Bakersfield Life

Artistic License

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Artistic License

Three local artists lead the way in Bakersfield’s transition to an art town

If you haven’t noticed, Bakersfield is beginning to turn into an art hotspot in the Central Valley. While the Arts District downtown continues to churn out show after show of impressive local and out-of-town artists, the Bakersfield Museum of Art remains the
city’s hub for all things arts.

So who are these people creating all of this art? The answer to that question is as vast as the creations that the artists themselves are dreaming up. We chose three to focus on – three who are either currently presenting their art somewhere in Bakersfield or will be soon enough.

We hope that through these profiles, Bakersfield residents will start to get an idea of the answer to the above question. These artists are full of creativity and passion and are on the cutting edge of art, the one thing on earth they all love so much.

Adriana Gonzalez-Garcia

Adriana Gonzalez-Garcia, 25, will be the first generation of her family to attain a college degree this year. Born in Quiroga, Michuacan, Mexico, she not only claims immigrant roots, but shares the story of her parents who worked the fields picking strawberries and vegetables while she grew up in Santa Maria, Calif. She draws on her heritage, her roots in Mexican folklore and her love of ballet folklorico. It was the dance, the vibrant colors of the costumes, the rhythms and patterns that she fell in love with in the fourth grade. It opened up a world of expression and a pathway that began with steps in painting and later evolved into ceramics, sculpture and mixed media. She is considered one of the up-and-coming students in the CSU Bakersfield art program and will present her creations at the Todd Madigan Gallery in May

Gonzalez-Garcia came to the U.S. at the age of 3 but didn’t start formal art training until high school when she would compete for her high school’s dance club. She continued studying art at Allan Hancock Community College in Santa Maria before transferring to CSUB three years ago. It was there that a professor inspired her to see what an impact art had on daily life. It is that inspiration that fuels her creativity.

“There’s art in everything,” she said. “Even in the way we create objects from say, a car spark plug, math problems, English … there’s creativity, there’s art in it.”

Gonzalez-Garcia now uses different media in her sculptures – from papier mâché to economically friendly clay. With the current economic downturn in mind, she is cognizant of making the most out of what one has. Gonzalez-Garcia learned this resourcefulness from her mother, who would often have to resort to making her toys
when money was scarce. A doll could be fashioned out of a cornhusk, she recalls vividly – Gonzalez-Garcia strives to reach back to that heritage and use it in her art.

“Not everything in life has to be made from expensive materials or needs to be seen as expensive to be considered art,” she said. Future plans include pursuing a master’s degree in art. Meanwhile, Gonzalez-Garcia balances her class load, art pieces and trying to use her experiences to give back to the community that has supported her.

“As an artist, nothing stays the same.” Her pieces are considered personal but she wants to connect with people and have them relate to her art. Her current portfolio is a series of clay busts expressing a range of emotions; some seem to be faces emerging from other forms of life – a fish head for example. Another seems to sprout plants. “Some of the images deal with pain. Others deal with identity and knowing where to fit in (to society),” she said.

Bill Devine

Bill Devine never took a formal art class, but feels art is “something that moves one from within.” Born in Evanston, Wyo., Devine often moved around the country growing up due to his father’s work. He began painting in junior high school working on compositions of landscapes, seascapes and ships. But his “aha moment” with the use of color, water and lacquer enamel was yet to come.

It was at Easter while coloring eggs with his family when he became intrigued with the effects of the dye flowing into the clear water. Later, he would pursue this premise through experimental media, which evolved into development in lacquer enamel. Using clear pigment as a base, he began pouring colors into this medium on a uniformly-sprayed background of canvas or masonite. The colors fused with each other with the direction of large trowels or palette knives that Devine would guide. Through trial and error, he discovered that working on a background of Plexiglas allowed the paint to adhere more efficiently than with previous materials. It was his intuitive sense of color harmonies and expressive technique that create a nexus in form, perspective and casual gesture through an immersion of color.

