{"id":681280,"date":"2026-09-10T02:23:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T02:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/681280\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T02:23:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T02:23:23","slug":"arts-guild-of-sonoma-features-award-winning-watercolorists-creations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/681280\/","title":{"rendered":"Arts Guild of Sonoma features award-winning watercolorist&#8217;s creations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After establishing a 25-year career as an award-winning art director, graphic designer and illustrator in Denver, Robert Benson realized he was no longer interested in staying there, but wasn\u2019t sure where to go.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI consulted three times with a gifted psychic and she finally said to me, \u2018I see that you just have to make the leap of faith and move to California. I see you in a mountainous area, not necessarily in San Francisco but in Northern California, where you will find like-minded people. You could stay here and grind it out, but why?\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Deciding to take the leap, Benson bought a three-quarter ton 1988 GMC conversion van and drove west to Sonoma County, where he settled in Kenwood in 2001.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t want to beat my brains out competing with 20-year-olds in San Francisco for design jobs,\u201d Benson said. \u201cI wanted to dial down the stress at that point. Sonoma County was my choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul class=\"mng-gallery-initialized mng-gallery-slider\">\n<li data-index=\"1\" class=\"mng-ge mng-gallery-active\" id=\"mng-ge-0\" aria-hidden=\"false\" tabindex=\"0\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"This watercolor painting, \" long=\"\" winding=\"\" road=\"\" chileno=\"\" valley=\"\" is=\"\" included...=\"\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.sonomanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SIT-L-robertbenson3-091426-01.jpeg?w=620\"  bad-src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\"\/>\n<p>This watercolor painting, &#8220;Long Winding Road, Chileno Valley,&#8221; is included in featured guest artist Robert Benson&#8217;s exhibition at the Arts Guild of Sonoma&#8217;s gallery in Sonoma through Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. The show also includes &#8220;Friends: An Invitational Exhibition,&#8221; consisting of creations by guild members and other artists who they feel deserve a wider audience. (Robert Benson)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"2\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Watercolorist Robert Benson is the featured guest artist in the...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.sonomanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SIT-L-robertbenson-091126-01.jpeg?w=620\"  bad-src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\"\/>\n<p>Watercolorist Robert Benson is the featured guest artist in the show at the Arts Guild of Sonoma&#8217;s gallery in Sonoma, which runs through Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. The show also includes &#8220;Friends: An Invitational Exhibition,&#8221; consisting of creations by guild members and other artists who they feel deserve a wider audience. (Robert Benson)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"3\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-2\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The acrylic work \" purple=\"\" onion=\"\" is=\"\" included=\"\" in=\"\" featured=\"\" guest...=\"\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.sonomanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SIT-L-robertbenson5-091126-01.jpeg?w=620\"  bad-src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\"\/>\n<p>The acrylic work &#8220;Purple Onion&#8221; is included in featured guest artist Robert Benson&#8217;s exhibition at the Arts Guild of Sonoma&#8217;s gallery in Sonoma through Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. The show also includes &#8220;Friends: An Invitational Exhibition,&#8221; consisting of creations by guild members and other artists who they feel deserve a wider audience. (Robert Benson)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"4\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-3\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" flat=\"\" rocks=\"\" is=\"\" included=\"\" in=\"\" featured=\"\" guest=\"\" artist=\"\" robert=\"\" benson...=\"\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.sonomanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SIT-L-robertbenson1-091126-01.jpeg?w=620\"  bad-src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\"\/>\n<p>&#8220;Flat Rocks&#8221; is included in featured guest artist Robert Benson exhibition at the Arts Guild of Sonoma&#8217;s gallery in Sonoma through Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. The show also includes &#8220;Friends: An Invitational Exhibition,&#8221; consisting of creations by guild members and other artists who they feel deserve a wider audience. (Robert Benson)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"5\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-4\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" chileno=\"\" valley=\"\" road=\"\" is=\"\" included=\"\" in=\"\" featured=\"\" guest=\"\" artist=\"\" robert...=\"\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.sonomanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SIT-L-robertbenson2-091126-01.jpg?w=620\"  bad-src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\"\/>\n<p>&#8220;Chileno Valley Road&#8221; is included in featured guest artist Robert Benson exhibition at the Arts Guild of Sonoma&#8217;s gallery in Sonoma through Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. The show also includes &#8220;Friends: An Invitational Exhibition,&#8221; consisting of creations by guild members and other artists who they feel deserve a wider audience. (Robert Benson)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"6\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" napa=\"\" road=\"\" in=\"\" spring=\"\" is=\"\" included=\"\" featured=\"\" guest=\"\" artist...=\"\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.sonomanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SIT-L-robertbenson4-091126-01.jpg?w=620\"  bad-src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\"\/>\n<p>&#8220;Napa Road in Spring&#8221; is included in featured guest artist Robert Benson&#8217;s exhibition at the Arts Guild of Sonoma&#8217;s gallery in Sonoma through Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. The show also includes &#8220;Friends: An Invitational Exhibition,&#8221; consisting of creations by guild members and other artists who they feel deserve a wider audience. (Robert Benson)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Show Caption<\/p>\n<p>1 of 6<\/p>\n<p>This watercolor painting, &#8220;Long Winding Road, Chileno Valley,&#8221; is included in featured guest artist Robert Benson&#8217;s exhibition at the Arts Guild of Sonoma&#8217;s gallery in Sonoma through Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. The show also includes &#8220;Friends: An Invitational Exhibition,&#8221; consisting of creations by guild members and other artists who they feel deserve a wider audience. (Robert Benson)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\" class=\"icon-enlarge mng-gallery-fullscreen-expand\" aria-label=\"Expand fullscreen slideshow\">Expand<\/a><\/p>\n<p>While living in Denver, he had started to paint for fun and profit. Utilizing his skills as a water media illustrator, he began showing his creations \u2014 which largely consist of landscapes, figurative work and still lifes, in watercolor and acrylics \u2014 while still working as an art director for Denver-based Cimarron International, one of the first, and largest, digital multimedia production companies in the Rocky Mountains region.