This post has been sponsored by

Jessica Laskey

Journalist

About This Author

Jessica Laskey is a freelance writer and professional actress who has lived and worked in Sacramento, San Francisco, Dallas, New York City and Paris. She is also the co-founder of Theater Galatea and Indomita Press.

Articles by this author

Sky’s The Limit

Some artists spend a lifetime searching for a signature subject. Sue Torngren found hers just by looking up.

The Sacramento painter is captivated by California’s skies—the clouds, the light, the drama. Sky became the defining narrative in her paintings, inviting viewers to savor moments that often go unnoticed.

When I first visited the artist in her Land Park studio a decade ago, she was producing close-up, vividly colored images of succulents in large-scale oil paintings. I featured several on Inside covers.

Creative Accounting

If Kate Farrall has her way, there will be no more starving artists.

As a visual artist, Farrall knows it’s hard to make a living. But as an experienced marketer and art business coach, she also knows the right tools and skills make all the difference.

“So many artists are so capable,” she says. “We can build walls, put colors together and problem-solve like nobody’s business. All of those skills are very transferrable.”

Farrall built her skills through school and various jobs. She majored in art history and photography in Maryland and worked at a Baltimore art gallery.

After grad school at California College of the Arts, she got a marketing job. A career path quickly came together.

Out & About May 2026

Find out what is happening in Sacramento during the month of May!

Memory Lane

Jeffrey Mason thinks everyone has an amazing life story.

His belief led the Elk Grove resident and retired state employee to build a $12 million-a-year business that started from a personal place.

“I took for granted that my mom and dad would always be in my life,” Mason says. “We would visit a couple times a year and talk on the phone a lot, but distance still happens. I was in my 50s when my dad started feeling the effects of Alzheimer’s.”