Meet Cloverdale’s correctional officer-turned artist

Jerry Stocker’s post-retirement life as an expressive artist stands in stark contrast to his 31-year career as a correctional officer with the California Department of Corrections.

“I am a different person now. Whereas my work required following a strict set of safety guidelines and constantly being alert and observant of dangerous situations, retirement has afforded me the opportunity to relax,” he said. “I’m no longer controlled by those strict prison rules.”

The 68-year-old Sacramento native moved to San Rafael when he was 13. For the next six years, he lived on the grounds of San Quentin State Prison where his dad was a printing instructor.

He originally aspired to be a dentist and was even accepted to the UC San Francisco School of Dentistry but ended up earning a bachelor's in criminal justice from Cal State East Bay instead.

“Since I grew up in San Quentin housing, it seemed an easy transition to becoming a correctional officer,” he said. “It paid well, $600 per month for full-time work, which was a lot back then.”

Starting his career at the age of 21, Stocker steadily moved up through the ranks, from correctional officer to correctional sergeant, parole agent, correctional lieutenant, correctional counselor, correctional captain and facility captain, working at California facilities in Norco, Oakland, Jamestown and Sacramento.

As strange as it may seem, he says his interactions with inmates and parolees is the one aspect of his former career he misses.

“Every inmate and parolee was different, and I treated them as they treated me. I never really cared about their crime,” he said. “I treated them equally. Most of the contacts were positive and I enjoyed resolving their problems.”

Stocker met Kim at a disco in the mid-70s. As they were dancing and getting acquainted, each was surreptitiously interviewing the other with the intent of finding a permanent life partner.

“I guess we got the answers we were looking for since we each told the friend we came with we were going to get married to each other,” he said.

Forty-four years, one son, one daughter-in-law and one grandson later, he said Kim is still his best friend and the greatest joy in his life.

Creating stained glass pieces

Being an artist was never on his radar while working in corrections. After several months of post-retirement relaxation, though, he decided to intentionally seek out an art form he would enjoy.

His only previous exposure had been throwing pots in his high school ceramics class. This time around, he discovered stained glass and dove in headfirst, much to the delight of his wife.

“Using the basement in our home as a workshop, I outfitted every possible window in that house with custom stained glass,” he said. “It was really beautiful and personally satisfying.”

Kim Stocker describes them as customized to fit angular windows above the normal square windows, making them truly unique.

“He made them with opaque glass so that the setting sun would not blaze into our house,” she said. “They wouldn't fit any of our regular windows now.”

One piece he made just for her was a four-by-four stained glass with French baroque curls and hanging fuchsias above nine-inch square water glass panels.

“Jerry installed it in the window above our large soaking tub in the master bathroom. I adored that piece and wanted to bring it with us when we moved,” she said. “Unfortunately, it would have been difficult to uninstall and wouldn’t have fit in any window in our new house.”

Beginning his business

In lieu of curtains, five of his custom stained-glass panels hang in the windows of their Cloverdale home and a lamp with a stained-glass shade he made sits in their living room. The couple moved here in 2016.

Soon after getting settled in, the Stockers invited their neighbor Mary Antonini to stop by for a visit.

“I was in awe of the beautiful and unique pieces of art in their home, and even more impressed to learn they were made by Jerry,” she said. “My husband and I now have five pieces of his artwork. Each time I look at them I see something I hadn’t seen before.”

Stocker discovered his current artistic passion in the art section of the public library when he came across a book entitled “Mixed Media Mosaic” by Laurie Mika. Although his interpretation of mixed media mosaics is different than hers, this was the inspiration for his latest artistic endeavor.

It was also the beginning of his business, “Fat Cats Art,” named in honor of Jennifer and Ashley, two fat cats the couple had at the time.

Stocker finds objects for his artwork at second hand stores, Goodwill, Salvation Army, swap meets, yard sales and bead shows. For broken and intact jewelry, as well as other tokens, he visits online sites like eBay and Etsy.

Wooden boxes, wooden plaques, frames and small stand-alone signs, which are the bases for his artwork, are found at the same places. Occasionally, he goes to the beach to find shells and small driftwood.

“I’m developing a following at arts and crafts shows so people often bring me items or a bag of broken or no longer used jewelry,” he said. “When I make a custom piece for a customer, I will use personal things they give me and incorporate them into my design.”

His collection of found items fills multiple organizing carriers and takes up an entire closet in his den-turned-studio. He said he probably has thousands of items from which to choose when creating a new design.

Unique tools, positive messages

Using polymer clay, rubber stamps, Scrabble tiles, colorful acrylic powders and paints, he impresses the found items into the clay. After creating multiple tiles, they are arranged into beautiful mosaics on a wood board or box. To this, he adds shells, semi-precious stones, other stones, beads and millifiores into any places not covered by a tile.

His creations are a unique mixed media mosaic art that express compassion, peace, equity, acceptance of others and love of family, friends and others.

Some of his projects contain affirming messages spelled out by Scrabble tiles, such as “I am a crazy cat lady,” “you are beautiful,” “save the animals,” “fearless,” and “hope anchors the soul.” Others may have a focus like a cross or a Jewish star or simply a collection of pretty jewelry or shells, Monopoly board pieces, an old skate key, or broken china.

Most pieces take between six to eight hours to complete, while larger ones might take several days. Prices range from $35 to $275, with the average piece selling anywhere from $35 to $75.

“It is especially satisfying when the subject of the piece is a deceased family member. In that case, they will bring me mementos from their bottom dresser drawer, a box under the bed and other obscure places to create a very personal piece,” he said.

In the case of family friend, Tammy Durand, the days, weeks and months following the unexpected death of her 19-year-old son in 2011 were some of the hardest of her life.

“Jerry asked if he could create a memorial piece to honor Ethan,” she said. “He had us gather trinkets and pictures from his life and asked us some very poignant questions about who he was. Taking what we had given him, he created a one-of-a-kind masterpiece that truly captured the essence of our son.”

Displayed prominently in their home, Durand said Stocker’s gift continues to bring them comfort, good memories and joy.

“To us, it’s more valuable than anything thing else we own.”

Fat Cats Art can be found at Made Local Marketplace in Santa Rosa’s Montgomery Village. Stocker plans to have a booth at Cloverdale’s Friday Night Live events this summer, as well as at various craft shows around the county.