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KALAN BRUNINK
Native Girl
Original Modern Expressionist
Oil Pastel Portrait
Circa 1978
Excellent Condition
SIZE 24" x 19"
Glass and Bronze Finished Frame
Email any questions you may have....thank you.
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KALAN BRUNINK (1947-2009)
Born in Washington state, Kalan migrated south in the early 70s settling in Los Angeles where she met her Spiritual Teacher, Dr. George King (1919-1997), founder of The Aetherius Society; and her art teacher, Theodore Lukits (1897-1992). For the rest of her life these two mentors remained the inspiration for Kalan's life that combined esoteric mysticism with an artistic lifestyle.
Kalan Brunink was an inspiring, beloved fixture of Olvera Street and a perennial force in the culture of Los Angeles.
She was long regarded as the unofficial artist of Olvera Street, a former hippie who found a home and countless friends from her artist's easel on the street. While many considered Kalan a native Angelino of Mexican descent, she actually spoke little Spanish and claimed Dutch-Irish ancestry. But she fit right in with the other merchants and was a vital and vibrant fixture in the Olvera Street landscape. Participating and creating beautiful print art for the annual Blessing of the Animals and Virgen de Guadalupe festivities.
She filled her canvas with the joys and laughter of Mexican children dancing and playing in a bold, vigorous style that graced postcards, t-shirts, and posters that traveled around the
World. She also created striking oil portraits of the rich and famous – including Ricardo Montalban, Anthony Quinn, Bruce Willis, Marvin Gaye, Lawrence Welk, Mark Taper, Horace Siluar, Pope John Paul II, Cruz Bustamante, Count Julius Sokolnicki, Jerry Whitlock – as well as everyday Olvera Street dignitaries, tourists and visitors.
A classically trained painter (trained with Theodore Lukits), Kalan studied Art and anthropology at the University of Washington in the 1970's. A self-described "flower child," she decided to divert her college money to traveling and found her way to Los Angeles.
She continued her art studies in LA and worked a part-time job selling sandwiches for the Screen Actors Guild. A customer told her one day in 1977 that the Olvera Street sketch artist might need a helper, and she landed the job. In 1980, Olvera Street officials had Kalan paint a portrait of Mrs. Sepulveda of the pioneer Sepulveda family, who was visiting the office that day. They liked what they saw, and she set up shop in the 4 by 6 foot vine-shaded porch that served as her studio until early 2000's.
Kalan was an active and early proponent of peace, ecology and ethical conduct. A visionary, poet, designer. She helped organize Peace-In and Earth Day events at Olvera Street and helped with a sustainable green development, Dos Lagos, in Corona and other community developments. She also helped organize the LA tributary for The Peace & Dignity Journeys -1992, an Inter-Continental Spiritual Run to Save Mother Earth.
Kalan served as a member of the California Arts Council, the Historic Art Club, the International Who's Who of Professional and Business Women, the Aetherius Society, and was active in the Hollywood artistic and spiritual communities. She conducted arts training classes for disadvantaged children and adults and painted portraits of LAFD and LAPD members to help raise funds for 911 assistance in New York.
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