Meet Artist Melinda Shook, Spring Obsession Theme Division artist

T-002  Dutch Treat by Melinda Shook  watercolor  30x24  $990

Melinda J. Shook
Artist Statement

Born and raised in Southern California, Melinda received her B.A. in Fine Arts from the University of California at Los Angeles. A year later she earned a K-8 General Teaching Credential. Her teaching career spanned thirty-six years, retiring in 2002. Art was always an integral part of her curriculum.

In 2005 Melinda renewed her interest in watercolor and began her painting career. Nature has always been deeply appreciated and a source of inspiration. With a love of photography, capturing images is an important and useful tool she employs in the painting process.

Melinda is a member of Watercolor Artists of Sonoma County (WASCO) and was juried into the 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 Aqua Areas Exhibition in Santa Rosa.  Her painting, "Kyan," was awarded an honorable mention in '07. In '09 she received the People's Choice Award for her painting Pine Flat.  In 2010 her painting, Dutch Treat, was awarded the Glad Baker Memorial Association (CWA), Watercolor West (WW) and National Watercolor Society (NWS). In '07 and '08 she was accepted into the international transparent WW exhibitions.  In '07 and '09 she was an exhibitor in the national CWA showings. In the summer of '09 her image, San Zavier del Bac, was selected by the NEW jury to be three matted painting to apply for signature status. On October 10th she was presented at the Exhibition Awards Luncheon as a new signature member, a milestone in her career.  Being accepted into the 2010 CWA 41st national Exhibition, her third, made her eligible to apply for signature status.  On 5 May the CWA Board approved her application for signature membership.

Melinda is continually refining her skills through workshops, classes and employing new techniques in her painting. Several award winning artists have influenced her: Marge Gray, Judy Greenberg, Phyllis Rapp, Barbara Nechis, Joyce Faulknor, Tom Lynch, Jane Hofstetter, John Salminen, and Mike Bailey.

2011 thus far has been a truly rewarding year. I have been juried in to the NWS Member Show, the CWA 42nd National Exhibition, and the Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Exhibition, in its 38th year, presented by Foothills Art Center in Golden, Colorado. I was the top poster contest winner for the WASCO Aqua Areas upcoming show in Santa Rosa.

My painting, Crested Butte, was selected for the 2012 Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Exhibition from Sept. 14 - Oct. 28 at the Foothills Art Center in Golden, CO.

I was also accepted in the NWS 92nd Annual Exhibition Sept. 29 to Dec. 2 in San Pedro, CA. The juror of awards, Barbara Nechis, chose my painting, Artist's Row Mission Inn, for the 2013 Traveling Exhibition. It will be traveling in the U.S. for 12 months.

My landscape of Cathedral Rock, Sedona received an award in our annual Santa Rosa Aqua Areas Exhibition in Sept.

T-001  Cheaper by the Dozen  by Melinda Shook  watercolor  30x24  $990

Meet Artist Andrea Morris, Spring Obsession Theme Division Artist

andrea morris   
artist

Andrea Morris was born in Karlsrhue Germany and spent much of her younger years in Montana and Arizona.  She was exposed to art from an early age as her Mother was an artist and taught painting classes in their home.

She developed a love of wildlife and people and spent much of her time drawing and using pen and ink to capture her subject.  It was not until the 1970's that she started to explore working with color in watercolor.  Working in a local watercolor gallery in Tucson, Arizona she learned a about building up her paintings through layers of transparent color.

She experimented in working in oils and immediately fell in love with the medium and has worked almost exclusively in this medium since,  although she does paint in Acrylics and watercolors at times.

Her main focus of subject still remains wildlife and people and she has been working towards representing her subjects in a colorful and expressive style.

Being self taught she has learned most about her art by painting, experimenting and studying other works of art.  She has made a living of painting murals in many homes in the northern California area and has worked with the Wall Dogs painting large murals in city downtown businesses.

She presently resides in Lodi, California and teaches classes in her small studio.  She continues to paint and show her work in the surrounding areas art venues.

