It’s easy to smile at Cara Gregor’s artwork. The Curtis Park resident uses bright happy colors to create grin-inducing images of reimagined rainbows, energetic abstracts and bold florals, plus unique jewelry in equally vibrant tones.

As the artist herself says, “Art is fun. That’s why we do it.”

Ann Marie Campbell couldn’t get Marilyn Monroe’s mouth right.

It was the early 1990s and Virgin Megastore had come to Sacramento to compete with Tower Records. Already a well-known local muralist, Campbell was commissioned by Richard Branson to paint murals at his Virgin Megastores in 25 cities across the country.

Acclaimed painter Jerald Silva fits many descriptions. Here’s one he doesn’t fit: watercolorist.

“It’s not insulting. I just work so differently from persons who describe themselves that way, I don’t wish to be misunderstood,” Silva says. “Mine is a different genre using the same materials.”

Silva’s style was developed by accident. As a young artist, he was using a friend’s studio while the friend was abroad. He ran out of canvas. With necessity serving as the mother of invention, Silva noticed a roll of butcher paper. He decided to paint on that—until he discovered it was too porous for watercolor.

For artist Laurelin Gilmore, “being publicly yourself is revolutionary.” Whether that means embracing your physical appearance, your personality or your place in the world, being as “you” as possible takes an act of bravery.

Lucky for us, Gilmore is one of those brave people—and she hopes her art helps others feel that way too.

“Anybody who’s a little bit different feels like a little bit of an alien,” explains the artist, who was diagnosed with vitiligo (a condition in which skin loses pigment in patches) at age 9. “Looking to the natural world to see that you’re not abnormal—that you’re not outside of the natural—helped me see the beauty of (being different).”