Meet
the Artists
"Winding Road" by Karen Frishman
Jan BakerAn artist sees the world through the beauty of color, light and contrast, degrees of shadow and hues. Painting is …the experience...to see it all in color...the beauty of people and nature...it is the artist’s view of the world. Friends and family that she has painted say that “she captures the person and their personality...the portrait looks so real”.
Jan Baker was recognized for her art drawings throughout high school and college. After touring Paris and viewing the Renaissance artist paintings at The Louvre, the experience inspired her to move to oil portrait paintings. Jan has done oil portraits of friends, family, and their pets. Her natural style is Realism paintings of Portraits, Still Life, Cityscape and Landscape with Oil and Pastel medium. Jan enjoys attending at least three master art workshops per year. Two master portrait artists that she has studied throughout the years are Daniel Greene’s Realism and David Leffel’s Abstract Realism. She has attended several master workshops, most valued are the Artists’ Master Conference 2012 in San Diego with Daniel Greene and David Leffel’s workshops. CAC Master Artist David Leffel’s May 2013 workshop at USC, SBVA Oil and Pastel Portrait and Still Life Master Workshops by Artists Regina Lyubovnaya and Cuong Nguyen (2014 - 2020). She volunteers as Santa Barbara Visual Artists Chair and CAC artist member. Karen Frishman
http://www.karenfrishman.com/
As a marketing specialist and graphic designer, I have always focused on using design to serve the needs of business. Now I am channeling my creative abilities to create art for art's sake.
Using acrylics, washes, vintage paper, stencils, handmade stamps and more, I enjoy combining various elements to create abstract collage art that offers an element of surprise. I love using bold and unexpected color combinations on canvas, wood and watercolor paper and using resin. I hope you enjoy viewing! Feel free to contact me with any questions. I am currently a member of the Santa Barbara Abstract Art Collective, and Co-Chair of Santa Barbara Visual Artists. I have contributed works to both the Feast Your Eyes fundraiser at The Arts Fund, and ARTSEE, hosted by the Abstract Art Collective. Rebecca Marder
In 2016 I moved from Venice, California up to Santa Barbara. It is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. That and having children, tho what was I thinking in having four!?! So along with juggling parenthood, my background is diverse: business development, production design, co-owning restaurants (including the renowned Rebecca’s Restaurant designed by Frank Gehry), BeingOnPurpose coaching, creativity workshops, co-founder of WLA Art Co-Op, and SoulCollage facilitation. As a pioneer in the Venice Art Walk, I united with innovative art movements, such as the Art Studio of Santa Monica, Venice ArtBLOCK, and MOCA Women’s Art Gallery. While I continue to travel to LA to teach workshops, I am committed to evolving in the vast art communities of Santa Barbara. I am proud to be one of the early founding members of La Cumbre Center for Creative Arts (LCCCA) which is now my current studio as well as gallery of 24 local artists in Santa Barbara. www.lacumbrecenterforcreativearts.com/ Collage Works: As a subtext in my abstract narrative works I juxtapose disparate imagery exemplifying my background in Jungian psychology. My mixed media art works reflect the tender yet volatile intersection of conflicting universal powers such as nature contrasting invasive over-development, shadows and light. Continuing to explore the relationships and intersections of archetypes and symbolisms as they fight for viability, space, virtue and fortitude, I create original collages with acrylic paints, inks, paper, pastels on paper and wood, incorporating my photographs in abstract collages. Hepzibah Michaels
[email protected]
(805) 452-8913 Hepzibah Michaels assemblages are visual dreams, evoked from memory and are informed with meaning from her personal experience in life. Color and texture in found vintage objects are
thoughtfully placed to evoke literal and/or ambiguous meaning. Her work almost entirely relies on the metaphorical and abstract rather than any particular literal feeling. Either way it’s a space embedded in expression and fantasy where she escapes for laughter and safety. Random animals, people and objects of architectural interest reveal her inner world she wants to share. Largely self-taught. Hepzibah combined her love in fashion design and costuming with a BA in Religious Studies. The result was an unusual amalgamation of interest and influences. It is an extension of fantasy and longing. Her goal is to bridge the ordinary with the extraordinary and in doing so give license and make peace living in a paradoxical complex world. 2020 SBTC, Santa Barbara CA, Aquatics (group show), Juried by Cynthia Martin – Honorable Mention – “Dancing Underwater” 2020 SBTC, Santa Barbara CA, Paper (group show) Juried by Siu Zimmerman Lynn Dodge
Lynn’s art is inspired by life events, from her personal life experiences to witnessing the natural and human tragedies that unfold in our daily lives. Her emotional connection to these events are visualized as images she sees in her minds eye. Once the image set in her mind's she begins the creative journey of transforming her vision to art.
