MEREDITH BROOKS ABBOTT

MEREDITH

BROOKS ABBOTT

Sullivan Goss A N A M E R I C A N G A L L E RY

Introduction by: Susan Bush Book design: Jeremy Tessmer Photography by: Jeremy Tessmer Edited by: Frank Goss Š 2012 Sullivan Goss, Ltd. Santa Barbara, California First Edition - Limited to 100 copies _____ of 100 This catalog was published in conjunction with the exhibition Meredith Brooks Abbott: At Home in Paradise that took place from November 1, 2012 - February 3, 2013.

MEREDITH

BROOKS ABBOTT

AT HOME IN PARADISE Sullivan Goss A N A M E R I C A N G A L L E RY

TA BL E OF CON T E N TS I N T RO D U C T I O N

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T H E P L AT E S

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E X H I B I T I O N C H E C K L I S T

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BIOGR APHY

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E X H I B I T I O N H I S TO RY

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M E M B E R S H I P S & Co L L E C T I O N S

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A D D I T I O N A L R E SO U RC E S

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I N T R ODUC T ION M

the buckets and tools she uses to nurture her botanical creations that are then immortalized.

eredith Brooks Abbott is one of the premiere living Impressionist painters in California today. Her paintings reside in homes across the fifty states displaying glimpses of the woman and the world in which she resides:

It is Meredith’s deep knowledge of place that makes collecting her paintings so appealing. Her mastery of technique is apparent - it is the soul of the woman herself infused in each tiny leaf or grand vista and her obvious joy in the subject matter that makes us want to have her work in our homes.

Maybe then we can be a part of her understanding of nature, be a part of the tradition of family and life that are her every waking moment. By having her paintings on the walls we become part of her world.

Precious moments in time, A particularly gorgeous bloom, Late afternoon light on the side of a barn, Bounty from her own garden.

Spread out across the country as they are, the paintings have a unified thread that is Meredith’s sense of place here on the West coast in a little valley of paradise that she calls home.

The paintings across America, that hang in so many homes, all lead back to the source of Meredith’s work and life, the roots of her inspiration and creativity. They connect us to Meredith Brooks Abbott where she is At Home in Paradise.

Meredith lives on a ranch in the house where her husband Duncan was born. Their children grew up in the house and now their grandchildren run and toddle through the rooms and gardens. The Brooks and Abbott roots run deep in this part of the country. Both sides of the family have lived on the land for generations. Meredith knows every valley and field, every tree and flower. When she’s not painting, she gets her hands into the soil of her own flower garden, flowers that show up on a regular basis in her paintings along with

- Susan Bush Contemporary Curator

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PLATES AT HOME IN PARADISE

Whitney’s Shoes, 2012 8 x 10 inches | oil on board signed lower right

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Surf at Rincon, 2012 8 x 10 inches | oil on board signed lower right

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Marsh Dodder, 2011 9 x 12 inches | oil on board signed on back

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Italian Pottery, 2012 9 x 12 inches | oil on board signed lower right

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Plums in Liz’s Bowl, 2011 11 x 14 inches | oil on board signed lower right

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LEFT: Clouds Came Down, 2011 RIGHT: Apricots, 2012

11 x 14 inches | oil on board 14 x 11 inches | oil on board

signed lower right signed lower right

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White Ledge & Thunderheads, 2012 11 x 14 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right

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Red Cup, 2012 11 x 14 inches | oil on board signed lower right

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White Ledge & Thunderheads, 2012 11 x 14 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right

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LEFT: White Zinnias, 2012 RIGHT: Spring Canyon, 2012

18 x 14 inches | oil on canvas 14 x 18 inches | oil on canvas

signed lower right signed lower right

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LEFT: Poppies & Rocks, 2012 RIGHT: Lemons, Poppies, Bees & Honey, 2012

16 x 20 inches | oil on canvas 20 x 16 inches | oil on canvas

signed lower right signed lower right

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LEFT: Still Life with Artichokes & Snowball, 2012 RIGHT: Peonies, 2011

16 x 20 inches | oil on canvas 20 x 16 inches | oil on board

signed lower right signed lower right

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LEFT: Yellow and Green Flower Study, 2012 RIGHT: Pots on the Wall, 2012

20 x 16 inches | oil on canvas 16 x 20 inches | oil on canvas

signed lower right signed on back

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LEFT: Poppies, 2012

RIGHT: Barnsdall Gas Station, 2012

20 x 16 inches | oil on canvas 16 x 20 inches | oil on canvas

signed on back signed on back

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LEFT: Shade Tree, 2012 (detail) RIGHT: Mt. Washington, 2011

