SANTA PAULA, CA – A retrospective exhibit of works by beloved Ojai landscape and still life artist Bert Collins will open at the Santa Paula Art Museum on Saturday, February 26, 2011 with an opening reception from 4 – 6 p.m. To request an invitation please call the Museum at 805-525-5554 or email info@santapaulaartmuseum.org.

Alberta “Bert” Collins was born in Los Angeles in 1928. Her career as a painter began at the age of fifteen at a ceramics factory near her home in Glendale. In 1960, Bert began practicing with both acrylic and oil paint, and had her first solo art show just eight months later. Commissions soon poured in from galleries in Newport Beach to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. In the following years, Collins maintained a near constant production of paintings in order to satisfy demand. Deciding that a less commercial creative process would be more enjoyable, Bert and her husband, Ralph, relocated to Ojai in 1976.

“This retrospective is truly representative of Bert’s entire evolution as an artist” states Museum Director, Jennifer Heighton, “It will include some of her earliest surviving paintings that few people have ever seen. It is rare to have such a comprehensive collection of an artist’s work spanning more than fifty years laid out before you.”

Bert was one of three artists who founded the Ojai Studio Artist’s Tour in 1983. After almost thirty years, the tour has revitalized local arts education and the economy. In 1984, Bert stumbled upon two particularly inspiring pastel landscapes in a gallery. She and her art were suddenly transformed. Bert immediately began painting in pastels and studied with such renowned pastel artists as Albert Handell and Glenna Hartmann.

The majority of Bert’s works are realistic landscapes, seascapes and still lifes rendered in soft pastels on sand paper. She continues to use acrylics and oils, but to a lesser degree than pastels. Collins is ambidextrous when she paints, capable of wielding a brush in either hand so that she may move more freely over her canvas. Although a well-known plein air artist, Bert prefers to paint from memory, or to use her imagination in developing subjects.

Museum Assistant, Julie Cluster, says, “That she often paints from her imagination is remarkable because her pieces are so realistic. The landscapes seem almost tangible. It’s as if you can feel the sunlight on your skin and sense the sky changing above you when you look at one of her paintings. Bert manages to capture the dynamism of nature because she has such a natural instinct for color and light.”

Today, Bert continues to teach pastel classes and workshops at her West Hills Ojai Gallery where she is oft quoted as asking, “Who has more fun than I do?” With a successful career spanning more than fifty years, a remarkably joyful spirit, and an extraordinary oeuvre, it is only natural that she should ponder such a question.

The exhibit will run until July 10th, and may be viewed during regular Museum hours: Wednesday – Saturday, 10 AM – 4 PM, and Sundays, 12 PM – 4 PM. The Museum is located at 117 North 10th Street, Santa Paula, CA 93060.