Tony Vine, a dedicated member of the printmaking community, died August 2007 after a period of declining health and a brief, final illness. He was a native of England, where he was educated and later served in the RAF during World War II. Following this service he began a career path in the British Civil Service with increasing international responsibilities as a member of the Board of Trade. In this role he helped to advance British trade by co-authorizing a widely praised program of promotional campaigns that involved all sectors of the performing and visual arts, sports groups, and a host of British celebrities. The enormous success of the two he personally managed in Stockholm, Sweden and San Francisco, California, were recognized with honors from the Swedish government and Great Britain where he was named an MBE (member of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II. In the early 1970’s, he left the British Civil Service and returned to San Francisco. There he joined the San Francisco Ballet as Marketing Director where his efforts dramatically increased audiences. Later, he served as a marketing consultant to a variety of American arts organizations including the Houston Ballet, Hartford Ballet, Milwaukee Symphony, Joffrey Ballet and Ojai Music Festival. After he retired he found a new outlet for his energies when he decided to combine his artistic talents and love of the sea by buying and personally restoring the Piargo, a Dutch sailing vessel that he berthed in Holland. A gifted writer and artist, he recently began studying solar etching, a kind of printmaking, which he found to be the most rewarding of his artistic endeavors. In fact, he often said he wished he’d discovered printmaking earlier so that he could have made it the focus of his life.

He is survived by his wife, Virginia Cochran Vine, a daughter Lesley Vine of Scotland; a son Mark Vine of Switzerland; two step-daughters, Carolyn Cochran and Diane Bird of Santa Barbara; four granddaughters: Molly, Meredith, Roxanne and Lauren, and a step-granddaughter, Alexis.

b. 1925 - 2007

Barbara and her two sisters were brought up on a ranch in northern Colorado. All three sisters were talented in art and earned their way with scholarships through Colorado Women’s College, and then the Cleveland Institute of Art. Barbara received an additional scholarship, the Agnes Page scholarship, to continue painting a fifth year.

The same year she was struck with polio. Barbara was paralyzed on her entire left side, but with the help of the Sister Kenny Treatment Center at the St. Francis Hospital in Peoria, IL. She was able to recover enough to return to graduate school at Denver University. There she met her husband, Don Frith, and they were married in 1949.

They moved to San Bernadino, CA and set up lives as teachers and artists. Three years later her husband became an assistant professor at the University of Illinois, and they moved to Champaign/Urbana, IL. where they raised a family of four children, Eugenia Meltzer, Winnetka, IL; Martin Frith, Goleta, CA; Johanna Sholder, Pittsburgh, PA; and Juliet Frith-Ladd, Eureka, CA. When Don retired in 1989 they moved back to California, setting up their art studio in Santa Maria, and they continued their professional carrers as artists.

As an artist, Barbara continued to receive much recognition until the end of her life. She struggled with post-polio syndrome and died December 21, 2007. She will be greatly missed by her husband of 58 years, Don, and her four children and seven grandchildren.

From the Los Angeles Times - December 28th, 2007

Former newspaper editor became multimedia artist Hope Frazier, 60, a former newspaper editor who turned to photography and art in the 1990s, died Saturday of colon cancer at her Ojai home, said her husband, Doug Adrianson.

Frazier was executive editor of the Pasadena Star News, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune and the Whittier Daily News and a vice president of the San Gabriel Newspaper Group from 1992 to 1996. Before moving to California, she had worked as an editor at the Miami Herald and the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

After retiring from journalism in 1996, Frazier moved to Ojai with Adrianson, a former Los Angeles Times editor. She set up a studio and employed various media for her art: photography, solar etching, poetry and film.

Her work was displayed at the Museum of Ventura County, the Ojai Center for the Arts and other galleries. She also served as a member of the Ojai Arts Commission.

Last spring, Frazier's multimedia work, "BRUSHY Between the Halves of My Heart," documenting the effects of coal mining in her native Appalachia, was exhibited at the Reece Museum at East Tennessee State University.

Frazier was born Oct. 20, 1947, in Kingsport, Tenn., and studied journalism at the University of Tennessee.

Our friend and colleague, Nancy Frost died in June 2006, and her death is a loss to our Santa Barbara printmaking community. A former teacher and education consultant, Nancy saw the beauty in all forms of fine art as well as everyday objects. At the Schott Center, she approached printmaking as an adventure and loved to experiment with different techniques, frequently exclaiming with delight when she got good results. Always one to encourage her colleagues, and study their artwork carefully, she eschewed praise for her own prints. Her enthusiasm for printmaking was matched only by her innate talent. We will miss her spirit and her generosity.