What's New: Interviews with New Artist Union Members of 2009.

What’s New:Interviews with New Artist Union Members of 2009
from Lynn LeTourneau, AU Membership Chair

Julie Andrada – recently completed the MFA program at Brooks Institute. She is a professional photographer who serves people finding partners. She enjoys travel photography as well. Julie showed her artwork in the Member’s Show. Julie gallery sits and hopes to participate more in showing her work in 2010.

Briana Bainbridge – works in several media. Her oil paintings are inspired by anatomy and religious iconography. Her photography incorporates dolls and dollhouses as a vehicle to express her views on gender roles. Brianna is also a furniture maker. You can find her online at www.brianabainbridge.com.

Llana Baldwin – has a degree in Fine Arts. She was attracted to join the Artists Union Gallery because it is non-profit and involves member participation. In 2009 she showed her artwork in the Member’s Show. Llana recently won a Blue ribbon at the LA County Fair for a drawing. She also won an award in 2008 at the Harbor Gallery for their Ornament Show.

Roe Estep – is a hair-dresser by trade and enjoys taking art classes at Ventura College. Roe enjoys working in clay. Using slab-work techniques, she has completed a birdbath series. She is also a poet attending and facilitating the Tuesday night poetry readings at the Artist Union. In 2010 Roe hopes to show her artwork in the Gallery.

Bobbi Jo Free – is a dollmaker and fiber artist working out of a studio in Bell Arts. She paints using acrylic and collage in the impressionistic style as well. In 2009, she was in the Black and White show. Bobbi Jo is a gallery sitter.

Susan Guy – is a plein air artist who works in oil and watercolor.
She is an Ojai Studio Artist and has been juried for two years at the Ojai Valley Museum “Made in Ojai” Show. Her work is in the permanent collection at the Ojai Land Conservancy and the Ventura County Medical Center. Susan is also part of the Studio Channel Islands and was in the Cal State Channel Islands Show. She extends her invitation to other plein air painters!

Debra Kelley – is a member of the Arts and Crafts wing of Artist Union and sits the gallery two times a month. She creates mobiles using fishing line, sea-shells, bamboo and driftwood.

Contact Lynn LeTourneau if you would like to be featured in our next set of brief interviews.

Member Profile: Susan Ottevanger

Artists’ Union member Susan Ottevanger received some joyous news recently, but almost threw it away!

Susan got a request from the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. to use some of her paintings in an exhibit in 2008, "Going to Sea" that will open in conjunction with new Ocean Hall.

At about the same time, the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain requested limited rights to another one of her paintings for use in a new resort, Molasses Reef, Turks & Caicos. The sale of rights was completed to the satisfaction of both parties.

But these two wonderful success stories almost didn’t happen. Let Susan explain in her own words. “A Fish Story - ‘The Two That Almost Got Away!’

“Initial contact for both of these wonderful opportunities came in emails. “Neither were clearly marked – no RITZ, no THE Smithsonian - just a clump of initials that my annoyed and impatient self had checked and was about to DELETE, along with the Cheap Meds, Stock Pick, LOTTO and 3rd world royalty spam."

“Then my other side, the nitpicking, optimistic self, took over and read the mail. Yikes. “So, folks, be careful about what you delete. Spam is a drag, but don't let the bad guys really get the best of you.”

Susan grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with access to the woods and ponds.

“My favorite toy was a large glass jar I could fill with pond water and watch life forms swim around for hours. Prime time was going to a lake or one of the- Great Lake. In 1975 I moved to Toronto to live on Lake Ontario. I worked on props and special effects as my ‘day job’ and did watercolors and fiber arts by night.”

She married another water fanatic in 1983 and they packed up and moved to Florida.

“Never been there before. We lived, sailed and dove around Miami for 10 years. I was so overwhelmed by the colors and creatures, I didn't paint for a few years.”

Hurricane Andrew prompted another move, to Seattle.

“We loved the rugged coastline, the new birds, especially the exotic ducks, but after 10 years of heat and sunshine, a year of drizzle did us in.”

Next stop was Southern California, where they have been for 10 years. The couple lives on a boat in a Channel Islands Harbor marina.

Susan has designed and built props and special effects for film, television, commercials, theater, theme parks and retail environments using varied materials. Projects include huge puppets, a mock Manhattan, Mayan, giant mechanical flowers, model trains, a variety of creature costumes & more for clients from GM to Vegas hotels.

Susan's website
Contact:susan@seewater.com

AU Member Profile: Gordon Punt, Sculptor

Member Profile: Gordon Punt, sculptor, contributor to AU, and now creator of Ventura Virtual Sculptor & Art Museum


Gordon Punt has been a mover during his life. When he came to Ventura he became a mover and shaker!

But let’s start at the beginning start at the beginning… He was born and lived in LA the first 18 years of his life. After four years in the Navy, Gordon moved to San Francisco for four years, and the went on to live in the Santa Rosa area for 24 years. That was enough time in one area for him, and several factors dictated his move to Ventura about eight years ago.

