Category Archives: Ventura Art Scene

Ventura Art & Street Painting Festival to be at Ventura Harbor Village

The iconic Ventura Harbor Village will once again serve as the seaside backdrop for the 8th annual Ventura Art & Street Painting Festival to benefit FOOD Share, Ventura County’s regional food bank.  On Saturday Sept. 10 and Sunday Sept. 11 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the waterfront promenade will be transformed into a working street art gallery and fine artisan marketplace.  The non-profit event which has donated over $32,000 to FOOD Share since 2011, is the only street painting festival in Ventura County and draws artists from across Southern California.

Considered by many to be a performance art, street painting draws attendees into the creation of the work by allowing them to experience the process with the artist as they paint.  The Ventura Art & Street Painting Festival will feature 40 such chalk artists creating vivid “living” murals.  50 fine artisan vendors such as painters, photographers, jewelry makers, potters and craft designers will also be displaying and selling their works throughout the weekend.

“People will be amazed at what they see on the sidewalk,” said Barbara Hinton, Founder and Executive Director of the festival.  “It is rare that the public sees the creative process take place, but at this event they get to be part of it.  Families can really make a whole day out at this event; watching the chalk artists, browsing the various booths, buying art and even taking a walk on the beach.”

Award winning chalk artist, Willie Zin, will make his return to the Ventura Art & Street Painting Festival to share his love of chalk drawings with event attendees.  Zin has been a Featured Artist at several festivals while earning numerous awards, including Best In Show.

Kids will also get a chance to show off their talent by creating beautiful works of art.  With the purchase of a box of chalk, each child will receive a square to create their own masterpiece.

A limited number of chalk art squares are available for sponsorship by companies or individuals and will feature the sponsor’s name. Sponsorships can be purchased through Ventura County Art Events.

The Ventura Harbor Village has free admission, complimentary parking, and over 30 seaside restaurants and boutiques and several local artist galleries to enjoy during the two day festival.  For artist application or sponsorship information, please contact Executive Director Barbara Hinton at  650-9858 or visit venturaartfestival.com.

 

 

 

 

 

Mission San Buenaventura presents a trilogy titled “El Camino Real” by late artist and architect Aurelio G. D. Mendoza

art missionMission San Buenaventura will present a special art exhibit from August 6 through November 5,  a trilogy titled “El Camino Real” by late artist and architect Aurelio G. D. Mendoza.

Three large mural-like oil paintings depict the conversion of the indigenous people in Mexico; another depicting Fray Junipero Serra directing his companions forward on their travels; and the third painting depicting the construction of the first mission in Alta California, Misión San Diego de Alcala. Fray Junipero Serra founded the first nine of the famed 21 California missions.

In honor of St. Junipero Serra, the first Hispanic saint to be canonized (September 23, 2015) on American soil, the exhibit will be on display to the public in the Mission San Buenaventura Gift Shop, 225 E. Main St.  The Gift Shop is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  There is a nominal fee to tour the Mission Museum, Gardens and Church.

A Spotlight Interview with Karen Kitchel

art KitchelAn evening with Karen Kitchel Saturday August 6, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.
Brooks Institute Screening Room
5301 N. Ventura Ave.

A Spotlight Interview with Karen Kitchel . Karen Kitchel’s landscapes are definitely not traditional. Of her work Karen states: “I paint them with the traditional craftsmanship of the genre’s past, and a critical eye on the geography of the present.”   She narrows her focus to a small patch of dried grasses or what you may always have considered just plain weeds.  In isolation we see their architecture, we sense the brittleness of leaves, the wonderfully chaotic arrangement of stems and leaves.  Karen earned her BA in Art at Kalamazoo College and MFA in painting at Claremont Graduate School.  She exhibits throughout the country and is widely collected.  Reserve your seat today for an opportunity to learn more about a painter who is engaged in an ongoing dialogue with the land.

Free to FOTM Members – $10 General public, $5 students and seniors.

Tickets available online at:  www.FocusOnTheMasters.com or call 653.2501

To learn about Karen Kitchel visit www.KarenKitchel.com

Uncanny Valley, a solo exhibition of 30 paintings by Alexander Churchill at HUD Gallery

art HUDDab Art is pleased to present Uncanny Valley, a solo exhibition of 30 paintings by Alexander Churchill at The HUD Gallery. These large-scale works burst with energy and precision, yet mystify with their complex permutations and combinations of figurative and surreal elements. These canvases string together compositional elements of image and texture paradoxically, with an uncanny level of exactitude into a wealth of smooth, vivid detail. Images are manipulated and interwoven into volatile phantasmagorias of color and form. In these spectacular pictorial inventions brightly colored blocks and perfectly rendered figures slice through multiple layers, which reject any attempt by the eye to find a resting place.

