2025-2026
President: Terry Wimmer
Vice Presidents: Jacqui Bravo and Nancy Hull
Treasurer: Matt Lancaster
Recording Secretary: Mary Kelly
Correspondence Secretary: Gloria Peyrat
Directors: Olga Bologo, Odessa Burrow, Jim Felland, Bill Hull, Skip Lau,
Matt Lancaster, Fred Lehto, and Brian Tepper
Past President: Cathie Smith
Contact: (805) 963-1026
President: Terry Wimmer
My photographs reflect a long career in image-making. During my 25 year career in the motion picture industry, I specialized in camera and lighting for an array of commercials, feature films, special venue projects and documentaries. As I traveled the world on various assignments, I always had my camera close at hand. Photography has taught me respect for people, places and things that I would not have otherwise learned. As the internet started to expand, I received a certificate in Website Production and Design from the University of
California Santa Barbara. Soon I began working for UCSB as manager of the ucsb.edu website and also as a photographer generating content and documenting important awards and events.
Now retired, I have spent my time and energy as a fine art photographer. Most of my work is “in studio”, lighting and arranging certain plants, flowers, leaves and other flora. As a practicing Buddhist, over time I began to observe how all things are constantly changing, and that there is a beauty in this impermanence. I became interested in the Japanese aesthetic of Wabi Sabi or “flawed beauty.” Wabi Sabi nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three
simple realities; nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect. It can be defined in several different ways, but for me, it simply means finding beauty in imperfection and impermanence. Another series is called ‘Mandalas’ where I take that aesthetic and create a spiritual symbol from those same plants and flowers. These images are large, high-
resolution photos that create a beautiful graphic when seen from a distance but also show amazing detail the closer and closer you get. They are printed on unstretched canvas and hung from a rod with another rod running along the bottom.
Vice President: Nancy Hull
As a native of southern California, most of my life has been spent within walking distance of the beach, and that proximity has always had a pervasive influence, perhaps more and more as I get older. I’m a relative late–comer to art, as in college my artistic endeavors were limited to a bit of classroom scientific illustration and ceramics. Much later, while working for the Santa Barbara City College Chemistry Department, I began taking art classes through the (now) Extended Learning branch of the school, first in stained glass and later drawing, watercolor, and finally pastel, which for the last 5 or 6 years has been a passion. Besides working in pastels, travel is another passion; and combining travel and art as I explore and paint dramatic landscapes is even better!
I was juried into the SBAA in 2014, joining the board soon thereafter. Mainly I’ve been working at the managing the show.
Vice President & Treasurer: Jacqui Bravo (805) 564-7019
As vice president in a large international management consulting company, I had a successful but stressful career developing large mainframe computer systems in the USA and Europe. I retired early in 1998 to Santa Barbara where I had graduated from UCSB in 1968.
In 2002, I took beginning drawing and watercolor classes through SBCC’s Adult Education Program just to see if I could paint. I realized immediately that my paintings had a linear style rather than the painterly style of the artists I admired. I concluded that my analytical approach and obsessive compulsive behavior were not going to change, so, I decided to select subject matter to fit my natural inclinations.
I have painted landscapes, buildings, and portraits but find the greatest joy in painting flowers. I am fascinated by the infinite variety and the intricate structure of each flower. My goal is not to paint botanically perfect flowers but to capture the flowing movement inherent in each bloom.
MEMBERSHIPS: Santa Barbara Art Association: President 2011 – 2012; Vice President 2006 – 2011 and 2012 – present; Treasurer 2013 – present; Goleta Valley Art Association: Vice President 2007 – 2008 and Director 2008 – 2009; Los Padres Watercolor Society: President 2003 – 2016
Recording Secretary: Mary Kelly
Mary started her art career at the tender age of 3 when she awoke before dawn, while her parents were still sleeping, to ‘help’ her dad with a painting he’d almost finished for an art contest. Needless to say, it didn’t end well that day …. but she has been doing art ever since! However, she very seldom gets up before dawn nowadays.
Mary earned her BA in Fine Arts at Brooklyn College, City University of NY. She lived in Brooklyn and Queens for almost 28 years before pulling up stakes in 2007 and moving to Santa Barbara where her husband, Sean, grew up and where they now reside. She has two sons, Jason, who lives in upstate NY with his family, and Connor, who lives in Santa Barbara.
Mary lived in at least six states and three foreign countries while growing up because of her father’s career in the Air Force. Her experiences have inspired a sense of resilience, adventure, openness to other cultures, and a love of travel.