You can view a gallery of her art at www.andreamorrisart.com

Meet Artist Oranne Lee, Ironstone's Spring Obsession Theme Division artist

Oranne Lee

Oranne Lee Eichorn resides in Shingle Springs, CA, where she moved when retiring from teaching in Santa Barbara for 25 years. As a teacher, she brought the curriculum alive for her students by integrating art into every subject from social studies to science to math.  Oranne studied art with instructors at UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara City College, and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in watercolor, pastels, and oil.  Since her move, she has enjoyed a number of workshops with local artists, including The School of Light and Color, Randall Tillery, and  Anita Wolff, with emphasis on still life and landscape in oils. 

Fascinated her whole life with mountain scenery, especially Yosemite, she is thrilled to discover so many local landscapes just waiting to be painted, from the American River to snowy Icehouse trails. While her husband fishes, she paints.  Her entry in the Mother Lode Show reflects the scenery she found kayaking at our local Wright’s Lake. 

Oranne is an active award-winning participant and board member of the Placerville Art Association.  Her work has also been accepted into the Motherlode Show, a juried Western Region competition, and the Ironstone Vineyard Tulip Festival Show in Murphys.  She currently shows her work at the Gold Country Artists’ Gallery in Placerville.

orannelee@aol.com

Meet Artist Katerina Rutherford, Spring Obsession Theme Division Artist

Katerina Rutherford

1973 born in Valasske Klobouky, Czech Republic
1992-98 University of Technology, School of Fine Arts, Brno, Czech Republic
1996 Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design, Prague, Czech Rep., Studio of Illustration & Graphics
1997 Winchester School of Fine Arts, England
1997 Moved to Prague
1999 Became founding member of the Czech impressionist painting group "Experiment 2"
2009 Feb.moved from Prague to the quintessential Southern California beach community of Belmont Shore in Long Beach
2012 Moved to the historic Mother Lode town of Angels Camp, located in Calaveras County

Individual Exhibitions (selection):

2005 "Between Heaven & Earth"  Kunstseminar Gallery, Luzern, Switzerland.
2002  "Heaven & Hell" Gallery zum Blauen Pfau, Vienna, Austria
1994  Castle Kinskych, Valasske Mezirici, Czech Rep.

Group Exhibitions (selection):

2013 "Visual Culture"  40 yr anniversary of School of the Seeing, Luzern, Switzerland
2012 Annual "Spring Obsession" , Ironstone Vineyards, Murphys, California
2011 Exhibition for Music festival with the theme, "Night", Kunstseminar Gallery, Luzern, Switzerland
2008 Experiment 2, Mala Kralovopolska Gallery, Brno, Czech Rep.
2007 Experiment 2, Kunstseminar Gallery, Luzern, Switzerland
2006 "Beautiful new World", Gallery U dobreho pastyre, Brno, Czech Rep.
2005 Experiment 2, J. A. Komensky Museum, Uhersky Brod, Czech Rep.
2003 "Visual Time", Gebaude des Finanzdepartements and Paulusheim, Luzern, Switzerland
2000 Experiment 2, Gallery U Rotundy, Tynec nad Sazavou, Czech Rep.

Illustrations:

2012 Illustrations for children's book "Svet od leptira i zwezda" (World of Butterflies and Stars) by Servian author Ivana Dostanic, Published in Belgrad by Zmez publishing house

Contact: www.katerinarutherford.com  (website in Czech, English and German)

Katerinapindi@gmail.com
phone: 562 666 1132

Meet Artist Helen Scofield, Spring Obsession Theme Division Artist

Helen Scofield  

Helen's artwork depicts her love of and involvement with color.  Subject matter that makes a definite statement in terms of color or emotion is what stirs her creativity.  She primarily paints in oils because of the richness and texture of the medium.

Helen is a resident of Vallecito, having moved to the Sierra Foothills from Santa Rosa in 1992.  Her art education was obtained through community college courses, workships and private lessions.  She has been accepted and wone awards at the prestigious Central California Art League Exhibit at the Gallo Winery, the Haggin Museum, the Carriage Show, the Mother Lode Art Association Annual Exhibit, Ironstone Vineyard's Spring Symphony Exhibition and the Professional Fine Arts Divisions of the Sonoma, Calaveras and Tuolumne County fairs.  In 2007, she won Ironstone Vineyard's "Spring Obsession" Poster award for her oil painting "Spring".

