After spending years recovering from a severe infection, I now know precisely what I want out of life! Life is too short to not be appreciating all of the beauty and good fortune it holds! If you, like me, know what you want out of art, and if you know you are searching for unique pieces with thick, textured brush strokes of vibrant colors, please enjoy my paintings!
Yes, my paintings, although cheerful, do have deep meaning. I try to make that meaning revolve around celebrating life and healing changes.
My paintings deliver a positive burst of energy to you. The bold color and movement in my work is for those of you who are sensual. Have a tasty glass of wine while perusing my art. Why not just imagine yourself escaping into the joyful places I depict during your meals? Share my art with others! After all, my art is all relaxation and no angst.
Böbe was born and raised in Hungary. She began her twenty-plus year journey studying fine arts in Europe. In 1989, following five years of formal study, she began expanding her repertoire, traveling abroad to learn languages and experience new cultures.
In 1992 she settled in Munich, Germany where she experimented with different painting techniques by taking art classes in different art schools, including one year at the Kunst Academy (Academy of Arts). In 1995, Böbe had her first major Art Show in Munich, which consisted of twenty oil paintings of various subject matters, including the children of the war in Yugoslavia.
In the summer of 1999 she moved to California and started a new family and a new chapter in her life…Today Böbe lives in Carmel with her family. She continues to refine her artistic skills featuring the beautiful landscapes of the Carmel region, and creating unique surrealistic paintings.
I received my bachelor’s degree in Advertising Art from the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, in 1965. After spending most of my working life in the Printing Industry, I have decided to pursue my lifelong interest in painting. My work primarily consists of landscape watercolors, although I occasionally work in pastels as well. With the use of both on-site and studio painting, I try to capture the beauty of our local scene, choosing to depict what one might see while visiting Santa Cruz and the surrounding areas.
In 1996, I moved to California where I found a new countryside of unlimited vistas, incandescent color, and an ocean full of drama and light. Suddenly I was attracted to landscape and it changed everything. I picked pastels as my medium and for a number of years successfully sold my work through galleries. I entered The Academy of Art University and graduated Cum Laude with a BFA. After graduating, I joined several artist groups including Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters Association (MBPAPA) where I served on the board and as President, and continue as Signature Standards Chair. Recently I was featured in the North Light publication Incite, Dreams Realized, The Best of Mixed Media.
Christine’s 35 years experience in the arts ranges from painting murals in some of America’s most beautiful homes to painting fine art oils in her own Monterey Peninsula neighborhood, and as far afield as Europe and the Fiji Islands. She is a respected teacher who believes artists have a mission to foster the continual growth of the arts and an appreciation of beauty.
Born in 1959 in Indianapolis, IN; Dan Beck has been creating art as long as he can remember. He is a graduate of Swarthmore College with a BA in Philosophy. His formal art education includes - Oil Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, Lithography, and Art History. In addition, he has studied perception as well as aesthetics. With the development of the computer as a medium for painting and aesthetic expression, and the remarkably positive response to the finished work, he has made it possible to view and own this new work.
I love photography. It nourishes my soul and replenishes my spirit. The world is full of beauty and magic, whether in the wisp of a cloud, a misty morning in the woods, the intimate detail of a flower, or the golden sunlight on a vineyard. My approach to photography is derived from my love of Nature and is based upon my emotional response to the beauty that I see.
I am originally from the East Coast, lived extensively in the Midwest, and in 1995 moved to Carmel Valley, California where I currently reside. A scientist by training, I left academics in 2000 to pursue a new career as a freelance nature photographer and founded my company Rainbow Spirit Photography.
Doug Steakley received a Master of Fine Arts degree from Indiana University in Jewelry Design and Metalsmithing and studied in Denmark at the Hans Hansen studio in Kolding upon graduation. He published a tutorial book titled Holloware Techniques and his work was featured on the cover of American Craft magazine. He has pieces in the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, The Oakland Museum, Musee D'Art Moderne du Nord, Lille, France and Indiana University Fine Arts Museum. Now a well known photographer, Doug's distinct images range from the Monterey Peninsula where he lives to many international destinations where he enjoys traveling.
I am studying Fine Art at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
I think an artist's job is to freeze precious moments. We live in a beautiful world and there are so many beautiful things to see, hear, taste, touch and smell. But in our busy daily lives we forget to take a moment to appreciate those moments. I hope I can capture some of those moments and paint them on a canvas so that you can enjoy them, too.
Some of these moments might be just for fun, others might be comforting and healing, and others might be just breathtaking.
George P. Battersby Photography, based on the Monterey Peninsula of Central California, specializes in nature, landscape and seascape imagery. We never know what we’ll find in this rugged, yet serene place. Monterey Peninsula has been our home for nearly 4 decades. We are always amazed by the spectacle of this charming part of the world. Each picture tells a story of the natural beauty, the amazing wildlife, and the fierce strength of the roaring ocean.