Mary is the illustrator of Adam Names the Animals, a delightful picture book written by her sister, Beth Wyndham. While the book is based on an Old Testament story, it appeals to people of all backgrounds for its message of friendship and perseverance. Besides, who doesn’t like a bunch of cute, colorful animals and a playful kid running around?! This was a labor of love that took four years to complete (talk about perseverance!) and so much tissue paper that Mary still can’t wrap a present without going into shock!
Mary is a member of the Santa Barbara and Goleta Valley Art Associations and shows her work in their local venues.
Correspondence Secretary: Gloria Peyrat
Art has been an integral part of my life, from the early school years with recognition of art abilities by classmates and teachers to retirement years with participation in two art associations, Santa Barbara Art Association and Goleta Valley Art Association. I have actually had 3 careers—20 years in Marketing Communications Manager for various corporations in Santa Barbara/Goleta, then another 20+ years as a fitness trainer teaching aerobics, senior fitness, and yoga, and now in my third (and best) years in art endeavors. I especially enjoy the people I’ve met in the art associations, a wonderful group of interesting people.
Since 2015 I have focused on oil painting and pastel pencil, but also expanding my education and exploring other media through classes and workshops.
Most of my commissions have been for dog portraits, and I do love capturing their expressive faces and spirit, but I also love doing portraits of people. I am currently working on improving watercolor skills on still life, primarily flowers, but switch between pastel, acrylic, and oil as needed according to the subject.
Directors:
Olga Bologo
A self-taught artist born in 1982 in Nizhny Tagil, a city in the Ural Mountains, when she was four she moved with her family to Visakhapatnam, India. Growing up in an exotic location, she established an early interest in nature and painting.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, followed by her return, the country was devastated by economic, social, and spiritual crises. She couldn’t pursue a career in art, so she opted for an English as a Second Language major. After graduation, she completed her PhD in Comparative Linguistics. Her study of conceptual metaphor
and its key role in human cognition and emotion helped her frame her artistic vision. Having moved to Santa Barbara, California in 2015, her passion for painting re-emerged. To further hone her skills and tailor her artistic approach, she has been taking classes from prominent contemporary watercolor artists. Her primary subjects include landscapes, architecture, daily scenes, and still life. The inspiration comes from what she refers to as “quotidian poetry” or “the ontology of the mundane.” Her art is figurative, but she seeks to depict what’s beyond shapes, lines, values, and color – feelings, thoughts, symbols, and visions. Similar to the notion of ‘ art form,’ she believes the most straightforward subject can potentially hold a magnitude of complexities. She finds her main medium, watercolor, both magical and maddening. Olga describes her process as something that initially makes her powerless and compels her to submit. Then, it teaches how to introduce changes without losing the captured: the effortless spontaneity, the fugitive nostalgia,and the ethereal beauty created in the initial chaos. To her, it’s like finding the essence of life itself.
Odessa Burrow
Born in Alamogordo, New Mexico, I was three years old when my family moved to a remote homestead along a wild river in Willow, Alaska. I’ve had a lifelong connection to nature, which remains at the heart of my artistic journey. After moving to Oklahoma as a teenager, I was inspired by my grandmothers’ colorful murals and began signing my own work in tribute. Originally a photographer turned painter, I began capturing the beauty of the natural world in oils, later expanding to acrylics, pastels, and watercolors.
I graduated with an MBA from Alaska Pacific University and spent my career in Information Technology as a microcomputer specialist—a fancy term for those of us who built and repaired IBM computers, installed operating systems and software, and trained management and staff to use the new technologies. I later advanced into management, eventually leading an IT department with 23 locations throughout Alaska. Since relocating to California in 2022, I’ve become an active member of the local art scene, serving as a board member for several organizations. I bring a spirit of creativity and dedication to my role, always excited to support and help grow Santa Barbara’s vibrant art community. I love adventure and the challenges that come with a life well lived. One of my favorite quotes, which reflects my journey through life’s ups and downs, is by Brandi L. Bates: “The greatest minds are like film; they take the negatives and develop themselves in darkness…”
Memberships: Goleta Valley Art Association, Santa Barbara Art Association, Gallery 113, Southern California Artists Painting for the Environment, Alaska Artist Guild.