16 x 20 inches | oil on board 16 x 20 inches | oil on board

signed on back signed lower right

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LEFT: The Artichoke Field, 2011 RIGHT: Pineapple, 2012

18 x 24 inches | oil on canvas 24 x 18 inches | oil on canvas

signed lower right signed lower right

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Cenessio, 2012 18 x 24 inches | oil on canvas signed on back

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Fog on Laguna Ridge, 2012 18 x 24 inches | oil on board signed lower right

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LEFT: Wild Rose, 2012 (detail) RIGHT: Aloe & Toyon, 2011

24 x 30 inches | oil on archival foam core 24 x 36 inches | oil on canvas

signed on back signed lower right

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LEFT: Farmer’s Market, 2012 RIGHT: Peonies, 2012

24 x 36 inches | oil on canvas 36 x 24 inches | oil on canvas

signed lower left signed lower right

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LEFT: Hollyhock, 2012

RIGHT: Beyond the Grove, 2012

36 x 24 inches | oil on board 24 x 36 inches | oil on canvas

signed on back signed lower right

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Long Shadows, 2012 30 x 40 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right

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Progression, 2012 30 x 40 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right

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E XH I BI T ION C H EC KL IS T 1. Whitney’s Shoes, 2012 8 x 10 inches | oil on canvas signed on back 2. Cover from the Marsh, 2011 8 x 10 inches | oil on board signed lower right 3. Surf at Rincon, 2012 8 x 10 inches | oil on board signed lower right 4. Strawberries, 2012 8 x 10 inches | oil on board signed lower right 5. Marsh Dodder, 2011 9 x 12 inches | oil on board signed on back 6. Laguna Street Entrance, 2011 9 x 12 inches | oil on board signed lower right 7. Porter Trail, 2012 9 x 12 inches | oil on board signed on back 8. Italian Pottery, 2012 9 x 12 inches | oil on board signed lower right 9. Carp Classic, 2012 9 x 12 inches | oil on canvas signed on back 10. Carp Classic, 2012 9 x 12 inches | oil on canvas signed on back

11. Plums in Liz’s Bowl, 2011 11 x 14 inches | oil on board signed on back 12. Clouds Came Down, 2011 11 x 14 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right 13. Plums in Liz’s Bowl, 2011 11 x 14 inches | oil on board signed on back 14. The Barn SP, 2012 11 x 14 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right 15. Spring Garden - Conway, 2012 11 x 14 inches | oil on canvas signed on back 16. Red Cup, 2012 11 x 14 inches | oil on canvas signed on back 17. White Ledge & Thunderheads, 2012 11 x 14 inches | oil on board signed lower right 18. Apricots, 2012 14 x 11 inches | oil on board signed lower right 19. Yellow & Blue, 2011 14 x 18 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right 20. Spring Canyon, 2012 14 x 18 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right

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21. White Zinnias, 2012 18 x 14 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right 22. Peonies, 2011 20 x 16 inches | oil on board signed lower right 23. Poppies & Rocks, 2012 16 x 20 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right 24. Lemons, Poppies, Bees and Honey, 2012 20 x 16 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right 25. Pots on the Wall, 2012 16 x 20 inches | oil on canvas signed on back 26. Yellow and Green Flower Study, 2012 20 x 16 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right 27. Sun Salutation, 2011 16 x 20 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right 28. Still Life with Artichokes & Snowball, 2012 16 x 20 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right 29. Poppies, 2012 20 x 16 inches | oil on canvas signed on back 30. Barnsdall Gas Station, 2012 16 x 20 inches | oil on board signed on back

31. Conway, New Hampshire, 2012 16 x 20 inches | oil on board signed on back 32. Mt. Washington, 2011 16 x 20 inches | oil on board signed lower right 33. Fleur de Lis, 2012 20 x 16 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right 34. Shade Tree, 2012 16 x 20 inches | oil on board signed on back 35. Cenessio, 2012 18 x 24 inches | oil on masonite signed on back 36. The Artichoke Field, 2011 18 x 24 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right 37. Pineapple, 2012 24 x 18 inches | oil on board signed lower right

41. Farmer’s Market, 2012 24 x 36 inches | oil on canvas signed lower left 42. Aloe & Toyon, 2012 24 x 36 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right 43. Hollyhock, 2012 36 x 24 inches | oil on board signed on back 44. Beyond the Grove, 2012 24 x 36 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right 45. Long Shadows, 2012 30 x 40 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right 46. Progression, 2012 30 x 40 inches | oil on canvas signed lower left 47. Real Eagle Pond, 2012 30 x 40 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right