Lynn is amazed how her art and life intersects. Her creations are comprised of old and discarded objects that she utilizes to create something new and powerful. Her symbolic art is based in faith that all things old or broken can inspire and transform us. Lynn has a degree in Exhibit Design/Graphic Arts. She has expanded to a new creative calling of assemblage art that possess a dimensional quality of design, with a profound meaning and message. Judith Villa
I have been painting all my life. The last 5 years I have been focusing on Abstract Art. But it was not until I discovered the techniques of Fluid Arts, that my passion for painting came alive.
I began devoting more and more time to painting. To be able to create art without a paint brush, mixing chemicals into the paint to cause the paint to flow and interact in new ways — this excited me profoundly. The painting techniques I use achieve cellular like separations with the use of acrylic paints and other chemical agents. I love how dynamic, vibrant and magical the process of Fluid Arts are. I am inspired by Nature and I like my paintings to convey a lot of movement with bright, bold colors. I work with acrylics, resin and alcohol inks. My paintings are on display in local galleries. I exhibit with Gallery 113, the Santa Barbara Art Association, The Goleta Valley Art Association, The Santa Barbara Visual Artists, The Santa Barbara Tennis Club and The Glenn Dallas Gallery. Visit Judith Villa’s website https://judithvilla.com/ to see more of her vibrant abstracts. Linda Smythe
“Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist,
and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world.” —Edward Hopper Painting for Linda is a freedom to explore her natural gifts and to approach art with no expectation but to believe in the outcome. With 30 years of painting experience, her work has evolved from realism to abstraction which now allows the viewer to interpret each piece. Her desire to express her inner artistic voice started with local classes and workshops in Ventura County, which included print making, welding, water color, oil, ceramics, color & design. Looking back, all of these experiences were not the discovery of what she was to become as an artist, but what she was not. Linda’s desire to create now has been transformed from desire to destiny. Linda has moved from control to free-flow, allowing the piece to dictate her direction without having a pre-conceived concept. Her pieces are formed organically by combining textures, lines, color, shapes, and layers upon layers until a balance is reached. Linda was born in and has lived in various Southern California locations since birth, and now lives in Santa Barbara since 2009 with her husband Gary and their two Schnauzers. Dee Faia Parkins
After relocating from the San Fernando Valley to Santa Barbara and joining various groups, I was fortunate enough to meet two significant artists who formed the SBVA organization. Soon after joining, we became good friends and I became convinced that I should start painting again after a 25 year hiatus. Because I am self-taught and had only experienced painting realism in oils, I decided to try something different and landed in the category of abstract art using acrylics as my medium.
