Meet Artist Karen Spotts, Spring Obsession Open Division Artist

KAREN SPOTTS

Born and raised outside of Phoenix, Karen graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelors degree in Art, and a secondary degree in Education.  She also earned a Masters degree in art education from Lesley University in Cambridge, Ma.  She has been teaching all media of high school art since the 1990s.

Karen has lived and worked in California, Illinois and Michigan.  She also spent five years in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, during which time she traveled the world extensively.  She has raised three children.  Besides her passion for art, Karen collects and studies Native American arts and crafts and enjoys bicycling.

Pastels are Karen’s creative choice, although she has also perfected a printmaking process called Clayprints (pulling original, one of a kind monoprints from a painted, textured clay slab).  In addition to studio work, where she primarily paints from photographs she has taken on her travels, Karen enjoys Plein Air in such locations as Santa Fe and Taos.

Karen’s studio is in Evergreen, Colorado where she can be reached at:

303.803.4498

kespotts@gmail.com

Meet Artist Ralph Strong, Spring Obsession Open Division Artist

Ralph Strong

Art Entry:  O-132  “Roman Market”  Open Division, Spring Obsession

Acrylic 12” x 16”

I was always interested in drawing, but eventually decided to follow an education toward engineering for reasons of practicality.  I had taken only two classes in art at Solano College in Suisun, California before beginning my career in engineering.  A good deal of mechanical drawing was required in both of my two engineering jobs.  For several years, I pretty much designed highway and water systems, including creating engineering maps with pen and ink.  Eventually, computer aided drafting (CAD) replaced the ink work and a dozen years later I retired.  This work experience, I think, had been chosen by myself to allow my early interest in drawing to continue in the engineering venue, and has given my retirement painting a certain technical accuracy approach, that now seems to me maybe a bit restrictive, and less fluid or expressive.  On the other hand, the tedious nature of my work experience gave insight in laying out a drawing or painting and more importantly, the patience to push through difficulty and complete it. 

After retirement, with the kids grown, my wife, Cathy, and I spent a lot of time at our summer place in Groveland California just west of Yosemite, where Cathy encouraged me to take some art lessons with Jim Leitzel, a local artist who happened to have a lifetime in art and instruction.  I found Jim and his style of teaching to be a true find, and with my newfound retirement time, I plan to continue and enjoy the experiences of painted art.

Meet Artist Cathryn Stong, Spring Obsession Open Division Artist

Cathryn Ann Strong

0-127, Chinese Camp Barn, Watercolor, Open Division, 18 x 24

 0-130, Calveritas Wall, Watercolor, Open Division, 11 x 14

At age 12, my first oil painting class was with senior citizens at their local center, which offered the only available painting class my parents could find.   It was not until my last year of high school that I was able to take another formal art class,  While in college, I was fortunate enough to enroll in  various art classes and  a drawing class under Wayne Thiebaud while working toward my B.A. at U.C. Davis.   Since I was on an accelerated course for teaching, I did not pursue an art major, but considered a double major.  When I transferred to San Jose State University for a teaching credential, the school was overcrowded, and because I could not get the teaching courses, my postgraduate work was in creative writing and art.   It was at San Jose State that I fell in love with watercolor painting. 

After college I sold paintings and accepted commissions, but during my working career and raising my children, I stopped all serious painting, although I was able to take a few art workshops mainly at Yosemite Art Center or Arts Benicia.   

One day, as my husband and I have a home in Groveland, CA, I noticed a painting class at Mountain Sage under the instructor, Jim Leitzell.   I have been taking classes with Jim off and on for two years and credit him for bringing me back to the art world and realizing my passion of watercolor painting.   Under his guidance, I won second place, best in Show, at Columbia College in 2010.  I continue to take art workshops with various artists at Copperopolis Art Gallery, with Jim in Groveland, CA, and also at the Yosemite Art Center every chance I get.  

 My work will be shown at the Groveland Library with the Sierra Professional Artists, Saturdays, April through June.   I have been a member of Sierra Professional Arts since 2010, and Ironstone Spring Obsession 2013 is the first art show that I have entered.

Phone:  209-962-5603.  Cell: 707-373-1232

Meet Artist Dana Wayne Phillips, Spring Obsession OPEN Division Artist

Dana Phillips        

DanaPhillips-Art.com

O-147 Saturday in the Fountain by Dana Wayne Phillips oil  16x12 $495

Dana Phillips is a Sacramento area artist who does landscapes and figures in oils, dividing his time between plein air and studio work.  He is a studio member at Capital ArtWorks. 

Dana has been accepted in juried plein air events including the Los Gatos Plein Air Festival, the Frank Bette Plein Air Paintout, the San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival, and the Epperson Gallery’s Valonna.  He has been included in the juried Sacramento Fine Arts Center exhibitions and in the 2012 California State Fair Exhibition where he received an Award of Merit.  In his first plein air event, the 2010 Winters Paint the Town, Dana received an artist’s choice award.   Dana has paintings currently hanging in First U.S. Community Credit Union in Rocklin, California, and the Koloa Rum Company in Kauai, Hawaii.

O-148 Long Ride Home by Dana Wayne Phillips oil 12x16 $495

Dana has taken workshops and classes with area artists including Debbie Gualco, Don Hatfield, Terry Miura, Deladier Almieda, Philippe Gandiol and Fongwei Liu. 

Dana was born and raised in Texas.  He attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and then the University of San Diego, receiving a degree of Juris Doctor.  He practiced law in southern California for ten years before moving to Sacramento to work for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, where he retired as General Counsel after 22 years.