"Glorious Gladiolas" by James Paul Brown

James-Paul Brown blends the broad brushwork and vibrant colors of Van Gogh with the strokes and pastel shades of Monet to produce enchanting, passionate masterpieces. With his history as a painter, radio entrepreneur, wine connoisseur, traveler, and reciter of poetry, his life resembles his colorful palette, capturing the beauty of adventure of the human experience. His paintings are windows into an enchanted world blending energy, color and romance, as well as his favorite cities and landscapes.Over thirty two years ago, Dominique Sennelier wrote a letter to James-Paul comparing his paintings to the great French Fauve artist Albert Marquet. A true romantic, Brown adds elements of fantasy, music and mermaids, flowers and fairies to his lyric paintings.
His paintings begin with a pencil under-drawing. This linear plan sets the format of the general composition. Color is then added to enrich, flesh-out and give life to the initial sketch. These vibrant colors are applied with a variety of strokes that vary from short daubs to long threads of paint. The resulting texture of color appears like a rich tapestry.

"Irises in a Pink Vase" by James Paul Brown

"Wisteria at Meridian Studios" by Sarah Carr

Sarah Carr has evolved her own very distinctive style of painting. Her pieces show a bold and confident execution, with a beautiful Fauvist palette and what has been called "perfect composition". Goethe wrote, "Look until you become fascinated. Trust that you will see something". The artist is drawn to a certain viewpoint – a specific relationship between shapes and spaces. With her contemplative observation the place begins to reveal its secrets. She then creates textures of light, shadow and reflection that transcend ordinary landscapes. Her paintings are true to Fauvist style with assured strokes of brilliant color, yet retaining a sense of peace and tranquility.

"Spring Evening at Naples" by Sarah Carr

"Hyeres" by Ken Christensen

Ken Christensen paints with an intensity and bravura that reveals the glory and beauty of even the most mundane scenes. Working on site with the richest of color pallets, he paints with bold assured strokes, clearly rendering the vital essence and energy of his landscapes. Christensen spent much of his life living in London, Paris and Spain, also Michigan and New Mexico. Since 1998 he has made his home in San Luis Obispo, while still traveling extensively. He brings the light and color from all his travels to his canvases. In this exhibit we are pleased to show many of his Oil Paintings from France as well as some of his finest work painted in California.

"San Luis Obispo Mission" by Ken Christensen

"Table with Wine, Fruit and Red Chair" by Kathleen Elsey

Reviewing Kathleen Elsey's work a San Francisco Art Reviewer called her Fauvist paintings exhibit "A dramatic brush with life". Kathleen Elsey paints with a looser hand, a vivified palette and brusque brushwork. "I want to capture the emotion of my subject, I see. I feel. I discover rhythms, shapes, lines. I want to balance between my eye, my mind and my heart. She says, "I am a Fauve painter, a colorist and I tend to exaggerate. I chase light and shadows, I freeze colors and shapes and make these marks on my canvas". You will see in these paintings that she definitely caught up with the light and shadows. The colors that she was chasing are vigorously captured on her canvases. Loose and free, her paintings convey enormous energy and a passion for light and color.

"Beach Breakfast"by Kathleen Elsey