The changing light and colors of the California Coast fascinate me: the bold, dark intensity of a cypress tree's foliage etched by the brilliant sun, the way at other times the coastal fog transforms objects, and smudges the edges of land, sky and sea. Sometimes the sea is so blue, it hurts the eyes, while the land looks soft in the distance, but prickly up close. I paint to capture these moments of light, color and place. My paintings invite the viewer to stand where I am and to share the experience and feeling of the moment.
“In my still-life paintings, I attempt to convey the intimacy of a glance: the sunlight and dry warmth of summer, the fullness of colors and voluptuous abundance, a sense of well being.”
Laurel Mines studied painting at the University of California Santa Barbara, where she was a student of Irma Cavat. Laurel continued her studies with a number of nationally known landscape painters. She is a member of several art associations, including SCAPE (Southern California Artists Painting for the Environment), which donates proceeds from the sales of paintings to preserve threatened lands. Her paintings have been exhibited widely and have received many awards.
Selected Exhibits
Solo Exhibit, University of Santa Barbara Faculty Club Gallery, 2008
Solo Exhibit, Palm Loft Gallery, September 2007
Solo Exhibit, Fresco Restaurant, 2002 & 2007
Solo Exhibit Santa Barbara Athletic Club 2001, 2003
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Art Show, 2005, 2006, 2007
Small Image show, Palm Loft Gallery ,2008, 2009
"20 Women Artists", Palm Loft Gallery, 2008
Palm Loft Gallery 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
Santa Barbara Natural History Museum Art Walk, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008
Jade Restaurant, 2006
Santa Barbara Maritime Museum Art Show, 2005, 2006
Santa Barbara Semana Nautica Art Show, 2006, 2008
Faulkner Gallery, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
"Heal the Ocean", Benefit Show, 2004, 2005, 2006
Gallery 113, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
Soul Benefit Show, 2004, 2005, 2008
El Encanto Hotel, 2005, 2006
Cabrillo Art Center "Coastal Artists" Show, 2004, 2005
Marcia Burtt Studio, 2004, 2006
Music Academy of the West Art and Wine Show, 2003
Associations
Santa Barbara Art Association
SCAPE (Southern California Artists Painting for the Environment)
LPAPA (Laguna Plein Air Painters Association)
California Art Club
Oil Painters of America
Awards
Honorable mention,Santa Barbara Semana Nautica Art Show, 2008
Best Oil painting, Show for Environmental Defense, 2008
First place, Santa Barbara Semana Nautica Art Show, 2006
First place, Show for Environmental Defense, 2006
First place, SCAPE Show, 2005
Second place, Small Image Show, Palm Loft Gallery, 2006
Honorable Mention Santa Barbara Art Association, 2003
Press
''The Golden State' of Mines': Add another artist to list of landscapers worthy of viewing
By Josef Woodard
September 27, 2007
Santa Barbara News-Press
With the title of her exhibition,'The Golden State," at Carpinteria's Palm Loft Gallery, landscape painter Laurel Mines is playing with a double meaning, or maybe even more.
Of course, she's focusing on Californian sites, in the general vicinity and points beyond. But she is also dealing with the synthesis of golden light and color in her paintings, and states of natural beauty and artistic poise.
In this impressive first solo show, Mines settles easily into the considerable ranks of good landscape painters in the region. She displays a solid sense of style and a painterly style, somewhere between realist detail and an impressionist's inflections. Implicit in her art is an abiding love of unspoiled nature, and a desire to find within the landscape tradition a fulcrum of artistic reverence for the natural order.
In that process, Mines sets her sites on subjects both regulated and otherwise, whether in gardens or in lyrical vistas of land and sea.
The largest painting in the gallery is "August Bloom, Gaviota Coast," with wild yellow blossoms in the foreground, framing an open coastal expanse of sky and sea.
A smaller painting, "Blue Banks, Santa Cruz," extends the same compositional strategy, as does "Spring by Bixby Bridge, Big Sur," in which the artist is perched before a seaside cliff, in front of a sweet oceanic sweep.
"Bougainvillea at Alice Keck Park" is a blurry profusion of pink vegetation, with the street in the distance looking like a footnote to the splendor in the foreground.
As a painter, Mines has a sure sense of self, but is also a work-in-progress, as seen with the conspicuously rougher and looser use of paint and forms in "Goleta Estuary"
Mines' name can be added to the area's already long list of implicitly environmental landscape painters of note. It's a name worth keeping tabs on.
Laurel Mines: Spring Light
By ANDRIA WATSON / CASA
April 4, 2008
CASA Magazine
ARMED WITH A LOVE FOR NATURE AND A WILL TO PROTECT IT, Laurel Mines’ created Spring Light, an exhibit that will be on display at UCSB’s Faculty Club through April 30th, with a reception on April 10th, from 5 to 7:30pm.
“I wanted to emphasize the beauty we live in and try to share those images with other people,” shared Mines of her work. “People are going to see a variety of oil paintings at my show. I’ve painted scenes from Big Sur and Santa Barbara and there are some still lifes... all very colorful.”
As a seven year-old, Mines remembers seeing her grandfather’s art studio in Seattle. He, as well as her father, encouraged her to pursue her artistic interests. By the time Mines was eight, she had begun painting outside, en plein-air.
“I seriously started considering art when I was attending Dos Pueblos High School,” Mines shared. I was also interested in oceanography and geology because I loved being outdoors. But my art teacher, Audie Love, made me believe it was possible to have a career in art.”
Mines was born in New York, but moved to Santa Barbara when she was three, after her father received a teaching position at UCSB, where Mines later studied.
“I grew up in Winchester Canyon. I spent most of my time running through the fields, exploring, and riding my bike to the beach,” Mines related. “I loved the plants, and flowers, and seemingly untouched coastline. That’s really what inspires my work today – raw beauty.”
India, France, Italy, England, Scotland, and Spain are a few places Mines has traveled. She appreciates Santa Barbara the most because of it’s unique climate and natural treasures. Mines is a member of Southern California Artists Painting for the Environment (SCAPE), and she donates a portion of her painting sales to help preserve nature.
“Because of my love for this location, I hope to ensure these places are protected and cared for,” Mines added.
Marcia Burtt, Mines’ mentor of ten years, has also encouraged her expression as an artist. The two met while Mines was attending Santa Barbara City College’s Continuing Ed program.
“I admire her not only for her fantastic artwork, but also for who she is as a person,” Mines shared. “She is one of the most giving people I have ever met. I look up to her in many ways.”
Art in the community is important to Mines. “It directly affects me and my work. I think artists in this town have a strong appreciation for the land and that should motivate all of us to protect it.”
“Art is a balance,” Mines remarked. “In a world where technology reigns supreme, art is a hands on, creative process that allows us to use our brains and imagination. When I’m standing on the Bluffs on Ellwood, and am able to enjoy painting in the moment, I feel privileged to do what I do.”