Audie’s Legacy Show Artists

The Work of Audie Love

Of his paintings, Audie wrote, “It’s something like being a kid and creating a little world for yourself. It’s a complex world, one you can never quite understand, but compelling to inhabit for a while. Hopefully, someone else will relate to that world, too. If you do it right, all those complicated technical aspects of creation of that world don’t call attention to themselves, and you just have the experience. And you can come back and have it all over again.”

He was fascinated by the play of light through leaves and trees, especially looking up through oak trees and giant timber bamboo. Abstract painting appealed to him because he said you could create something that had never been seen before, a break from landscape images that are so common in Santa Barbara.

His early work in printmaking, however, was largely the landscape of New Mexico with different media – etchings, lithographs, silk screening. He did his best to avoid sentimentality in his work, a warning from his hero and mentor, Elmer Schooley.

Audie Love in Memorium

Andrea Finn Adams

Andrea is the Director of Educational Administration and an instructor at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects, Games and Animation. She graduated in 1994 from Wellesley College with a double major and honors in Studio Art and Art History. In 2000 she graduated from the Art Center College of Design, with a major with honors in Illustration with a concentration in Entertainment Design. In 2015, she earned an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Maine.

Jeffrey Baykal-Rollins

Artist, Director of Silsila Collective
Years with Audie 1980-1984
College Experience: School of the Art Institute of Chicago

“For four years Audie Love taught me art, and for four years he taught me to do what I love, because Audie Love, truly loved what he was doing. Audie understood that a classroom is a place where people on different paths converge for a period of time, and then each go their own way. He patiently and lovingly drew the talent out of each of us, enabling us to inspire each other without any sense of competition whatsoever. He taught by creating a supportive environment for each of us to teach ourselves, by taking risks, being allowed to fail, again and again until we could find our own unique path to where we each needed to go. Yet, the most important thing he taught us was how to struggle through something and still love doing it. I am the artist and teacher I am today because of Audie Love.”

Mara Bosnak

Art Director / Designer
Class of 1990

For more information and to see more of Mara’s work, please visit: www.DesignProjx.com.

Natalie Cederquist Levin

Artist/Sculptor
Years with Audie: 1975-1977
College Experience: Santa Barbara City College 1977-1979
UC DAVIS 1979-1980
UCSB 1983-84, BA Art Studio with High Honors
www.Nataji.com

“Audie Love inspired and nurtured my art career since I was 15 years old. He guided our class how to really ‘see’ an object, and not to be satisfied with simply looking at things. He developed my ‘eagle eye’ and sensitivity to what I was drawing, somehow capturing the soul of that object. Audie was an extraordinary teacher who used so many exciting tools and exercises attempting to expand our abilities and skill levels, taking us to another level of craftsmanship. My favorite exercises of his were doing blind contour drawing, and drawing with our nondominant hand. His encouragement and support fed my confidence as a young girl, in essence he was ‘the wind beneath my wings.’ I will always have a very dear place in my heart for this very special teacher. Thank you Audie…”

Ana Maria Guevara

Expressive Arts Therapy Intern
Candidate for a Master’s in Expressive Arts Therapy
(European Graduate School)

I was in Audie Love’s Beginning Painting class the 1992-1993 school year, as a sophomore. I attended UC Davis after high school and graduated with a B.A. in Women and Gender Studies.

“Audie created a classroom environment that was warm, comfortable and inviting for me, perhaps permanently fusing relaxing feelings and painting in my developing, sophomore brain. With the radio playing lightly in the background, his gentle, non-judgmental, constructive guidance encouraged an exploratory attitude free from an awareness of time.  I continued on to discover painting on my own, remembering to turn the canvas upside down for more realistic images my mind seemed to want to reinvent. Turning to it often to handle intense stress or illustrate extreme feelings, the patience I learned to give paint in Audie’s class continues today to help my mind escape into a discovery process of mixing, blending and emerging images. Sculpture and Art in Nature classes at UC Davis further paved my way to creating mosaic pieces with glass, stone and recycled objects as an Expressive Arts Therapy student and Intern. I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from and know such a gentle and kind man.”

Alex Gundersen

Graphic Designer and Ceramic Artist
Years with Audie: 1994-1998
College Experience: Otis College of Art and Design

“I’ve often thought of Mr. Love during my career as an artist.  I feel like I received a very strong foundation of many different skills.  Perspective, facial proportions, color tones and values, art history and more.  I’ve worked as an art instructor and remember his teachings fondly.  I remember that one time I asked him to fix a problem on a painting for me, and he encouraged me to do it myself.  It helped a lot to be able to work through it on my own.  Whenever I am teaching someone something, I like to do it the same way.  I respected his ability to lead such full classes, and it seemed like he always had the respect of all of the students.  I’m very thankful to have had him as a teacher for those four years.”

