Childhood travels shaped artist’s brush with painting

Art from Chula Vista will be represented alongside work from artists across the country and Mexico when the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival returns to the beachside commmunity Oct. 10-11.

Among the more than 170 juried artists participating will be Chula Vista oil painter Rebecca Robb, whose work ranges from seascapes and landscapes to animals and portraits.

Robb’s path to painting was shaped by a childhood spent moving through very different parts of South America.

Born in Brazil to American expatriates, she experienced the beaches of Brazil, the deserts and jungles of Peru and the Andes Mountains of Chile.Those landscapes and cultures became part of the visual vocabulary she carries into her work today.“Growing up without one hometown gave me an unusually expansive sense of what home means to me,” Robb said.

“I experienced everything from Brazilian beaches and jungles to Argentine countryside, Chilean mountains, farms, cities and deserts.” She said that constant change taught her to see nature as a source of familiarity and connection, something that continues to influence her work.Robb now lives in Chula Vista and works as a professional oil painter.

Her paintings draw on places, animals and natural environments, as well as the people and scenes that have caught her attention throughout her life.“I’m really interested in capturing and translating a feeling rather than just reproducing what I see,” she said.

At the festival, visitors will have an opportunity to see her work in person and talk with her about her paintings.Robb will bring a collection of contemporary impressionist oil paintings featuring coastal scenes, landscapes and animals.

She said she is especially looking forward to showing newer work alongside paintings that have become meaningful to collectors.“Seeing the collection together gives people a real sense of how my style continues to evolve,” she said.

The festival will turn Girard Avenue into an open-air art show, with paintings, sculpture, jewelry, photography, ceramics, glasswork and other forms of art on display.The free event also will include live entertainment, interactive experiences, a silent auction and family-friendly activities.

The La Jolla WIne & Art Festival is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Girard Avenue in La Jolla.