The Mission Trails Regional Park (MTRP) Foundation presents its next art exhibition, Second Nature, from Sept. 10 – Oct. 21. This exhibition will feature seven local artists working a range of media: Joanna Collier (Sunset Fields pictured above), Otto Kruse, Deirdre Lee, Dana Levine, Roz Oserin, Philip Petrie, and Meera Ramanathan.
The public is invited to a reception in honor of the artists on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The artworks featured in the exhibition will be available for sale with a percentage of the purchase benefiting the park through the MTRP Foundation.
About the artists:
Joanna Collier – Oil Pastels – Collier lives in San Diego and works throughout Southern California. She has studied art since childhood and has garnered awards for both her drawings and paintings. Her plein air oil pastels are done quickly in a single session, creating a more intimate connection between the viewer and the subject. Working on black paper showcases the luminosity, warmth and depth of color that oil pastels can convey. “Creating artwork is my favorite form of meditation because it allows me to release conscious thought and fully experience the present,” Collier notes.
Otto Kruse –Photography – Kruse is a native San Diegan, an engineer by trade, and discovered photography was a perfect medium for him to create art. Kruse regularly travels and explores, and through the camera he became a more patient observer. For him, time slows down when he picks up the camera, and his photographs provide a vehicle to share his experiences with others. Photography allows Kruse to connect with people and tell their stories in a way that is authentic. He is an avid learner and photography has provided endless opportunities for intellectual growth.
Deirdre Lee –Ceramic Tiles – Bold vibrant color and a strong graphic style blend in Lee’s distinctive collection of hand-glazed tiles. Her love of animals, nature, and color inspires her designs. Her work has included many tile commissions that bring joy to her clients’ lives.“I enjoy the vitality that my work brings to an environment and how it makes people happy,” Lee says. Her artistic training includes receiving a Bachelor of Arts in fine arts from University of California, Berkeley, and an art education teaching credential from San Diego State University. Over her career she has worked with many art mediums including printmaking, clay sculpture, painting, and for years was an art director/graphic designer.
Dana Levine – Photography – When Levine retired as a biochemist and science educator, she resumed her interest in painting and photography. She creates impressionistic, atmospheric images. Her aim is to express the richness of nature and the human form by infusing light and mystery into the work, creating beauty from things we may never notice. She notes, “My favorite subjects are people with a twinkle in their eye.” Levine is a nationally recognized artist who has won numerous awards for her paintings and photographs. She belongs to several art organizations in San Diego, and lectures on art and science at UCSan Diego.
Roz Oserin –Mixed Media – Oserin took up art in 2007, originally training under Jack Jordan, a well-known artist and retired art teacher. Oserin works with acrylic, oil, mixed media and watercolor, feeling that sometimes the subject matter dictates the medium or the feeling she is trying to convey. She’s a member of the San Diego Watercolor Society (SDWS) and has received awards for her paintings in juried shows with the East County Art Association, SDWS, San Diego County Fair, and Foothills Art Association. Many of her works are in private collections around the country and in Europe.
Philip Petrie –Oil Paintings – Petrie is a painter working in oils on canvas. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and drawing at the University of Rhode Island and his Master of Fine Arts at Ohio University. He has lived and exhibited in New York, Chicago, and San Diego, where he lives with his wife and daughter. Petrie’s process is automatic—each painting evolves as it goes along often taking a radical change in direction. Landscape is at the heart of his endeavor, but it is an imagined landscape which draws equally from visual perception and his imagination. He is especially pleased to be exhibiting at Mission Trails because the park is a major source for his work.
Meera Ramanathan –Paper Collage – Ramanathan is a paper collage artist. Her works deal with subjects which are often considered ordinary; things that we look at every day and take for granted. Her aim is to raise these items to a higher level as she believes that there is so much beauty and uniqueness in them. She thinks of her paper collages as an ode to the normal and typical and strives to elevate these objects. Ramanathan exaggerates the color and light to create drama in her works and uses pieces of paper to create bold chunks of color. Hand embroidery and sewing have been a huge part of her life and she looks for opportunities when she can incorporate thread into her works to create areas of interest.
The Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor Center is located at1 Father Junipero Serra Trail, and it is open daily from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. and admission is always free.
For more information about the MTRP Art Program, visit: mtrp.org/art.
