Catalina Island resident and artist Kymberlee Stanley was born and raised in Southern California and comes from a family of three generations raised near the California coast. Throughout her life, Laguna Beach’s rocky coastline and eucalyptus-lined canyon roads have been her muse, and the color of the coast has been her palette. She grew up visiting Catalina as well as several generations in her family, and she feels like she is “coming home” to be painting as a full-time resident on the island.
Kymberlee’s first exposure to oil painting was a painting class her mother enrolled her in at the age of 16 at a local hardware store. In Costa Mesa, she excelled in art classes in high school and won local awards for paintings through the city. She later received an art scholarship to attend Biola University near Los Angeles, partially granted to her from one piece she painted in the hardware store class. Kymberlee attended as a full-time art major her freshman year and later graduated from CSULB with a degree in liberal arts with an art concentration. For 10 years she worked as an elementary school teacher working with at-risk students and later graduated from University of Southern California as a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist. She now works at the Catalina Island Medical Center as a licensed clinical social worker and feels her work on canvas and her counseling work run a seamless line of connection between hope, healing, color and joy.
Throughout her life she has been a singer, songwriter and guitar player, a modern dancer and an amateur home designer. She has enjoyed many other art forms; however, after a time of homesickness after moving from California to Nashville in 2012, she felt the need to paint again to fill her home with the coastal color and images of California.
After enrolling at a local senior community oil painting class in Nashville, a local art curator invited her to do a solo show to create painting 15 paintings in one year.
Kymberlee accepted the challenge and had her first one person show at the Living Room Gallery in Nashville, in 2014. She sold more half her paintings and was shocked at the response to her work, which led her to immerse herself in learning from master painters in the Nashville area.
Since then Kymberlee has taken more than 15 plein air and oil painting workshops.
2018 was a year of painting highlights: she took a dream trip to paint in Aix en Provence, France and painted Cezanne’s view from his atelier in plein air, she launched her new website, and painted alongside Michael Obermeyer and Wendy Wirth with Southern California Plein Air Association and LAPAPA.
Her goal is to continue strengthening her technique through mentorships, ongoing workshops, and building a network with other California Impressionists.
Bewteen 2014-2019 Kymberlee and her husband built an art studio in their backyard.
She painted prolifically and taught lessons to new oil painters.
She enjoyed using her teaching experience to encourage people discovering painting for the first time. She was invited for a two person art exhibit at the Parthenon Museum in Nashville between October 2019-January 2020, where she displayed 15 plein air paintings of the California coast, Catalina, Laguna Beach, and Nashville.
In November 2019, Kymberlee moved with her family to Catalina Island for a position as director of social services at the Catalina Island Medical Center, and to pursue her lifelong dream of living and painting in Catalina.
She is honored to be invited to be the featured artist with the Catalina Art Association, and to be a part of a wonderfully supportive art community.
She can often be seen painting around the island.
For more information, call 714-814-3567, email lagunatic5@yahoo.com, or visit www.kymberleestanley.com.