Oil painting has become a part of my life. It is not all consuming as with some other artists but rather a, "reason," for contemplation and looking for the possibilities that exist with seeing nature, objects, form and spacial relationships that allow for them to be interpreted and put down on canvas. I feel I was given a gift that transcends time and place and each painting is an extension of who I am and what matters. My paintings tell a story that is in some way a part of me. How I see a sunset or landscape is transferred in the form of personal expression and creativity that has a stamp of enduring enjoyment. I hope you enjoy my art as much as I enjoyed creating it.
Jean has lived on a farm in Aptos, CA for over 40 years, juggling parenting with a part time adult educaton job. She was a potter, watercolorist, and currently has focused on oil painting. Since retiring, she has taken her paints to Italy, New Brunswick, and more frequently, New Mexico. But, since flying is not what is once was, she is increasingly content to paint the farm, valley and local coast. Her art education was from Cal State Northridge, UCSC and Cabrillo, in addition to private workshops from Karen Frey, Charles Reid, Hedi Moran, Randall Sexton and Tjasa Iris in Italy. She is a member of the Pajaro Valley Arts Council, Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters' Association, and the Santa Cruz Oil Painters, a wonderfully active and supportive group. In November, she puts the paintsaway and makes wreaths, a different art form. Locals also come out to the farm to make their own wonderfully asymmetric wreaths.
I had no idea I would end up being a painter, even though my life has always been infused with art. Dad taught us the Munsell color system when we were in elementary school, showing us tubes of natural pigments and how they combine. I was surrounded by beautiful art as I grew up, spent family together time at museums, and was involved in photography and many needle crafts. Art History was a natural major for me in college.
My desire to paint arose from my father's example as a wonderful watercolorist, a lack of purpose in my life, and a SPECTRA artist's lesson to the third grade class I was teaching in 2004. Due to my background in art history/art appreciation, excellent instruction and some natural ability, I have experienced a bit of success.
Karen often paints en plein air in an effort to capture the essence of the landscape in Northern California, where she lives. Karen moved to the San Francisco Bay Area from Atlanta, Georgia in 1989. She states: “I feel very fortunate to live in California surrounded by the magnificent landscape with its endless variety. Painting allows me to closely examine nature and I now notice everyday things that otherwise would have passed me by. Time slows down when you paint or sketch. It’s magical.”
I am a native of Fresno, California and received my education in this community from grammar school through the University undergraduate and graduate levels. I have been a professional Interior Designer for many years, but I established myself as a studio artist, when I was introduced to painting as a pathway to healing after a family tragedy in 1986. I paint in the representational tradition of Alla Prima, which means “from life,” and I engage in a sensitive dance of brush and paint – color and light – to create beautiful works of art as still life; figurative, and landscape paintings. I enjoy the camaraderie of an art group as well as work shop study with master painters, and I am currently in a mentoring continuum of study with the acclaimed young artist Daniel J. Keys.
Kati D'Amore is relatively new to painting, although her father was a well-known painter in Germany. She now paints beautiful landscapes, seascapes and amazing portraits. Her oil paintings are "fresh", never overworked and filled vibrant color placed by free, painterly strokes.
Maria Boisvert, born and raised in New England and moved to San Jose, CA in 1979. She developed her interest for drawing and painting at an early age and was recognized and encouraged by her instructors throughout her academic years. From her appreciation of the California landscape, to the people she has encountered abroad, Maria has successfully captured the beauty and culture that surrounds her.
Inspired by the spectacular scenery of the Monterey Peninsula I started painting en plein air, or outside on location. This became a passion and eventually fine art painting became my full time vocation. My interest in subject matter is not limited to just the landscape, I also paint still-life, architecture and figures.
Drawn to aesthetics at a young age, Marni was compelled to pick up a camera and begin to document what she saw. Launching a career in the film and television industry in 1979, she amassed 25 years of experience, credits and a respected reputation. But in 2003 Grossman travelled to West Africa to photograph a group of drummers and, there, she turned her camera towards the extraordinary she found in ordinary life. Since then Marni has endeavored to become a student of what is elusive and beautiful in the real and the natural.
Mary Lou has a classical art education. She received a bachelor's degree at Syracuse University, followed by graduate work at CCAC in Oakland. After an early career teaching art at Salinas High School and Monterey Peninsula College, she worked for a number of years as a designer and as Director of Publication for Saint Mary's College in Moraga. Mary Lou has received many awards and exhibited through the Bay Area and nationally, including Oil Painters of America Annual Show, Washington D.C.; Plein Air Painting Festivals in: Carmel; Marinscapes Festival; Carquinez Scene on the Straits.
Her works are in collections throughout the world and she is represented by galleries in San Francisco, the East Bay, and Marin County. She teaches Plein Air workshops on a regular basis through the Walnut Creek Continuing Education Program.
Michele LaMontagne Hausman creates original landscape oil paintings both en plein air and in her California studio. Her love for painting first led her to watercolors but in the mid 1990s she found her true love in painting with oils. Constantly honing her craft, Hausman sees painting as a life long adventure of study and exploration. She has studied at the Scottsdale Artist School and with modern day master artists in the USA and in France. Hausman also teaches painting at her Soquel studio and through the Santa Cruz Art League.
