Paula Bellacera

Paula Bellacera is a Sacramento native and award-winning artist working in ceramic sculpture, painting and mixed media. Her subject is animals and "the connections between animals, human nature, and the natural world." She came to art by way of science: she studied animal behavior in Louisiana and earned a PhD in experimental psychology from Tulane University. As she puts it, "Years spent observing wildlife in the swamps of Louisiana taught me to look closely at the natural world."

She has exhibited since 1990, with more than 40 solo or featured shows, including a 2014 solo exhibition at the Morris Graves Museum in Eureka and Animal Reflection at the Pence Gallery in Davis. She has received awards, public art grants and commissions. Recent work includes ceramic wall reliefs, animal sculptures and ceramic cairns and totems topped with animals. She takes commissions.