“For me, art is still about beauty,” oil painter Joan Brown explained in her artist statement. She’s one of three featured artists—along with oil painter Jose Silva and glass artist Linda Hill—in Morro Bay’s Gallery at Marina Square through Sept. 29.
“We respond to beauty, and whether it serves to calm, to delight, or to inspire, beauty is essential,” Brown continued. “It is an antidote to incendiary talk shows; dystopian, violent movies; and even pandemics. If I can, in my own small way, remind someone that we are surrounded with exquisite beauty if we stop and look, I am gratified.
“The natural world and the fellow species that live with us never fail to leave me in awe,” she added. “What we artists strive for will be, at its very best, still an imitation of the world we live in. How do we capture the transparency of light through water or the complexity of the human expression? Sometimes I see a scene that lives in my mind, insisting to be painted. Sometimes, I just have fun and paint a duck.”
There’s an opening reception for all three featured artists on Saturday, Sept. 13, from 3 to 5 p.m. The gallery is located at 601 Embarcadero, suite 10, and is open daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call (805) 772-1068 for more information. ∆
This article appears in Student Guide 2025.