Helen's work may be seen at local businesses, the Aloft Gallery in Sonora, Art on Main in Murphys, Murphys Grille and through seasonal show with Arts of Bear Valley, The Gallery Group, Golden Palette and on her website: www.helenscofieldart.com  

Telephone" (209) 736 0400 - email: helens@wildblue.net

Meet Artist Linda Beach, Ironstone's Spring Obsession Theme Division artist

    Artist Linda Beach

 For artist and teacher, Linda Sargent Beach, it was a natural progression from using chalk as a teacher to her current focus of painting landscapes in pastel.  After a career as an art teacher  from Maine to California, Linda  is now an art instructor in Livermore, CA.  She enjoys the challenge of teaching and the perspective that it brings to her own art.

     A native of Cohasset, MA, Linda received a BA from Wilson College, PA and MS in Art Ed at Central Connecticut State University.  Linda has studied a variety of media from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston to Santa Fe.  She has studied with numerous national artists such as pastelist Doug Dawson and watercolorist Sylvia Miller. Linda continues to seek new methods for her own expression in landscape. Her work in natural color often depicts a sense of distance and serenity.     

     Linda Beach is an active member of local art organizations and the Pastel Society of the West Coast and the Sierra Pastel Society.  Her award-winning work has been exhibited in group and juried shows in the SF Bay Area and at Wilson College.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Artist Statement:

The changing light on the landscape inspires my painting.  Color nuances, strong horizons, spatial recession, and textural elements are the foundations of my art.  My goal is to capture the essence and spirit of a landscape and convey a sense of place that transcends a visual image guided by my deep appreciation for nature.

I love the simplicity of soft pastels applied to sanded paper on location or indoors.  The medium of pastel permits the contrast of crisply rendered details with more subtle gradations of tone.  The landscape traditions of Jean Baptiste Corot and William Stanley Haseltine are an inspiration. 

My current work is comprised of landscapes that depict a sense of distance and evoke a mood of serenity.  I am as eager to capture the warmth of a color-washed setting sun on a Western sky as the myriad of reflections in the cool waters of New England.  This variety of surroundings and the perspectives gained from my career as an art educator continues to nourish and challenge my creativity.

For inquiries:  925-449-4226

Meet Artist W Vaughn Lew, Spring Obsession Theme Division Artist

W Vaughn Lew

Artist

Murphys, California

I'm originally from Eastern Oregon.  My family moved to Lodi in 1961 where

I attended Lodi High School, graduating in 1964.

I then enrolled at Sacramento State College, where I was a Commercial Art

major.  De Witt Whistler Jayne was my main influence.  He was a renowned

commercial artist, illustrator, and portrait painter with a gift for teaching and an

eye for perfection.  "Mr. Lew", he would say, "so much for a nice beginning,

but let's have a finish."  I've been striving for that quality he wanted ever since.

Another instructor that had a very positive effect on me was Dr. Tarmo Pasto,

an eccentric art psychologist and art instructor who taught the "Space Frame

Concept".  It was all about space and form.

After graduating from SSC and getting a teaching credential I was fortunate

to get an art teaching job at Elk Grove High School.  I taught there for several

years, but had an itch to get into construction.  That is where I've been until two

years ago when my wife, Glenda, and daughter Melissa, and I moved to Murphys.

One thing that is certain is that art requires a commitment.  I feel that I now

have the time and space to finally concentrate on my painting.  Although I have

been producing some art over the years, it is only now that I can continue to

the next piece without an extended time period between.  Landscapes, townscapes,

wildlife, and portraits all interest me.  My goal is to create images that bring the

viewers into a space that takes them away, and gives them pause to reflect.

W Vaughn Lew

P.O. Box 2028

Murphys, Ca. 95247

209-606-4623

Speaking of Artists ....

Speaking of artists.... this article by CNNMoney is a must read.

Not only do they raise the question, "How do artists think and behave?" they list "12 traits that any individual who aspires to make his or her mark on the world should emulate."

I found the article inspiring, enlightening and clarifying. How's that for an endorsement!

But, do check it out. Follow this link   
http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/12/21/what-entrepreneurs-can-learn-from-artists/