First, his mother was still alive and living here at that time, so he took care of her for six months, before she passed away. “The other big reason I moved to Ventura was Art City,” Gordon says. “For many years I had visited Art City, and Paul Lindhard had helped me when I needed some marble. I also needed a base to operate my commercial garden art business ("Creature Rocks"), for which I delivered to nurseries and garden gift stores all over California. I wanted to continue my fine art sculpture as well, and there is no better place in California than Art City to do that. “Soon after starting to work at Art City, I became interested in the Artists' Union because some of the other sculptors I worked around were involved. I wanted to meet other local artists so I joined the Union when the Gallery was first established on California Street.

“My experience in hanging my own shows for thirty years came in handy, so I gradually became more involved in the Artists' Union. I then started the Arts & Crafts Show, which began in the small park on Main Street, near the Farmer's Market. After a year at the Park, I moved the show to the Beach where it continues today. I also started the AU website. In July 2006, I stepped down from being Vice President of the Artists' Union to work on other projects. The website I created for the Union inspired me to make a more in depth website for local sculptors.” The result was Gordon’s museum site, entitled the Ventura Virtual Sculpture & Arts Museum(VVSAM). The website not only focuses on sculpture but the other art forms the sculptors create as well. “The Museum exists not to sell art, but to archive the masterpieces our local artists have produced in their careers. The Sculpture Museum is intended to continue for many generations, and hopefully will encourage other artists to make similar websites. You can see the website at: www.sculpture-museum.com and it is also represented in the new online Saatchi Gallery at: http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/dealers_galleries

“I love living in Ventura and enjoy the myriad of art and artists here that I have come to know.”

Gordon creates sculptures in various and in bronze. He also sketches in pen and ink. He explains some of the things that inspire his art this way. “"I am fascinated with the human face for many reasons. First of all the face is a meeting place between the inner and outer worlds. The expression on someone's face can tell you at one glance a story that would take paragraphs to explain in words. I also love shapes, so the combination of eyes, nose and mouth give me lots of variety and challenges as I move from one type of face to another. When I see a face emerging from my pen, clay, wax or stone, it looks back at me and gives me a kind of energy that I do not
find in abstract art. I can even feel a spiritual presence sometimes that is very
comforting."

Gordon earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at Sonoma State University and went to Carrara, Italy in 1984 to work on his Master of Fine Arts degree. His overall educational background is impressive. Here are other institutes he has attend for varying periods over the years: Academy of Art, San Francisco; Art Center School, LA, CA; El Camino Jr. College, LA, CA (Drawing and Painting); Santa Monica Jr. College, Santa Monica, CA (Sculpture & Drawing); San Francisco Art Institute, SF, CA (Honors in Figure Drawing); Evolution Art Institute, Petaluma, CA (Stone Sculpture & Tool Making; Sierra University, San Francisco.

Gordon can be reached at 805 340-0609; or via e-mail at: gordon@gpunt.com; gordon_punt@yahoo.com.
His web sites include: www.gpunt.com,
www.free-nude-drawings.com
and http://www.sculpture-museum.com

Written by Ken Fermoyle

Member Profile -- Lynn LeTourneau, Painter, Sculptor

Lynn LeTourneau, a multi-talented sculptor, printmaker, and painter, joined the Artists Union in 2006. She has already become an enthusiastic volunteer and currently holds the prized position of coordinating AU Gallery Sitters.

“I am privileged that I can live this life” states Lynn.

Lynn spent her youth in the museums of New York City and learned to draw the human figure at the famed Art Students League. She studied Jung and abstract expressionism, attended the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts, taught art classes, and received a degree in transpersonal psychology from Antioch University in San Francisco.

After graduation, Lynn attended classes at the Fort Mason Center exploring figurative clay sculpture finding inspiration in the figurative expressions of Redon, Goodacre, and other masters. This experience was vital according to Lynn. “I learned how to see accurately and carve interpretively.” For the next twelve years, Lynn primarily worked in clay sculpting the human form. She is a member of the San Francisco Sculptor’s Co-op and the San Francisco Women’s Art Gallery. In 2001, Lynn relocated to Santa Barbara and became active in the Santa Barbara Sculptors Guild. After a move to Carpinteria in 2006, Lynn joined the Artists Union.

Lynn’s newest works are mixed media paintings that are “kinesthetic in nature.” She begins by meditating upon a theme allowing feelings and thoughts to gestate until forms and colors arise. Sculptural elements and mixed media combine to give texture and depth to the canvases. Lynn says “For me, each canvas is a window to connect with visual archetypal patterns and materialize forms.”

“I observe the process and think about what is occurring within the activity and play with the elements of the picture. The paintings have a life of their own and form a collective visual story. The titles present themselves afterwards,” says Lynn.

