Hospice of Santa Barbara welcomes local artist Laurie MacMillan, who will display her artwork through July in the Leigh Block Gallery located within Hospice of Santa Barbara.
On Wednesday, May 14 from 5:30 to 7 p.m., Hospice of Santa Barbara will host a wine and hors d’oeuvres open house reception for the new exhibit.
MacMillan’s school years in the flat Midwest started her fascination with rugged terrain. Upon graduating from the University of Colorado-Boulder, she moved to Santa Barbara, her current home. Careers in real estate and travel writing followed.
MacMillan turned first to ceramics, and then to abstract painting to express her love of nature and geology. In 2009, having lost her home in the Tea Fire, she and her husband moved to a home with a beautiful garden. Working in that garden was a healing force for her, and she came to appreciate nature’s constant change and renewal. She uses texture, shape and color to demonstrate her emotional reaction to the earth’s natural features and forces.
In 2008, MacMillan had her first major solo exhibition, as the winner of the prestigious Arts Fund Individual Artist Award for abstract painting. Three more solo shows followed, and she has participated in dozens of juried group shows, most notably at the San Luis Obispo Art Museum, Ojai Museum, Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, Huntington Library and Gardens and Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum. Her paintings are in numerous private collections.
MacMillan will donate 30 percent of the proceeds from her art sales to Hospice of Santa Barbara Inc. Guests can enjoy wine, refreshments and hors d’oeuvres at the open house reception.
Hospice of Santa Barbara “volunteers” its free professional counseling and care management services to more than 550 children and adults every month who are experiencing the impact of a life-threatening illness, or grieving the death of a loved one.
Hospice of Santa Barbara is also present on eight local middle and high school campuses to work with children and teens who are grieving the loss of a loved one.
For more information about Hospice of Santa Barbara, including volunteer opportunities, call 805.563.8820 or click here. Find Hospice of Santa Barbara on Facebook and Twitter.
— Kelly Kapaun is a publicist representing Hospice of Santa Barbara.