Yolanda attended California State University, Hayward (1988) to study music, and there, she was introduced to lithography where she instantly fell in love with the laborious, mind-bending, and magnificently serendipitous processes of fine art printmaking. She had the opportunity to study under the renowned Tamarind master Kenjilo Nanao and monoprint expert Linda Goodman. In 2013, after raising her family and moving back to her hometown of Oakland, CA, she found Bernadette Martinez at Artery Press who nurtured her re-acquaintance with the medium.

     Yolanda’s current focus is in relief and lithographic printmaking. Experimental by nature, she keeps her methods fresh while still giving respect to the more traditional processes. Her subject commonly focuses on Oakland urban culture, our kindred power within nature, the magic in music, the human experience, and other social, spiritual, and environmental inspirations. Yolanda uses plexiglass, wood, lino, and nature itself as a printing plate, printing onto handmade paper, mulberry, or cotton rag, or natural fabrics. She personally executes all the steps involved in the printmaking process, from developing the image, gouging, inking, and pulling the print by hand utilizing a Griffin etching press.

     Yolanda’s work has earned a spot on the walls of the de Young Museum in San Francisco, Ca. as well as many other notable galleries. She can be found at Th Red Door Art Alley in Alameda, California.