Linda Salter is featured artist at Portola Art Gallery with exhibit “Summer Farewell”

“Summer Farewells,” a collection of pastel and oil paintings by Linda Salter, is the featured exhibit for September at the Portola Art Gallery in Menlo Park. A reception for the artist will be held on Saturday, Sept. 17, from 1:00 to 4:00 pm.

In this exhibit, Salter includes a number of pastel plein air paintings that she did near Serene Lakes in the Sierra. She explains: “Pastels are ideal for plein air work — I don’t have to transport a lot of brushes, solvents and other supplies needed for oil painting. And pastels invite a fresh impressionistic style that can be completed in the field or later in my studio. Sometimes back in my studio, I’ll use the plein air work as a study for a larger piece I create in oil.”

Linda Salter works primarily in pastels and oils and has exhibited and received awards at community and college art shows; she has also exhibited solo at Avenue 25 Gallery in San Mateo and Esalen Institute in Big Sur.

Salter spent more than three decades as an instructor and administrator in California colleges, serving as president of Skyline College in San Bruno and chancellor of West Valley-Mission Community College District in Santa Clara County. Since retiring as chancellor more than a decade ago, she has studied with a number of artists who teach at local colleges, as well as at Gage Academy in Seattle, Scottsdale Artists’ School, and classical ateliers in the Bay Area.

The Portola Art Gallery is located in the Allied Arts Guild, 75 Arbor Rd., Menlo Park.

“Hampshire Rocks” (9×12″, pastel, 2016) is one of the featured artworks in Linda Salter’s September exhibit “Summer Farewells” at the Portola Art Gallery