ARTIST FOCUS
Julia Munger Seelos
J
ulia Munger Seelos had an idyllic
childhood where she had the freedom
to wander in the thick woods near her
home overlooking the Ohio River. “My love of
nature was cemented by those experiences,”
she says. “Growing up in Kentucky, my love
of horses was a given. My sketchbooks were
filled with drawings of them along with
landscapes dotted with livestock. I often focus
on farm animals and rodeo cowgirls.”
As early as she can remember, the artist
has been painting outdoors with watercolors,
and has found painting in oils outside to be
a rewarding challenge. “Colors in the deep
shadows and bright daylight are more intense
when experienced firsthand,” she says. “The
wonderful climate on the San Francisco
peninsula allows me to paint the California
coast from San Francisco to Big Sur and east
to the Sierras year-round.”
Plein air events have taken the artist to
the colorful Western landscapes of Zion,
Escalante, Sedona, the Grand Canyon, the
Olympic Peninsula and the Sierras. This June
she will have a feature show, titled Western
Inspiration, at Viewpoints Gallery in Los Altos,
California. “The Southwest’s red rocks will
be a counterpoint to the cool Pacific,” Seelos
says. “I plan to once again start the plein
air season participating in the Carmel Fine
Art and Music Festival and continue in the
western plein air events.”
Seelos is a signature member of the
American Impressionist Society and the
Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters Association, as
well as an active member of the Laguna Plein
Air Painters Association and California Art Club.Utah Meanders, oil on canvas panel, 11 x 14”ARTIST FOCUS
Sliding Stop, oil on canvas, 12 x 12"Summers Farewell, oil on canvas panel, 11 x 14"/julia.seelos.3