The PSWC greatly appreciates our Regional Reps! These artists have stepped up to help the Society fulfill it’s commitment to promote art and art education in our communities and to have a little fun while doing it! They will be organizing Paint-Outs, Paint-Ins and social events in their geographic areas. If you live in one of these areas, contact them through their websites to find out about upcoming events. Traveling near-by? Here’s a chance to find out about events that will turn your vacation into an art trip! Interested in becoming a regional rep? Please contact Pam Comfort.
Meet The Reps! (and their art)
Cindy Gillett
Cindy Gillett is an artist living in Idaho who paints primarily with soft pastels and oils. She finds pleasure in focusing on “the little things” – the nuances of individual objects, people, animals or intimate schemes. Cindy relishes the specific qualities and details that make a person, place or thing uniquely its own. Because of this, her artistic style leans primarily towards classical realism. “It’s the details that draw me in and allow me to get lost in the moment of painting, unaware of the passing of time.”
Cindy is a signature member of the Pastel Society of the West Coast (PSWC) and the Pastel Society of America (PSA). She is also a member of the Red Rock Pastel Society of Nevada and the Plein Air Painters of Idaho (PAPI).
Region covered: Idaho, Montana, Wyoming
Clark Mitchell
Growing up in the shadow of the Colorado Rockies, Clark very early discovered a love of the natural world. Given a set of fine German pastels by his father when young, he quickly embraced the medium for its ease of handling, brilliance of color and portability.
He received a bachelor’s degree in art in the seventies and moved to San Francisco to continue his studies. Through personal exploration as well as study with exceptional teachers, Mitchell has developed the talent to create both tightly rendered landscapes as well as looser suggestions in both pastels and oils. To add a remarkable luster to some of his oils, he’s incorporating copper, gold and aluminum leaf.
In order to fully immerse himself in the countryside he loves, Mitchell left San Francisco with his now husband over forty years ago and moved north to beautiful Sonoma County Wine Country.
Designated a Master Pastelist by the Pastel Society of America and a Distinguished Pastelist by the Pastel Society of the West Coast, Clark has received numerous awards in local as well as national competitions. In 2005, he won Best of Show at the Laguna Plein Air Invitational; and in 2011, Best of Show in the Maui Plein Air Painting Invitational. His paintings have been on the cover of American Artist, Southwest Art and the Pastel Journal.
Region covered: Sebastopol, Napa, Sonoma
Jean Vineyard Myers
Jean Myers is a fine artist in Southern California whose interest is in exploring light and color. She has a Bachelor of Fine Art from Colorado State University and holds Signature Membership in the PSWC. Jean’s creativity was nurtured growing up in Missouri with animals and nature in abundance. She spent her summers swimming in lakes and riding hours. Jean paints outdoors when she can and that is an ongoing pursuit that gives her great joy. She believes that there is nothing like standing in nature and observing beauty with great focus for several hours, because it changes one for the better.
Region covered: Southern California
Bobbye West-Thompson
Bobbye is a fourth-generation Californian and has lived along California’s coast most of her
life. Although the Pacific Ocean, sand dunes, valleys and farmland and nearby mountains was
inspiring, time to paint was an elusive skill undeveloped until she retired. She took
workshops in watercolor, read books, visited museums and joined plein air groups – an
education it itself. Recently, she began using soft pastels as her primary medium and
thoroughly enjoys the countless color choices and the tactile feel of these pure pigments.
She’s hooked! And…she gets to paint in a natural paradise with unlimited subject matter as
well as in her home studio.
Her degrees are in English and Education but her “art education” is from books, wonderful
master teachers, museums, art enthusiasts and other artists. Using a camera from an early
age provided lessons in composition, light and shadow, color and texture. Now she uses
those lessons when painting.
Hopefully, you will join Bobbye on future planned art excursions and paint-outs in this
gorgeous coastal area she is privileged to call home.
Region Covered: California Central Coast
bobbyethompson@charter.net
Debee Holland-Olson
Artist Statement and Interview with Janice Zbiciak Brummett, 2004 (Revised/updated, 2020)
The pristine region of Trinity County, of Far Northern California, has offered a rich source of subject matter for Artist Debee L. Holland-Olson.
Focusing on the sublime beauty of the landscape while featuring skillful handling of light and atmospheric effects, this painter enjoys the beauty in and around her hometown of Weaverville, California. “Basically, I seem to find everything I want to paint, here in Northern California, and I certainly do not feel confined by it. What I try to do is capture not only what I see, but also how I feel about what I see. It is an emotional response to the landscape that I find out there and then bring that back to the studio.”
“Naturally I knew of my destiny as a Landscape Painter, when I first experienced the peace and solitude in the mountainous regions and wilderness areas of Northern California. The Trinity Alp, Marble Mountains and Russian Wilderness. My Father would take the family out on long Sunday drives out of Redding, CA, (1967-1980) where I grew up, east through Lassen Park or west to the Trinities. We would vacation in the coastal areas of Trinidad, Mendocino and Fort Bragg, North to Dunsmuir and Mt. Shasta. My appreciation of the region lies within the work I produce.”
Working in a variety of mediums; Pastel, Oil or Gouache and watercolor, Holland-Olson develops the moment and allows the experience to set the mood of her landscape paintings. In a relationship of private process, Debee often returns to the same site as each visit brings a new physical presence and color condition working on site. Her landscapes accentuate the physical properties of the region’s topography as the focal point of the composition, but the mood of her experience is set with an incredible play of light in nature. “Working outdoors on location provides opportunity for contemplation, self-discovery and inspiration.“ Her most recent paintings have been centered on the dramatic landscape of Northern California, the Pacific North coast and in recent travels and residency in Alaska. She engages in exploring the gap between the actual landscape of inspiration and the painting of the landscape, the gap between nature and art. As she internalizes the conditions viewed on site, she develops a new focal point, in which the aspects meet and form something greater, involving the viewer and oneself into a timeless landscape.
Region covered: Far Northern California
Jan Prisco
Jan Prisco is a pastel and oil painter who focuses on paintings of the San Francisco peninsula to Big Sur. Most of her paintings are begun plein air. Her work can be viewed online at www.janprisco.com and www.portolaartgallery.com
In addition to exhibiting her work at Portola Art Gallery in Menlo Park, California, Jan teaches pastel painting, both studio and plein air, on an ongoing basis at Pacific Art League and has taught at University Art Store (UART) in Redwood City, California and for Atherton Arts Foundation. She is also is fortunate to have had the opportunity to teach plein air workshops at Filoli Historic House and Garden as well as Allied Arts Guild. Images of her work have been selected by Filoli for reproduction are can be found in offerings at Filoli Garden Shop.
Region covered: San Francisco and Peninsula
