Artists in Focus – to see all, click HERE.
This is a selection from the current collection of Focus On The Masters artist documentation. Click on the picture or artist name to view the portrait, biography, media presentations and website of the artist.
All artists’ portraits are by Donna Granata. The photographs and artworks shown on this website are copyrighted by the artists and may not be reproduced without permission from the copyright owner. By entering this website, you agree to these conditions.
Gayel Childress
Painter/Printmaker
Award-winning artist Gayel Childress works in watercolors as well as oils and monoprints. She is best known for her fluid interpretations of landscapes and figures that capture the essence of the…
Leslie Clark
Painter
Texture is an important element in Leslie Clark’s work that uses fabrics, rice and banana papers, watercolors, acrylics and oil paints to create soulful compositions depicting the nomadic peoples of Africa. Travel and…
Bert Collins
Painter
Bert Collins is a noted Ojai Valley artist, painter and teacher who has won more than 200 awards during her lifetime. Her realistic scenes contain naturalistic color and fine detail. She is a member of the Santa Barbara Art Association and the Ventura County Pastel Artists Association. Galleries in cities such as Palm Springs, Newport Beach and Beverly Hills have represented her.
Susan Cook
Painter
Susan Cook is a contemporary fine artist whose oil paintings are inspired by nature and an interest in experimenting with figuration, color and shapes. Initially, her paintings are quickly drawn, going through many color transformations with her signature brushwork, often destroying entire passages and repainting others to give focus.
Carlisle Cooper
Painter
Often, after meeting Carlisle Cooper, one was amazed at his avant-garde painting style. One would expect him, as a Southern gentleman, to have a very traditional approach to his work.
In reality, he was one of the finest colorists. Mr. Cooper (as he is known to his legion of students) taught and inspired artists at Ventura College for more than 40 years.
Lynn Creighton
Sculptor
Lynn Creighton believes that life is a spiritual journey and that it is this quest which allows artists to connect with the ideas they hope to express. The contours of her bronze and clay works reveal captured joy…
Russell Crotty
Installation/Mixed Media
Ojai-resident Russell Crotty, awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2015, is an amateur astronomer, dedicated surfer and outstanding artist whose drawings push the limits of that medium. He earned his BFA in painting from…..
Marcia Cummings
Sculptor/Painter
Marcia Cummings’ assemblages deal with social issues in an intellectually stimulating and witty way. Her award winning work grapples with contemporary topics including women’s issues, sex, hypocrisy,…
Michael Davis
Artist/Sculptor
Are minimalist theory and political consciousness unusual? Not for Michael Davis. Michael’s work is informed by Cold War politics of the 50s and political activism of the 60s. “Industrial refuse, the…
Miguel del Aguila
Composer
Miguel del Aguila, Uruguayan-born American composer, was a child prodigy, graduating from the main music conservatory in Montevideo at age 14. The photograph, using antiques and one romantic rose, pays homage to…
Omar D’Leon
Painter/Poet
Omar d’León is from Managua, Nicaragua and is regarded as one of the most renowned Nicaraguan painters and poets. He studied at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes in Nicaragua under his mentor Rodrigo Peñalba who introduced European Impressionistic painting and magical realism qualities into Nicaraguan art. He founded a museum in Managua in 1970 named Museo-Galeria 904 which showcased art of Nicaragua from pre-Hispanic to contemporary.
Beverly Decker
Painter
“With the thought of peace let me contemplate the world.” This is a phrase that Beverly Decker haschosen to begin a philosophical statement that is inspired by Buddhist text. The recitation continues with…