FEBRUARY 2019  SHOW DATES:  FEBRUARY 1ST TO FEBRUARY 29TH 2019 OPENING RECEPTION, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8th from 5-8 pm Featured Artist: Lower Gallery   MICHAEL CASTANEDA   Artist Statement: In Michael’s own words: “I was born and raised in the small town Ocala, FL. After high school I tried the college path but left early to pursue a career in the film industry. At the age of 20 I helped produce a full length feature film that was distributed nationwide, but didn’t exactly payout for me. Life’s hard lesson on that one found me washing golf carts 2 days a week at a local country club in my home town.  Within 2 years I was managing the entire operation and  had become content with my life. That all changed at the age of 28 when I found myself sitting on my back patio looking out at a pool I never swam in and a yard I never used. Even though I had experienced what I felt to be a lot, I knew that I hadn’t truly lived anything. The decision from here was surprisingly easy, I quit my job, sold my house and everything that couldn’t fit into my small car and […]

Spanky grew up in Georgia and learned to draw and paint at an early age. He later traveled the south and exhibited his artwork of the southern landscape. He graduated from the University of West Georgia with a BA in Art, where he was awarded two Permanent Collection awards from Peter Augustini, a world renowned sculptor from New York, and internationally known painter Donald Cooper. Upon graduation, Spanky began his career as a graphic designer and colorist with a major carpet and textile manufacturer. In the mid-seventies Spanky accepted a designer colorist position in Southern California where he continued to paint and pursue his love of the local land and seascape. Most recently Spanky has moved to the Morro Bay area where he says “My peripheral vision of the central coast virtually dictates the color palette and brushstrokes onto my canvas.”  

Virginia Mack is a native Californian. She has been exploring and savoring the wild lands of the state throughout her life. She has been living on the Central Coast for 15 years. She is a part-time instructor at Cuesta College in the fine arts departments.Virginia works primarily in watercolors and mixed media and is a colorist at heart. She builds most of her pieces in a wet-on-wet process (wet watercolor paints on wet watercolor paper) resolving the pieces as the paper slowly dries. She creates the forms with rich colors that she plays off against contrasting colors thereby subduing them while preserving their presence in layers of color. She often mixes the watercolor process with work using colored pencils, pastel, charcoal, and pencil.Virginia received her education in fine arts at the University of California, Berkeley. She has taken additional classes at The California College of Arts and Crafts and in independent workshops. SHOW DATES:  AUGUST 1 TO  AUGUST 2018 OPENING RECEPTION, FRIDAY, AUGUST 10th from 5-8 pm FEATURED ARTIST Lower Gallery:  VIRGINIA MACK FINE ART WATERCOLOR PAINTING