ARTIST CLOSEUP • Beth Sargent

Gallery at Marina Square Presents
a “Close Up” of Artist

Beth Sargent

Beth Sargent

Golden Light Halfdome
© Beth Sargent

I have always loved photography. When I was young, I would sneak off with the family’s brownie camera. I loved the thrill of seeing what I had captured when the film was developed. In my late teens I purchased a Yashica Single Lens Reflex Film Camera. I never went anywhere without it capturing moments in time. I would get together with friends and family to share a slide show. It was always a big hit.

Hawk Profile © Beth Sargent

Nothing gave me more joy than wondering off on my own to capture sunsets, take close up shots of flowers, or photograph star trails at night… nature and landscape photography was my real love.

Soon work and life seemed to get in the way of my photography. There was a large gap in time before I picked up a camera again to shoot images that inspired me. I am not sure what made me decide to give in to my creative side and capture nature’s beauty. One reason could have been that digital technology was improving so much that I liked the results I had been seeing. But whatever the reason, it was like I had been waiting most of my life to photograph nature again. It was like coming home. 

Stormy Seas © Beth Sargent

Yellow Barn © Beth Sargent

In 2008 I purchased my first Digital SLR camera and joined The San Luis Obispo Camera Club. Joining a local camera club can really improve anyone’s photography. At my very first meeting, a really talented photographer talked about High Dynamic Range Photography, also known as HDR. I went home that evening and downloaded an HDR program. The rest is history. HDR Photography seemed to resonate with me. Most of my landscapes and seascapes incorporate this technique. HDR allows me to get the light levels in my finished image that I can’t get with just one shot. The result is a shot that looks exactly as the scene actually appeared.

Landscapes and nature photography, especially birds, are my main focus. Early morning and late afternoon are my favorite times to photograph. I just love coastal sunsets, sunrises, rural and nature scenes.

Silent Hunter © Beth Sargent

Though all birds are of great interest to me, raptors are my favorite. What is it about photographing birds that has me hiding out in bushes and wearing silly looking camouflage clothing? I am not quite sure. I think it is the wildness, the freedom of flight, and the determination of nature to survive. Whatever it is, I am driven to seek out birds of prey and capture them in action. I almost always get to witness some incredible action. I absolutely love it.

There are times when someone will say to me, “Photography is your hobby.” I smile and say, “Not true.” It is way more than a hobby. It is what I do. For me, photography is a passion.

I found a quote from a poem that really says it all for me…
“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.”

Rumi, Sufi Poet

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ARTIST CLOSEUP • Karen Peterson

 

Gallery at Marina Square Presents
a “Close Up” of Artist

Karen Peterson

Karen Peterson

I received my first camera on my ninth birthday and I enjoyed taking snapshots of my family on vacations and of friends around my neighborhood. I didn’t consider the artistic aspects of photography until my Dad gave me his old Zeiss Contaflex 35mm SLR when I was in my twenties. I began taking the occasional weekend photography seminar (Point Reyes Field Seminars was my favorite location) and joined the Palo Alto Camera Club. Showing and sharing my images with other photographers encouraged me to take my photography in new directions. I began experimenting with Polaroid films, eventually teaching short seminars on Polaroid Image and Emulsion Transfers using Polacolor film. I studied traditional black and white darkroom techniques at UC Berkley Extension in San Francisco and hand coloring using Marshall’s Photo Oils. 

Chapel Hill Sunset © Karen Peterson

Since moving to the Central Coast in 1999 I’ve been actively involved in the Central Coast Photographic Society and the San Luis Obispo Camera Club, serving terms as President of both organizations. I’m currently experimenting with various digital techniques including High Dynamic Range (HDR).

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Deb‘s Iris © Karen Peterson

Fall Color Morro Bay ©
Karen Peterson

Afternoon at the Beach © Karen Peterson

It’s in the Cards © Karen Peterson

ARTIST CLOSEUP • James A. Crawford

Gallery at Marina Square Presents
a “Close Up” of Artist

James A. Crawford

Award winning photographic artist James A. Crawford’s interest in art began in high school and further developed at Orange Coast College where he majored in architecture and minored in history and art. In 1966, while in Viet Nam, he purchased his first 35mm camera. Upon his return to the States, Crawford lived and worked in Laguna Beach, CA pursuing an architectural career while continuing to photograph and interact with area artists. In 1976 James moved to San Luis Obispo to further his education at Cal Poly where he majored in architecture and minored in photography. Crawford states: “I have been greatly influenced by the Brooks experience because all my professors were Brooks Institute graduates.” James continues to further his photographic education through yearly workshops with varied master photographers.

