MEET OUR JANUARY ARTISTS AND POETS!
MEET OUR JANUARY ARTISTS AND POETS!
Meet our January Artists and Poets!
Taste the local flavor, experience the local art. Featured this month, our menu shares the spotlight with talented artists and poets from our community. We are hosting an artist reception here on Sunday, January 18th at 5:00pm.
Cat Tesla
Cat Tesla is an internationally collected abstract painter known for luminous, nature-based works that evoke serenity, clarity, and quiet energy. Before becoming a full-time artist, she built a successful scientific career as a genetic counselor and faculty member in the Department of Human Genetics at Emory University.
Her large-scale abstracts are represented by galleries in both the U.S. and U.K., and appear in more than 300 corporate collections and nearly 1,000 hospitals and medical centers across the United States. Her paintings are also held in thousands of private collections around the world.
Tesla relocated to Sarasota County in 2022, just weeks after receiving a breast cancer diagnosis. As she navigated both recovery and a major life transition, the Florida landscape became more than a backdrop—it became a sanctuary. Her paintings blend color, light, and movement to offer a sense of refuge in a fast-paced world.
In May 2026, Tesla will present a solo exhibition at Art Center Sarasota, showcasing new large-scale works inspired by living by the water.
Her work can be viewed at
www.artbycat.com
Baltimore native Teriko Renee Epps relocated to Bradenton, Florida, three years ago. A retired Interior Designer Entrepreneur, she now expresses her creative talents through poetry and spoken word. Teriko authored the book “Lessons Mother Taught Me (In Spite of Alzheimer’s)” based on her caregiving experience with her mother. Plans for a poetry book are in her near future.
Mitchell Bakst
Mitchell has worked as a project manager in industries ranging from nonprofits to healthcare to technology. Since he was a teenager, MItchell has explored spiritual teachings, mysticism and meditation practices from around the world. His passion for understanding the human experience — its vulnerabilities and universalities — has led him to poetry as well as life coaching certifications.