Abstract painting can be both magical and emotional. I try to reflect a feeling or a revelation and sometimes even a message in a subtle way. I rarely start with an image in mind and if I do, it changes as the art progresses. I think it is important, especially in abstraction that the viewer stay with a painting longer than 5 seconds. If my eye stays in the painting, I ask, “what is it that draws me in?” Besides color and balance, this one element should be related to the other elements in the composition so that your eye moves, or is directed through, the entire work. This one feature seems to be common to all great works of art. My favorite quote is from Artist Edgar Degas - “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” I have and am currently exhibiting in a variety of art galleries in Santa Barbara and can be reached by email. [email protected] |
Wendy Brewer
Wendy Brewer, MA
https://www.divinebitsofbeauty.com [email protected] Wendy Brewer is a professional mosaic artist whose unique mixed-media mosaics have been exhibited in galleries on the West Coast. Wendy is also a Soul-Centered Counselor and Healing Arts Facilitator. She received an MA in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica. Drawing on her experience as an artist and her background in Spiritual Psychology, Wendy values the creative process as a vehicle for healing and connecting with self. She facilitates stimulating and inspiring multi-media workshops that provoke self-discovery and awareness through creative expression. Wendy enjoys working with people of all ages and abilities in a wide range of environments. She has worked in hospital based Healing Arts programs, providing healing art experiences to patients, their families, and hospital staff. She brings art classes to Senior Living Communities, and teaches in Children’s Art Programs. Wendy receives much joy and gratification while immersing herself in the arts and contributing to the well-being of others. Artist Statement: I have always felt most at home and connected to my heart when immersed in the creative process. The experience of play, discovery, inspiration, aliveness, beauty, and reverence feeds my soul and brings me joy! I’ve been working in clay and various art mediums for much of my life. In 1998 I discovered mosaics and find the limitless possibilities within the process delightful. Most of my mosaics are like mixed-media collages. I enjoy creating unique pieces to incorporate in the overall mosaic using polymer clay, gold leaf, crystals, metal pieces, beads, specialty art glass, and mirror pieces. I love to experiment with materials, learn new techniques, and to continually grow and expand artistically. Every piece I create is like a journey in itself, infused with beauty, heart, and meaning. Mary Freericks
Mary’s mother was an artist and handed her colored pencils when she was young enough to crawl under the table to make sure she got her grandmother’s legs and feet right on the paper. She did oils after marriage when her children were very young but they woke up and she had to put it all away. She has been painting seriously since 1994 in Santa Barbara, CA. She fell in love with watercolor and mastered it. She then took up oil monotypes and collage. She enjoys figure painting. After viewing Mary’s abstracts her teacher Thomas Van Stein, encouraged her to do abstracts. Her paintings are regularly on display in Santa Barbara County including the Mayor’s Office, Ridley Tree Museum, Westmont, U.C.S.B. faculty lounge and Women’s Center, City College Small Image Show, Faulkner Gallery, Casa now Vision, Kate School, Karpeless Manuscript Library. Art Walk, Channing Peake Gallery, Cabrillio Inn and Bacccara Hotel (both A.A.C. and Scape shows) and recently the Distinctive Art Gallery. Her monotype is on the S.B. Printmaker’s website and displayed in art groups such as Abstract Art Collective. Mary has branched out to show in the Administration Building in Ventura and Dab Art Gallery as well as President Reagan’s one hundred year old birthday celebration at the Next Picture Show Gallery in Dixon, Ill, and at the Leopold Schepp Foundation gala on Fifth Ave. in Manhattan. Mary has had half a dozen one woman shows including the Santa Barbara Conference and Visitor’s Bureau, Sansum Diabetes Institute, and Alta Vista Foundation. Her patrons include a number of states in the U.S. as well as England. Mary has an M.F.A. from Columbia University School of the Arts and studies regularly with visiting artists in Santa Barbara. The latest workshop she took was with Peter Bradley. She has also studied with Skip Lawrence, Gerald Bromer, Robert Buridge and Ruth Armetage. Joseph Woodward, Art Critique of the Santa Barbara New Press, called Mary “a California artist” and praised her painting of surfers. “Sweeping washes of blue and white paint are freely flung in a way verging on abstraction, as if she is trying to capture the spirit as much as the actuality of water in a big wave.”
Pam KaganoffAs an artist of various media, I seem to have currently landed in the category of abstract art. This journey is of course not with intention, but more with interest, curiosity and emotion. When I begin a piece it is the emotional response or metaphorical response to present and past experiences.
I rarely start a piece with a title, that usually comes later, however the source of inspiration does reflect the title. I am inspired by color, nature in all forms, film images, scale, past, and present images. Art has been with me my whole life in some form. My years of teaching art, mainly to young children, has given me the gift of understanding beginners mind! It is there that pure thoughts without judgment originate, and as we mature we struggle to find again. I am always honored to have my work shown in Santa Barbara galleries. Robert Voorhees Jr.
