A recurring feature of my work is the blending of closely observed reality, with textures, patterns, and unexpected fragments of abstract color.

The reality springs from the world around me. I live in the rural Ojai Valley, an area in Southern California where land is still dedicated to orchards, oranges, lemons, and olives. Almost every day I walk and as I walk, I imagine paintings using these things.
Returning to my studio, I create an imaginary environment for the things I see. I want to isolate them, to study, perhaps just two pears or a single branch of loquats. I enjoy the simplicity, the spareness of a few objects, carefully observed.

The most fun I have in a painting is doing the backgrounds. They are freely improvised, a result of "playing" with the paint . . . lots of layers, surprises, no rules, boundaries, or preconceptions. The invitation is to follow what seems intriguing, a color, a texture, the suggestion of a mood. The freedom of the background balances the exactness of the realist subject, the yin and the yang. My work rests in this balance between reality and imagination.

I, a native of San Francisco, returned to California after completing a BA degree in English from the University of Colorado, and a MA degree from Columbia University. For fifteen years, I produced pottery which was sold in fine craft galleries across the US. In 1990, on a mere whim, I took my first painting class. It has been my passion since then.

My studio is open during the Ojai Studio Artists’ Tour in October, and by appointment. Contact Sherry at (805) 646-4122 or sherry@sherryloehr.com