Linda Kidd grew up surrounded by artists. When she was home sick from school, she’d attend her mom’s art class. However, it wasn’t until later that she started getting into art herself. In her 30s, she moved to Los Angeles and started taking art classes with a friend. Linda Kidd still takes art classes to this day, having studied with Terry Masters, David Gallup, and Carolyn Smith, among others.

Kidd also works as a real estate agent, with her husband. The two of them have always had interests in common. Her husband is an art collector, critic, and photographer. These days, he makes sure to only contribute photos for Kidd’s work (and not suggestions!). Before joining her husband in real estate, she worked as a sales director and interior designer.

Linda Kidd likes to paint at least twice a week, once in a class and once in her studio. Her studio space is a distinct split - ½ art and ½ real estate - a reflection of her left/right brain split. Her dogs, Lily and Buttons, can also be found in her studio (sometimes covered in fuchsia oil paint!).

Bonny Butler was a dog groomer since she was 16 - she even owned her own dog grooming business! One day, she decided she had enough of the noise - from the phones ringing, the blow dryers drying, the water running - and signed up for Watercolor 101. It was the first time she ever picked up a paintbrush, at age 60. It sparked an incredible appetite for art in her.

Once she started with watercolors, Butler was captivated by an alcohol ink piece of a flower, and away she went with alcohol ink classes. After alcohol ink, she was onto encaustic wax. As time passes, the list of Butler’s mediums grows. Her current favorites are acrylics and soft pastel. She loves to keep learning, changing, and creating, and never intends to stop!

Butler paints almost every day, any time of day, whether she has five minutes or five hours. Sometimes she’ll listen to dance music as she paints, though she prefers silence most of the time, so she can listen to the birds sing. She’s delighted when her husband, a musician, plays guitar in her studio.

Her studio features watercolor wash walls, her favorite feature. The walls are a painting all their

own and create a wonderful background for Butler’s creations. Her studio, open to the public, is a true look into the dynamic colorist that defines this artist. Every detail is addressed, and always with lots of color!