Meet Artist Stephanie Benedict, Ironstone's Spring Obsession Open Division

Stephanie Benedict

sbenedictstudio.com
sbenedictblog.com
stephanieb@sbenedictstudio.com


Stephanie Benedict paints landscapes in oil,
acrylic, and gouache. She came to painting one
evening in the middle of her life, while wandering
through an art supply store. She was looking at
racks of stretched canvas—small ones, big ones,
square and long ones—all empty, white, and
standing in rows against the wall. Suddenly,
Stephanie started seeing paintings on them:
cityscapes, mountains, views through windows. She decided that night to
study painting, and she’s never looked back.
Stephanie earned a BA with honors from the University of California, Santa
Cruz, in History/Theatre Arts. Since that night at the art supply store, she’s
studied painting and drawing with Kathleen Dunphy, Scott Christensen, Terry
Miura, Susan Sarback, and Dan Samborski.
Stephanie is a native Californian, born in Burbank and raised in Sacramento.
After sampling life in Eugene and Boston, Stephanie returned to California.
She now resides in near Sacramento.
You can find Stephanie’s work at High Hand Gallery in Loomis, California,
and on her website, sbenedictstudio.com. She writes about painting, nature,
and painting nature on her blog, sbenedictblog.com.

Meet Artist Vickie Chew, Spring Obsession Open Division Artist

Vickie Chew Art

Vickie Chew is a local resident of Calaveras County. She attended Calaveras High School and never left the area as so many young locals do to earn a living and begin a career. Working in the local law enforcement community she began to study art in the mid 1990’s, as she found art to be great way to relax and escape the challenges of work. Vickie attended some local classes and workshops and took some college art courses while working on her BA in Business Administration degree. She is mostly self taught and pursues the challenges of Plein Air Painting. Her painting Airola Ranch Oak at the Kautz Ironstone Spring Obsession Show was originally painted as a small plein air study at the Airola Ranch off of Dogtown Road, outside of Angels Camp. She liked the scene so much that she painted the large painting shown here specifically for the Spring Obsession Show.

Meet Artist Carol Clark, Spring Obsession OPEN Division Artist

Artist:  Carol L. Clark

O-099 Valley Spring Fog and Sun  oil  24x30m  $400

E-mail:  c14rogercarol@goldrush.com

Carol’s favorite medium is oil paint.  She loves their rich range from bright crisp to soft muted colors.  She also likes the richness that is achieved through glazing. Carol enjoys painting many subjects including local landscapes, historic buildings and homes, florals and still life.

  Carol is currently displaying this work at the Ironstone Vineyards Spring Obsession Show.  As a credentialed teacher she has taught art in California, Utah and Pennsylvania. Her formal Art education was at California State University at Long Beach.  While living in Pennsylvania, she sold work at the Fall Festival Art show in Pottstown and the Birdsboro Community Fine Art Show.  She lives in La Contenta, Valley Springs California. Her current work is sold as originals!   

O-098  Spring Flowers on an old Gate  Oil  12x16  $300

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