Robin Altman

Rock Bench at Heisler Park (courtesy: the Artist)

"Optimism is what my art is about. I don't paint things the way they look realistically, I paint things the way I see them in my heart, the way I want them to be. " Robin Altman is an artist from Laguna Beach. Her career has spanned thirty-five years. She attended Principia College with the assistance of an art scholarship from the Laguna Beach Festival of Arts and graduated in 1976 with a BA in Fine Art. During college, she traveled to France, Italy, Switzerland and England to visit museums and to paint on location in the countryside. She has also studied at the Laguna College of Art and Design.

Currently Robin exhibits at The Watercolor Gallery in Laguna Beach year round and at the summer Art-A-Fair Festival in Laguna Canyon. She has been commissioned by IBM, the Irvine Company and has had work displayed at the the South Coast Hospital (now Mission Hospital) in South Laguna and at the California State Capitol. Robin believes, "Life is beautiful as an artist here in Laguna. Each day is an opportunity to create something new."

Robin Altman has been an active participant in the arts community in the Laguna Beach area. She has served as secretary for the Dana Point Coast Arts, and has been a juror for the Art-A-Fair Festival, the Reflections Art Competitions, the Laguna Woods Art Show, and the Idyllwild Art Association. She has been a Meet the Masters instructor and she has led demonstrations at the Art-A-Fair. She has designed posters for the City of Laguna Beach, for Transition Laguna Beach and for R Star Foundation. She is an illustrator of children's books as well.

Robin's art is free and whimsical. It is organic and full of happiness. She is inspired by the landscape and all of nature. She has painted joyful scenes of Laguna and Hawaii, and of Italy and France. Her newest series, entitled "She" celebrates the female spirit and depicts women artists and writers. She has gratefully commented on her artful chosen path, "To live your passion, make other people happy and get paid for that, is the greatest blessings life can offer a person."

The MY HERO Project will honor Robin Altman at the 7th Annual Laguna Hero Fest on March 13, 2014.