Jim Felland
Born in Chicago and grew up in Indianapolis. My artistic beginning was at age 8. Entering a third grade poster contest my appetite for art work was initiated by winning 1st place with my entry. Through my public school years I would doodle, draw, paint and otherwise create as I found it satisfying to express myself at how I viewed the world. When in high school I participated in all available art classes and their various mediums. Attending Ball State in Muncie I was given further experiences and challenges in the art world and my vision grew. Under the tutelage of a gifted art director, Dr. A. Nichols, I worked in oil, sketched with ink, formed sculptures, created mobiles. The scope of my vision was enhanced after joining the Army as a staff photographer for 2 years in Germany. As a civilian again I became a newspaper and freelance photographer that added width and depth to my view of life and this world. Upon retirement I realized a new approach with art that gave life to water color. With numerous Adult Education classes and various talented instructors I added pen and ink to my medium. A 4 week stay in Norway added to my love of nature, color and form. My most recent addition to my works came from a 3 week visit in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I am a member of Santa Barbara Art Association and Goleta Valley Art Association.
Bill Hull
I have enjoyed creating art since 1970 and have been a lover of nature since a child. Born in Mt. Kisco, N.Y. I graduated from Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. with a degree in art and biology/pre-med in 1963 and then served as a medic in the U.S. Army in Korea between 1963-1965. Following my discharge, I worked in the biology department at SBCC for 32 years, and during that time I began taking classes there through the (now) CCL program, focusing on plein air oil painting, stained glass, drawing, botanical illustration and watercolor.
Lately, my focus has shifted to taking workshops, especially when there is an opportunity to travel, too. After being juried into the SBAA, I offered to help as a board member; currently I select jurors and help at ingatherings, occasionally help with hanging the smaller shows, and mainly do whatever I can to help Nancy with managing the shows.
In addition to SBAA, I’m a member of the Mesa Artists Studio Tour and S.C.A.P.E.
Skip Lau
In May/June of 2021, I had a life threatening illness which my doctors were unable to diagnose. All my body systems began to shut down and I began to rapidly wither away. I had no desire to eat and difficulty swallowing. One morning I unexpectedly woke up hungry and I began to slowly recover.
Since that time I have committed myself to discovering who I am as an artist. I have been creating assemblages, many of which relate to Artificial intelligence. I have also been avidly shooting, correcting, enhancing, printing and framing close-up, abstract photographs of nature and whatever else catches my eye.
I am trying to follow in the footsteps of Grandma Moses. She started seriously pursuing her art around 1933, at 78 years old, and lived to be 101. She painted simple images of farm life and her work was widely viewed. I see her as a role model for our ability to recreate ourselves at any age and for the capacity we have to tap into the creative forces that are continuously propelling the on-going manifestation of the universe.
Matt Lancaster
Matt has lived all his years in California; and, he is grateful to currently be living in Santa Barbara.
He enjoys painting and drawing; typically, he paints with oils or watercolors, and draws with inks. His paintings are done indoors and outdoors; but if you ask him, he will say, he prefers the opportunity to paint outdoors.
Matt loves his two daughters, friends, teachers, artist influencers, and family; he has endless appreciation for what they teach him and the kindness they exemplify.
Fred Lehto
Fred arrived in Santa Barbara in 1976 with a B.F.A. from Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan and soon began his creative endeavors. They include 43 years working at the Music Academy of the West, lead roles in the Santa Barbara Civic Light Opera, S.B. Garvin Theater, and Genesis West Theater Group. Fred also sang in several bands: “The Tom Foolery Band”, “High Society”, “The Hot Club”, and “Cloudburst, performing on cruise ships, in Las Vegas and various southern Californian venues.
On retiring Fred discovered “photographic light painting” where you create images using different colored lights set in motion.This passion has lead Fred to showing his “colorful” art in several Galleries including the Voice Gallery, Gallery 113, SBTC Gallery, Faulkner Gallery, and he exhibits at 1919 State all in Santa Barbara, Ca.. At 1919 State he has won two First Places and one second place, at SBTC Gallery he has a First place and Honorable mention, and he has a First Place in sculpture at The Voice Gallery.
Fred invites viewers to take their own journeys into his photos and creations and discover self created experiences.
Brian Tepper
Brian has been professionally creating art pieces for the past fifty years. His art education includes an Arts Degree from Pierce College, tutoring under the German portrait painter Hans Duddenhaus, and various art classes.
A highlight of his career was a seven-week traveling tour of his paintings throughout Europe under the auspices of the United States Army.
He enjoys being on the Board of Directors for the Santa Barbara Art Association and is a member of the Carpinteria Art Association.
Santa Barbara Art Association 