Artists of the Month - January 2017

by Judie Apablaza

Havana, Sara Griggs

Sara Griggs, our first place winner, is an avid traveler and often makes note of her many trips by taking photos and translating her impressions into watercolor paintings. Sara’s watercolor, “Havana,” was intended to be a quick study from her hotel window with the thunder clouds above and the buildings below. The winning painting has an abstract quality, but she intends to complete an additional full-sheet painting in an even more pure, abstract style. 

​Her grandfather had business dealings with Batista in the 40s and 50s when Havana, Cuba was a hot spot for night-life and a romantic get away for Americans in a lush, exotic colonial setting. Rather than being frozen in time, the old city and surrounding area that had once relied on tourism, sugar plantations and a thriving cattle industry, has crumbled into decay. Sara was struck by the empty shelves in the markets and the poverty of the average Cuban as the country and its people have fallen into destitution. Sara has chosen to remember her visit with a colorful and abstract quality emphasizing the impression rather than the stark details.

​Sara has been painting for 20 years with oils and watercolor and prefers the quick, transparent quality that watercolor gives her. We await Sara’s next exciting trip and lovely paintings that follow. 

Got Milk, Linda Tindell

Linda Tindell, our second place winner, made us chuckle with her cupcake on the transparent teals and blue background. The stark contrast of the gooey, white frosting and yummy strawberry makes us immediately relate to the whimsical title, “Got Milk?”  Linda is trying out oils and is learning about a new approach to oils from an on-line workshop. She worked very small in her initial attempt, with “blocking” and doing the underpainting and not waiting for the background to dry, but going in with the overpainting in more opaque colors. She was struck with the glow that she achieved. 

Linda was our Verdugo Hills Art Association's president from 2013 to 2015 and keeps her art and friendships alive with her active participation in workshops and plein air trips. Linda has owned her own business in commercial embroidery since 1993. She takes her equipment in a trailer to major horse shows and embroiders elegant horse blankets of champion winners as well as hats and jackets for staff and owners. Linda is a major vendor to the American Saddlebred World Championships where there may be 2,500 horses participating with 20,000 people in the grandstands. She has traveled all over America in her yearly horse circuit. 

​Linda's enthusiasm shows in her willingness to experiment with new ideas and techniques, but as we would guess she enjoys the outdoors and is primarily a plein air painter.