LaRetta Small

La Retta’s early years studying with several major artists in the K.C. Area as well as a short time at the Kansas City Art Institute until Motherhood took over.  Work experience has been High Fashion in Kansas City.  She ran  her Interior Design business in South Florida and San Diego for 35 + years designing furniture, fabrics and area rugs for both luxury homes , hotels and restaurants.

After retiring in San Diego she went back to her art full time and has been a member of the Oceanside Museum of Art, the Escondido Arts Partnership, the COAL Gallery, the Fallbrook Art Association and the Institute of Contemporary Art in San Diego.  Her work has been honored with many awards in the area .

I have always considered myself to be an artist from the time I sewed ribbons onto my fuzzy house slippers to make ballet shoes in the third grade, to the present filled with paints, papers, canvas, fabrics, semi precious stones and oh yes clay and wax.  I can’t seem to stop the creative impulse and constantly am compelled to explore the shapes, colors, textures, sounds and yes even the smells of nature. My mantra has always been “WHAT IF?”  For me creating art runs the gamut of emotion from lets get busy, to I hate it, to it’s finished.  I am so blessed and grateful to have filled my life with the richness of the art world and the incredible mentors along the way.

CA

United States