The Westlake Village Art Guild will present Connie Tunick demonstrating Mixed Media technique at the dinner meeting on Tues., Feb.3, at Los Robles Greens Golf Course, West Ballroom, 299 S. Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91361.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m., with dinner at 6 p.m. and demonstration from 7 to 9 p.m.

The all-inclusive price is $25 for guild members and $30 for guests.

Reservations are due by Jan. 27 by calling (805) 379-5655. For more information, visit www.wvartguild.org.

About Connie Tunick
Prolific artist and Thousand Oaks’ Hillcrest Galleria Co-Curator, Connie Tunick’s art ranges from experimental paintings with collage and mixed media to printmaking. Tunick has worked as a professional artist for many years, and is well known in the art publishing world. She spends much of her time working and teaching at her industrial studio in Newbury Park.

Seeking space for local artists to exhibit, she became a Charter Board Member of the Thousand Oaks Community Gallery. Connie belongs to the Thousand Oaks Art Association and Women Painters West, both juried art organizations. She is a Board Member of the Arts Council of the Conejo Valley.

A Northwestern University graduate from Illinois, Tunick is an educator and children's art specialist with a teaching credential and MA degree in Education from California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, California.

Tunick has won numerous awards, and her work is in private and corporate collections worldwide. Some corporate commissions include Princess Cruise Lines; Marriott Marquis Hotel, New York City, and Crown Plaza Hotel, White Plains, New York; Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center, Thousand Oaks, and Clear Channel Communications, Burbank, California. Showing in galleries and participating in juried shows make for a busy and creative life.

Artist’s Statement
Art is my way of communicating, and through familiar imagery I am able to “speak" a common language with the viewer. Symbols that represent the common threads and relationships of our lives are prevalent in my art. I am a painter, a mixed media collage artist, and a printmaker. Color and texture are always at the heart of my work.

My work is very material driven. I love experimenting with new and improved art supplies and techniques, often surprising myself in the creative process. Working this way gives me the freedom to play with concepts and imagery, while reinventing my art. The process of making art is as important to me as the finished product, and I am never in a hurry to finish a painting. It is a joy to be immersed in my work.

Building up a painting with layers is my way of working. Because my work is always textural, I can’t always tell if a painting includes collage or if other materials were used. My art has an overlap of printmaking and painting techniques, and I like to use torn pieces of original etchings for collage.

Many of my paintings are thematic and done in series, allowing me to explore a subject in depth. Repeated themes in my paintings are time, space, and the connection between life and nature. References to nature are incorporated through the use of leaves, bark, pods, and relevant imagery; recycled and found objects are used, as are numbers, words, photographs, and parts of old letters. The passion of creating is what I live for. “If I hadn’t started doing what comes from my heart, I wouldn’t be doing anything. It’s a creative journey. I don’t know always know where I am going, but I seem to find my way.”

Visit Tunick’s web site http://connietunick.com/ for more information.