Paola Berthoin was born in London, England, and came to Carmel Valley in 1965 with her mother and three sisters. She is a graduate of Carmel High School and California College of the Arts where she specialized in printmaking, handmade paper and animal drawing. Paola’s deep commitment to living in the Carmel Valley over the past fifty years and tending the land she lives on for the past twenty-nine years has infused her visionary ways of interpreting the land through painting, writing, and advocacy for all watersheds of the Earth.
Paul's primary expertise are chalk pastels. Using his tools, Paul renders fantastic landscapes full of color and spacious skies. His images depict the natural beauty of the regions surrounding his home town, the rustic charm of quaint Hawaiian chapels, the vibrant colors of Giverny gardens, and any other location he is fortunate enough to visit. In many instances, Paul will take photographic reference for his paintings; however, nothing is better than painting on location. Whenever he can, Paul escapes the studio with his easel in tow to set up shop on a rocky cliff edge overlooking the ocean or overlooking a fecund valley.
I have nostalgic bones. I am attracted to objects kinesthetically. Often it is a rusty item from the past, the lines on the face of an elder, some discarded tool, or an ancient stone building.
Light and texture are crucial elements for me in capturing images. A face or an object illuminated in just the right way brings out the textural qualities on a visceral level. This allows me, and hopefully the viewer, to feel as if the objects of my photographs are within reach.
I want to preserve and capture the beauty in what might ordinarily go unnoticed.
Robert Lee Burcar III was born on September 16th, 1981 and raised in Helena, MT. In High School, he majored in Theatre, English and Art, constantly dreaming of a career as an artist. He graduated from Academy of Art University.
Robert has experience in several mediums including charcoal, oil, acrylic, mixed media, silkscreen, printmaking, watercolor and digital illustration. His subject range includes still life, abstract, landscape and portraiture.
I have been honored three times at the Carmel Art Festival, was winner of the first Monterey Plein Air Festival, and have been part of a number of painting competitions and exhibits across the nation. I have lived in nearly every region of the country from Alaska to the Deep South, from the California to Maryland. This variety of scenery has contributed to my long fascination with the enduring beauty of the landscape. Plein air painting is the perfect expression of my love of landscape and being in the landscape.
I have been pursuing my passion for photography since 2009, when I took a class at a community college and discovered the opportunity to see the beauty that is all around us, all the time. Whether it’s a dew-speckled spider web on a clothesline, a flock of wild turkeys along the side of the road, or the stunning landscapes that surround Monterey County, we are rewarded with works of art waiting to be unveiled, one splendid hill, rolling wave or tiny detail at a time. I see beauty not just with my eyes, but through the lens of my heart and my faith. As the camera gives voice to this vision, I am able to share it with others.
Rod Heywood raises money through his sale of fine art photography for worthy projects that help children throughout the world. Beyond the adventure of getting out and capturing beautiful images, he is also passionate about creating an opportunity for both the photographer and the patron to make a tangible difference in the lives of many children and communities.
Rod was born in San Francisco, raised in Southern California and has been living on the Central Coast of California since 1992. He is an educator and entertainer (substitute teacher), community service worker, bilingual public speaker, plays guitar and harmonica, and is a writer of songs, motivational literature, and his own third person photographer bios.
I am an artist who loves the ocean and forests of the North American West Coast. I was born and raised in California. My favorite area to paint is the Monterey Bay of California. There is an inexhaustible source of beauty to be painted in this area and has always been a gathering point for many artists and lovers of art.
Ruth has a B.F.A. from C.C.A.C. in Oakland Ca. in drawing. Her studies included life drawing and portraiture, watercolor and bronze sculpture. She spent ten years doing commercial art for the amusement park industry, carving and sculpting full size carolsel figures as well as painting scenic panels, etc. Her work is all over the world. For the past seven years Ruth has been focusing on painting with oils on canvas and encaustic on panels. She is committed to paint what inspires her. Her favorite subjects include landscape, still life and figurative work. She enjoy's getting outdoors to paint in plein air and also working in her studio. Ruth's studio is at the 17th Ave. Studios in Santa Cruz, Ca. She has participated in the Open Studios Art Tour in Santa Cruz for six years.
Sheila is known for her luminous paintings of her native California and the West. Prior to becoming a full time artist, she had a distinguished career as a city and county planner, working on open space and resource conservation issues. She now translates her love and respect for nature into her paintings. Prior to establishing herself as an artist, Sheila had a distinguished career as a city and county planner. Her work on open space and resource conservation issues won numerous regional and national planning awards. Her love and respect for nature are now being translated into her paintings.
Sunyata Marlene Cresci returned to oil painting in 1998, after a 40-year moment of distraction and a career in psychology and medical education. She had found Big Sur in the 1980s, and began landscape painting en plein air with Ronna Rio, a quintessential Big Sur artist and art teacher.
It all started when I was very young, almost forty years ago. I have always enjoyed the brightest colors of the spectrum and their depiction rendered upon film, particularly slide film. Over the years, motorsports photography afforded me the opportunity to collect precision equipment which I now use to refined my art and passion to capture the beauty, the wonders, wildlife and the abundant scenic landscapes of the Monterey Bay Area, California and the west.