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Ojai Studio Artists Vote in Five New Members
 (l-r) Brian Berman, Jeffrey Crussell, Pamela Grau, Devin Oatway and Doug Lochner By Anonymous — Wednesday, April 10th, 2013
The Ojai Studio Artists (OSA) are proud to announce the addition of five new members to their ranks on this, the 30th year of the Ojai Studio Tour, one of the longest running art groups in the country. The five candidates were voted into the membership and will participate in the 2013 Ojai Studio Artists Tour on October 12-13. The new members are Brian Berman, Jeffrey Crussell, Pamela Grau, Doug Lochner and Devin Oatway. Brian Berman has been sculpting since 1991, working in cast glass, various metals and stone. "It is my intention that each sculpture brings healing and renewal to the times we live in," Brian explains, "As well as a peace message to future generations." A recent transplant to Ojai, Berman has taught stone carving in the Pacific Northwest as well as symposiums around the country since 1994. He was selected by the Societe Nationale Des Beaux-Arts for an exhibition in the Louvre, Paris in 2008 and his sculptures are in private and corporate collections throughout the USA, Canada, and Europe. Jeffrey Crussell is a designer, illustrator and photographer who has worked as an architect and artist most of his life. He has a BS in architecture and a MFA in Studio Arts, with emphasis in photography and sculpture. "My work has a blend of both color and dimension," Crussell explains, incorporating multiple mediums such as painting, photography, drawings and sculpture in his finished pieces. From 2007 until 2011 Crussell was the Executive Director of the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, a successful non-profit alternative exhibition space. He also established Crussell Fine Arts which presented several exhibitions each year of emerging artists from around the world in alternative “pop up” venues. To date, he has over 50 solo and group shows to his credit. He and his wife, Pamela Grau, also a new OSA member, recently moved to the Ojai Valley. Active in the Southern California art scene since 1980, Pamela Grau is primarily a painter who moves seamlessly between 2 dimensional work and 3 dimensional installations. She creates objects of visual contemplation, work that responds to the ephemeral and textural pleasures of nature. "Part of my art making process is the re-examination and beautification of everyday objects. I like to create the illusion of preciousness because I believe the ordinary is extraordinary." In 2003 Grau participated as an artist in Judy Chicago’s project: Envisioning the Future. Since then she has been a participant in numerous community based art projects and over 50 group and solo exhibitions. In 2004 she became Exhibitions Director at Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Ana. She received a BA/BFA in Art History and studio art from Mills College in Oakland. She also attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA and the Leo Marchutz School of Art in Aix-en-Provence, France. In 2010 after years of championing emerging artists, she returned to her studio to focus full time on art making. Doug Lochner prefers to work large-scale, incorporating a wide variety of mediums, including forged glass and metal, stone, wood, software, and electronics, with a passion for interactive and kinetic works. Lochner is driven by a minimalist approach, celebrating the power of the human spirit and the simple beauty of nature. “There is nothing else like the intricate dance of working with hot glass. The level of intimacy and control achievable is intoxicating.” In addition to creating blown glass objects, Lochner has pushed the envelope with glass, inventing processes and equipment to achieve his vision. His sculptures are featured in public art collections nationwide. He is currently in production on a 7’ x 12’ cast glass fountain wall and a pair of 20’ tall multi-ton cantilevered glass wings for the new Santa Barbara Airport. Devin Oatway describes himself as an "outsider artist" who paints on pieces of wood "he gathers at the lumber yard, cardboard he finds around, and occasionally wood panels he buys at the art store." Although he has collectors in major cities across the country, he did not go to art school, and is not regularly represented by any one gallery. "Painting and making art bring me closer, in a visceral way, to whatever greatness that exists in this world and beyond," Oatway explains. "I put everything I have into each piece, and the reward is a closer relationship with myself and the world around me." Educated at Stanford University in English Literature, he began painting in 2004 in Austin, Texas, then later joined the Firehouse Art Collective in Berkeley in 2006. He had a very successful stint of showing and making paintings there, with his first solo exhibit at the Firehouse North Gallery in Berkeley in 2010. He currently resides in Ojai. About Ojai Studio Artists The organization’s mission is to create an environment where artists thrive ― professional and student alike — and fulfill the potential of the arts to enrich lives and build community. OJAI STUDIO TOUR FACTS: |
