Focus on the Masters popular Artist Spotlight Series will introduce two members of the Ventura County Handweavers & Spinners Guild, Rich Deppe and Carl Friedlander at their next Artist Spotlight interview on Sunday, March 6 at 4:00 p.m. at Brooks Institute (5301 N. Ventura Ave.)  Each of these fabric artists comes to his work on different paths.  Each has a story to tell.

Rich Deppe’s involvement in fiber arts dates to his early childhood, when his grandmother introduced him to knitting, at which he proved very adept.  His fascination with knitting disappeared by his teen years but re-surfaced some years ago.  He knits and weaves but for Rich the most interesting aspect of fiber art is spinning the fibers themselves.  Carl Friedlander, a retired computer scientist, is well-known for creating prayer shawls worn at Jewish religious services. His fiber art gene seems to have come from his maternal grandfather, a superb tailor.  Although Carl does weave beautiful yet utilitarian items such as table mats, runners, and material for clothing, it is his work as a man of faith that is perhaps most impressive.

Please join Focus on the Masters as Mary Galbraith, moderator, chats with these two artists.

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

AfterGLOW Fundraising Event:  Join for a celebratory supper hosted by Jo Ellen Lee and prepared by Old Broads Catering Company immediately following the interview at the FOTM Archive & Library, 505 Poli Street, Suite 405.  Maps will be given to paid guests at the interview.

The AfterGLOW is $25 for FOTM members, $35 for non-members.  Paid reservations are essential & required prior to March 6 for the AfterGLOW.  For RSVP & tickets visit:  FocusOnTheMasters.com or call 805.653.2501.

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

Beverly Cunningham always has an ongoing exhibit at the Womens’ Center (Poinsettia Pavilion). A portion of each sale is donated to the Pave the Way campaign to restore the Pavilion. She loves to paint in a loose impressionistic style with vibrant colors. She enjoys flowers and the possibilities they provide for abstraction.

You can see more of her wonderful art at BeverlyCunningham.com

“Artist Mika Harmony’s “Love in Full Bloom”, solo exhibit will be featured at Capriccio Restaurant at 298 E. Main St. now through March 20th.

Being raised on Maui by two artistic parents influenced her love of all things creative. Mika’s mother is a photographer/printmaker and her father is a songwriter, which is where the Harmony comes in.

Now calling Ventura home, Mika was inspired to create this series “Love in Full Bloom” while thinking of Spring and the feeling of music in her heart.

This mixed media series combines: antique sheet music, original painting, things with wings, Iconography elements, poetic phrases and hearts, on 12×12 canvas.

Mika has participated in juried national exhibitions at Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, Frameworks, Santa Barbara, Buenaventura Art Gallery in Ventura and San Louis Obispo Museum in San Louis Obispo as well as exhibited in galleries in California and Maui.”

Local artist-sculpture Lynn Creighton has closed her gallery-studio Studio1317. She is still available at www.lynncreighton.com to see, and purchase her wonderful ecstatic female figures that she has been creating since 1990. Creighton’s work has been exhibited nationally at museums and galleries from New York to California. Selected international exhibits include showings in Japan, France, and South Africa.

In describing her work she stated  “The figures in this gallery are experiencing the vibratory rate of their own life force. That vibration is the energy of the divine slowed down so that it may be seen.  It is the creative core at our center.  It contains the truth of our soul. I create the female form from a sacred source of  life, inspiration and commitment. This work has evolved from my deep inner conviction that female energy, fully aware of itself, will contribute essential wisdom to critical issues facing the planet.”

You can meet Lynn at the Ventura Avenue Adult Center (550 N Ventura Ave.)  when the Potters’ Guild presents  her on Monday February 22. Doors open at 7 pm and program begins at 7:45 pm. She will share her journey from potter to sculpture… featuring her flowing, modernist female figures that are both spiritual and sometimes playful in nature.

Don’t miss out . . . reserve your class space today!

The Arts Collective-Pacific View Mall,  On Level 2, adjacent to Sears- 676-1540

Pacific View Mall Events Directory

Beginning Thursday, March 3 to April 21- Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

An exciting 8-part Series-Thursday, March 3 – 6:30pm – 8:00pm

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is the world’s most widely used drawing instruction book.  Whether you are drawing as a professional artist, as an artist in training, or as a hobby, this book will give you greater confidence in your ability and deepen your artistic perception, as well as foster a new appreciation of the world around you.

Early Registration fee $140 for 8-week series on or before Tuesday, March 1  I Regular Registration fee $160.  Materials fee $10.

Coming Soon! Lunchtime Coloring Sessions for Adults

You can do it alone or with a group of friends ~ Coloring feeds the creative side of your mind ~ There are no rules. You can color inside the lines, outside the lines, in one color, in dozens of colors.  We have the designs for you to choose from and the pencils in an array of beautiful colors for you to use.  Bring your lunch and join us.  $5 materials fee.  Specific dates to be announced soon.

Reservations are being taken for Sunday, Feb. 21
“Koi Fish, Water & Wine”

Take to the water with this colorful symbolic fish, learning the timeless art of watercolor painting.

The class fee is $40 per person, or $35 for MVC members, which includes instruction, art materials and light refreshments. Each class is limited to 40 people. To reserve, call  653-0323, x315, or go to the museum’s website at http://venturamuseum.org/studiosunday/ and pay online.

The Museum Ventura County’s new art instruction series, Studio Sunday, has provided a great way for friends to gather at the museum and cultivate their inner artist.  The Studio Sunday painting classes are taught by Mary Perez and Megan Bisbee of Vita Arts Center, and are open to all regardless of their level of expertise. The classes occur once a month on selected Sundays from 1-4 pm at the museum although this one class will be held at the VITA ARTS Center at Bell Arts Factory.  Each of the classes has a theme and style of painting or creating that evokes famous artists.

The featured artists at the Ojai Studio Artists First Second Saturday Open Studios, held on Feb.13 were Valerie Freeman ,  Patrish Kuebler , Tom Hardcastle ,Joe Sohm, Amy Lynn Stevenson and Carol Shaw-Sutton. Go to ojaistudioartists.org for more information.

The next addition to Buenaventura Art Association’s California Heritage Collection includes a tiny painting that’s likely to be a big deal for collectors of historical regional art.

“California Coastal,” a framed, 3-by-7-inch oil on board, is by Granville Redmond, a painter internationally known in the early part of last century for his Tonalist and Impressionist landscapes and seascapes. It is among 10 paintings being unveiled in a Feb. 16-March 19 exhibition at the Buenaventura Gallery in downtown Ventura.

Buenaventura Gallery, 700 E. Santa Clara St., is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Private viewings of the California Heritage Collection also are available by appointment. For more about BAA or this special collection, visit www.californiaheritagecollection.com, www.buenaventuragallery.org, or call 648-1235 during gallery hours.