Bayou Painting

Mimi Herrera-Pease is a San Francisco-based painter who was born in Mexico City. Her mother, an American artist, and father, an engineer from Veracruz, Mexico, exposed their daughter to Mexican art and culture. Frequent visits to museums and galleries in Mexico and Los Angeles, where she grew up, shaped her desire to become an artist. Upon high school graduation, Herrera-Pease enrolled at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. She majored in Graphic Design and Packaging. While successful there, she soon realized that commercial art was not the direction she wanted to pursue. Herrera-Pease transferred to San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) and discovered a world of creativity. Under the tutelage of the late Carlos Villa (Guggenheim Fellow), she learned technique and self-expression through oil painting. Influenced by the New York School of Abstract Expressionism, Bay Area Figurative, and Neo-Expressionist movements, Herrera-Pease honed her skills as an abstract painter. Early influences were Jay De Feo, Robert Rauschenberg, Willem De Kooning, Mark Rothko, Franz Kline, Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Motherwell, and Jean Michel Basquiat. "The immediacy of painting allows me to expose my inner self through abstract art," says Herrera-Pease. "There is no point of reference, which I find challenging and exciting.” Herrera-Pease graduated from SFAI and began working as a union scenic artist in San Francisco (IATSE Local 16). She worked at American Conservatory Theater (ACT), in film, television, and commercials for twelve years. She married, had three children, and began a business in architectural color consulting before returning to her passion, oil on canvas. On November 10, 2016, Herrera-Pease was inducted into the National Association of Women Artists, headquartered in New York City.