“(Art) is a force that affects you in some way or another,” Devine said. “It is difficult to explain, it just exists. As art is an expression of oneself, I enjoy the simple exploration of color and beauty as it emerges through the media and engages in life’s mystery.”

Devine started mixing his own media prior to application, which broadened the methodology and effect of his work. As his family eventually settled in Southern California, he continued to pursue his artwork. Through networking and referrals, Devine soon gained representation by galleries in Laguna, Calif. and in regional collections. In 1991, he moved to Bakersfield where he continues his work.

Devine was inspired at an early age by the traditionalism and real-life depictions by artists such as Norman Rockwell and the “action paintings” of abstract expressionist Jackson Pollack. He was also captivated and influenced by the colorful abstract works of Ray Friesz and Richard Mann.

“My intent is to present a sense of organic beauty rather than a painting that appears to have been painstakingly crafted. Shape, color and form have meaning in and of themselves ... we react emotionally to these elements even if they create no recognizable object to identify with,” he said.

“Perhaps this is why we are tempted to look for objects where they do not exist. Like the majority of artists, I refer to the endless colors and forms of nature as my inspiration. The medium creates the moment.”

Devine’s current exhibit at the Jill Thayer Galleries at the Fox continues through March 28. It is his third solo exhibition at the gallery.

Johnny Ramos

He may be an emerging painter of the 21st century, but Johnny Ramos anchors himself in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, preferring to be influenced by everything mid-20th-century modern. Not an artist in the traditional sense, it took a combination of unfortunate circumstances and a lot of heartbreak to ignite a career in abstract painting and photography. Ramos has never taken an art class.

Before he became an artist in demand, he was refurbishing mid-century furniture. The closest he came to dealing with colors initially was working at a paint factory where he tinted paint and on his lunch break, practiced painting canvasses.

When his first painting sold and financed a new Cadillac, people stopped laughing, the West High School graduate said. His abstract paintings are in such demand that they are at the center of divorce battles, attracting attention from major retailers seeking to mass market his art for hip home furnishings, and the objects of theft.

Who knew the emotional turmoil from a painful divorce six years ago would alter Ramos’ life course? As a cathartic release, he would nail pieces of wood together to make canvasses. The first efforts were crooked and a bit rustic, but he kept at it until he got it right. When he looks back upon it now, he also sees the influence from his best friend’s grandmother, artist Mary Michael, as another divine intervention. His abstract floral paintings on 6-foot or 8-foot tall canvasses were exhibited at Metro Galleries in October 2008 where he sold an unprecedented 21 paintings in one sitting.

“Art is taking something that was negative and turning it into a positive,” Ramos said. Since then, his inspiration has come from his life as a single man – many of his paintings are named after either actresses (Brigitte for Brigitte Bardot) or ex-girlfriends. “It’s nice to be single – right now, it’s crazy, fun, excitement,” he said.

But there’s no rest for Ramos. He says he often loses track of time just coming up with ideas and creating art, sometimes in the 11th hour. He sets the mood by listening to musical hits from his favorite time periods and drinking champagne. His home is his studio and if he doesn’t like something, he’s not afraid to start all over again. Many times, it’s the raw emotion he’s feeling that directs the brush, that guides him in his choice of paint (industrial metallic and enamel) to intuit his work. Ramos also uses water-based paints and models to create works of body painting. Some of the final product looks like it came out of “Mick Jagger’s bedroom in 1971,” he remarked.

“I have a thing for cheap hotel art, that is, I love whatever gives off a retro look.”

Photography, mid-20th-century furniture and even women’s fashions also pique his curiosity and fuels his artistic output. He lives it 24/7, often waking up in the middle of the night to either create something new or paint over something he started earlier.

The artistic vibe is so strong his 10-year-old son Donovan started painting as well. Donovan even sold two of his own paintings when he signed on with his father recently. “I’m having too much fun,” he said. Ramos, though, fashions himself as a marketing artist – he wants to get his work out there to the masses to consume and enjoy.

“I want to be the next Jackson Pollack, William De Kooning or Pablo Picasso,” he says.