SANTA PAULA, CA – “Old Hands, New Works”, opening March 23, 2013 at the Santa Paula Art Museum, is an exhibition shared between long-established Ventura County artists Michele Chapin and Susan Petty. Their latest works reflect strikingly new approaches and motivations brought to form by expert hands. An opening reception will be held Saturday, March 23 from 4 to 6 p.m. Admission to the reception is $10 for SPAM members and $15 for non-members. The exhibit runs through July 14, 2013.

“Michele Chapin’s most recent body of work is as refreshing and rare as her spirit,” says Museum Director Jennifer Heighton. An award-winning stone sculptor, teacher and community arts activist, Chapin works out of her open air “Stoneworks Studio” in Ventura. Her inspiration comes from found organic objects such as shells, flowers, bones, the figure, and Mysticism. Michele’s sculptures are captivating in color and sensual in form. Several of her latest pieces were carved by pushing a piece of stone past what is structurally possible. This aggressive working of the stone created a new variety of shapes unlike anything she has done before.

Fans of painter Susan Petty will also be pleasantly surprised by the new direction that her work has taken. As Susan put it, “the work in this show has come about as a meeting of life and art.” With photographer Bill Dewey’s “Waves” series as her muse, Petty used the chaos and motion of waves as metaphors for changes in her own life. Each artwork is an expression of a different emotion. And while Petty’s new drawings and paintings are quite distinct from her previous works, her art is as breathtaking as it has always been. Together, Chapin and Petty demonstrate that “old hands” and life experience can produce truly innovative art.

Reservations for the opening reception are recommended. Please contact the Museum at (805) 525-5554, or email info@santapaulaartmuseum.org. The Museum is located at 117 North 10th Street, Santa Paula, CA 93060. The Museum’s regular hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 10 AM – 4 PM, and Sundays, 12 PM – 4 PM.

Publicity Images: “Spirit from the Other Side” by Michele Chapin, Italian Alabaster on Mexican Marble, 2008, Collection of the artst; “Untitled” by Susan Petty, oil on canvas, 2013, Collection of the artist.