriter at Deloitte Digital, where she specializes in sustainability reporting and is growing her expertise in user experience writing. Her real passions, though, are creative writing and exploring the landscape of the Christian life of prayer with her community at St. Matthew’s. She’s especially interested in the relationship between creativity and prayer, and has felt honored to lead two creative day retreats at St Matt’s. She looks forward to leading another one this fall.
You can follow her writerly escapades on Instagram at @alea_peister and Substack at aleapeister.substack.com.
Joshua Watson
Joshua is co-founder of Art for the Isolated—an organization that brings art and poetry into hospitals and foster care centers. He is a photographer and former arts educator, and holds an MFA in Photography from the University of Hartford.
Lisa Marion
Lisa has been a member of St. Matthew’s Church since 1986. Currently she serves as a licensed lay minister providing Spiritual Direction to the St. Matthew’s community. Having journeyed herself through many crises, Lisa is well equipped to accompany others through difficult, transitional, or confusing times. You can learn more about her Spiritual Direction at her blog: www.dailypax.com.
Lisa is also an Oblate of St. Andrew’s Abbey in Valyermo, California. She is a featured retreat leader and contributor to the various ministries of the Abbey.
Fr. Hayden Butler
Fr. Hayden studied poetry as part of his undergraduate education in Literature. He has been an amateur poet for almost twenty years, has published a few poems in local periodicals, and has read at local open-mic nights. He is particularly inspired by the styles of T.S. Eliot, Li-Young Lee, and Christina Rossetti.
Musicians
Sam Wilson
From Long Beach. Software Engineer. Married to Goli.
Bob Bennett
What about Bob? He’s been playing guitar, singing, and writing songs his whole life (since age 10). He’s one of the few people you’ll meet who gets to do “the one thing” they always wanted to do! If interested, you can find more details on Wikipedia and his website: bobbennett.com.
Bob is so grateful that St. Matthew’s Festival of the Arts has become an annual tradition and is honored to be included.