Biography
Resume
Having grown up in the cosmopolitan city of Washington, D.C., Stacy Kamin has lived a life any aspiring artist would envy. Providence brought Stacy into the world with a mother who nurtured her interest in drawing and painting every step of the way. Noted artist and teacher, Jacqueline Kamin, indulged her child’s art supply caprices and enrolled her in children’s classes at the National Gallery at a very young age. Art was alive in this bright artistic spirit, and as Stacy herself says, “Creating images from pencils and paint was like magic to me. I knew early on that I had to be an artist.”
Stacy studied illustration and traditional animation at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, earning a BA in 2000. After graduation, she interned with a small animation company long enough to realize that illustration was not her calling, although a fascination with capturing movement was. This she would explore through line and paint as a fine artist.
She joined her family in Los Angeles and there found a well-respected Chinese artist, Shuqiao Zhou, to mentor her privately for six years. Zhou’s teachers came from the great Russian lineage of Ilya Repin and Valentin Serov, and through this expressive tradition, imparted a love of paint that is still a hallmark of Stacy’s work.
Drawn to the dramatic effects of Rembrandt, Stacy sought out the instruction of two well-known masters of this knowledge—David A Leffel and Sherrie McGraw. She credits their influence for the startling light that she is able to achieve in her own work. “They introduced me to Abstract Realism, a way of painting so rich that I can’t imagine my education ever ending—I will be a student of this great tradition my entire life.”
This humility coupled with a selfless generosity led to a desire to teach. She presently teaches workshopsfor Bright Light Fine Art nationwide. Recently she taught a figure and still life painting workshop with David A Leffel and Sherrie McGraw at Scottsdale Artist School; in 2019 she conducted a portrait painting class in Noyer’s France; and locally she teaches private workshops in Seal Beach.
In her own words Stacy describes this life-long obsession this way: “I believe art is supposed to evoke emotions and feelings in human beings. When I see a great painting, it touches my soul. Even if I can’t describe what I feel in words, a work of artaffects me profoundly. The reason I never ceasestudying is because the magic of capturing life on a flat surface continues to intrigue me. I want my own work to provoke thoughts and emotions for viewers, so that they too can experience the beauty that captivates me still.”
Education
2007-08 - Private Study - Jove Wang, Los Angeles, CA
2005 - Scottsdale Artist School - Sherrie McGraw, Scottsdale, AZ
2004 - Plein Air Workshop - Junn Rocco, Laguna Beach, CA
2003 - Private Workshop - Sherrie McGraw, Taos, NM
2002 - Fredricksburg Artist School - Sherrie McGraw, Fredricksburg, TX
2001 - Fechin Institute - Sherrie McGraw, Taos, NM
2000 - Art Students League - David Leffel, New York, NY 2005-09 - Private Study - Shuqaio Zhou, Los Angeles, CA
1999 - Academy of Art College - BFA San Francisco, CA
Galleries
2023- Guardino Gallery, Portland, Or
2020-Mural, Cal Vets, LA, CA
2020-permanent collection of Cal Vets, Drawings from Drawn to Serve, LA, CA
2015-present/ Germanton Gallery,Germanton NC,
2015-present / Christian Daniel's Gallery, SF, CA
2019-present/ Lilly Pad West Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2019-present/ Kaldoun Fine Art, SF, NM
2009-2019 /Jack Meier Gallery, Houston, TX
2015-2018/McLarry Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
2012 - 2014/ Rich Timmons Gallery, Doylestown PA
2012 - 2013/ Garderner Colby Gallery, Naples, Fl
2011 - 2013/ Silvana Gallery, Glendale, CA
2011 - 2013/ M-Gallery Fine Art, Charleston, SC
2007 - present / Aarnun Gallery, Pasadena, CA
2005 - 2009 / J.Kamin Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
Grants / Awards
2017-3rd Place 8th Annual Sylvia Maria Glesmann Members' Exhibition
2016-Award of Excellence, Western Regional, OPA
2016- Residency, La Porte Peinte, Noyers, France
2016-Award of Excellence, Western Regional, OPA
2016- Lorraine Grace SCNY Award
2015-The Salmagundi Club. 2015 "Urban Life" Exhibition Award, Macowin Tuttle Memorial Award
2015-The Salmagundi Club,2015 New Members Exhibition, SCNY 1st Prize
2014-The Salmagundi Club,106th Annual Thumb-Box Exhibition, Martin Hannon MemorialAward 2012- Stobart Foundation Grant
Exhibitions
2023- OPA Western Regional Exhibition
2023-Exhibit at Guardino Gallery, Portland, Or
2019- Kaldoun Fine Art Exhibition
2018- group show with Jacqueline Kamin, Drawn to Serve, Exhibition, Cal Vets, La , Ca
2016- La Porte Peinte, Open Studio, Noyers , France
2016-OPA Western Regional Exhibition
2016- SCNY Annual Members' Exhibition- SCNY Spring Auction Exhibition
2016- SCNY Annual Sylvia Maria Glesmann Members’ Floral Exhibit
2015- SCNY Annual Members' Exhibition
2015- OPA 24th Annual National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils
2015- People and Places, Christian Daniels Gallery, SF, CA
2014- Light and Motion, One man show at Kensington Stobart Gallery
2016, 2013, 2012, 2008 - 2012 CAC, Gold Medal Show, Pasadena, CA
2016, 2012 - Autry Museum, Glendale. CA
2011 - Blossom Art Competition, Naples, Fl
2009 - Festival of the Arts, Laguna Beach, CA
2006 - present Jack Meiers Gallery, Houston, TX
2005 - Marston’s, C.A.C. Young Artists, Pasadena, CA
2005 - J. Kamin Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2011 - Mimi Fine Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2003 - Affair in the Garden, Beverly Hills, CA
Teaching
2020—Workshop at Scottsdale Artist School with David Leffel and Sherrie McGraw
2018-2019-Santa Fe Workshop, Bright Light Fine Art
2018-present-Bright Light Fine Art, Teaching Online
2017-present-Private Workshops in Seal Beach, Ca
2017-La Porte Peinte, Week workshop, Noyer’s France
2014 – present—Assistant teaching for Bright Light Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
2008 - 2015 - Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA
2000 - 2008 - Private Classes Painting and Drawing, Santa Monica, CA
2006 - 2008 - Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art, Vaness, CA
2000 - present - Graphaids Art Store, Santa Monica, CA
2000 - present - Jacqueline Kamin Workshop, Laguna Beach, CA
Organizations
2014-Present / Salmagundi Art Club
2003-Present / California Art Club, Mentor Program
2003-Present / Oil Painters of America, Artist Member
Publications 2011 Nov issue Southwest Magazine (Family Ties)