The artist: Ohio-born Lynn Welker says she has always been an artist. “Even though I don’t recall, my best friend tells me our kindergarten teacher used to hold up my drawings as an example for the class,” says Welker, who now lives in Newport Beach. She attended the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, which offered a combined bachelor of fine arts and B.S. in education program. Later, while employed as an art resource specialist for Newport Mesa Unified School District, she added a master’s. While studying to be an art educator required practical experience in all visual media, painting was always Welker’s preference for personal expression, and her work has been widely shown throughout the county, frequently at Laguna’s Festival of Arts.
In Welker’s words: Growing up in Ohio allowed the freedom to explore nature in nearby woods and farmlands. This connection to the natural world has remained the primary inspiration for my artistic path. My goal is to shift attention from a world of technology to one that reconnects people to the richness of the land, its communities and history. “Last Tree in the City” is a mixed-media painting utilizing acrylic, collage, inks, watercolor pencil and gesso on paper. I created this painting after visiting a local horse stable. I was shocked to find stately oak trees being uprooted, barns and arenas removed. Nearby, earthmovers were grading land in preparation for new housing development.
