I find that focusing on the details helps me see the big picture more clearly. It is my way of slowing down enough to be “in the moment”. I work from my own source photos, and it’s like a treasure hunt as I discover amazing compositions and abstractions that nature so miraculously creates. I particularly look for patterns evoking rhythms that promote a sense of calm.
Elizabeth Geisler is an award-winning Bay Area painter, with a background in printmaking, photography, music, and film. Best known for her water reflection paintings, Geisler creates images that reside somewhere between photorealism and abstraction. Up close, the color use and brushwork read as abstraction, but from a distance, they blend into a more representational depiction. She often uses intense colored underpaintings that show through in varying degrees in the finished piece, which provides an added depth to her paintings.
Geisler’s work has shown in group and solo exhibitions throughout the United States and can be found in collections worldwide. She began painting at a young age, and while still in high school, was awarded a life drawing scholarship to the Otis College of Art and Design. In college she studied both visual arts and mass communications, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from UCLA. She continued her art studies at the San Francisco Art Institute, Barnsdall Art College, and the City College of San Francisco. Born in Los Angeles, Geisler now resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and works out of her studio in Sausalito, CA.
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Geisler is represented by Stephanie Brietbard Fine Arts.
CURRICULUM VITAE
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SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
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2019 Throckmorton Theatre, "Fluid Thoughts", Mill Valley, CA
Homestead Valley Community Center, "Pause and Reflect", Mill Valley, CA
2018 Mill Valley Community Center, "The Ripple Effect", Mill Valley, CA
Abode Marin, "Ebb & Flow", Larkspur, CA
2016 Tiburon Peninsula Club, Tiburon, CA
2015 The Gail Van Dyke Atrium Gallery, Greenbrae, CA
Belvedere-Tiburon Library, “Water Patterns”, Tiburon, CA
2015 McGuire Real Estate, Mill Valley, CA
2010 Belvedere-Tiburon Library, “Above and Below”,Tiburon, CA
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MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS:
2020 Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, “Left Coast”, Novato, CA
(Juror: Ken Harmon Hashimoto, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco and New York)
2017 Triton Museum, “Salon at the Triton”, Santa Clara, CA
2010 Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, “Private Eyes: Artists’ Visions”, Novato, CA,
(Juror: Andrea Schwartz, Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, CA)
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GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2023 Sebastopol Center for the Arts, "The Color of Water", Sebastopol, CA
Lymelight Foundation, “Dart for Art”, San Mateo, CA
O'Hanlon Center for the Arts, "Art & Ecology", Mill Valley, CA
Stephanie Breitbard Fine Arts, "Annual Trunk Show", San Francisco, CA
2022 The Cove, “ICB Art at the Cove”, Tiburon, CA
O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, “Women Making Their Mark”, Mill Valley, CA
(Jurors: Donna Seager & Suzanne Gray, Seager Gray Gallery, Mill Valley, CA)
2021 James May Gallery, “Art of Water V”, Algoma, WI
O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, “Women Making Their Mark”, Mill Valley, CA
(Jurors: Donna Seager & Suzanne Gray, Seager Gray Gallery, Mill Valley, CA)
2020 Lymelight Foundation, “Dart for Art”, San Mateo, CA
2019 Simon Brietbard Fine Arts, “Annual Trunk Show”, San Francisco, CA
Lymelight Foundation, “Dart for Art”, San Mateo, CA
Arc Gallery, “Bridge to Abstraction”, San Francisco, CA
Art Design Consultants, “Art Comes Alive”, Cincinnati, OH
Fe Gallery, “Pattern and Abstraction”, Sacramento, CA
Art League of Hilton Head, “Biennale”, Hilton Head Island, SC
Blue Line Arts, “Crocker-Kingsley Biennial Competition”, Roseville, CA,
(Juror: David Pagel, contributing art critic, Los Angeles Times & art professor, Claremont Graduate University)
2018 Marin Community Foundation, "Marin Open Studios 25th Anniversary Exhibition," Novato, CA
(Curated by Micah LeBrun, MCF and 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco, CA)
O'Hanlon Center for the Arts, "Bay Area Women Artists", Mill Valley, CA
(Jurors: Donna Seager & Suzanne Gray, Seager Gray Gallery, Mill Valley, CA)
Marin Society of Artists, “Fresh Art”, San Rafael, CA
(Juror: Chester Arnold, artist)
Simon Brietbard Fine Arts, “Annual Trunk Show”, San Francisco, CA