Robert Voorhees Jr. is a photographic artist living in Santa Barbara, Ca. I have more than 30 years experience with film and digital photography, using current digital, vintage film and plastic cameras. I was fortunate to have mentored four and a half years with two master photographers, learning from one the technical skills and from the other the Zen of photography. I visualize many photo opportunities as black and white images and frequently am attracted to subjects which are or can be used to create abstract images. I do all the work with my images, from capture through post capture rendering to printing.
Voorhees has exhibited his art in the Santa Barbara area in solo and group exhibits, including the Carpinteria Art Center juried exhibit, various Santa Barbara Visual Artists exhibits and the Santa Barbara Tennis Club Captured juried photography exhibits, where he was awarded best black and white image in the Captured 3 show. Other recognition includes being a winner in the B&W Magazine 2016 Single Image contest, the 2016 Portfolio contest and the 2019 Plastic/Pinhole camera contest. Janey Cohen
For 36 wonderful and exciting years I enjoyed being a middle school science teacher, helping my students discover the marvels of nature and the world in which they live. Now that I have retired, I am thrilled to be on my own journey of discovering the artist within myself.
Inspired by photos I took during my science travels over the years to Kenya, China, Alaska, Italy, local islands, and various botanic gardens, I find myself inspired to paint in the medium of watercolor most frequently. I love how the water guides me through the painting; how it creates movement, or stillness; how it brings grace and harmony to a scene; that it can make you feel the warmth of love or the coolness of a stream through its translucence and glow. I have been inspired by artists my entire life, and have always incorporated art into all I have done, including my lessons. But now, it is a privilege to have the gift of time to spend a bit of each day devoted to this passion of mine. I hope to be able to explore more and varied media in the future. 4/2019 Member of: Santa Barbara Art Association Carpinteria Arts Center Santa Barbara Visual Artists Cami Helmuth
www.ArtworkbyCamiHelmuth.com
When I retired in 2016, I finally found the time to pursue my passion for art, and I’ve been painting ever since!
Painting brings me such joy, and I hope that comes through in my art, with elements of whimsy and subtle humor. My specialty is creating unique memories of clients' most cherished people, places or fur babies in their favorite settings, with their favorite toys, or doing their favorite things. I primarily use acrylics, but also enjoy creating abstract mixed media, encaustic and trompe l’oeil pieces purely for my own enjoyment. My “canvases” include river rocks, dried palm fronds, wood, metal, paper, furniture, and (of course) actual canvas.I am a proud member of the SBVA, SBAA, GVAA And SCAPE all based locally. You can find some samples of my work on my website: www.ArtworkbyCamiHelmuth.com Ginny Speirs
I was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1966. At the age of seven, I knew I wanted to pursue a career as an artist after winning an award for my self portrait in crayon. My mother insisted that I take art classes after school and I became hooked. My grandmother had quite a collection of antiques, so as a child I enjoyed going to her house and setting up still lifes with her ornate treasures. As a teen I did a few commissions for friends and family. I graduated from Converse College in 1988 with a BFA in studio art. From 1988 - 1990 I went on to graduate school at University of Georgia where I received an MFA in drawing and painting. As a graduate student I attended a Studies Abroad Program in Cortona, Italy which greatly influenced my work. The layers of history and the difference in culture were very motivating to me. While in school at Georgia, I met my husband, Garrett Speirs, also an artist.
The still life image has been a popular image for me for most of my time as an artist from the trompe l'oeil paintings on furniture and walls to the boards and canvases I paint today. After extended travels in Italy and France, the love of the region's local produce and flora has become a central theme in my work. Since moving to Santa Barbara more than 21 years ago, I've been inspired by the area's organic objects just outside my studio door and at our local farmer's market. I now strive for the magnified view of a vegetable, fruit or succulent pointing out the exquisite details in the lines, forms and colors one may overlook. Chickens, cows and hummingbirds have moved into my array of subject matter. I strive to portray a "portrait" of each of my subjects. Painting the beauty of the somewhat mundane object is an inspiring challenge for me. Everything that I paint once had a life and continues to in my oil paintings. Karen Haub
I draw much of my inspiration for intuitive landscapes from growing up in a variety of beautiful, lush surroundings, from the hills of middle Tennessee to the beaches and mountains of Southern California. I interpret my artwork through a variety of media including oil and cold wax, encaustic, and various acrylic media. The media and brushwork I use adds rich, earthy and sometimes subtle textures that describe the energy, and mood in both landscapes and figures. I choose to emphasize the emotional, ethereal, and energetic nature of the figure and landscape above rational realism.
