Guest Artists

Creative Team Members - Abstract Portraits 2021

Emma Petitt

Emma started painting when she moved from England to Spain 4 years ago. Prior to that she had not painted in over 25 years. But now it is an intrinsic part of her existence, it is as natural and necessary as breathing. It marked a huge change in her Life, a new start, a new direction, a very personal Dream.

She now paints people, faces and figures. She is an Expressive Painter; she loves color, texture, and loose painterly qualities.

She is fascinated by people and the public, and the private personas they have. She tries to capture the memories, history, and story of a person. She wants to portray what lies beneath; the imperfections, the secrets, and insecurities.

Emma works mainly in Acrylic but also to use Oil Pigment Bars, Inks, and Charcoal. She creates highly patterned, textured under-paintings, which are her Foundations to her Figurative and Portrait work. She works large, filling the canvas to create Bold, Strong, and engaging subject matter.

Emma’s Abstract Creating Tip: “Allow yourself to loosen up completely creatively. Let go of the need for tight detail!”

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Christa Forrest

Christa is a full-time artist specializing in pastel, oil, acrylic and mixed media art. After spending 20 years in a finance career, she decided to follow her true passion and become a full-time artist. Christa spends her time sharing her passion with others, teaching others to be creative and exploring the world's landscape recreating it onto canvas.

Her work is a mixture of realism, exploration, experimentation and pure fun. She recently began creating a detailed and expressive Goddess series where she incorporates the divine feminine and illustrates the strength many women struggle to connect with in their daily lives.

“We remember to nourish our bodies with food and water but seem to forget to remember to nourish our souls.” Why do we find our inner selves starving and yearning for something more? Christa hopes to encourage everyone to unleash their inner Goddess through her artwork.

Christa’s Abstract Creating Tip: “Close your eyes- literally close your eyes. Get a big piece of paper, immerse your hands in paint, put on your favorite song, tap into your four year old self and let go. Open your eyes - yes you made a big mess. But think about that mess. It was completely YOU letting go. All those things: fear, perfection, the feeling of I must make it look like something was taken away. You utilized ALL those other senses minus sight (because your inner critic can see) and created with freedom.

Embrace that release! Celebrate it! Now retaining all of those feelings, do it with your eyes open (let your inner critic see it). Creating abstract isn’t always about seeing - it’s about feeling too. It’s guiding the viewer beyond sight towards a whole new dimension.”

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Sherry Woodward

Sherry is self-taught artist, and art teacher living in the San Francisco Bay Area, with her husband. She loves to paint almost daily and never runs out of inspiration. Although she works full time as a commercial insurance broker, she is a prolific painter devoted to her craft.

Her work can be described as impressionistic, expressive, and impactful. Sherry loves to share her process with her students, and encourages them to find the joy in painting and not to worry about making mistakes.

Sherry’s Abstract Creating Tip: “Get out your favorite colors of paint and favorite tools…can you say “color shaper”? Cool tools keep me in that playful, experimental mood that is the best place to be when you’re getting all wild and crazy down that rabbit hole.”

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