Alexander Churchill was born in San Diego and raised in Vermont. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art from Green Mountain College in 2008. Alexander now resides in Connecticut and his work has been widely exhibited throughout the Eastern United States. HUD 1793 E Main St. 293-1616

Buenaventura Art Association’s Harbor Village Gallery & Gifts Grand Opening and Celebration of the Arts from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20

Buenaventura Art Association’s Harbor Village Gallery & Gifts has a new home in Ventura Harbor Village and invites the public to a Grand Opening and Celebration of the Arts from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. on Saturday, August 20.

There will be artist demonstrations, Hawaiian dancers and the opportunity to meet the 14 artists featured in the gallery.  Food and beverages will be provided to all who wish to participate in an event promoting the arts and have fun doing it.

The gala, daylong celebration will include a “treasure hunt” beginning at 10 a.m. at the Harbor Gallery & Gifts, with a raffle drawing at the gallery at 4 p.m. and prizes for the winning participants.

BAA, a 62 year old, non-profit artists’ cooperative, receives a portion of the sales at the Harbor Gallery & Gifts for use in providing scholarships for local college students.  BAA also offers free art classes to young people for their education and enjoyment.

For additional information about the organization and its programs, call the downtown gallery at 648-1235 or visit www.buenaventuragallery.org.

 

 

 

Linda Elder of Ventura, esteemed sculptor and educator, has died

Linda Elder in her Studio by Donna Granata FOTM Portrait Series 2000

Linda Elder (1942 – 2016)

Throughout her life, Linda exemplified strength and courage. Much of her work expressed an appreciation of woman’s strength and triumphant qualities, traits Linda displayed in her own life.  She conquered debilitating injuries sustained in an auto accident and again, was the victor in her fight with breast cancer.  Her bright spirit will be missed.

Linda was first introduced to her favorite art form when an art teacher in high school allowed her to do sculpture in the back of the class while the rest of the class worked on drawing projects. But she didn’t return to explore art again until after her three sons started grammar school, and she entered college a second time.

After extensive study and work in painting and drawing, she found two-dimensionality too limiting. The three-dimensional and multimedia options available to sculptors were far more challenging and in complete harmony with her own sensibilities.

A highly respected teacher, Linda taught privately and at the university level. She taught figurative sculpture and mold making with her husband, sculptor David Elder, at California State University Northridge for over 20 years and at the University of California Santa Barbara, where she taught for nine years. She shared her talent with the community, teaching for the Boys and Girls Clubs and for Focus on the Masters, reaching children in our local schools as her way of giving back.

She began teaching privately at her Crystal Hawk Studio in Ventura in 1988 and continued to teach up to two months prior to her passing when her illness impaired her ability.

Those who travel Highway 101 near Seaward are familiar with Linda Elder’s “Xochitl,” a carving of a Chumash woman that stands near the home that she and her husband, David, hand built on ground that had been the site of a Chumash meeting ground.

Describing her work, Linda says: “With each piece of figurative sculpture I create, the piece must go beyond the mere physical appearance and be able to capture both the emotions and inner spirit of the work.  Without this energy the sculpture will not reach out to the viewer, will not share its essence.”

Linda died peacefully at home after a courageous battle with brain cancer.  She is survived by her husband, sculptor David Elder and sons Sean Johnson, Kyle Lachman, Jacob Lachman and Eric Elder and their families.

To learn more about Linda Elder please visit the artist’s website www.CrystalHawkStudio.com.

Linda Elder was extensively documented by Focus on the Masters in 1999. The FOTM Archive contains extensive information about this artist. For more information about FOTM please visit www.FocusOnTheMasters.com.

 

Iridescence: The Art of Ira Winarsky on exhibit at Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts

art WinarskyThe Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts is pleased to present Iridescence: The Art of Ira Winarsky, an exhibition that shares the artist’s reinvention of ceramic sculpture as a means of exploring abstraction, light and reflection. The exhibition will be presented until August 13.

Sculptor and artist Ira Winarsky (1942-2015) spent the last 25 years of his life entirely focused on exploring the potential of the ceramic medium. The artist explored bold new approaches by utilizing clay as a fine art medium

 

Iridescence: The Art of Ira Winarsky on exhibit at Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts that shares the artist’s reinvention of ceramic sculpture as a means of exploring abstraction, light and reflection. The exhibition will be presented until August 13.