Karen Haub is a member of Santa Barbara Art Association, SCAPE (Southern California Artists Painting for the Environment ), and Santa Barbara Visual Artists (SBVA), She has sold award winning work throughout local galleries and venues in Southern California including, Ashton Gallery in San Diego where she won a “Best in Show” Award (2017), and Art at the JCC with SBVA Exhibition (2019) in Santa Barbara, where she was awarded First Place. Karen’s work has shown regularly at Gallery 113 and the former Glenn Dallas Gallery in Santa Barbara. Karen is a featured artist at Saatchi’s Online Gallery and her work has sold to art collectors in North America, Australia, and Europe as well as to interior designers throughout the United States. Inquiries about art work: [email protected] | karenhaubfineart.com | saatchiart.com/karenhaubfineart |
Brendan Briggs
[email protected]
805.980.8852 Born in Manhattan N.Y. and raised in Los Angeles, CA, Brendan was exposed to extraordinary disciplines and many facets of creativity. At an early age she knew she had to become an artist, and soon found fulfillment in music, stage, dance, literature, and eventually canvas. “Being creative is a blessing and a curse… if I ignore one gift for too long, the guilt becomes unyielding”. When punk rock hit the L.A. scene in 1978, Brendan, unlike other teenagers, fronted a punk band at age 14. Before that however, she recalls Freddy Mercury being that voice that made her pick up a hair brush and croon along incessantly. Grooves on the vinyl may have been worn out had it not been for a visit to the movies. Tim Curry adorned in pearls, lingerie, and a garter, ignited her into a secret world - one where she would eventually find herself immersed. Thus, beginning a road of night club gigs, theater performances and the written word. Brendan Briggs now lives on the Mesa in Santa Barbara, CA. Self-taught, Brendan’s mixed mediums enter a world through the many stories her fantastical life experiences have led to. Her relentless drive for social acceptance and tolerance is ever apparent in the messages you will see as you voyage through her works and find your own interpretation.
Inspiration for "The Hill", shown for Brendan Briggs on the Artist Member Gallery page: The Woman who so eloquently expressed what I foresaw in 2016, was the then, U.S. Ambassador National Security Council specializing in Russian and European affairs Doctor Fiona Hill. Fiona Hill's testimony of the Nov. 21, 2019 Impeachment Trial of 45, was spot on. Dr. Fiona Hill: (01:09:22) President Putin and the Russian Security Services operate like a super PAC. They deploy millions of dollars to weaponize our own political opposition research and false narratives. Felice Willat
Felice Willat
https://www.felicewillatphotography.com/index.html Felice Willat is an award-winning fine art photographer and publisher, whose images from
around the world, capture the beauty of the human landscape across cultures. Willat's photographs have been juried into the Southern Nevada Museum of Fine Art, the Los Angeles Center for Photography, Photo LA, Photo Independent, TAG Gallery, Bergamot Station, the Brand Library, Glendale, CA and numerous other venues across the United States and in London, UK and Italy. In 2015, Felice won First Prize for Molokai Maidens in Solar Spectrum in Los Angeles, in 2014, Best in Show for Climbing Cardinals in Captured 2, the Second Annual Photo Competition in Santa Barbara, and in 2010, she won First Prize, for her Travel images in the Southern California Council of Camera Clubs’ annual juried exhibition. In 2009 Felice published The Quiet Between, Song of Burma, a book of photography and poems. Willat sees her camera as providing a sense of time expansion and stillness. She says, “ I could capture a moment, something sacred or commonplace, an unconscious gesture, a tattered clothesline, a red plastic pitcher, or a worn prayer book. I like to leave the familiar, travel to far-away places, and find the gift of really being present.” Selected Juried Exhibitions 2020 Grey Cube Gallery – Botanicals – Finalist – Dahlia Field 2 Your Daily Photograph.com – Duncan Miller Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica Dahlia Field 2 Professional Organizations La Cumbre Center for Creative Arts Los Angeles Center for Photography Santa Barbara Art Association, Gallery Los Olivos Visit Website for Art and Exhibitions Carol North Dixon
Artist’s Statement: I grew up in a family of artists, believing that I wasn’t one. The day before 9/11/2001 I took
