Por Linda Michael | Asociación de Arte de Foothills

Foothills Art Association December Featured Artist Chona Doering started painting as a way to document memorable places she visited with her family.

“My canvas is my journal,” she says. “Every brush stroke has a place in the painting that adds to its beauty. It’s like writing in your journal, each entry makes the story.”

Although Doering says she had always had a love for art, it was not until 10 years ago that she really got involved by studying the fundamentals, such as color mixing, composition, values, etc. to learn how to create cohesive work.

Doering studied under the tutelage of a “highly-regarded local, internationally-known artist,” who introduced her to plein-air painting. She read a lot of books on the subject and expanded her studies by taking various classes and workshops on drawing as well as still life and portraiture.

“I enjoy painting plein-air — I call it my outdoor office,” she said. “I like the spontaneity and the fresh look of the painting. I often paint larger pieces from the small studies that I painted outdoors, as most artist do.

“Oil is my medium of choice,” she continued. “It allows me to work on a painting in several sessions. It glides off the brush and lays perfectly as you want it to according to how you manipulate your brush. It is magical. I paint and create art because it is my soulful expression of gratitude for life, nature and the love that surrounds us. I hope my work will bring smile to anyone that crosses its path.”

An artist reception for Doering will be held Saturday, Dec. 8, 2-4 p.m. at the Foothills Gallery at Porter Hall, 4910 Memorial Drive. For more information, call 619-464-7167.

—Linda Michael is editor of Footnotes, the newsletter of the Foothills Art Association.