Born and raised in Southern California, Virginia spent many childhood hours roaming the hills surrounding her home and many weekends bodysurfing in the ocean. These early memories perhaps influence her art, because California landscapes and seascapes are her preferred subjects.
Although Virginia always “messed around” with art, she started her art career late in life, after many years as an elementary school teacher. By chance, she discovered pastels, and they became a passion. She threw herself into pursuit of the art background that she had never received at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
She has studied pastel painting with Richard McKinley, Lorenzo Chavez, Albert Handell, Alain Picard, and many other eminent pastelists, including her current mentors in Ojai, CA, Jannene Behl and Bert Collins. She has also taken it upon herself to fill in the gaps in her art education by studying art history, drawing and composition, and figure drawing at Moorpark College.
Influenced by early California impressionists such as Franz Bischoff and Edgar Payne, she loves to paint plein air, but she would describe her style more as expressive realism than impressionism. Virginia currently resides in Thousand Oaks, CA, and her work has been included in many shows, art museums, and galleries.
Affiliations
- California Art Club (associate)
- Pastel Society of Southern California (board member)
- Pastel Society of the West Coast
- Ventura County Pastel Artists (juried)
- Westlake Village Art Guild
- Santa Barbara Art Association (juried)
- Allied Artists of the Santa Monica Mountains and Seashore (board member)
- SCAPE (Southern California Artists Painting for the Environment)
- Arts Council of the Conejo Valley
- Ventura County Arts Council
Recent Exhibitions
- PSWC – 32nd Annual Pastels USA International Open Exhibition – Aug. 16 – Sept. 16, 2018
- California Art Club – Shape of Water (juried) – June 1 – Sept. 25, 2018
- La Galeria Gitana – From Mountains to Seashores – June-July, 2018
- Allied Artists of the SMMS – Calamigos Beach Club, May 20, 2018
- Arts Council of the Conejo Valley – May Show, 2018
- Westlake Village Art Guild – Open Juried Show – April, 2018
Recent Awards
- Second Place – From the Mountains to the Seashores – La Galeria Gitana – June 2018
- Third Place, Pastels/Graphics Arts Council of the Conejo Valley – May Show 2018
- Third Place, People’s Choice – Ventura County Pastel Artists – May 2018
- Second Place, Silver Division – PSSC Ninth Annual Members’ Exhibition – 2018
- Third Place, Pastels/Graphics – Conejo Valley Open Juried Show – 2018
- First Place, Pastels/Graphics – Westlake Village Art Guild Member show – 2018