my first collage class and began a completely unexpected journey that has included numerous individual and group shows and awards. That journey has been nurtured and encouraged by talented and dedicated Santa Barbara Adult Education instructors and by other artists from Santa Barbara and beyond. My work often comments on the world in which we live and the puzzles and contradictions living in it entails. Education: B.A., Syracuse University, English Literature; Ph.D., University of Delaware, Behavioral Sciences Positions: Sr. Lecturer and Assoc. Dean Emerita, Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, University of California, Santa Barbara Galleries: Gallery 113, Santa Barbara, CA – 2004 – present Gallery Los Olivos, Los Olivos, CA – 2013 - present The Art Rental and Sales Gallery at Los Angeles County Museum of Art – 2008 Sullivan-Goss: An American Gallery, Santa Barabara, CA – December Show 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 Private Collections: Held in private collections in at least twenty-three states, the District of Columbia, and eleven other countries. Hutton-Parker Foundation and Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara ![]() Cheryl Doty
Cheryl’s lifetime passion for art and design has led her down many paths. Moving from her small-town, midwest home to Chicago and later Portland and Seattle, she started and grew a
signage design company that did large installations for major businesses ranging from Nike and Nordstrom to O’Hare International Airport. Her signs were known for their creativity and quality, such as the water tower in Rosemont, Illinois that is painted to be a giant rose. After deciding to spend more time with her family, she sold the company and moved to Montecito to an historic property that was once part of the George Knapp estate. She turned her focus away from the corporate world and combined her creative side and business skills to flip houses from LA to Santa Barbara. The past decade has brought her a renewed focus to her fine art which was put on the back burner for many years for work and family. Whether it is painting regularly in her studio, taking classes at Art Center in Pasadena or studying under the auspices of masters such as JoveWang, she is constantly working to grow as an artist. Her paintings are representations of images she finds in the world around her. Her inspiration comes from many places: expressions on faces, the movement of light, traces of images, placement of color, or a photograph. She prefers large canvases because they give a feeling of openness with no limits. The end result is always a surprise for her and it provides an emotional release. Her paintings are in varying mediums but primarily oil. The bulk of her work is portraiture and figurative and she also strives to capture the essence of landscape. Her expressive brush strokes give life to her work. Elizabeth Flanagan
I started creating art late in my life, motivated by many life losses and changes. Art became a place to safely express grief, fear, anxiety and joy that these transitions bring. On my own, and through the SB City College Center for Lifelong Learning (CLL), I have explored drawing and painting using various media.
2020 Current – Have four pieces showing in Santa Barbara Visual Artists Fall Virtual Show at sbvisualartists.com. Also showing pieces from past shows. 2020 Current – Have four pieces showing in Goleta Valley Art Association's Virtual Art Show at tgvaa.org/events. July 2020 – Four pieces juried in to Santa Barbara Visual Arts show at the Santa Barbara Tennis Club. My piece, “Lady with Green Neck” chosen for promotional flyer. January, February 2020 – One piece each month was juried in to Goleta Valley Art Association's shows at the Goleta Valley Public Library. Morgan Green
https://www.morgangreenart.com/
I tend to seek out the rough ground. Raised to be an outdoors-woman, I feel at home up a mountain, on the sea, or in the desert. I choose my natural subjects because they delight, sooth, or awe me and put the workaday human humdrum into perspective. And no matter where I open my sketchbook or set up my easel, I'm having a good time.I
