New Exhibit at Society of Western Artists September 26 - November 30, 2012 Gallery Hours: Wednesday - Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
ARTISTS' RECEPTION
Meet the Artists
A reception will be held on November 3rd from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
at the SWA Gallery
Please join us for an opportunity to meet the artists and
enjoy their beautiful works of art!
1st Place - Ellen Howard "Breaking Through", Oil
I begin a piece by trying to find the beauty in nature either in a forest with a beautiful spot of color, a piece of ripe fruit, depth of colors in the ocean, the grace of an animal or a beautiful garden. Color is very important to me as an artist and represents the abundance and richness of life. My work reflects positive moments in time and reminds me of the goodness of life. I try to capture the vitality of life in my paintings.
I am originally from the East coast and grew up in a household where art was greatly appreciated. My grandfather was a cartoonist in his spare time and my mother loved watercolor and gardening. I started taking art classes 6 years ago and found that I really enjoyed creating art. I was fortunate to find outstanding and dedicated teachers in Jim Smyth, Brigitte Curt, Nancy Call Torres and Elio Camacho. Gardens were always an important part of my life growing up and I love capturing the richness and diversity of flowers. I love the color red; to me this color represents vibrancy and warmth. Some of my favorite subjects are red roses, peonies and beautiful ripe watermelons.
I work primarily in pastels and oils. When I do pastels, I love the way I can keep adding layer upon layer of color on my artwork. Pastel taught me to be bold with color. I will do a pastel of my still life before I do the still life in oil. This step helps me lay out the composition and establishes my color patterns.
I am a member of the following associations: Society of Western Artists, California Art Club, Los Gatos Art Association, and the American Impressionist Society.
San Francisco Bay Area native, Teresa Ruzzo, is an award-winning artist who works primarily in pastel, painting the landscape on location and in the studio.Her sensitive touch and subtle layering of color give her pastels their signature luminosity and peacefulness.
She has studied with notable artists such as Terri Ford, Bob Gerbracht, Kim Lordier, Will Maller and Clark Mitchell.Teresa’s work is in private collections in the United States and Europe.
Born in China, Annette came to the United States in 1957, and settled in the San Francisco Bay Area after she got married. In the mid 1990's, after raising her children, she started taking interest in painting, and her passion has led her to a prolific body of colorful landscape panoramas and floral. Her inspiration comes from the works of old masters and travels with her husband. In the past few years Annette has participated in many solos and gallery group shows in the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada, Florida, and New York. Her work has been featured in several international art books and magazines. Her goal is to continue reach for growth to the best of her ability in order to reflect God's beautiful creation through her art.
