Undeclared Citrus College student Leah McCorkle, a hobbyist painter, walking through the Chris VanWinkle Memorial gallery in Hayden Memorial Library.Christian Van Winkle, who died January 23, taught at Citrus College for over 30 years.
The Hayden Memorial Library Gallery is featuring the scenic paintings of a late professor from April second through May 13 as a celebration of his life.
Chris Van Winkle taught at citrus college for over 30 years before he died on January 23 at the age of 86.
“I greatly appreciate Chris’s work, he was a great artist and a great guy” said John Goodno, a student of Van Winkle’s.
The room features information about the artist written by his students, but most of the room is dedicated to Van Winkle’s watercolor works.
Winkle used to bring his students on annual trips to locations around the world including places such as Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Spain, Norway and Italy.
In his two years as President of the National Watercolor Society Winkle managed to raise enough money to convert a warehouse in San Pedro into an art gallery.
Goodno said Winkle knew how to utilize white space in his paintings to give them “sparkle” and he allowed parts of the painting to be “symbolic.”
The trees and background in Winkle’s paintings are not hyper-realistic. The colors and shapes make the trees recognizable, but more then anything they set the mood of the scene by giving it a unique atmosphere, as if the viewer is witnessing a fleeting moment in time.
“I like that some of the lines are random, I get drawn to the colors” Leah McCorkle, an undeclared student and hobbyist painter, said.
Winkle’s watercolor sketchbook as he traveled around the world, courtesy of Christian VanWinkle on Youtube.
