Then, in the mid-1970s, she moved to the Mediterranean coast of Spain with her husband, classical guitarist Richard Patterson, who was studying Spanish guitar. Inspired by nature, she began to incorporate vibrant colors.
Both influences are still very much a part of her work, as viewers can see with a visit to Moon News, where large acrylic abstract works by Montalto brighten the walls: “I reflect on nature, and that goes into my canvas in an abstract way.”
 Miramar artist Linda Montalto is currently showing some of her abstract work at Moon News, including this nature-inspired acrylic on canvas entitled "Summer.' |
All present random dabs, ovals or slashes in shades of olive green, vibrant corals, beige, purples, reds and black. The colors fill the canvases, and drippings of color balance the shapes.
The effect is almost cacophonous, like an overwhelming jumble of colors. But the eye is compelled to try to perceive pattern in it all. A sense of motion appears, carried by the drippings, and from the chaos a pleasing sense of order emerges.
The paintings range in price from $800 to $1,300, and some are diptychs with matching color schemes. They are thematic also, according to either seasonal or conceptual paradigms: “Summer,” a large painting, sports a mélange of beige flesh tones, white, corals, purples and green; “Reflection” is moody with more purples, black and greens and “Meditation” seems to light up with large dabs of beige, reds, purples, oranges and hints of gold, and its sense of motion is promoted by squiggly lines.
Montalto prefers to give free rein to intuition. “My abstract work is usually begun without preconceptions,” she writes in an artist’s statement. “When I do begin with set intentions, the creative process usually overtakes them and the influences of my environment, the landscapes I see, my private dreams and emotions appear in the work as a kind of self-discovery.”
The process of her work is one of layering, covering up and peeling back the layers — “uncovering, covering, uncovering, covering,” she said — to reveal colors and textures underneath. “Covering, and choosing what comes back” is how she’s always worked.
“The staining techniques create a richness of color and a lush quality resulting from the drips running over the canvas,” she wrote.
Having made a commitment to art and the pursuit of visual beauty back on the East Coast, she earned a master’s degree in art at San Jose State University. Living by the ocean in Miramar, where she and Patterson settled in 1984, she plunged into explorations of color and texture, through painting and three-dimensional work with pots and gourds she also painted. She also worked with living beauty through Hastings House, the lush flower garden she created behind her home which has been featured in television and print media and where she holds weddings.
She also works with architects on landscape design and with homeowners to create their own gardens.
Montalto’s Moon News exhibit opened in June and will run through August at Moon News, located at 315 Main St. in Half Moon Bay. It can be reached at 726-8610.
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