38. Fog on Laguna Ridge, 2012 18 x 24 inches | oil on board signed lower right 39. Wild Rose, 2012 24 x 30 inches | oil on archival foam core signed on back 40. Peonies, 2012 36 x 24 inches | oil on canvas signed lower right

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BIOGR A PH Y Born in California, Meredith Brooks Abbott is a longtime resident of Santa Barbara. She decided to pursue a career as an artist at a young age and spent her first year of college at Scripps College in Claremont, CA. When her father fell ill, she returned to Santa Barbara to care after him.

visit Meryman’s studio in Dublin, New Hampshire. There, she assisted the artist in completing portrait commissions. In 1970, she moved to San Francisco. There, she worked as an illustrator and began to exhibit her paintings in galleries. She frequently made trips to the pastoral Marin County where she enjoyed gathering inspiration from painting en plein air.

While in San Francisco, she reunited with her childhood friend Duncan Abbott and the two were married. In 1974, they moved back south and settled on Duncan’s avocado and lemon ranch in Carpinteria.

During these years, she studied under local artist Douglass Parshall (1899-1990). Through Parshall, she met and studied under Richard S. Meryman (1882-1963) and noted California Impressionist Clarence Hinkle (1880-1960).

Hinkle maintained a studio on the Riviera modeled after the studio of French Impressionist Claude Monet. Abbott fondly remembers visiting Hinkle and painting alongside him at his home: “It was a beautiful studio—very pristine and tidy, and I painted while standing on a tarp that covered the floor. Opera music was always playing and Mrs. Hinkle would come down to serve us coffee. It was a very lovely situation” (Sloan 58).

With more than fifty years of experience in her career as an artist, Meredith continues to create beautiful impressionistic still lifes, landscapes and portraits. She is a founding member of the OAK Group and holds memberships in the Santa Barbara Art Association and the California Art Club.

She eventually returned to school and earned her degree from the Art Center School in Los Angeles. In 1962, she moved to New York City where she worked as an illustrator in the advertising field and took night classes at the Arts Students League. She would often spend her weekends traveling to

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E XH I BI T ION H IS TORY 1972-1974 1974-1984 1985-1995 1995-1997 1995 1996 1997 1996-2008 2009 2010

2012

Village Frame and Gallery, Fairfax and Ross, CA Gallery de Silva, Santa Barbara, CA Arlington Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA Easton Gallery, Montecito, CA “Art Walk,” Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, CA Westmont College, Montecito, CA “Nature Preserved,” Heritage Gallery, San Francisco Maureen Murphy Fine Arts, Montecito, CA A Winter Quartet, Sullivan Goss - An American Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA Meredith Brooks Abbott: An Exhibition of New Paintings at Sullivan Goss, Sullivan Goss - An American Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA Meredith Brooks Abbott: At Home in Paradise, Sullivan Goss - An American Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA

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COL L EC T IONS & M E M BE RSH I PS COLLECTIONS Bank of America, Ventura, CA Cottage Hospital, Santa Barbara, CA Leisure Technology, Lakewood, NJ Monterey Hotel, Monterey, CA Santa Cruz Island Foundation, Santa Barbara, CA Paul Bagley, New York and Santa Barbara, CA Ernest A. Bryant III, Santa Barbara, CA Mary and Barnaby Conrad, Carpinteria, CA Stanford and Ginnie Eschner, Bakersfield, CA Jon T. Ledlie, M. D., Tyler, TX Sally and David Martin, Santa Barbara, CA Quackenbush and Winkler, Santa Barbara, CA Ross Wood, Boston, MA MEMBERSHIPS Santa Barbara Art Association Santa Barbara Arts Council Plein Air Painters of America, 1989-1995 OAK Group Heritage Gallery, San Francisco California Art Club, Pasadena

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LEFT: Yellow & Blue, 2011 (detail) RIGHT: Strawberries, 2012

14 x 18 inches | oil on canvas 8 x 10 inches | oil on board

signed lower right\ signed lower right

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A DDI T IONA L RES OU RC ES WEBSITE FOR THE ARTIST: http://www.sullivangoss.com/meredithbrooks_abbott/ ONLINE VIDEOS FOR THE ARTIST: http://www.sullivangoss.com/Exhibits/SGTV_MEREDITHBROOKSABBOTT2010/ http://www.sullivangoss.com/Exhibits/SGTV_MEREDITHBROOKSABBOTT/ ADDITIONAL READING: Ellen Easton, THE OAK GROUP. (Santa Barbara: Easton Press, 1996).

Sharon Crawford, Gardens of Santa Barbara.

(Santa Barbara: Easton Press, 2000).

Bjorn Rye, Ranchos: Santa Barbara Land Grant Ranchos.

(Santa Barbara: Easton Press, 1996).

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