Laurie MacMillan

Laurie MacMillan

Santa Barbara, CA, United States

About Laurie MacMillan

In 2002 I began working with clay, throwing shapes, altering surfaces and experimenting with glazes. Two years later I discovered that painting allowed me to work more spontaneously, with better control of my color palette. My love of texture transferred from clay to canvas. Rather than realistically recreating the natural and geological features that have always fascinated me, I paint my response to them. I now know that, whether thinking about geology or botany when I'm painting, it's about the inevitability of uplift and erosion, growth and decay. After losing our home to a wildfire in 2008, and then buying a home with a beautiful garden, I realized that my interest in geology and the natural world is really about the inevitability of change. Geology is the study of how the earth uplifts and erodes, and plants evolve every day. Whatever you think you have, it'll be gone someday, and whatever you don't like, that will go too.

Education:

B.A., University of Colorado

Studies with Rick Stich, James Armstrong, Lauryn Taylor, Bob Burridge, and Rafael Perea de la Cabada.

Events:

Annual Santa Barbara Open Studio Tour:
www.santabarbarastudioartists.com

Hundred Grand, Sullivan Goss Gallery, Dec. annually.

First Thursday of each month, 5-8 pm, reception at 10 West Gallery, 10 W. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara, CA.

Exhibitions:

Solo Exhibitions

May - July, 2014: "My Back Yard," Leigh Block Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA.

June-Aug., 2013: "Abstracts Inspired by Nature," PORCH, Carpinteria, CA.

March-April, 2011: Gallery U @ Salon U, Santa Barbara, CA

March, 2010: "Lines & Layers," Ojai Art Center, Ojai, CA

November, 2008: "Surfaces and Strata," The Arts Fund Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA



Selected Juried Group Exhibitions

May, 2015: "Edges," Casa Magazine Gallery, Santa Barbara. Dug Uyesaka, Juror.

April - May, 2015: "Multivision," TVSB Media Arts Center, Santa Barbara. Nancy Gifford, Juror.

Dec., 2014 - Feb., 2015: "Hundred Grand," Sullivan Goss Gallery, Santa Barbara.

Oct., 2014: "Small Images," Atkinson Gallery, Santa Barbara. Tif Sigrids, L.A. Gallerist-Curator-Artist, Juror.

Sept., 2014: "Artwalk Artists of Distinction," Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Diane Waterhouse, Gallerist, Juror.

May - June, 2014: "Made You Look," Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art, Montecito, CA. Meg Cranston, Otis College of Art & Design Art Dept. Chair, Juror.

Feb. - April, 2014: Exhibition at the Mayor's Office, Santa Barbara City Hall.

Dec., 2013 - Feb., 2014: "One Hundred Grand," Sullivan Goss, an American Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA.

Oct., 2013: 28th Annual Small Images Exhibition, Atkinson Gallery, Santa Barbara. Tim Berg & Rebekah Myers, Jurors.

May-June, 2013: "Confluence," Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art, Santa Barbara. Peter Frank, L.A. art critic, Juror.

March, 2013: "Metamorphosis," 855 Gallery, Carpinteria, CA. Susan Bush, Gallerist, Juror.

Jan.-March, 2013: "Independent Studies," UCSB Faculty Club, Santa Barbara, CA. Francis Scorzeli, Juror.

June - Aug., 2012: "How Soon is Now?" (12 paintings) MichaelKate Interiors and Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA, curated by Brad Nack.

May 2012: Art Matters Encore! Huntington Library & Gardens, San Marino, CA. Jurors included curators from Norton Simon Museum and Huntington Library, and Art Center staff.

November, 2011: 5 x 5 Invitational, Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA.

May - June, 2011: "In the Abstract," featured artist. Juried by Tony Askew, 855 at The Arts Center, Carpinteria, CA.

Oct. - Dec., 2010: "Ojai Celebrates Art III," Ojai Valley Museum, Ojai, CA.

July - Sept., 2010: "Make Hay While the Sun Shines," Palm Loft Gallery, Carpinteria, CA. Arturo Tello, Juror.

July, 2010: "Hot Summer Days, Hot Summer Nights," Ojai Art Center, Ojai, CA. Richard Franklin, Juror.

October, 2009 - January, 2010: "Reflections and Projections, 20 Years of the Individual Artist Awards," Channing Peake Gallery, curated by Annette Kubitza, Santa Barbara, CA.

September - December, 2009: "Allusions," curated by Ana Victorson, Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara, CA.

July, 2009: "2009 Anniversary Juried Art Show," Santa Barbara Maritime Museum.

October, 2008: "Atmosphere, Wind and Shadows," 855 at the Arts Center, Carpinteria, CA.

August, 2008: "It's All About Color," Cabrillo Pavilion Art Center, Santa Barbara.

July, 2008: "Hot Summer Days, Hot Summer Nights," Ojai Art Center, Ojai, CA.

April - June, 2008: Juried Group Show, Gallery Ten Twenty-Nine, Santa Barbara, Ca.

March - April, 2008: Individual Artist Award Winners Group Show, Arts Fund Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA.

September – November, 2007: Artists of Step One at Meisel Gallery of Art, Santa Barbara.

June – July, 2007: Exhibition Show, Larry Iwerks’ Weldon Art Ranch, Santa Barbara.

April, 2007 & Sept. 2006: Members’ shows, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art.

January, 2007: Juried show, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art.

September, 2006 - April 2008: Stinn Jewelry & Art, Santa Maria.