Life Tree © James Crawford

 Crawford is the recipient of first place ribbons and Best of Show awards in several photography shows and publications and has been displayed at the Photo Technique Magazine, Preston Contemporary Art Center in Mesilla, NM, The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, Cal Poly (SLO), SLO Arts Gallery, SLO Coast Journal, Johnson Gallery, The Photoshop, San Luis Artist’s Gallery, Gallery at Marina Square in Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo City Hall, Gallery at the Network-San Luis Obispo, Olive Tree Fine Arts Gallery in Atascadero, CA, and San Luis Obispo Museum of Art. Crawford’s work also hangs in many private collections.

Eye Heart You © James Crawford

Wild Oak © James Crawford

Crawford believes there is more to photography than looking through the camera and pressing the shutter. He says, “The camera is only part of the process. It’s where my creativity leads on the computer, or the darkroom. It is not a mere image, it is an extension of my whole self, my whole being, the sum of all my experiences and the influences of great artists I admire.” Some of those artists are Mondrian, Braque, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Klee, the architect Antonio Gaudi and the photographers Eadweard Muybridge, Wynn Bullock and Paul Strand—to name just a few. Crawford states that many artists are an influence. “I take little pieces from everything and everyone and meld it into my own vision and truth. Whether that’s from architecture, sculpture, painting, music, photography or literature.” Not all of James’ images are intended to look like either a classic photograph or a painting. James has yet to find a classification, nor do he want it to be boxed or classified.

Crawford’s portfolio may also be found at the Web Galleries: http://www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/c/crawf/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/jacrawf/ and http://saatchionline.com/crawfphoto

ARTIST CLOSEUP • Don Doubledee

Gallery at Marina Square Presents
a “Close Up” of Artist

Don Doubledee

In addition to being an artist and a photographer, Don Doubledee is an architect practicing in Morro Bay since 1982.

Sunday Morning © Don Doubledee

Don’s pen and pencil sketch art has been a hobby. He has been known primarily for his pencil portraits of employees and clients. His “Postcards of Amsterdam” series from 2001 began what Don calls his “Postcard” sketches. They feature pencil line drawings he created while traveling. His “Postcards of Morro Bay” series features pencil and ink drawings and watercolors of Morro Bay’s waterfront. In addition to graphite, colored pencil, pastels, and watercolor, Don is experimenting with mixed media with more his recent work. Don is also an amateur photographer and has added photography to his palette.

Amstel Adam © Don Doubledee

Early Birds © Don Doubledee

Godwits at Rock © Don Doubledee

Sunset Morro Rock © Don Doubledee

ARTIST CLOSEUP • Jack McNeal

Gallery at Marina Square Presents

a “Close Up” of Artist

Jack McNeal

I am a lifelong wanderer. As a boy, living in Long Beach, I would spend hours walking in the salt flats near my home. Another place we, the kids, called the sand dunes. This was an area on the edges of Alamitos Bay that was a wasteland of dredging spoils.

With the addition of a small rowboat, this turned into exploring around the bay. By this time (ca 1948), I was beginning to occasionally carry a camera with me.

Move forward a “few” years and I still investigate places on land and water. Now I carry a camera as a full time appendage.

My inclination is to follow any trail or road that heads toward the beach. Rain, fog and big surf are also attractive to me. I try to capture a sense of place and am drawn to the obscure beaches and headlands that rarely have anyone else on them.

On the water, I paddle canoes and kayaks around Morro Bay, and other California estuaries, including Elkhorn Slough, Alamitos Bay, Newport Bay and Mission Bay and San Diego Bay. Once again, interesting weather is an attraction to me.

My work is printed on 100% rag, hot press watercolor paper and matted with 100% rag museum board. This is done in an effort to ensure that my customers will be able to enjoy my work for many years.

Late Sun on Sandspit © Jack McNeal

Beach Near Piedras Blancas © Jack McNeal

Sweet Springs © Jack McNeal

Twilight on the Strand © Jack McNeal

Hidden Beach © Jack McNeal

ARTIST CLOSEUP • Galen Griswold

Gallery at Marina Square Presents

a “Close Up” of Artist

Galen Griswold

“As the artist, I want people to enjoy what they see in my work. It is people, painting, purpose, and possibility that keeps me going in life. I am inspired by other people and their work and have fun creating mine. Marina Square Gallery and friends have created a masterpiece of a place for people to come and enjoy. And, I am so glad to be a part of it. One witnesses in nature Bergson's elan vital (vital energy) and when one paints the experience is like Pablo Neruda's poem--a focused feeling of being ‘fully empowered’.”

