ARTIsT PROFILE

Incumbent president and landscape painting instructor at Desert Art Center in Palm Springs, Bruce's Plein Aire oil paintings are a warm addition to our collection. 

Bruce attended the Center for Creative Study in Detroit, Michigan from 1968 - 1972. His studies included graphic illustration, design, and sculpture. The impact of the Sixties Modernism influenced his outlook and work. 

He is also an award winning theatrical costume and stage designer in Michigan and California.

Bruce moved to Palm Springs in 2012 and studied oil painting with Terry Masters.

   " I see my journey in Art as a continued source of pleasure and self expression.  My goal is that others can see in my work what is unique in my perceptions of inner and outer reality.  I also wish to connect to what is spiritual and universal in our collective human experience."

Tim's interest in drawing and painting brought him to major in Art at Reedley Jr College, from which he received an Associate of Arts degree in Fine Arts in 1980.  From there he was accepted and studied for a year at what is now call the California College of the Arts in Oakland CA., majoring in Graphic Design as well as painting.  Life took him elsewhere with a B.A. in Theology (Catholic Seminary)  and a Masters in Social Work .  

Although some art work was made in his working years, it was not till Johnson  retired in 2010 that he returned to his original interest in Painting and Drawing.  

Studies include College of the Desert, The Art Academy of San Diego, and now here at the Desert Art Center in Palm Springs. 

Subject matter ranges from Landscapes, Seascapes, Abstracts, Figurative and Portraiture.  Mediums include Acrylics, Oil, and various Mix Media and mark making approaches.  He is also experienced with Pastel Portraiture.  

Tim Johnson, (b. 1959, CA.)

Palm Springs, CA. 

  “Since falling in love with Rembrandt’s magic as an adolescent, I have been on a life-long quest to express through art my perceptual, emotional, and mental discoveries.”    

Michael Newberry,  is an avant-garde figurative painter advancing evolutionary flourishing. He does this through advances in color theory, body language, symbolism, and composition. He is also the author of Evolution Through Art. 

Michael was a fine art major at the University of Southern California from 1974 to 1977 and was mentored by American modernist Edgar Ewing. His first solo show, at age 19, was in 1976 at a local bank in La Jolla, California, and featured a large portrait, Fifi.  In 1977, before graduating, he left USC to study at the Royal Academy at the Hague, in the Netherlands. Later he attended the Free Academy Psychopolis from 1977-79 with an emphasis on life drawing. He had a second solo show at De Sluis Gallery in Leidsendam, Holland, in 1979. 

Outside of his studies he began creating canvases of life-sized solitary nudes, a practice he continues through to today. The 1978 painting Jette is a good example from this period. 

Starting around 1980 Newberry began incorporating realism, The Sculptor, followed up by narrative themes such as with this 84 x 60′′ 1984 painting, Pursuit. 

    "I would describe my body of work as Paintings of Life in Landscape. What I attempt to portray in my paintings is evidence of human interaction - with each other and with the landscape. These relationships are most descriptive in everyday activities. Gesture and environment provide clues to the subjects' personalities. Large shapes of broken color are built up with minimal detail, vibrant color and playful brushstrokes. " 

Education/Professional Development 

• B.F.A. in Design UCLA , 1984  
• Studied painting under Roger Armstrong at Laguna College of Art +Design and Irvine Fine Art Center
  1999-2007  
• Art4Healing Certificate, 

Publications

• Art Business News magazine, “Emerging Artist” feature, September Issue  
• Orange County Home magazine, “In Living Color” March Issue  
• Newport Beach Independent newspaper feature,
  “Paintings Raise Funds For My Refuge House”
  Chapman/Brandman University 

Teaching Experience 

• Intermediate Painting instructor at Irvine Fine Art Center  
• Painting Adventures with Jennifer Mathews 

Who have I been?

I was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Queens NYC.   I fled  when I was 18 and wound up being a hot shot lawyer in Boston for almost 50 years.  I specialized in solving complicated financial problems.   I also served as  Bankruptcy Trustee for the US Justice Department helping honest people get through the process and pursing dishonest people who thought they would get away with their bad behavior or activities

Why am I now an artist?

I always made art and come from a family with many artists.   As a lawyer I made art from 10 pm to 2 am.    Since my retirement I’ve been a full time artist .  I love the process of being creative, experimentational, cutting edge and brave.  I make art , by letting it happen and guiding the process.   I love making art that is different , unique and bold ….because everyone really is different, unique and bold.
 

Sharye seeks to share images that make people aware of their connection to nature. Themes include floral, aquatic, nebulous, and birds.  She works closely with images from nature and her painted birds are a big hit at the gallery. 

Sharye has exhibited in various galleries in the Pacific Southwest, was born in Palm Springs and currently resides in San Jacinto, CA where she home-schools her children.