<\/p>\n<p>During his first show, held at Genre Gallery in Lower Downtown Denver, he sold 10 of the 20 pieces he exhibited.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, I was getting affirmation that my work could sell,\u201d Benson said. \u201cAll that changed when I moved to Sonoma County was the subject matter. No more Rocky Mountain scenes: Now it was wine country stuff.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He has immersed himself in the regional art community as a watercolor and acrylic painter; participates in exhibitions, co-op galleries and outdoor shows; and teaches watercolor classes.<\/p>\n<p>Benson is the featured guest artist in the current <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sonomanews.com\/2026\/08\/12\/honing-her-focus-local-photographers-work-on-display\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Arts Guild of Sonoma<\/a> show, which runs through Monday, Sept. 28. His exhibition is running concurrently in the guild gallery with \u201cFriends: An Invitational Exhibition,\u201d consisting of creations by guild members and other artists who they feel deserve a wider audience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have not shown my work in this venue before,\u201d he said. \u201cI chose my seven strongest works from the last year or so for the show.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His main artistic influences in watercolor are Edward Hopper, John Singer Sargent and Dick Cole.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Cole\u2019s influence on Benson has been particularly significant. In 2008, Benson felt the need for a coach to help him elevate the quality of his painting. He had begun following Cole\u2019s work in Communication Arts and Art Direction magazines while attending the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in the 1970s and was thrilled to find that he was living in Sonoma.<\/p>\n<p>Cole, who passed away in 2016, was a highly respected, nationally recognized watercolor artist. He assisted in the founding of Sonoma Plein Air in 2002 and was posthumously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sonomanews.com\/2016\/11\/03\/peter-hansen-and-dick-cole-named-sonoma-treasure-artists\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">named the 2016 Sonoma Treasure Artist<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDick Cole not only changed my work: He changed my life,\u201d Benson said. \u201cHe taught me that values do all the work and color gets all the credit. He taught me a great deal about getting back to value, composition, light and shadow.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/p>\n<p>Benson said Cole also became \u201cthe cool dad I didn\u2019t ever have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe gave me life lessons,\u201d Benson said. \u201cWe got together about every other weekend. Weekends with Dick. For 8 years. When he passed, I was crushed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Benson creates paintings that provide a fresh perspective of familiar subjects with universal appeal. His goal is to stay loose and let the viewer\u2019s eye fill in where there is little detail and to evoke an emotional response when interacting with the spirit of his work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy favorite painters and paintings do this,\u201d he said. \u201cThey provide just enough visual information for you to \u2018get it.\u2019 I do not have to paint every hair on a bear for you to see that a painting is of a bear. If I can paint a scene where in two or three strokes, you know there is a bear in the scene, then I have done my job. I don\u2019t enjoy fussy work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Many of his creations include vintage subjects, such as old trucks, cars, barns and trailers that contain strong light and shadow patterns that convey the rustic qualities he seeks to capture.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI guess I like rust, or patina \u2014 something with a history and a story to tell,\u201d Benson said. \u201cI was raised in a place (the Finger Lakes area of upstate New York) where barns that are over 150 years old still stand. Those are the first things I began to draw and paint as a teen. Their hand-hewn timbers, shaped with an awl, and the large pegs holding them together tell me a story of how people built their lives and communities.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He regards his top accomplishments as being included in a national exhibit of the California Watercolor Association, receiving Best of Show and Best of Painting awards at a Day on the Green show in Montgomery Village in Santa Rosa and serving as resident artist at Chateau St. Jean Winery in Kenwood for six years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Benson, who now lives in Santa Rosa, also has been invited to teach watercolor classes and do demonstration workshops for Northern California art associations and frequently teaches classes at Sonoma Community Center.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI felt the need to carry the torch forward that my mentor, Dick Cole, had carried,\u201d he said. \u201cI felt a connection to Sonoma Community Center as Dick had taught there and I took some of his classes. At the art associations, I have a chance to connect with the art community and peers \u2014 and maybe a chance to show off. There\u2019s an element of theater in doing demos. I enjoy being on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He encourages his students and other artists to follow their dreams.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy father didn\u2019t encourage me, saying, \u2018If you learn a trade and become an electrician or a plumber, you\u2019ll never go hungry. You can always pursue art as a hobby later, or go into the Army and then get the GI Bill for art school.\u2019 He wouldn\u2019t give me a dime for art school.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Benson\u2019s mother told him he would starve if he focused on a career as an artist.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy response was, \u2018Not me. I\u2019m going to be a commercial artist. People will pay me to draw,\u2019\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cThey did. So, don\u2019t let your dream die.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 After establishing a 25-year career as an award-winning art director, graphic designer and illustrator in Denver, Robert&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":681281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[267],"tags":[365,362,363,364,366,18,117,19,17,288238],"class_list":["post-681280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-robert-benson-sonoma-arts-guild"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=681280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/681281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=681280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=681280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=681280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}