People. Nature. Life. Love.
These are just a few of the things Lompoc painter Tonya Romano Schultz listed as the main influences of her work. She paused on “love” to explain further.
“I think more than anything else in this world, we need love and acceptance,” she said. “I try to emulate that in my own life, with my family and my friends.”
It’s that recognition of the importance of connection that helps define Schultz’s paintings. For the past several decades, Schultz has created a bounty of colorfully evocative paintings that strike a balance between traditional landscape and still life and broader impressionistic and abstract work. Through Aug. 31, viewers have a chance to see her newest pieces as a featured artist at the Lompoc Valley Arts Association‘s Cypress Gallery.
In her new show, titled Joy, Schultz examines the intersection between love and joy, a place of exuberant freedom. For her, art is about more than painting. It’s about the personal “art” in everyday tasks, such as cooking, knitting, and more.
“It is fun not only doing creative activities,” she said. “But also teaching others how to enjoy their creative muse. In truth, we are conduits to learn and share.”
Born and raised in California, Schultz has lived in Lompoc since 1959. She worked as an elementary school teacher and counselor and now works as a private practice marriage family therapist. She is the author of a book, You Can Balance Your Life.
Schultz’s love of art came at an early time in her life. Her mother was a talented artist, although not professionally, who took some formal instruction.
She always had access to art supplies growing up, often lying around her home. It was her mother’s recognition of her talent that helped Schultz see that she might have some future in art.
“When I was in fourth grade, I did a charcoal sketch of a calla lily,” she said. “My mother kept that all the way through high school and college.”
While Schultz never received any formal training, she does count fellow artist Robert Burridge as a mentor. He taught her to think differently about her art and the world she was creating. She said that through Burridge, she learned to give herself permission to see her world in a completely different way.
“Art is infinite possibilities and multiple directions of self-expression with joy and fun,” Schultz writes in her artist’s mission statement. “Permission to play with color and form and sometimes outrageous combinations that flow from somewhere deep in our collective experience.”
What that means for Schultz is that she’s not a predictable painter, even in her process. She said she starts paintings outside and will later bring them into her home, leaving them in hallways or places where she can walk by and observe them and make changes or even start from scratch.
Schultz considers herself an impressionist and avoids strict realism. She said she doesn’t think about a specific style but allows herself to freely create as she goes.
“Sometimes it happens in spite of me,” she said. “There are times when your hands and your heart just goes. The art happens and those times are the best.”
Schultz has been part of the Lompoc Valley Arts Association for more than a decade. She said the collective is important especially for the outreach it does with young artists. The group also helps give scholarships to students at Cabrillo High School and Lompoc High School to continue at Allan Hancock College.
“It’s about making art known in the community,” she said. “It’s part of everyone’s life. When we come into the world, we have certain basic abilities that maybe get pushed out of us as we get older. If we just give children materials and let go, they do some awesome work.”
Everything people do is an expression of who they are, Schultz explained. From the way people speak to the way they dress or interact with others, it’s their unique approach to the world. She said aspiring artists can start by channeling that uniqueness into their work.
“Feeling free to be creative and not putting any judgement on it is important,” she said. “Don’t put any judgement on it.”
Arts and Lifestyle Writer Rebecca Rose is judgement free. Contact her at rrose@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 2-9, 2018.