Showing posts with label Bert Collins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bert Collins. Show all posts

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Ojai Studio Artist Tour part 3 -Bert Collins

Not only is this part of the studio tour where Bert Collins has her home, studio and gallery room ... it's also where I happen to take my pastel class once a month!


Within an hour of the Studio Tour starting, all her pieces had sold and most had left with their owner. A few nice patrons left their pieces so people would have something to see. As you can see they still have protective plastic on the frames to keep them from getting banged up on their way home!

There was so much glare, I couldn't get a shot of those pieces ...


But here is an unfinished piece she was working on ...


Her pastels ...


And here are a few, ready to head off to the framer, for her next show. (Which is my show too, for the Pastel Society of the Gold Coast! More on that soon!)




I love this place. It's such a creative space and has Bert's amazing positive spirit, infused into every inch of it! 

When you come into class and ask "How ya doin' Bert?" She always answers with something like, "I'm just fantastic!" 
And while we are all in class doing our paintings, she always says, "Who has more fun than we do?!"
And you know? I really couldn't say. :)


Here is Bert over the summer at a show in Thousand Oaks with her Best of Show seascape.


If you want to see more of my posts about Bert Collins, click Here.

If you ask me what I came to do in this world,
I, an artist, will answer you:
I am here to live out loud.

~Emile Zola

Blessings and light!

Monday, October 4, 2010

Ojai Studio Artist Tour - 2010


It's that time again! Time to get inspired, meet some wonderful artists, see their creative spaces and explore beautiful Ojai! I usually cruise around, map in hand, with my Mom, my sister, or both and have a yummy lunch break at Farmer and the Cook to talk about the artists and all the things we were inspired by.

It's the annual Ojai Artist Studio Tour this weekend, so if you happen to be in the neighborhood (in the Ojai Valley - Southern California and inland between Ventura and Santa Barbara off the 33!) come on by!

Imagination is the true magic carpet.

~ Norman Vincent Peale

Ojai Studio Artists Tour

October 9 & 10, 2010, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Our annual studio tour is a entertaining self-guided tour spanning the Ojai
Valley and nearby surrounding areas. With ticket purchase, you will receive a map
of the participating artists' studio locations. Visit our "About Ojai" page for links to informational sites about the Ojai Valley. Please note, while you will be driving or bicycling from studio to studio, walking shoes are recommended.

TOUR TICKETS are $31 for advance ticket purchase and
$36 for tour weekend ticket purchase.
(ticket price includes the reception and a $1 ticket handling fee).
Student tickets (must be under 23 years of age) can be purchased for $21 at the
Chamber of Commerce with student I.D. Children 12 and under are free.
Tickets are good for both days. All tickets are final; no refunds.

TICKETS BY PHONE: Call (805) 646-8126,
10 A.M. to 4 P.M. or fax (805) 646-9762 for assistance.

TICKETS THROUGH PAYPAL

On the website

www.ojaistudioartists.org


These beautiful pastels are by my wonderful teacher Bert Collins who is one of the studio artists on the tour! Isn't she amazing?

She creates these beautiful and magical worlds with her pastels. She is also a genuinely sweet and amazing woman. We love her. She will hang about 20 pieces in her studio for the tour and most, if not all, will be sold by the time the tour starts. (People show up at 6 am that morning and draw numbers and pick out their pieces!)

These below are so much more beautiful in person and I shot them during class when they were leaning on the floor in bad light!

Bert Collins - pastel 2010


Bert Collins - pastel 2010



I don't believe in an art
that is not born out of man's need
to open his heart.

- Edvard Munch

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Bert Collins and A Creative Shot in the Arm


Well, it's exactly what I needed ... a creative shot in the arm. My Mom and I made it to 12 of the artists on the studio tour over two days. By Sunday afternoon I was exhausted ... but in a good way!

One of our favorites from this year (and previous years) is Bert Collins. She does these beautiful and magical pastel pieces (from her head!!!) and on top of it, she is an incredibly sweet soul and very generous with knowledge of her craft. As you will see, she even shows samples of how she goes about it! What is amazing to me is that she does not work from photographs! I just adore her. I am signed up for a work shop in a couple of weeks and will let you know how it goes!

Unfinished piece in Bert Collins studio...

How she goes about it ...

Sorry about the glare! This was sold or I might have had to sell my jewelry!

Bert Collins- Pastel




"It is all very well to copy what one sees,
but it is far better to draw
what one now only sees in one's memory.
That is a transformation in which
imagination collaborates with memory."
~Edgar Degas