Crystal Cove #3 © Galen Griswold

Galen Griswold is a plein-air painter that loves capturing the moment… Paint flows naturally with its own motion. Movement, energy, color come together and the painting experience is serendipitous. Our coastal area and the islands of Maine are often featured in Galen’s work.

Galen studied at San Francisco Art Institute. He is a student of Ted Georschner and Ted Chistensen. He was chosen for a three-week program at the School of Art on Deer Isle in Maine. Over 1,100 collectors enjoy the color, the freshness, and the energy of his work.

Ames Pond Reflections © Galen Griswold

Marigold Fields © Galen Griswold

Galen paints with oils and acrylics, and his work is featured at Gallery at Marina Square. He loves the great outdoors and the breath-taking beauty of our landscape experience. First a field sketch is often done in acrylic. The painting is sometimes then completed in the studio with oil. Galen attacks the canvas in each case from the inside-out, focusing first on the larger shapes and receives the specifics from the scene itself outside-in. He delights in working with the paint and the elements—their flow and vibration is reminiscent of the nature that it reflects.

Stowe Lake Bridge © Galen Griswold

Maine Sail © Galen Griswold

Vineyard Road © Galen Griswold

www.galenart.com

ARTIST CLOSEUP • Randee Ward

Gallery at Marina Square Presents
a “Close Up” of Artist

Randee Ward

I love to create and use my imagination.

To develop something in a fresh and different way with nature as my subject, I create artistic expressions that start with the realism of photography, but that’s where I take a different turn. It has become my passion to express myself with both mixed media utilizing a photo core and multiple photographic images using one, or many, original photographs.

My mixed media is where I merge my imagination with the reality of the photograph. Simply put, I go beyond the photographic borders. By no means is it traditional mixed media. Being fascinated with the process of extending and merging realism with the imagined, using a blend of different media, I have created a very unique style that excites me. The entire process of creating, beginning with shooting the scene or object I want to photograph, up to putting the last touch on the expression, continually engulfs each creative urge I feel. To merge different media and change the outcome and feel of the beginning photo… it’s amazing.

The same can be said for my development of multiple images. Here technology meets creativity and I get thoroughly engrossed in the process. What starts with a simple photographic image ends by embracing a variety of digital tools and completely moves away from the original photograph. The end result is a creative expression that has grown dramatically.

Based on nature, both types of expressions compliment each other. Each allows me to fulfill my need to express the beauty in nature.

Fall Leaves © Randee Ward

Fire's Autumn © Randee Ward

Foothill Stream © Randee Ward

Poppy Ridge © Randee Ward

Radiance Reflected © Randee Ward

ARTIST CLOSEUP • Charles Pruitt

Gallery at Marina Square Presents
a “Close Up” of Artist

  

Charles Pruitt

Arroyo Grande resident Charles Pruitt began taking photographs over 40 years ago when he was given an old 35mm camera by a family friend.

While living in Hawaii, Chuck was mentored by Boone Morrison, founder of the Volcano Art Institute in Volcano National Park. This association led to meeting and learning from Brett Weston, Minor White, and Paul Caponegro. During this time Chuck began working in large and medium film formats, abstract photography and using color infrared film and long exposures; often taking a 4x5 Crown Graphic on backpacking trips.

Chuck studied photography after returning to California. While attending college he combined Chemistry and Photography classes to recreate historic photographic methods of wet plate negatives in addition to platinum, cyanotype and albumin printing techniques. This required making glass negatives and printing paper. Chuck received state and national recognition for his experimental prints.

Chuck took up digital photography in 2004, but still occasionally uses his 50+ year-old Hassleblad 500C.

In 2008 Chuck began printing on canvas and other fine art media. This process is called Giclée (zhee clay) and uses archival inks and media.

Evening in Morro Bay © Chuck Pruitt

Haceta Light House © Chuck Pruitt

Bricalveil © Chuck Pruitt

ARTIST CLOSEUP • Gregory Stephen McIntosh

Gallery at Marina Square Presents
a “Close Up” of Artist

  

Gregory Stephen McIntosh

The Other © Gregory Stephen McIntosh

“The owl of sleep

                calls out

To coax you

                to his field of dreams”

                                                Unknown

“If endowed, the secret workings of my mind and soul find expression in color and form, light and dark, suggested and delineated, inspired by that inner vision. After the nightingale song, under the curve of the milky moon, before the spread of the ivory fan: the Nocturnes.”

                                                Gregory Stephen McIntosh

Augur © Gregory Stephen McIntosh

Magus © Gregory Stephen McIntosh

Revelation II © Gregory Stephen McIntosh

Jason © Gregory Stephen McIntosh