about

Garcia has been making art since she was first able to hold a crayon.  In the college Art History survey course using Gardner’s Art History text, in the 70’s, the only woman artist that even got a mention was, well, no one. The lack of women role models in other areas of life figured greatly in on-going life choices.

Garcia attended Ventura Community College in Ventura, California. The beach. Garcia studied painting and drawing with Gerd Koch. She also had the opportunity to work with Gloria Steinem, who came to speak at the college, for 1 day and 1 evening. The year Title IX passed. "No one would be denied or excluded in educational programs or activities based on gender . . . “ .Finally.

At Thousand Oaks High School, Garcia (Tiemeyer), could only be a “scorer” for the boys’ swim team. No swim team for girls, only boys. Garcia’s series, Pool Time and Women in Water is about her “Blue Mind” and being denied the chance to swim competitively. Her connection to water is unknowable but deeply felt.

Garcia transferred from Ventura College to California State University Northridge studying painting and drawing with Betye Saar, Karen Carson and Eileen Cowin. What good luck!

Garica went on to graduate from California State University Fullerton with a Bachelor of Arts, Fine Arts degree, emphasis Painting and Drawing. She studied with Vic Smith, Don Lagerberg and Leo Robinson, all notable artists.

Since a baby, Garcia’s father had instilled in her a love of the water, the ocean (the family had a small sail boat), and tent camping in the high Sierras. It seemed to naturally follow that Garcia would work for the US Forest Service. She rode horseback with pack mules in the back country and also worked two fire seasons in both Thorne Point Look Out Tower and Cuyama Peak Look Out Tower out of Chuchupate Ranger Station on the Los Padres, California. Thorne Point overlooked the Condor Sanctuary at that time, and it was her great fortune to observe condors in the wild. The only people who accomplished the long steep hike to the Thorne Point Tower were members of the Audubon Society who were keeping tabs on the Condors. This was a memorable time and would later inform her work when painting landscapes. She developed a deeper understanding and devotion to the wilderness, back packing, horse packing, fishing and hunting. She was also the Environmental educator for the Youth Conservation Corps, YCC, for two summers, teaching and following a hands-on federal curriculum for “engaging young people in meaningful work experience while developing an ethic of environmental stewardship and civic responsibility”.

Finding her voice and her confidence, Garcia started exhibiting at Bob Gino’s Orlando Gallery on Ventura Blvd., Los Angeles, followed by Village Square Gallery, Montrose, Howell Green Gallery, Topanga, and Aquarius Gallery, Cambria, California and Schomberg Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, California.

At this time Garcia was juried into Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) for emerging Los Angeles artists. She was on the board of VIVA Gallery in the San Fernando Valley. Garcia got involved with Women Painters West (a group that was started when women got the right to vote, 1921 and which promoted women artists), first as President and later as Events Chair.  Events Chair gave her the wonderful and lucky opportunity to contact women artists as guest speakers.  Eleanor Antin, Lita Albuquerque, D.J. Hall, Astrid Preston, Carole Caroompas and Peggi Kroll Roberts.  Garcia’s work is shown at the Wellness Center in Malibu and has been featured in Southwest Art magazine.

Recently Garcia has been exhibiting at Sylvia White’s Gallery at historic Whizin’s Corner in Agoura, California and Working Artists’ Gallery, historic downtown, Grand Junction, Colorado. Garcia divides her time between California and Whitewater, Colorado. In addition to painting the pool and beach culture of Southern California, she paints land and skyscapes of beautiful Colorado. The Women in Water series lead to a series of commissioned portraits as seen on the website.

Grandmother Flo Elizabeth Oyler introduced Garcia to a love of birds, nests, eggs and all things Audubon. Garcia has tapped into those memories with a series of birds, specifically parakeets, that are living talismans with magical properties and secret memory keepers.

Being a life-long learner and educator Garcia’s favorite pieces are the paintings/drawings that taught her something. Something about light and the way it falls, brush work and the contemplative nature of precise drawing. She believes the work is waiting to be revealed and tries to be in “flow”.

Married to Ric, her husband of 30 years, and with their two Labradors, Dexter and Annie, she travels between her home studios in California and Colorado.

“These images celebrate the aesthetics of still-life, creating a sense of timeless poise and beauty.  But they are also subversive, in their own genteel way.  Great meticulous effort has gone into suggesting the appearance of effortlessness, and, in her hands, the art of drawing takes on a painterly grace.”      Los Angeles Times