Nancy Horwick has been a Ventura County local for decades- she fell in love with Ojai when visiting for her husband’s soccer games. They moved together from Santa Monica and never looked back.
Horwick will do whatever it takes. For example, when she moved to Ojai and needed a job, she got a job as a cook in a bowling alley, but didn’t know how to cook! She learned quickly though. Eventually, she got her teaching credential and taught third and fourth grade. Teaching remains a passion ... view more »
Nancy Horwick has been a Ventura County local for decades- she fell in love with Ojai when visiting for her husband’s soccer games. They moved together from Santa Monica and never looked back.
Horwick will do whatever it takes. For example, when she moved to Ojai and needed a job, she got a job as a cook in a bowling alley, but didn’t know how to cook! She learned quickly though. Eventually, she got her teaching credential and taught third and fourth grade. Teaching remains a passion of hers to this day.
It was teaching that led her into art. In her 50s, she decided to take art classes so she could better teach her students. She was immediately drawn into it, taking workshops and studying with local artists. She started in acrylic, then added oil to her repertoire. Currently, mixed media is at the forefront of her portfolio.
One day, her teacher, Kim Smith, pushed Horwick into showing her work. She didn’t feel ready. She was nervous. Yet, at her teacher’s urging, she showed at Art in the Park in Ojai- and sold her art!
Now, Nancy Horwick can be found painting in her backyard studio. Her studio has different painting stations set up so she can work on multiple pieces at a time. She loves creating texture with mixed media, using crackle paste, beads, papers, feathers, and more. Horwick paints everyday, especially in the midday, listening to all kinds of music, podcasts, and audiobooks. When she isn’t painting, she enjoys reading, wine tasting, and spending time with friends.
Robin Ossentjuk is a lifelong artist, always pursuing and challenging herself with new creative endeavors. Growing up in Thousand Oaks, she was surrounded by her family of artists who supported her pursuit of an art career.
Ossentjuk started taking art more seriously in high school before studying mixed media and visual arts at Scripps. Throughout her college career, she focused on mixed media. For her final project, she wanted to try something new. She taught herself punch needle, creating her first work in fiber for her thesis. Now, punch needle and machine tufting are her mediums of choice.
Her inspiration for art creations comes to her in the moments as she falls asleep. She’ll sketch her idea at that moment, using the repetitive, tactile creation process to meditate on her feelings and why she is creating the piece.
A favorite subject of her work is hands – Ossentjuk values their ability to be expressive, help us experience the world, and communicate, viewing them as a “vessel for emotion.”
By day, she works as a graphic designer designing food labels (you can see her work in Costco!). It is different enough from her own art that she doesn’t burn out. During the week, she works on a smaller pieces. But come the weekend, she relocates to her garage to work on a larger piece with her machine tufting equipment.
Robin Ossentjuk loves cooking, and very rarely follows a recipe as she creates “upscale comfort food”. She enjoys spending time at the beach and recently took up boogie boarding. When she’s able to, she organizes an art market in Moorpark called Art in the Alley.
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