Printmaker's Exhibition Rises from Wildfires

Martha Ensign Johnson, who’s taught printmaking at Westmont since 2008, displays her wildfire-inspired artwork April 13-May 5 at Santa Barbara Tennis Club, 2375 Foothill Road. Johnson will be at a free, public reception of “3,” which includes works by artists Amber O’Neill and Michele Zuzalek, on Friday, April 13, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Johnson created the artwork after collecting seed pods, vegetation and wood that was blackened and scarred in the Tea and Jesusita Fires. The exhibition includes etchings on metal of the vegetation and relief printmaking from layers of the wood.

“I’ve been incredibly inspired by the regeneration of nature in the surrounding area since the fires,” she says.

Johnson, who was professor of printmaking at Northwestern College for seven years before coming to Westmont, has studied and worked at the Santa Reparta Graphic Art Center in Florence, Italy. She is a graduate of Florida Presbyterian College, which is now Eckerd College.

In 2008, the Tea Fire destroyed 210 homes in the local community as well as eight Westmont buildings and 15 faculty homes, displacing 62 students, 18 faculty and nine staff members. A year later, the Jesusita Fire devoured 80 Santa Barbara homes and forced the evacuation of the Westmont campus and relocation of Commencement ceremonies. The Santa Barbara Tennis Club, located between both blazes, skirted destruction.

Santa Barbara Tennis Club’s gallery is open to the public daily from 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. For more information, please call the tennis club at (805) 682-4722.