Lynn became a member of the Artists Union because she enjoys the collaborative process that comes about when artists gather together. She also enjoys taking classes in Santa Barbara with Jill Sattler and others. Lynn has a studio at SeaBreeze Gallery and Studios which hosted her one woman show in April 2005. Her work has appeared in local shows and galleries including the Artists Union Salon 2006, the Juried Competition at the County Government Center, and Palm Loft in Carpinteria. Lynn’s figurative sculpture will be available at Allegory Fine Arts Gallery on Front Street in Ventura.

For more information feel free to contact Lynn for a visit her studio or online at essenceartworks@yahoo.com.

Written by Jeanne LaRocco

Member Profile -- G. Ramon Byrne, Stone Sculptor

Leave Big Sur and move to Ventura; are you crazy?

G. Ramon Byrne explains his move this way:
"I had been purchasing stone from Art City for about 12 years when Paul Lindhard approached me with a proposition"

(Paul's words) "Ramon, I'm sitting on about 1,000,000 pounds of stone and I'd like to spend the next 10 years carving it, how would you like to come to Art City and join me?"

"Well, the rest is history... we formed a Public Art Team and we are actively involved in the AU Gallery of which I am proud to be a member. I have found it to be a very progressive and cutting edge gallery for this or any other area."

And part of it, he is! So much so that he was elected vice president in June. He also plays a very active role on the Gallery Committee and is a member of the Board of Directors.

Ramon, now artist in residence at Art City, was born in Lone Pine, CA and is a 3rd-generation stonemason and artist. In the early 70's he became apprentice to Edmund Kara, Big Sur's renowned wood sculptor. After a few years Ramon began carving stone, and has been doing so ever since. Ramon serves as an instructor/demonstrator for the annual Sculptors Symposium, at Camp Ocean Pines, Cambria, CA. Ramon’s professional assistance to other carvers, coupled with his design concepts and carving skills, have resulted in the beginnings of a large public art installation depicting marine life. This installation is destined to become a timeless landmark at Camp Ocean Pines. In addition to his Symposium involvement, he also facilitates stone sculpting workshops and tutors individual sculpture students.

Ramon's work has been installed in many public and private locations throughout Northern and Southern California and New Mexico.

Ramon’s background in stone masonry and Hardscape Design, as well as the more than 30 years he spent living on the Big Sur coast, influence his unique style and vision significantly. His interest in the metaphysical and the works of Carl Jung add depth to his work that reflects his inner mindscape and the intimate relationship he has with nature.

Ramon’s next workshop, The Mysterious Realm of Stone Carving, will be at Esalen Institute from October 15 to 20. This class is open to beginners as well as experienced sculptors.

Gallery 33 in Ventura currently represents Ramon. His work is shown there as well as in AU Gallery exhibits. He accepts commissions and will appreciate any information AU members can pass on.

Written by Ken Fermoyle

Member Profile -- Paul Lindhard, Sculptor, Art City Founder

Meet the Art City creator and a “founding father” of the Artists’ Union.

Tour Art City with Paul Lindhard and you feel a palpable sense of community and creativity, characteristics that also typify the San Buenaventura Artists’ Union.

That’s no coincidence, because Art City was one of the major seedbeds in the formation of San Buenaventura Artists’ Union. And Paul was one of the “gardeners” who planted the seeds and
has nurtured the organization’s growth ever since!

“The idea for AU was born in artists’ studios, places like Art City, the dear departed Art City II and Micheles’s Stone Works,” Paul explains. “Then we began meeting in a local coffee shop, and started spending a lot of time sounding off at council meetings about the local art community, its needs and what it could contribute to the City of Ventura.

“Eventually the city fathers heard our message, and we got our current gallery space, plus continuing support from the city – for which we are eternally grateful!”

Paul founded of Art City, a unique artists’ enclave located on Ventura’s westside, in 1985. Primarily a stone sculptor, Lindhard wanted Art City to serve as a constant artistic stimulus to enhance his own work and the work of others. As the studios grew in both size and respect, Lindhard soon realized the value of a community studio and the numerous advantages of working in close proximity to other creative minds. Art City studios and gallery continue to
attract well-respected artists both locally and abroad.

His dream has evolved over the years, surviving a major fire at Art Cityand various other bumps in the road. His studio-workshopgallery complex now hosts over 20 professional sculptors, who make beautiful desktop pieces to monumental sculptures and fountains. They share common facilities and each other's knowledge. It also contains an inventory of more than a million pounds of various kinds of stone and other sculpture supplies. As an undergraduate, Lindhard studied fine art in California and Mexico, earning in a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from UC Santa Barbara in 1970. In 1976, he enrolled in the MFA program at Pennsylvania State University where he served as artist-in-residence and taught bronze casting. From 1978-1988, Lindhard taught sculpture at Santa Barbara City College.

Lindhard has traveled throughout the world selecting and frequently hand-quarrying the stone, but in recent years his searches for stone have centered on the Western U.S.. According to him, stones are basically found objects, which give voice to nature, and in his work, he seeks to balance what he sees on the outside with what he finds on the inside.

Carving for Lindhard is a visceral experience, a journey into unexplored and unending territory.

Written by Ken Fermoyle