For the Love of Painting exhibit featured at Gallery Los Olivos

Like many women artists on the Central Coast, Sheryl Knight and Linda Mutti stepped away from their art to raise their families when they were young. 

But as they entered retirement and faced life-changing situations, they rediscoved a love for painting and art and were able to make a successful second career out of it.

“Both of us, having raised families, put painting on hold,” Mutti said. “Now we’re painting up a storm, and we just want to share that with everybody.” 

click to enlarge For the Love of Painting exhibit featured at Gallery Los Olivos
IMAGE COURTESY OF LINDA MUTTI
LANDSCAPE LADIES: Linda Mutti’s work, including Morning’s Gift (pictured), will be featured alongside the work of fellow landscape artist and longtime friend Sheryl Knight in an upcoming Gallery Los Olivos show titled For the Love of Painting.

To that end, Mutti and Knight are featured in a new show at Gallery Los Olivos called For the Love of Painting, which runs from April 1 through April 31. The women said the goal of the show was to share with the public how much fun painting can be and to highlight the work they make while painting together. 

“We’re both landscape artists, for the most part,” Mutti said. “For me, it’s all about how we’re so lucky on the Central Coast. The way the light drapes across the landscape, it’s just something I’ll never stop trying to portray.”

Mutti said she was an art major during a time when the kind of representational art she liked to create was looked down upon. When she realized she would likely not make a living out of it, she turned to a new career, studying early childhood education. But in the back of her mind, she always wanted to go back to art.

“I don’t regret a single thing I did,” she said. “I got married and raised my family. But I still had a creative urge. I did stained glass, I did ceramics, I would draw at home, even if I would draw my own foot just looking at it.”

It was a friend’s wedding that drew Mutti back to drawing and painting. She bought a set of pastels and created a portrait of her friend’s horse. After that, Mutti said she couldn’t stop. She started doing commissions creating portraits of animals and was able to draw a small income. 

As she moved closer to retirement, Mutti said adult education classes in Santa Barbara became an important tool to bring her closer to her art. She said when her husband passed away, 13 years ago now, the classes became even more important.

For the Love of Painting exhibit featured at Gallery Los Olivos
MEET THE ARTISTS: For the Love of Painting features the landscape paintings of artists Sheryl Knight and Linda Mutti from April 1 through April 31 at Gallery Los Olivos. A reception with the artists is planned for April 6 from 1 to 4 p.m. Gallery Los Olivos is located at 2920 Grand Ave., Los Olivos. For more information, visit gallerylosolivos.com.

“They helped as far as having structure in my life, getting out and meeting people,” she said. “It just meant everything.” 

Mutti and Knight both do plein air painting and studio work. Mutti said that as a landscape artist, she considers plein air to be very important because an artist needs to understand the environment of their setting. Sometimes reference materials such as photographs can lie to an artist by not showing the way light, for example, works in the space. 

Knight said she and Mutti have painted together for more than 10 years, largely doing plein air style landscape work. She said that aside from their strong friendship, one of the reasons the pair has spent so much time working together is due to a common interest in a certain style of artwork. 

“A lot of our art is similar, even though she works in pastel and I’m all oil,” Knight said. “It’s just great to have a friend you can do things like that with. We’ve done a lot of shows together.” 

The pair does a show together at Gallery Los Olivos almost annually. They also travel a lot together to paint. Knight said they’ve taken excursions to the Sierra Nevada at least four times together, as well as places like Carmel, Sonoma, and Monterey. 

“This summer we are going to Wyoming and Idaho,” she said. “We are going to be painting with world-renowned [landscape artist] Scott Christensen.” 

No matter where their travels take them, the artists always manage to tie their experiences back to their paintings on the Central Coast. Mutti said the work and their relationship have helped both of them in later years. 

“If I pick up a painting or a brush, it’s a direct connection to my soul,” Mutti said. “I’m so happy, and I love to create. That’s the feeling we want to impart.” 

Arts and Lifestyle Writer Rebecca Rose is filled with love. Contact her at [email protected].

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