BILL MARTIN - Mendocino Art Center
BILL MARTIN - Mendocino Art Center
BILL MARTIN - Mendocino Art Center
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Linda Shearin<br />
Photo by Larry Wagner<br />
14<br />
By Peggy Templer<br />
Coast artist Linda Shearin grew up in San Francisco,<br />
nurtured in an environment in which creativity was<br />
expressed through crafts. She, like her mother, was<br />
“always doing something” – hooking rugs, sewing quilts,<br />
and other household crafts, but Linda was also always<br />
drawing. At the age of 10 she went with a group of school<br />
children to the de Young Museum and was so awestruck<br />
by the van Gogh’s – the sunflowers, the starry skies – that<br />
she knew then and there<br />
that she wanted to be an<br />
artist. She had at least one<br />
inspirational art instructor<br />
in high school, and after<br />
graduation embarked on<br />
a 25 year mission to take<br />
every painting class or<br />
workshop that she possibly<br />
could.<br />
The year 1992 was<br />
a significant turning<br />
point. Studying watercolor<br />
painting simultaneously<br />
with three influential<br />
instructors – Jane<br />
Hofstetter, Charlotte<br />
Britton, and Patricia Akay<br />
– Linda finally realized<br />
that she<br />
Land & Sea – acrylic, 24” X 24”<br />
“really had something to offer.” She was involved with<br />
the San Carlos Fine <strong>Art</strong>s Association and through them<br />
had her first exhibition opportunities.<br />
Linda and her husband came to <strong>Mendocino</strong> for their<br />
20th wedding anniversary, and continued to vacation on<br />
the coast. She discovered the <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong> late<br />
and almost by accident, when she ran out of paints! At<br />
the end of her business career in the Bay Area in 2000,<br />
Linda made a permanent move to <strong>Mendocino</strong>. She<br />
began taking all kinds of<br />
painting classes, at the<br />
<strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong> and College<br />
of the Redwoods, from<br />
Bob Rhoades, Nancy<br />
Collins, Patti Osborne,<br />
Judith Hale, Judith<br />
Cunningham, and<br />
the very influential<br />
Bob Burridge. After<br />
studying with him, she<br />
began painting with<br />
acrylics and pastels and<br />
is only recently getting<br />
back into watercolor.<br />
Linda’s themes have<br />
been wide ranging,<br />
including florals, figures,<br />
incredibly atmospheric<br />
skyscapes and seascapes.<br />
She will do as many as