Carmel-by-the-Sea Carmel Artists - Barbara Kreitman

Barbara Kreitman

Gallery North

Looking at one of her oil paintings hanging in Gallery North, Carmel-by-the-Sea artist Barbara Kreitman attempts to put her big-screen abstract work into words. "It's gestural, atmospheric, richly layered, and energetic," she says. "It has movement. It has motion. They are definitely not static paintings."

Location: Northwest corner of Dolores and 6th View Map

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Kreitman describes her artistic process as a six- to eight-week-long process using brushes and palette knives. "I build up my layers slowly," she says. "The whole idea is that something shows through from each layer."

The artist realized her passion as a young girl while growing up in Idaho Falls, Idaho. "My dad was my first patron," she says. "He commissioned me to do a painting, so I could buy my own car."

Kreitman moved to Carmel in 2001 and opened Gallery North in 2004 to showcase her work and the work of her artist friends. She says that California impressionist artists E. Charlton Fortune and William Ritschel are important influences on her work. "I could look for hours at both of those artists and their depth," Kreitman says.

She has moved from painting impressionistic plein-air paintings to more abstract pieces. "I like paintings that are mysterious and open to interpretation for the viewer," she says.