Central Coast Impressions

Arts and Images Revealing California's Central Coast

Tag Archives: santa barbara


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Blue Agave on Mission Ridge

Blue Agave on Mission Ridge, Cheryl Ann Ambrecht

If you turn away from the Santa Barbara beach and travel towards the Mission, then continue into the hills by the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, and then on toward the trailhead at Rattlesnake Canyon; you will discover the wild side of Santa Barbara.  Hippies and millionaires coexist in a labyrinth of winding roads and colliding ecosystems. “Blue Agave on Mission Ridge” reminds me of day trips to the Gardens and the trails.  Artist Cheryl Ambrecht, who currently exhibits at Gallery Los Olivos, started her career in 1968 at Northrup Corporation in the art department, drawing unmanned drones, airplanes and their parts.  Today her canvases reflect the beauty of the Central Coast!  Cheryl notes, “We are blessed to live in Santa Barbara. So many views are worth capturing on canvas for the artist eye”


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From A Sandbar

From a Sandbar, Susan Belloni

The tide is out, you take a break from shopping and walk across the hard-packed wet sand.  Reaching the sandbar, you turn around to take in the view of Santa Barbara.  The air is cool, salty and abundant.  Artist Susan Belloni carried a large canvas to the sandbar and set to work painting this image on a less than sunny day.  She recalls: “As an artist you sometimes think you don’t want to paint outside on a cloudy day but the grays can be just gorgeous so I try to remember that.”  Originally from Canada, Susan says her favorite art scenery comes from Gaviota, Hollister Ranch, Santa Cruz Island, Santa Ynez vinyards and ranches, Montecito and Devereux Slough.  Susan is a member of the Artists Guild, Santa Ynez Valley which exhibits at the Gallery Los Olivos; and one of the founders of SCAPE (Southern California Artists Painting for the Environment).  Take a moment and breath it in!

Wet Wednesday in Santa Barbara

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WetWednesdayfArtist Morgan Green says she was raised to be an outdoors-woman and keeps an active life which compliments her artwork.  According to Morgan, “I think this first-hand experience aids my art.  Drawing and painting have always been my way of commemorating the singular instants of beauty I find “out there”.  I want to bring my patrons the sensation as well as the sight of, say, an ocean wave smashing a cliff, or the lazy heat of a wildflower meadow.  It is a challenge I immensely enjoy.” Here is her view of Santa Barbara during a “Wet Wednesday” Santa Barbara Yacht Club race from her former racing boat the Zepher, a 32′ Beneteau model crewed by women.  The boats in the painting are sailing downwind and flying their spinnakers.   More than 60 boats participate in the Wet Wednesday races which take place Wednesday evenings during Spring, Summer and Fall months.

http://morganartist.com/

http://www.sbyc.org/

Central Coast Downtown

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ArlingtonframedYou know where we are, right?  A city on the coast and framed by mountains; Santa Barbara is beach volleyball, downtown shopping, Spanish-style houses and year-round vermillion bougainvillea.   Arlington at Sunset, an oil painting by local artist Sharon Schock, displays the hazy effect of the Pacific sunset in downtown Santa Barbara.  The Arlington Theater on State Street was built in 1931 and restored in 1976.  The inside of the theater is designed make you feel like you are sitting in a Spanish plaza; complete with houses, porches, and stairways,.  It’s not your typical theater venue for watching Star Trek.  Sharon is a prolific painter who brings to life the colors of Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, and other nearby communities on the Central Coast.  Regarding her inspiration for this piece Sharon says; “I think what drew me to this scene was the way the light was hitting the tower of the Arlington.  I loved how golden it was, and how it contrasted with the purple shadows.”  

http://www.sharonschock.com/

http://thearlingtontheatre.com/