Jae Carmichael Catalina Island Beach - Catalina Island Beach - Watercolor P2613

Such a beautiful study, so evocative of days at the beach. Measures 12" x 16".

Jae Carmichael, painter, sculptor, photographer, writer, and independent filmmaker, was born in Hollywood, California in 1925. She studied at Mills College and earned a BFA from the University of Southern California as well as a PhD in cinematography and art history.

From the 1950s, she was an active art teacher in southern California in Pasadena and served as cinematography professor at the University of Southern California. She was a founding director of Pasadena's Pacific Asia Museum.  She staged more than 200 solo exhibitions in galleries in Los Angeles, Japan, and Europe and had works included in permanent collections of the Oakland Museum of California, the Long Beach Museum of Art, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among others.

In 1953, she became a member (and subsequently a director) of the California Watercolor Society and exhibited in the annual shows since that time. From 1962-66, she was Director of the Wooden Horse Gallery in Laguna Beach.  Her 1976 film Heritage of Hope was nominated for an Emmy. She was a member of the American Watercolor Society. She studied art with Francis de Erdely, Millard Sheets, Phil Dike, Dong Kingman, and William Gaw.

She died in Pasadena, California on November 5, 2005.