Eirik Paye

“I started high school in 1985 and was eager to meet my new Studio Art teacher, Audie Love. I’d soaked up so many stories from former and current students about this amazing instructor who was capable of inspiring the ‘uninspired’, or able to ‘reach’ teenagers and with the patience of a saint, coax out them works of wondrous creativity and skill.  I wasn’t disappointed. In less than 4 years, Audie had some of us operating and executing at a college level.  His sensitivity and wisdom was of such incredible value that even today, I find myself quoting him when reviewing aspiring artists’ work.  I credit Audie Love’s tutelage for my successes in ALL artistic endeavors as well as my decision to pursue an Academic degree at UCSB instead of heading directly into a trade school.  He’d helped me find the confidence I needed –to know with absolute certainty, I would carry my talent with me and that it would help fill the gaps when the time came.  That essentially,  a well-rounded universal perspective on humanity’s visual progress would eventually supplement my OWN. After completing a degree at UCSB, I spent a few semesters at Art Center as well as 2 at San Jose in the hopes of rounding out my skill as a artist and finding an interest in entertainment and conceptual art.  Before the end of my 2nd semester at SJ I was hired by SEGA of America to help design video games scheduled to be released with the Dreamcast system. … And so began a career that’s lasted 19 exciting years.  I can still remember my first day. After my parents, I called Audie. I think he was more excited than I was. In fact I always made a habit of keeping him updated with each good turn of employment. From Disney to Nickelodeon,  Audie always greeted the news with excitement and pride. I really enjoyed breaking good news to him. Over the years, I’ve sometimes caught myself daydreaming:  “Who would I thank when I accept my Emmy?” Audie was always at the top of that list and still is.  I have a lot of people to thank for my good fortune and support, but I don’t think I could ever be more grateful for having an instructor, a guide who reinforced my belief in limitless creativity and made a point of teaching that me it was OK to dream. I love you and miss you Audie.  Peace be with you.”

Carol Shadford

Artist, Designer, Professor of Art at Parsons School of Design, New York
Years with Audie: 1980-1984
College Experience: After completing a BFA at the The Cooper Union School of Art in New York, and the Villa Arson in France, she received an MFA from Hunter College, New York. In addition, she studied at the Ecole National Supérieur des Beaux Arts for one year as part of her MFA.

For more about Carol’s work, please visit www.shadford.net.

Cynthia Stahl

Art Gallery manager
Years with Audie: 1984-1988
College Experience: San Francisco State University
California Institute of the Arts

“Audie didn’t just teach how-to classes, he introduced us to the history and the possibilities in art, and helped us find our path. The creative thinking I learned in his classes inform not just my art but how I approach life. And the volunteer work he did for the Student Art Fund has in turn inspired me to give back to my community.”

Nicole Strasburg

Professional Artist (full time)
Years with Audie: 1982 -1984

“I can honestly say I have no idea what I would be doing as a career without Audie’s enthusiasm and generous spirit. He was the teacher I needed in high school to set the course of my life in the creative world. Audie put opportunities in my path that allowed me to dream of a different kind of life. He pushed me to submit portfolios and apply for scholarships in art, something I never would have thought of myself. Even after high school his door was always open with the offer of support and friendship.  Now, as ever, while I’m at my easel he is there still, encouraging, guiding and cheering.”

Tara Tucker

Art Instructor at The Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, CA
Professional Visual Artist represented by the Rena Bransten Gallery in San Francisco, CA
Years with Audie: 1984-1988

College Experience: BFA (Sculpture) and MFA (Sculpture) from the California College of Arts and Crafts (now CCA), Oakland, CA

“Audie wasn’t just an art teacher for me in High School. He became part of what I thought of as my family. He mentored me in life and in art. Because Audie set clear goals for each of his students in class, I learned how to start a long term project, work on it to the best of my ability, focus, and then see the work completed on time. That sounds like a basic thing that we should all know how to do… but it’s hard! And because Audie knew how to give us some tough love at times and had the knowledge of just how to present our work in the best way, we all looked like stars. I still look at his photo hanging on my studio wall for inspiration. Audie is wearing one of his crazy shirts with the bowling balls and pins on it, and he silently tells me to: ‘Keep going. Focus Tara. Is this the best that it can be? Great!'”

Monica Wiesblott

Photographer/Printmaker
Years with Audie: 1985-1988
College Experience: Studied Studio Art and Art History in Europe and Asia

“I think of Audie’s advice about editing almost daily, in my work. He was supportive but realistic about the quality of the work I made. He pushed me to think outside the box and to look at all sides of the image’s possibility; go with what pops into your head right away, but then re-think on it to develop it further.”