I use realistic colors and naturalistic compositions in oil and pastel, I begin most of my outdoor paintings on site. Small plein air studies may later translate into larger studio pieces. My work includes still life, as well as "portraits" of boats. I've been strongly influenced by the California Impressionists and Western artists of the 19th and 20th centuries so I especially strive for quality and mood of light. I've lived in places from Alaska to Puerto Rico, and on both US coasts. I think life is to be grasped as well as observed, so I remain an avid hiker and I captain a racing sailboat. I think first-hand experiences aid my art. I seek to bring my patrons a bit of the delight and wonder that comes with, say, feeling the vibration of ocean waves smashing a cliff, or hearing the whoosh of wild goose wings just overhead. It is a challenge I immensely enjoy. Recent Juried Exhibits and Honors: - 2020 Pastels USA 2020, Pastel Society of the West Coast - 2020 48th Annual Exhibition: Enduring Brilliance, Pastel Society of America, New York, NY - 2020 6th Annual Adirondack National Pastel Exhibition, Open Exhibition - 2019 Pastel Society of Southern California Make Your Mark Open Exhibition - 2019 International Association of Pastel Societies International Exhibition, Albuquerque, NM - 2019 Great American Artworks Award, Pastels USA International Open Exhibition, Haggin Museum -2019 Pastel Society of the West Coast Online Exhibition, CA Debbie WattsI am primarily a self-taught pastel, acrylic and oil painter. I originally started painting
with watercolor in 1995, and studied under Thomas Van Stein, Cathy Quiel, Michael Drury, Rick Stitch, and Tom Henderson. Recently I had the privilege of painting on location with Manny Lopez who was featured on Huel Howser’s “California’s Gold” showcasing his work as a local Santa Barbara artist and Oak Group Member. My desire in painting, regardless of the medium I use, is to capture nature’s beauty, and in particular the breathtaking ocean vistas, mountains, and unique and lovely architecture of our great city and surrounding area. I have been captivated by nature's beauty since I was young and I feel so fortunate to be able to share my perspective and passion through my paintings. One of my pastels was published in the journal "Best of California Artists and Artisans, Vol. 1" by Kennedy Publishing in which it also won an award. My artwork has been shown at the Bacara Spa & Resort, The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Karpeles Manuscript Museum, UCSB’s Faculty Club, the SB Maritime Museum Exhibit, the Faulkner Gallery, The Cabrillo Arts Center, and other venues. I have had solo exhibits at Santa Barbara Dance Arts, Chateau Belle Salon, Salon Patine, Fess Parker’s Spa del Mar, and have been Artist of the Month and Featured Artist @ Gallery 113. Several of my paintings have been auctioned off, most recently for the Cancer Foundation. My paintings have sold throughout California and abroad. I am a proud member of the Santa Barbara Art Association, Southern California Artists Painting for the Environment (SCAPE), and the Goleta Valley Art Association. I hope you enjoy my paintings! To view more of my artwork or for a commission painting please take a look at my website or email or call me at the numbers below: 805-729-3212 www.debbiewatts.com [email protected] Patricia Watkins
"My reward as an artist is the enjoyable and fascinating process of creation, giving birth to shape, color, and value.” My current home/studio is in Santa Barbara. My prior studio for many years was in San Diego. And like many artists, it’s hard to remember a time that I wasn’t sketching or painting. As a teacher, when I traveled in the summers, I would take books and paper and paints.
The scariest experience happened in Libby, Montana one summer. I set up on someones property that had an old delapidated store in the middle of a field of wildflowers when I noticed Bumble Bees among the flowers. I kept painting as they seemed to ignore me. Later I felt someone standing behind me only to turn and see an older man with a rifle. Yikes, a million times….that was scary, but it turned out OK. He was the owner of the property and was delighted. I learned a lot painting on my own, but learned more when I started taking workshops. There were many wonderful watercolor teachers in California Including my first workshop with Rex Brandt. This was followed by many other greats like Christopher Shink, Judy Betts, Don O’Neil, and Robert Woods. In the early nineties I taught watercolor to adults in the relaxed setting of my courtyard patio. In addition to watercolors, I also liked working in Chalk Pastels. My paintings are about realistic subject matter, interpreted with an impressionistic flair and are drawn from my surroundings and experiences. These include Spanish and Italian Architecture, florals, and landscapes. I also dabble with various Watercolor techniques, from glazing to direct Painting. My hope is to find nice homes for my paintings to live out their dreams of a “Forever Home." |