Mill Valley Outdoor Art Club, “Marin Masters”, Mill Valley, CA
San Ramon Valley Conference Center, “Patterns in Nature”, San Ramon, CA (Curated by Slate Art)
Lymelight Foundation, “Dart for Art”, San Mateo, CA
2017 Desta Gallery, “East West Rhythmical Harmony”, San Anselmo, CA (Two-Person Show)
Joyce Gordon Gallery, “Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series – Regional Finalists”, Oakland, CA
O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, “Essence of Water”, Mill Valley, CA
Mills Pond Gallery, “The Color of Night”, St. James, NY
(Juror: Tim Newton, Chairman of the Board, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY)
O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, “Bay Area Women Artists”, Mill Valley, CA
(Jurors: Donna Seager & Suzanne Gray, Seager Gray Gallery, Mill Valley, CA)
SFWA Gallery, “Abstracted”, San Francisco, CA
(Juror: Mary Mocus, Mocus Group Art Consultants, San Francisco, CA)
Simon Brietbard Fine Arts, “Annual Trunk Show”, San Francisco, CA
USCF Women’s Health Center, “Serenity”, San Francisco, CA
Ruby Living, “Landscapes”, Mill Valley, CA
Lymelight Foundation, “Dart for Art”, San Mateo, CA
Studio Gallery, “Night Light”, San Francisco, CA
Marin County Fair, Fine Art Exhibition, San Rafael, CA
2016 The Midway, “Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series – Regional Finalists”, San Francisco, CA
SFWA Gallery, “Artist Choice”, San Francisco, CA
(Juror: Matt McKinley, McKinley Art Solutions)
O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, “Bay Area Women Artists”, Mill Valley, CA
(Jurors: Donna Seager & Suzanne Gray, Seager Gray Gallery, Mill Valley, CA)
Marin County Fair, Fine Art Exhibition, San Rafael, CA
Falkirk Galleries, “Spring Inspiration Open Juried Exhibition ”, San Rafael, CA
Pacific Art League, “Fur, Feathers and Fins”, Palo Alto, CA
Toadfish Gallery, Sausalito, CA
2015 Blue Line Arts, “Crocker-Kingsley Biennial Competition”, Roseville, CA,
(Juror: Gregory Kondos, artist)
Studio Gallery, “Tiny”, San Francisco, CA
Google Gallery, San Francisco, CA
San Ramon Valley Conference Center, “Bay Lights”, San Ramon, CA, (Curated by Slate Art)
Studio Gallery, “City Streets”, San Francisco, CA
Studio Gallery, “Terrain”, San Francisco, CA
2014 Studio Gallery, “Tiny”, San Francisco, CA
Gallery 305, Mill Valley, CA
2011 Pacific Art League, “Scapes”, National Competition & Exhibition, Palo Alto, CA
(Juror: Maria Medua, director, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Artists Gallery at Fort Mason)
2010 Pacific Art League, “Painting Only”, National Competition & Exhibition, Palo Alto, CA
(Juror: Charles Hespe, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA)
SOMArts Gallery, “Art Launch”, San Francisco, CA
Artist Xchange Gallery, “Layers of Abstraction”, San Francisco, CA
Artist Xchange Gallery, “Views of the City”, San Francisco, CA
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PUBLICATIONS:
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2023 Luxe Magazine, Nov/Dec Issue - "Ripple Effect"
2022 Creative Quarterly, 100 Best 2021
Creative Quarterly, No. 66, Fine Art Winner
2021 Artists of the Bay Area, published by Jen Tough Gallery
Creative Quarterly, 100 Best 2020
2020 Creative Quarterly, No. 59, Fine Art Winner
2019 Creative Quarterly, No. 54, Fine Art Winner
Crocker Kingsley Biennial Competition Catalog
Art League of Hilton Head Biennale Catalog
2018 Marin Magazine, May 2018 Issue - "Life as Art" Cover Contest Winner & Feature
Creative Quarterly, No. 49-50, Fine Art Winner
2017 Marin Magazine, May 2017 Issue -"Fine Lines" Cover finalist
2016 Nature Inspired: Autumn, writing & art anthology
2015 The Ark, Vol. 43, Issue 34 "Painter works with refrains of music, water and light"
Crocker Kingsley Biennial Competition Catalog
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AWARDS & HONORS:
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2018 Top 25 Featured Artist for Marin Open Studios (Juror: Renee Baldocchi, former
Director of Programs, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.)
2017 Marin County Fair, Special Sponsored Award
2016 SFWA Gallery, Juror's Choice Award, "Artist Choice"
(Juror: Matt McKinley, McKinley Art Solutions, San Francisco, CA)
2010 Pacific Art League, Third Place “Painting Only”, National Competition & Exhibition,
(Juror: Charles Hespe, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA)
1982 Bank of America, Merit Scholar for Fine Arts
1981 Otis College of Art and Design, Life-drawing Scholarship
EDUCATION:
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1986 BA, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, University of California at Los Angeles
1987 - 2010 San Francisco Art Institute; City College of San Francisco; Barnsdall Art College, Los Angeles, CA