Therese Fowler-Bailey to be featured at Zonta affair

The work of an artist with deep local roots will be featured during Porterville Zonta Club’s eighth annual Evening of Art and Wine.

Therese Fowler-Bailey will present 30 new pieces of original art of diversified subject matter during the gala scheduled for 6 p.m. March 10 at Nuckols Ranch.

Fowler-Bailey’s one-woman show will feature art from three distinct areas — Italy, Hawaii and Porterville.

“Summertime above Nelson” will feature pieces with sky, mountains and pines from the Camp Nelson area.

“Cinque Terre Bay” includes the hillsides, old buildings and waters of Italy.

“Spring Branding in the San Joaquin” will feature San Joaquin cowboys and other local areas.

Besides the art exhibit, guests can enjoy heavy hors d’oeuvres, an assortment of desserts, and an array of wines and sparkling ciders from local wineries.

Raffle prizes, including a flat screen television and a Kindle G3 reading device, a silent auction and live music by Raymond Pitts, will also be offered.

Tickets are $30 and available at Citizens Business Bank, 334 N. Main St., from any Zonta Club member and by calling Mickey MacDonald at 310-0099.

Proceeds from the event benefit women world wide and locally, including the Central California Family Crisis Center of Porterville, and the offering of scholarships to young women and to women re-entering the market place, and high school Z-Clubs, MacDonald said.

“This is a wonderful evening that will help support the enhancement of the status of women,” MacDonald said. “It’s also one of the most talked-about events of the year. With Therese as our [featured artist,] we’re anticipating about 300 people.”

The artist

Fowler-Bailey, who was born and raised in Porterville, paints landscapes, seascapes, florals and abstracts and has won numerous awards in watercolor and acrylics throughout the San Joaquin Valley, Sacramento and Lassen counties, and in Lake Almanor and Reno, Nev.

After spending two weeks painting in northern Italy last fall, Fowler-Bailey returned with a renewed inspiration and spent all winter painting Italy in her studio, she said.

“Capturing that certain memory of the Chianti and Tuscany-rich hillsides, and the sunlit glow was something I will never forget,” Fowler-Bailey said. “The northern Italian coast was exactly the same for me. To be able to paint from gorgeous photos and sketches back in my snow-covered studio was a huge blessing.”

More recently, she returned from spending two weeks in Kailua and Lanikai, Oahu, where she joined fellow artists painting plein air with the Hawaii Watercolor Society near Kailua Beach.

“To paint a memory of Hawaii and to be able to capture the feel and warmth of that particular scene is a rewarding passion of mine,” Fowler-Bailey said.

In addition, painting Tulare County scenes, particularly in the springtime or fall, is another love of her’s because she said she knows the importance agriculture, farming, and cattle ranching play in the area.

“From coastal beach scenes, across the San Joaquin Valley and up to my Northern California mountains, our state is a diversified and gorgeous canvas for artists like myself,” she said. “I appreciate being invited to show again for this one-night event hosted by Zonta Club of Porterville and am sure that Porterville will love my variety of all new watercolors from Italy, Hawaii and California areas.”

Fowler-Bailey teaches and demonstrates watercolors, conducting her own workshops and offering private lessons in her Susanville studio in Northern California.

Represented by Burfords Frame and Fine Art Gallery, Fowler-Bailey will also be taking a group of artists and friends to paint northern Italy in the Fall of 2014. Details will be made available at a later date by Sara Durham at Hanson Travel Ideas, Porterville.

Contact Esther Avila at 784-5000, Ext. 1045, or eavila@portervillerecorder.com. Follow her on Twitter @Avila_recorder.