Trewin Framery

Chella

Chella is one of Northern California’s most well respected plein air painters. Chella – always known by her first name – endeavors to paint everyday, rain or shine, and has been involved in competitive shows since 1960.

In Chella’s words: “I believe that my concern for capturing the treasures of the past is revealed in the small plein air studies which are created outdoor on the spot and influenced by the sounds, sights, and smells of nature. Expressing on canvas the light and shadows of landscapes is a challenge I love, in a medium I love.”

Chella taught high school art in Modesto for over 30 years and retired in 1996 to pursue a full-time career as an artist. It was shortly after that when she took up painting plein air. She is the past two- term president of the Central California Art League, Inc. and paints weekly with the Modesto-based plein air group, Valley Sun Catchers.

Chella is the winner of many local, regional, and national awards, for both plein air and abstract works. In 2002 she served as the Artist in Residence at Yosemite National Park. One of Chella’s paintings was selected to represent the 12th District in the California State Capitol as part of the 2007-2008 California Contemporary Art Collection and her work was included in the Sixth Annual Sacramento Valley Landscape Painters Show at Natsoulas Gallery in Davis, California in 2007. Recently Chella served as judge of the Plein Air Art Division at this year’s California State Fair.