Rex Kochel

Art shifted my focus in my mid-30’s. Throughout my life, until then, I had been submerged in athletics, both as a player and coach. There hadn’t been time or opportunity for pursuing art. Classes at Ventura College, some 20 years into teaching and coaching at Ventura High School, awakened my interest. My mentor at that juncture in my life was the late Norman Kirk, whose artwork was an inspiration to many.

Eventually I became a part of the acclaimed art department at Ventura High School, teaching  “Introduction to Drawing and Painting” and continued to learn the path of an artist along with my students. Personally I was incorporating watercolors into blind continuous line drawings. My first solo show led to a commission to do all the artwork for the new Remax Building in Ventura. 56 watercolors in all.

Upon my retirement from teaching in the Ventura Unified School District in 2004 I was juried into the Ojai Studio Artists. The following years I’ve had the opportunity to expand my mastery of the watercolor medium. My subject matter is extensive, lyrical, and increasingly breaking boundaries that constrained me earlier.

I had led several watercolor workshops and welcome students for individual lessons.