Mission Statement
The Pastel Society of the Gold Coast is a non-profit organization for the specific purpose of providing public exhibitions for its members, to educate the community through collaboration with environmental and other non-profit organizations, and to promote the arts in general.
Judith Crowe
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Judith Crowe was born and grew up in Connecticut. Her interest in art began at an early age and was developed throughout her school years. She received a bachelor's degree at the university of Connecticut and taught in elementary schools.
Judith moved to Thousand Oaks California in 1973, where she continued to teach. She received a Master's degree from California university, and a doctorate in Educational Leadership at the University of LaVerne. She has instructed students at every level from preschool to university. She currently teaches art classes at Hillcrest Center for the Arts.
She continued to work with other art media, taking classes at local colleges and with several other artists. She has worked with oils, acrylics, watercolors, colored pencils, and pastels. She studied pastels at Bert Collins' studio in Ojai, and she had a regular booth for many years a the Ojai and Conejo Valley Arts Festivals. For several years she and four other artists held an "open studio" at the Thousand Oaks Art Gallery. They moved their studios into the gallery for a month, demonstrated and sold their art, and held workshops there.
Judiths style is representational; sometimes photo-realistic and sometimes more impressionistic. Pastels are a favorite: they are full of energy and light. People have described her paintings as "serene" "meditative" and "restful" and say they feel they can step into the painting and stay there. She believes this description emanates from who she is as a person and as an artist. Feedback on her teaching style has always been "she makes it easy, she's very calm and makes me feel I can be successful".
Judith has been a member and has served on the boards of the Thousand Oaks Art Assoociation, the Arts Council of the Conejo Valley, and Westlake Village Art Guld. She teaches and exhibits regularly and has received awards for her work. Her paintings hang in several private and corporate collections, including Los Robles Hospital and Kaiser Permanente offices in Thousand Oaks and have been purchased for television shows.