Artists in Focus – to see all, click HERE.

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…

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 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 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.

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 CreightonSculptor Portrait © Donna Granata 2011 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 CrottyInstallation/Mixed Media The Super Earth Dilemma 48:1 by Russell Crotty, 2018 Ink, acrylic, fiberglass, and tinted bio-resin on paper on wood 48 x 48 x 2 in. (121.9 x 121.9 x 5.6 cm) Ojai-resident Russell Crotty, awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2015,...

Marcia CummingsSculptor/Painter Portrait © Donna Granata 1999 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 DavisPublic Artist/Sculptor Portrait © Donna Granata 2008 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 AguilaComposer Portrait © Donna Granata 2008 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’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 DeckerPainter Portrait © Donna Granata 2011 “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...