Callan McCollister
Some people are born with a natural artistic ability. Envied by millions, this rare breed can draw, paint and sculpt beautiful works of art with ease and grace.
Their skills are precise and their minds creative.
This is how to describe Lynn Esh.
Growing up, Esh had an immediate love for the arts. From the time she was young, she had a talent for painting and in school it was “an easy A.”
“Anything artistic just came naturally,” she said.
When it was time for college, she enrolled at Diablo Valley College in Northern California with dreams of being an artist. She continued to paint often with her specialty being watercolor.
In 1986, Esh won the Excellence in Watercolor Award at the age of 22 at the San Diego Watercolor Society International Exhibition. This was a huge accomplishment for her and was a sign of things to come.
Then, she got to create one of the most exciting pieces of her life. She did a watercolor portrait of Stevie Nicks and her best friend. It was named “El Tapio” and aired on Nick’s VH1’s Behind the Music.
Soon after, Esh had children and there was no longer enough time in the day to dedicate to her paintings.
She decided to put her education and passion for art on the backburner while she raised her children and worked full-time as a hairstylist.
“My kids were my canvas,” she said.
Even though she didn’t have much free time to paint she knew she would eventually get back into art.
“It was always something I knew I wanted to do,” she said about going back to school.
Sure enough, 16 years later the mother of two enrolled as a part-time student at Pierce. She was even rewarded a scholarship in 2002 from Women Painters West, a non-profit organization that recognizes outstanding artists who want to further their education.
Esh, now 44, is in her third year at Pierce College and is enrolled in Oil Painting 2. Art teacher Constance Kocs thinks that Esh brings a certain amount of knowledge to the table that most students don’t have.
“She is developed in her art and is very focused and self-motivated,” Kocs said.
Now that her kids aren’t little, Esh says she plans to continue her art forever.
Her continuing enthusiasm for art is fueled by the ability “to do unusual things and shock people,” she said.
She still enjoys being a hairstylist but has added a few art-related aspirations to her agenda. She hopes of putting together her own art show in the future and eventually being able to teach art classes.
In the upcoming art show at Pierce, Esh will display two large oil-on-canvas paintings and one collage multimedia.
Kocs said one of Esh’s pieces is about her concern with “technology taking over.” Esh further describes it as “technology crushing her.”
Of her all-time favorite pieces, she credits one of her paintings in the art show because of its “ambiguity.”
The opening of the art show was Saturday in the art gallery and will run for several weeks.