Conversations: Artist Orr to show watercolor art at Gallery 2
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Published: January 11, 2013
There will be plenty to talk about at the opening exhibit of the works of an acclaimed artist when Conversations: The Watercolor Art of Dorothy Orr will be exhibited in Gallery 2 at Ventura College.
The public is invited to meet Orr, a Santa Paula resident, at the opening reception Thursday, January 24 from 7 to 9 p.m. The show will continue through February 22.
This show will include drawings and paintings done on locations throughout Ventura County by Orr, who recently retired as the Ventura College fine arts professor and instructor. Orr has been a leader in the county art movement for decades, both as an instructor and an artist whose works are featured in private, public and corporate collections.
Orr had a studio built at her Oaks home where she paints and teaches, although as a recognized master of Plein Air Orr is often out and about first identifying and then painting her subjects.
When asked about the title of her upcoming “Conversations” exhibit, Orr said painting on location is, for her, very much like meeting an interesting person. “The longer I paint any specific vista, the more fascinating and complex the story becomes. It is comparable,” she said, “to having an in-depth conversation with an intriguing stranger.”
Orr is a founder of the recently formed Paaint (Plein Air Artists In Nature’s Theatre), which already was the focus of a recent exhibit on the Douglas Shively Wall at Blanchard Community Library.
Orr was a Professor of Fine Art at Ventura College, inspiring and instructing countless students starting in 1985. The recipient of numerous honors and awards, Orr’s works have appeared in many publications, including Architectural Digest, Art Week, and Los Angeles Magazine.
While she uses all aqua media, Orr prefers transparent watercolor. Working plein air, Orr is known to complete virtually all of her painting on location, making only compositional adjustments later in her studio.
Orr has said in the past that she feels “I’m on a mission. My goal is to embrace every opportunity to celebrate the common places that I love so very much.”
Ventura College Art Gallery hours are Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Parking on campus requires a $2 parking permit, which may be purchased from two automated yellow boxes in the West Parking Lot and one yellow box in the North Parking Lot.
For more information call (805) 648-8974.
