Kevin Brown is a native Californian and a long-time resident of San Francisco.  Growing up in Sacramento and Lodi, he began drawing almost before he could write and thus began a fascination with light and shadow that took him through serious study of drawing, photography, cinematography and (after moving to San Francisco) ultimately, painting. Born with mild red/green color-blindness, his art for many years consisted of pastel portraits in one or two colors on toned paper.  In response to a challenge by a recipient of one of these portraits, Kevin began to study the color wheel, color harmonies and design, ultimately formulating a way around this visual limitation to create harmonious landscape paintings. The intimate settings he prefers painting are inspired often by the glowing effects of grasses and foliage illuminated from behind in the  late afternoon or early morning.

“I paint almost exclusively the small details of the landscape, rather than broad vistas or ‘scenes’. The play of light and shadow is usually my principle subject, rather than the objects or physical elements themselves. The compositions are then ‘found’ within the arrangement of light and dark; objects and surroundings. Trees, especially often feel like ‘surrogates’ for human emotion. My most frequently-painted subject is San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. After 30 years, still discovering hidden little corners!”

Kevin’s website is http://www.kevinrbrownart.com/

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Pacific Northwest native Sharon Calahan has had a lifelong love for nature and outdoor activities. Her art education in illustration and design led her into a career as an artist in the motion picture feature animation business. As part of Pixar Animation studios for 26 years, she helped create The Good Dinosaur, Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Cars 2, Onward and many more. A star in the field of animation, in 2013 she was admitted to the prestigious American Society of Cinematographers.

Sharon has spent her career studying the effects of light and color to enhance beauty and mood in the film world and has recently endeavored to transfer this knowledge into landscape painting. She loves to hike and paint out of doors, and then to use these field studies as direct inspiration in the studio. She won the Bronze Medal Award at the 2011 Oil Painters of America Western Regional Exhibition, and has participated in other juried events such as the Sonoma Plein Air Festival, the Napa Valley Art Festival, the Emeryville Art Show, as well as selected gallery shows. Sharon now lives and paints in rural Northeast Oregon.

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For the past 30 years Christin Coy has painted the Marin County landscape. An avid hiker, she is inspired by the beauty of the local hills and coastal regions. Her oil paintings reflect her strong connection with the land and reflect the unique mood and beauty of each setting. It has been said that Christin’s work evokes the deep, rich sounds of the cello. In the words of Jean Stern of the Irvine Museum, “Christin Coy’s works are soft and gentle views of California at its most spiritual moments. She treats the landscape with genuine tenderness, seeking always the most poetic times of day. Her light is subdued but heartfelt, and her colors form a deep harmony that precisely captures the soul of the land. The result is a splendid amalgam of light, tone and poetry.”

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While Mark Farina travels around northern California with paint and easel, his primary subject matter is the Monterey Bay area. An unmistakable expertise with color, composition and rendering evidence not only Mark’s experience and devotion to his art but his love of the land as well.

We proudly featured Mark’s work in our fall 2009 show, “A Heaven in the Eye: Seven Painters of the Northern California Landscape.”

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A native of Spokane currently residing in Chehalis, Washington, Robert Flanary has spent the last five decades drawing, painting, and etching, inspired by the Washington, Coastal Oregon, and Northern California landscapes. His exploration into tonalist plein air painting began years ago with morning expeditions along the banks of the Little Spokane River near his hometown.

Robert’s most recent paintings are inventions derived from both observation and reflection. Conceived to rest quietly on the wall in peace and harmony within the frame and the architectural space and changing light, the painting, through means of composition, engages viewers to discover its meaning through their own thoughts and feelings.

The Gallery has featured Robert’s work several times, beginning with the February, 2015 show, A Continuous Harmony: New tonalist paintings by Robert Flanary and Paul Roehl, and, in February and March, 2023, a one-man show, Robert Flanary: Seeing All Together.

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Timothy Horn is making his debut at Holton Studio Gallery in this year’s iteration of Beloved California, our annual all-gallery show.

Timothy Horn was born and raised in the small town of Yellow Springs, Ohio, and graduated from the Cooper Union School of Art in New York City with a focus in graphic design. After finishing school, he worked at several design firms in New York before moving to San Francisco, where he continued to work as a designer. When he first moved to the Bay Area, he explored with wild abandon the natural beauty of the nearby open spaces and was struck by the intensity of the light and the variety of landscapes in the region. Horn took his first painting class at this time, followed by another, and within a year he knew he had found his calling. He began painting more and more, and doing less and less graphic design until the fall of 2006 when he closed his design business entirely.

Tim now paints full-time and lives in the the small town of Fairfax where he is drawn to the everyday scenes of the rural areas in Marin and Sonoma Counties—the old buildings that have evaded development, the workings of ranch life, the old cars and trucks that continue on, or sometimes simply the play of light and shadow across planes of weathered color. He got his start painting plein air, but now splits his time between plein air and studio work. His work has won numerous awards, has been featured in several magazines, including on the cover of South West Art in 2012. Horn participates in a number of annual group exhibitions, is represented by six galleries and teaches painting workshops around the country and abroad. He is a signature member of both the California Art Club and Oil Painters of America.

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Ellen Howard is a California resident for 20 years but grew up outside of Boston surrounded by relatives who were artists. After earning a B.S. in Business and a minor in Art History from Syracuse University, she then began her career in finance and venture capital. It wasn’t until her two children were older that she returned to her love of art and art history. In 2010, she was introduced to plein air painting and started taking classes and attending workshops.

Ellen works primarily in oils, studying landscape and marine subjects on location. Thus allowing her to be outdoors, taking in the nuances, beauty and diversity of Northern California. True enjoyment comes from painting the marshlands and highlighting areas along the Pacific Coast, capturing the light as it spreads across a scene.

“I strive for my paintings to engage the viewer and evoke a sense of connection, create a stillness that transports the onlooker to a tranquil space. Each painting is unique and an expression of that mood or energy expressed at that time.”  —Ellen Howard

Ellen Howard was featured in our show
“On the Threshold: Ellen Howard, Tia Kratter, and Kim Lordier”
July 22 through August 26, 2023. More here…

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Holton Studio Frame-Makers has been representing East Bay painter Paul Kratter since 2003, gathering an enthusiastic following for his scenes of the state of California, from the Sierras to the seashore. Paul is a highly accomplished artist and instructor who has won numerous awards at Plein Air events across the country. A graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, after 22 years working as an illustrator and publishing several books, he now paints full time and teaches plein air workshops. He has also taught at the San Francisco Art Institute, and Pixar Animation Studios (where his wife Tia Kratter worked for many years in design, animation and as a teacher). Much loved by fellow painters as well as collectors, since 2005, Paul has led the Granite Group on an annual summer painting trip into the High Sierras. The humility and joy that Paul carries with him, along with his brushes, paints and panels, out into the mountains, hills, and to the seashore is directly reflected in the work he produces there. With an eye for color and form, his forthright use of paint and astonishing rendering skills allow him to capture the Northern California landscape with a direct and confident touch earned through long familiarity and devotion to the land and its light. Paul has been featured in several shows at the Gallery, including the Spring 2017 exhibit, “Paul Kratter and Terry Miura: A Language of the Land.” In spring, 2023 the gallery held a one-man show, Paul Kratter: View Through The Trees, celebrating our twenty year relationship with Paul.

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