Don’t Miss the Meet the Artist Show

Emily Grotta

Join us Friday, March 20, from 2 to 6 p.m.

Once again, some of your favorite PebbleCreek artists will be at an art show where you can talk directly with them about their art, their motivations, and their mediums. The Art Club members participating in the show are some of the most seasoned and professional artists who have won numerous awards in previous art shows.

Unlike the fall show, in which artists are limited to three submissions, at the “Meet the Artist Show” the artists will have their own tables to display many of their works. In addition, some of the artists will have prints which can be purchased at a lower cost and you may talk with them about commissions for your home.

Admission is free, and a cash bar and music will add to your enjoyment.

March Art Club Calendar Is Full!

Emily Grotta

Come March 14 to learn about the Art Club!

March is one of the busiest months in most PebbleCreek venues, and the Coyote Room at the Creative Arts Center will be among the busiest. Classes continue to be filled quickly; don’t be discouraged if a class is full—add your name to the waitlist.

Beginning March 1, the cost for nonmembers signing up for a class will be $25. As that is the same cost as a year-long membership. Why not just join the club, enjoy the discounted cost for classes, and enjoy all the member-only benefits the club offers. The Art Club is holding an Open House for residents who want to learn more about the club from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 14. Come and meet members who will be painting in various mediums.

Please check the website, pcartclub.com, as new classes are added regularly. The site also has information about the instructors, supplies needed, and registration. March classes include:

March 3, 10, and 17: Intuitive Painting with Nadine Larder. Trust your instinct and curiosity in a creative experience free from rules, perfection and judgement. For acrylic painters at all levels.

March 5: Painting Snowy Creek with Ann Osgood. All levels of acrylic painters will learn how values and interesting colors in a wintery scene make paintings exciting.

March 6: Painting the Southwest Landscape with Duane Langston. The class for oil and acrylic painters will begin with practice painting the vegetation, rocks, mountains and skies of the Southwest. After working with each element students will create a composite design for a finished painting.

March 19: Abstract Painting Journey Continues with Ann Osgood. Learn the process of creating an abstract painting, beginning with exercises in the elements of design. This class in acrylics is fine for first timers or those who took the February class.

March 26: Painting Skies and Clouds with Duane Langston. Begin with a cloudless, graduated sky, and move on to dramatic cloud formations, stormy skies and sunsets and sunrises. Open to oil and acrylic painters at all levels except for beginners.

In March for Members Only

March 4: First Wednesday Discovery Session!

March 6: First Friday lunch

March 9: Pool Party at the Oasis Pool

March 11: Sketchers!

March 18: Open Studio for members. Watch for details!

March 20: Meet the Artist Show and Sale

March 25: Open Critique

March 27: Art Club monthly meeting

Lisa Girolami, March 2026 Featured Artist of the Month

Who knew that finger painting in kindergarten would turn into a career! I’m originally from Long Beach, Calif., and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in fine art from California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) in 1984.

I chose CSULB because it has the largest and most diverse art department west of the Mississippi. My college art program was challenging and demanding, but I always found a way to have fun while focusing on painting and drawing. It was important to seek out art professors who would encourage me to experiment with various mediums and push the boundaries.

After graduation, I had an opportunity to work in motion pictures and television and made my way up the ranks from script supervisor to director and producer. While making movies at Walt Disney/Touchstone Pictures, another branch of the company, Walt Disney Imagineering (which designs and builds the theme parks around the world) asked me to help produce the films that play in their theme parks. Working with those talented, creative, and crazy Imagineers made me fall in love with how they could take stories and create a three-dimensional world around them. When they asked me if I would help create their own film production studio, I left motion pictures and became an Imagineer. Eventually, they found out that I had a degree in art, so they asked me to start designing show and rides. That led to my becoming a producer in charge of the entire creative process.

In all, I then spent 42 years working in the entertainment industry, with my last position as Director and Executive Producer for Walt Disney Imagineering.

I was very fortunate to be able to make movies and create theme parks while spending my weekends in my woodworking studio. Over many years, I created folk art, vintage signs, jewelry, bowls, furniture, river tables, and architectural salvage art.

After retiring, I moved to beautiful PebbleCreek. This posed a slight space challenge as I no longer had room for a woodworking studio, so I set up my easel and focused on painting, something that didn’t take up much space but something I hadn’t done much since college. And I have had a blast rediscovering acrylic and watercolor painting!

I like to let my subjects and compositions decide which medium is best. As a huge experimenter I don’t mind making mistakes because that’s when you allow room for curiosity and wonderful, unexpected results.

I encourage anyone who’s curious about art to join the PC Art Club because it gives you permission to play!

Lisa’s art may be seen at the Creative Arts Center and both Clubhouses during the month of March.

Paint & Pass Party Welcomes New Members

Emily Grotta

Thanks to Diana Horton-Smith, vice president of membership, new Art Club members had fun as they collaborated on paintings that bore the mark of everyone at the party.

Diana found the idea for a Paint & Pass party online and knew it would be a great way for the new members to meet each other, have a delightful afternoon, and realize the Art Club is for everyone, from beginner to accomplished painter.

The idea for the party, in which all the paint, brushes and canvases are supplied is simple. To begin, each person has 15 minutes to paint a background on the canvas and perhaps the beginning of a subject. When the time is up, the canvases are passed to the next person, who has five minutes to work on it. This is repeated until the canvas returns to its original painter. As you can see from the photo, Art Club members are very creative!

The Art Club has 250 members and is growing. Beginning in March, nonmembers registering for a class will pay $25 more than members. As $25 is the cost of membership in the club, anyone who wants to take more than a single class—and also enjoy the benefits of membership—is encouraged to join.

To learn more about the benefits of being a member, visit pcartclub.com and click on “Membership Benefits.” Once you know what you’ll miss if you don’t join, click on “Member Signup.”

We hope to see you soon at the next Art Club meeting.