Eclectic show by renowned California artist Cindy Sullivan at Redlands gallery

Artist Cindy Sullivan is someone who has dedicated her life to art, both by working as an art teacher for 25 years and as an artist for the past 40 years. Artwork from her large body of work is on display at the Redlands gallery beginning September 27th.

It all really began with a nudge from her old college professor and mentor, photo realist Dennis Collins. He taught Sullivan to be precise. Her eye for details has been a focal point throughout her art career.

In Redlands, Sullivan has taught watercolor classes at the Flores Senior Center since 2016 including on Zoom during the pandemic which brought people online from coast to coast. She taught classes at the Redlands Art Association, for example a travel journal sketch class this spring. She recently did a demonstration at the Yucaipa Art Association and spoke at the Redlands Country Club.

Before moving to Redlands in 2015, Sullivan lived in Northern California where she taught art classes for first through eighth graders in Fremont. The kids would say their favorite subject in school was “Recess and Ms. Sullivan’s classes.” When she retired, the program retired with her, there was no one to fill the big heart she had put into it.

“With seniors I don’t have to run as much,” she said with a laugh.

Besides earning a BA arts degree, she has studied at Ohlone College and Cal State University in Hayward, plus she has studied with Ted Nettle, John Salminen, Dawn Heim and many others. Heim taught her to mix color, Nettle how to do portraits, and Salminen taught her, “How you have to sacrifice part of a painting sometimes because it needs it,” she said. “A painting should only have one center of interest.”

After her mother passed away, Sullivan spent two years painting “The Killer”, a detailed cactus painting. Art helped her through the difficult time. That painting has been exhibited at the Oakland Museum of Natural History Museum, the Triton Museum of Art and in Colorado. “It’s won an award everywhere it’s gone,” she said. That is just one example of hundreds of shows and many awards her artwork has been featured in.

Sullivan’s paintings are sold to collections in the US, Portugal, England and Australia.

When her brother and sister passed just 20 days apart last year. Her son said, “Mom, come over for some art therapy.” He is Tim Sullivan, known in Redlands for his little orange men. With friends and family, she helped Tim create a tree sculpture for the new Museum of Redlands.

For most of her art career, Sullivan has done photo realistic watercolors but lately she has gravitated towards a more abstract expression, adding texture to her paintings. In a way, she is connecting to her roots, one of her other obsessions is genealogy and studying family history. She learned that her great grandfather in Kansas was a house painter and muralist.

In her early childhood, Sullivan distinctly remembered a day in second grade. They had to draw pumpkins, then the class voted for the best drawing and the winner got to draw the face on the class pumpkin. Sullivan won. “It was the encouragement from that pumpkin that made me want to do [art],” she said.

Looking back at her decades of artwork, she has painted more or less every motif you can think of: Landscape, seascape, historic homes, animals, plants, still life, even gourds. Though she said, “I am done painting cute.” A recent painting of grapes is her current favorite work.

In 2000, Sullivan was one of the seven founding members of “Artist 7” in Northern California. When another two female artists joined, they said, “Well, artists don’t do math!” She has served as the co-director of the California Watercolor Association’s gallery in Concord and been an active member in numerous art councils and associations, including at the Redlands Art Association for the past nine years.

Her show “Eclectic” has not only paintings from her many watercolor classes demonstrations but from a long artistic career. At the show, there will be original artwork, including prints, cards, bookmarks and miniature paintings.

Come meet artist Cindy Sullivan at the open house event on Saturday, October 4^th, 1 to 4 p.m. 

About the Redlands Art Association

Featured artist show by artist Cindy Sullivan runs from September 27 to October 24. An open house event is planned for Saturday, October 4^th from 1 to 4 p.m.

Address: 215 E State St, Redlands CA 92373
RAA website: redlands-art.org
RAA social media:  facebook.com/RedlandsArtAssociation and @redlandsartassociation on Instagram.

Opening hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sundays closed.