Rebecca Arguello was born in Santa Barbara, California, in 1977, and later attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, as well as Hirudaya Holistic School in San Luis Obispo, California. After owning a business in holistic care and working as an environmental monitor, Arguello made painting her primary focus in 2014. Since then she has developed a style of painting she describes as “expressive and abstractive but grounded in realism.”
Whaler’s Cove, oil, 18 x 24"
“The awe and connectedness I feel standing on location is what I seek to convey in my work,” says the artist. “I thrive from feeling overwhelmed and small in the presence of nature. I enjoy painting and studying the soft subtle value shifts within shadow as much as the hard terminator line within a high contrast scene. I adore the process and insight learned with every piece.
“I like the idea that there is something bigger than me. In truth, I paint to escape my internal state,” says Arguello, sharing that she struggles with depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses. “Painting beautiful scenes comes from a really painful place for me. I began painting to keep myself sober through addiction and the suicide of my sister.”
Headlands at Point Lobos, oil, 11 x 14"
She began specifically painting landscapes as a means to get out of the dreariness of Portland, Oregon, and travel. “Painting light was therapeutic for me then,” she says. “I would tell people I’m painting my way back home to California and that is exactly what I did.”
El Capitan, oil, 18 x 24"
Arguello’s work will be featured in two July exhibitions including the California Art Club’s 112th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition in Santa Ana, California, and the Door County Plein Air Festival in Fish Creek, Wisconsin. —
Want to See More?
www.rebeccaarguello.com
(925) 730-9225
Represented by Waterhouse Gallery
1114 State Street, #9
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
(805) 962-8885
www.waterhousegallery.com
Instagram: @rebeccaarguelloart
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