August 2016 Featured Artists

Best in Show Winners

Cityscapes

 

Traditional Art

Cecily Willis

“Frolic Room – Hollywood Blvd.”
Watercolor on Arches Paper,
15 x 22″, $1000

Cecily Willis grew up in the Fairfax/Hollywood area of Los Angeles, and later lived in South Pasadena before she moved to the Santa Clarita Valley. She received her MFA in Painting from the Otis Art Institute of Los Angeles County in 1968—a very exciting time to be in art school. It was the great era of shaped canvasses, hard-edge painting, and performance, conceptual, and installation art. However, she went through school just wanting to paint and draw realistically. She was teased, of course, and a friendly insult (they thought!) was being called “Norman Rockwell.” She was always asked when she was finally going to “break free” and “really express herself” through abstract art. However,  after over 40 years she still finds realism to be the best way in which she can really express herself.

Cecily has been a professional artist for over 45 years in the fields of textile design, fashion illustration, and newspaper and corporate graphic design. She is now retired, living in Newhall, California, and realizing her life-long dream of being able to devote all of her free time to painting.

Cecily loves watercolor—it’s like a partnership with a Higher Power. She takes care of the layout, the details and the drawing, and H.P. handles the washes, the drips and the drabs, and the running colors. She loves the “mistakes” and the great adventure of visualizing what you would like a painting to be, and then have it turn out entirely different from what you imagined. That is the great fun of painting for her.

Cecily is very grateful for her commercial art background and hopes that she conveys the same kind of commitment, devotion and integrity in her watercolors that she gave to her commercial art clients.

Please email Cecily directly if you are interested in purchasing her award winning piece or visit her website to see more of her work.

 Digital Art & Photography

Stephen Baumbach

“Glass and Class”
Digital Photograph,
30″ x 40″, $2500

For over 40 years, Stephen Baumbach has been making photographs. Photography became his passion in high school and he has not stopped since. Stephen has taught in the classroom and workshop settings, and captured various types of images from rodeos to architectural design and exhibited in several solo shows in Wyoming, Colorado, Vermont, California and Massachusetts.

2005 -2008 saw Stephen in transition from traditional film to digital. This was a three year period in experimentation with various types of cameras and photography finally settling down in he thought would never replace film. Today he makes all of his photographs digitally and prints the finished product himself. Stephen approaches everything as though he was looking at it for the first time and treats the subject matter with an energy that is reflected in his work. He is always looking at new ways of presenting the ordinary to the viewer. Whether it’s smoke, water or simple fabric Stephen will show a world most viewers take for granted, stopping them in their tracks. Stephen will go out of his way to capture something that has caught his eye even if this means hanging over a cliff or standing in an ice laden river. Stephen is an accomplished portrait, studio and landscape photographer.

2009 found Stephen joining a collaborative effort in sharing a studio with another photographer. This has allowed Stephen to explore portrait photography and indoor lighting. Immersing himself into the world of artificial light, Stephen has honed his abilities in high key, dramatic and special affects studio imaging. Stephen presented his work to the public during the South End Art Walk which garnered rave reviews and future exhibitions at Fidelity and the City of Boston. Stephen exhibited in a juried event at the Harriet Tubman House in Boston.

2010-2012 brought new portfolios from his studio work as well as his continued work with local design firms and their clients to bring his images into their home designs, remodeling projects and corporate offices. Stephen has completed has work on two series, 1097, a view of the Anza Borrego desert and Kemuri, a study in smoke.

Since 2013 Stephen has been in the photographic business full time. Several new projects are in the planning stages to broaden his reach and establish him as a regional leader in studio photography. His love for the desert and curiosity for the unusual keeps his work fresh and ever changing. Stephen currently resides in Palm Springs, CA and is available for commission, portrait and advertising work.

If you are interested in purchasing this award winning piece or seeing more of Stephen’s work, please visit his website or email Stephen directly.