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| As a young child growing up in rural Vermont, Zea Shimahara was weaned on the idea of seeing beauty in everything that surrounded her. The youngest daughter to Ernest, a free-lance photojournalist for the likes of National Geographic and other numerous publications; and Maggie, a commerical print/ runway model and successful entrepreneur; Zea's unique perspective of life was literally born to be creative, colorful and eclectic. Her perspective of life, culture and people broadened immensely with her world travels. After living in New Zealand for almost a decade, Zea returned to the U.S to finish high school in California. She then joined her parents in Australia, opting to live and work there before going on to University. She returned to Southern California to study at the University of Redlands were she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology in 1988. By the age of 23 Zea had lived on three different continents, traveled many countries and intimately experienced diverse cultures. While her first artistic endeavors were doodling in pen and pencil on her school notebooks; Zea later combined her love of different cultures and her eye for photography into authentic, rich photos of the cultures and civilizations she experienced around the world. She began painting in the summer of 2000 inspired by a friend who was active within the world of art. After seeing a ceramic plate Zea had painted for fun, her friend insisted she "do herself a favor, pick up some paint and canvas and go with it!" Since then, Zea has been creating the acrylic symbolic stories and rhythmical swirling abstacts for which she is known. The swirling paintings can be likened to tribal designs each telling the tale of an emotional plight, while her symbolic paintings offer up possible resolutions. Her family history of painting artists, most notably Lillie Gay Torrey, one of Hawaii's premier painters of Hawaiian flowers and her husband, George Burroughs Torrey, most recognised for his paintings of numerous United States Presidents; further motivated Zea to pursue her art career full time in 2002. Her work hangs in private collections as well as within corporations and can be viewed at www.ZeasArt.com. Zea has lived in Southern California for over 20 years, taking adventurous trips both home and abroad whenever possible. Her love of people and cultures and the passion to understand them, continues to enhance her work. |