Artists' Blog

A Piemonte Palette

A Piemonte Palette

I joined a group of painters in the Piedmont region of Italy this June, to explore its beauty through paint. Each day was magical - painting plein air at a villa or palazzo or garden. All arranged by the fantastic Julio Panisello of Roofless Painters. Retreating to...

Martha Moran: A Little Hit of Zen

Martha Moran: A Little Hit of Zen

Yeah yeah. You're asking:  Who wants to rotisserie themselves in Ojai in August? Weather.com is predicting a mild 82.  But even on the hottest days, hearing my fountains cools me down and brings a sense of tranquility.  I built my first fountain over ten years ago,...

Vera Long: Assemblage and Deepened Layers

Vera Long: Assemblage and Deepened Layers

I have new large work in assemblage and deepened layers...still all live art. Plumbing and celebrating the connected soul system...I'll have things large and small..and curious to hear from one and all ...please do visit my studio this Saturday Aug 12 , 10-5 pm at 203...

Julie Grist: Summer Paintings

Julie Grist: Summer Paintings

Summer has taken me far afield this year - to villas and lakes and mountain roads.  I adore this season, but sometimes find it hard to get back into the studio. When I did, I found myself painting in summer tones of watery blues and pinky creams, all with a lot of...

Andrea Haffner: Jewelry and 3D Mixed Media

Andrea Haffner: Jewelry and 3D Mixed Media

I'm looking forward to opening my studio on August 12 as part of Ojai Studio Art's Second Saturday series. I'll be sharing new work in both jewelry and 3-D mixed media. The center of my studio is a custom worktable with many compartments. It serves as a hub which...

Christopher Noxon: But what does it MEAN?

Christopher Noxon: But what does it MEAN?

Sometimes I’ll start out with an idea – about the interconnectedness of nature, say, or the way landscapes are so often used as promotion in the exploitation or settling of wild lands.  But then the tools take over, the paint starts moving and honestly I’m not thinking at all. Painting for me is a feeling, an experience, a devotional practice that exists way beyond words.

Marie McKenzie: Maritime Museum Exhibition

Marie McKenzie: Maritime Museum Exhibition

"Ojai-based artist Marie McKenzie places sustainability at the heart of her practice. Using salvaged wood and other earth-friendly materials, McKenzie creates abstract and figurative representations of marine flora and fauna with loving detail. This February, McKenzie...

“INSIGHTS” Current Exhibition at Beatrice Wood

“INSIGHTS” Current Exhibition at Beatrice Wood

The group show “Insights” will be exhibited at the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts featuring members of Ojai Studio Artists. January 21 – March 11, 2023   The Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts is Open to the Public Fri, Sat, & Sun 11:00 am – 5:00 pm. 8585...

Cindy Pitou Burton:  Remembering Barbara Walters

Cindy Pitou Burton: Remembering Barbara Walters

Looking back on my years of photographing in NYC I realized I have B&W portraits that lay out history and life in the 1980's and early 90's. Barbara Walters death triggered my memories of this photograph and sent me back to my files. A gold mine of history awaited...

Lucinda Yates: 12 Minute Portraits at the Vine

Lucinda Yates: 12 Minute Portraits at the Vine

I'm getting back into portraiture and I have a new twelve minute portrait series started of people around Ojai. This week I painted at the Vine downtown during the cocktail hour, and we had a great turnout. I'll also be painting individuals in other locations. You can...

Feros Ferio Primary Wall by OSA Artists

Feros Ferio Primary Wall by OSA Artists

NOTE: This exhibition closed January 2023. The "Primary Wall" installed at the new Feros Ferio Winery Tasting Room, 310 East Ojai Ave, showcases three dozen original framed works by Ojai Studio Artists, all based in a primary color scheme. Curated by artist Pamela...

Julie Grist: Women Life Freedom

Julie Grist: Women Life Freedom

"Women - Life - Freedom"  - the  slogan chanted in Iran in September 2022 over the killing of 22 year old Masha Amini by Iran's military police for improperly wearing her head covering - has not only charged the Iranian public to challenge their government but has...

Joe Sohm: Up Close and Personal

Joe Sohm: Up Close and Personal

Joe Sohm joins host Ivor Davis for a discussion of his work as one of the nation’s preeminent political photographers at the Museum of Ventura County, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022. Sohm’s award-winning photographs have been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street...

Julie Grist: Three Studies of Young Women

Julie Grist: Three Studies of Young Women

I had three young women, all recent high school graduates, visit me one weekend just after the Supreme Court ruled on the Dobbs case - effectively reducing womens' rights in many states across the nation. All three were heading to different parts of our country to...

Julie Grist: Pedaling Provence

Julie Grist: Pedaling Provence

Provence on bicycle. What a way to start traveling again - and luckily scheduled during Ojai’s heat wave of September.  No paints or easel, but a sketchbook was packed along with cycling gloves and sunglasses for a six day road tour on bike through one of France’s...

Spirit of place: by Christopher Noxon

Spirit of place: by Christopher Noxon

I paint landscapes mostly, pictures of mountains and valleys, rocks and trees and big drippy skies. I use a lot of color – I’m inspired by African textiles and Hockney landscapes and Huichol yarn paintings and Colorform toy sets. All of which is a big surprise to me – I never meant to be a colorful landscape painter.

Julie Grist: The Personalities of Old Phones

Julie Grist: The Personalities of Old Phones

Where have all the landlines gone?  Really, it's only been about fifteen years that cell phones have become ubiquitous  - and how quickly we've lost all the character and personalities of the telephone. I started a painting series on old phones (oil on board or...