Libby Mitchell is a contemporary painter based in the Santa Cruz Mountains whose work reimagines still life and figurative subjects through bold color, graphic composition, and subtle emotional tension. Her paintings place confident, expressive forms within geometric, abstracted spaces — creating depth, balance, and a quiet sense of steadiness.
Mitchell received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied under Katherine Sherwood, Richard Shaw, Jane Rosen, and Mary Lovelace O’Neal. After graduation, she built a successful career in marketing and event production for Sotheby’s, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, and several early internet start-ups — experience that continues to inform the clarity, presentation, and professionalism of her studio practice.
During the 2020 lockdown, she began painting on recycled and unconventional surfaces, an exploration that expanded her mixed-media approach and deepened her interest in materiality. Today, she paints full time in her studio on a small mountain farm, where she lives with her husband Ben and their dog, Wally.
Mitchell creates both intimate works on paper and large-scale canvases intended to be lived with. She hopes viewers feel a personal connection to her work — a flicker of recognition, a memory, a moment of humor or steadiness — and are drawn in because something resonates.
From there, her paintings naturally anchor a room, bringing warmth, personality, and quiet confidence to layered, character-driven homes.
Her work is included in corporate collections such as Lululemon and the Jelly Belly Candy Company, as well as private collections throughout California, Idaho, Utah, Georgia, and Florida. She is currently represented by galleries and continues to expand her collector base across the United States.
CV
Education
Bachelors of Fine Art, UC Berkeley
Syracuse University’s Fine Art studio in Florence, Italy
Selected Group Exhibitions
2026 - “Mondo Fauna: All Creatures Weird and Wonderful” Wessling Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
2025 - Santa Cruz Arts Council Open Studios
2025 - Santa Cruz Arts League
2024 - Santa Cruz Arts Council Open Studios
2024 - Santa Cruz Arts League
2024 - Valley Art - SLV Art Tour, Felton Library, CA
2023 - “Small Works” Radius Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA
2023 - Santa Cruz Arts Council Open Studios
2023 - Santa Cruz Arts League
2023 - “Delicious” STUDIO Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2023 - “Moda Botanica” Radian Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2023 - “RE:Visit, RE:Work, RE:Claim” Radian Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2020 - “Into the Woods” Elliott Fouts Gallery, Sacramento, CA
2016 - “Candypalooza” Jelly Bean Factory, Fairfield, CA
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023 - “Scouts and Starlets” Santa Cruz, CA