Meet the Artists
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
hepzibah@cox.net
(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
JudithVillaArtist@gmail.com
http://instagram.com/judithvilla_fluidarts FluidArtsbyJudithVilla@gmail.com 805-886-8893 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
c: 949.939.7766
e: LindaSmytheArt@gmail.com “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
I had started out years ago taking a few classes from various artists in the San Fernando Valley, but basically I am self-taught in painting realism in oils. After taking a long break from painting, and relocating to Santa Barbara, I decided to begin again, but this time experimenting with abstraction using acrylics as my medium. I find abstract art, in a sense, complex and magical. I personally try to reflect a feeling or a revelation and sometimes even a message in my paintings in a subtle way. I rarely start with an image in mind and if I do, it changes as the art progresses. I personally find when viewing abstract art that it is important to stay with that painting longer than 5 seconds and ask “what is it that draws me in?” Besides color and balance, it’s the message that appears which seems to be related to the other elements in the composition and directed through the entire work.
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 emai deeparkinsart@gmail.com |
Wendy Brewer
Wendy Brewer, MA
https://www.divinebitsofbeauty.com wendy@divinebitsofbeauty.com 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. 
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: 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. 
After attending UCSB as an art major for two years, I received my BFA in Graphic Design from Art Center College of Design in 1985. After a 3-decade career as a designer, I began reinventing myself as a fine artist in 2012. Originally from Los Angeles, I moved to Oregon with my family in 2014 where I continued my art education and exploration and exhibited my paintings in solo, juried and group exhibitions throughout the Pacific Northwest. In 2020 I moved back to California and now reside in Santa Barbara, furthering my passion for the creative arts. Primarily painting with acrylic, my paintings are extemporaneous expressions of the energy that is flowing through me in the moment, and in my process, I am continually finding resonance with the expressive use of texture, color and light. Most of my work is inspired by my deep love of the natural world. Works combine abstract, representational and textural elements both painted and collaged. My latest body of work includes individual squares configured together painted on paper, wood and various thicknesses of plexiglass, allowing the viewer to immerse themselves into a deeper experience as if looking through windows into vivid and textural changing worlds. |
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 
Elizabeth Flanagan
euflanagan@gmail.com
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. 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 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 do accept commissions. 
Peter Andrews is an artist who has been showing personally and professionally for 38 years. He has shown over 60 times throughout Southern California, including juried, group, and one man shows. Many of his pieces reside in different parts of the country, and even overseas.
In the 1990s he had his work in a movie starring Mark Hamill, and sold work to Paine-Weber in Beverly Hills. At the same time having a one-man show on Canon Drive in Beverly Hills. Over the decades, he has worked in several different artistic mediums, including poetry, written word, jewelry, woodworking, and assemblage - in addition to drawing and painting. Between 2012 - 2018 he was a participating artist in Ojai California, until his art style changed from jewelry back to drawing and painting. A time in which he patiently waited for his artistic voice to tell him what direction to take next. Throughout his artistic career, Peter has always relied solely on his internal creative compass to take him wherever he wants to go in search of his artistic pursuits. His work is purely intuitive. During the Covid pandemic, his desire to start painting again came back in full force. At the start of the pandemic, he did one large work on canvas. And now, in the last year and a half - starting in May 2021, he has created an additional twenty paintings. He has once again become obsessed in his desire to work on canvas in a media style that is all his own. Now, working with a neighbor who is a professional photographer, he is transferring his works to gallery quality limited edition prints, so that a wide range of clientele can enjoy his unique creations. Aside from his desire for showing in galleries, he has once again resumed entering juried art competitions… At this point, between October 2021 and November 2022 his acceptance into juried and group shows is now 13 out of 13. As of 1/14/22, he was asked to join, and accepted into the Santa Barbara Visual Artists Association, and is also a member of Westlake Village Artist Guild. In 2023, Peter is scheduled for two one-man shows in Carpinteria and Ojai CA respectively. And as of November 2022, he is a participating gallery member of the illustrious group La Cumbre Center for the Creative Arts in beautiful downtown Santa Barbara. 
I earned my BFA from the prestigious Art Center College of Design in 1974 and immediately was hired by my former professor and Creative Director of A&M Records, Roland Young, to join their creative services department. It was a magical and unique time to be a young designer creating album covers and rock ‘n roll promotions in the fast-paced and crazy world of entertainment.
In 1976, at the age of 24, I opened my own design business and have never looked back. In the early years of my career, I designed over 150 album covers and countless music industry promotions and campaigns for legendary artists such as Peter Frampton, Tom Petty, Joe Cocker, Cat Stevens, George Harrison, Steve Miller, Tina Turner, Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell, Dave Mason, Carly Simon, and REO Speedwagon to name just a few. In addition, I am grateful to have been inducted in the Album Cover Hall of Fame for my design work in the music industry. For over four decades, as Founder and Creative Director of Evenson Design Group (EDG), I led my design team to create brand identities along with advertising, packaging, environmental signage, corporate collateral, exhibit design and web and interactive media for a myriad of businesses, both large and small, domestic and international. I also served as the President of AIGA/LA (The Professional Association for Design) and Co-Chaired the AIGA (Re)designAwards, an international design competition acknowledging the best creative thinking for sustainability and social responsibility. In addition to being an internationally known designer winning numerous awards and being published in countless books and periodicals, I am honored to have three design pieces selected for the Permanent Collection of the Library of Congress. Since 2014, I have been transitioning from designer to fine artist, experimenting with paint and collage, combining my passion for vintage iconography, humor and the outrageous with an innate sense and love of design into fine art. |