Opposites attract; a truism most of the time, anyway. But in the case of artists like husband and wife duo, Marilyn Simandle and Ted Goerschner, truisms are a thing to be challenged.

In their art, as in their marriage, it is all about seeing things differently

In their art, as in their marriage, it is all about seeing things differently. Best known for their airy, luminescent depictions of European villages, gardens and landscapes, both Ted and Marilyn are accomplished artists in their own right, respectively studying their craft for more than 40 years. For the last 20 years the couple has made Santa Ynez Valley their home, building a creative love nest that lacks nothing in warmth or inspiration.

Ted, a New Jersey native, was first inspired at a young age by Walt Disney cartoons shown at the movie theatre. He went on to study at the Arts Student’s League and the Newark School of Fine Arts, where he was taught by successful, practicing artists that were still in the trenches of their craft.

“It was a real education in fundamentals with real-world application.” Ted says.

Supporting himself as a house painter and a Maine lobster fisherman, Ted sites the real launching-point of his career when he was accepted as one of 150 members of the exclusive Rockport Art Association in Massachusetts. It was there Ted won the Gold Medal of Honor in 1977, and subsequently was featured in American Artist Magazine in an article by Charlie Movali. It was the break that landed Ted smack in the middle of the country’s most exciting up-and-coming artists.

When Ted and Marilyn met in 1986 at a Mendocino, CA art gallery, Marilyn had amassed an equally impressive resume. Finding her start at a young age as well, Marilyn was encouraged by her artist-mother and adult education classes she attended through grade school. At age 21 Marilyn set foot in Europe and discovered the continent that would become her life-long inspiration. After earning her B.A. in Fine Art at San Jose State University, Marilyn was drawn back to Europe, living a year in France, then working as a pub-girl in England, and later as a stewardess on World Airways. Her time in Europe helped her compile a body of water colors and design work that she took to the I. Magnin Art Department in San Francisco. During the interview Marilyn asked what the art director did and decided promptly she didn’t want to do that.

 “If you can’t paint what you want to paint, then it’s not worth it.” Marilyn says, demonstrating the attitude that drives her work as an artist, as well as an esteemed teacher, author of two books, and the artist of more than 75 one-woman shows. She is also counted as one of the painters included in the private collections of Sen. John Garamendi, Burt Reynolds and The Trump Collection.

There is no doubt Ted and Marilyn are forces to be reckoned with in the art world. Both long-time teachers, both award winners, both authors, both showing art in five galleries around the country. They have the same response when people ask them their secret: start young and work hard. Equally so, they stand by the idea that good painting lies in what their favorite artist, John Singer Sergeant, calls the “economy of the brush stroke.” Marilyn is especially vocal about the idea that less is more.

“Leave something out. Let the observer use their imagination, that way you never tire of looking at the painting.”

On many levels they are a match set, but underneath they have very different styles, different preferences in how they source inspiration, as well as approaches to their technique. They are both oil painters, but beyond that very different artists. Occupying adjoining studios equipped with ample skylights, large windows and lots of room to move around rolling easels and work tables, both rooms are chalk full of golden, light-filled paintings bordered by gold-leaf frames. A staggering amount of paintings are scattered about. “But sometimes we can’t produce them fast enough.” Marilyn confesses, flipping through photos of Tuscan landscapes on her 42-inch plasma screen adjacent to her easel.

The photos she is perusing are among thousands taken during the couple’s annual trips to Europe that started just after they met in 1996. They have a routine on their travels, often going their separate ways in search of rolling hills, a lone casita, or a bustling Lake Como café. Marilyn paints about one 9” x 12” panels an hour, “an hour, plus forty years, plus five generations of selective reading”—a sketchbook of sorts that will become the inspiration for full scale canvas paintings. Ted prefers to travel light with French Oil Sticks that are soft, vibrant “crayons” that draw and smudge and “move like butter across the paper.” Either way, they return home anxious to get back in their studios and get to work.

Getting back to work for Marilyn means reinterpreting what she sees in the pictures in a new way. “A photograph is what it is; a painting is what you want it to be.” This is part of a bigger philosophy behind the idea of technique that both Ted and Marilyn try to convey in their seminars and workshops: good technique must be learned from the very beginning; then, with enough experience, you can finally abandon technique and follow your heart.

For Ted and Marilyn following their heart includes a deep commitment to their faith. “Above all we give thanks and praise to God for all our talent and accomplishments.” Marilyn and Ted profess. Following their heart also means going back to Europe this summer for a month in Paris, Alsace and Brittany. It is there that they will once again draw local crowds of art enthusiast that often press in close and whisper among themselves about the “real artists” and their paintings that are considered “jewels” on two continents.

Ted Goerschner and Marilyn Simandle are represented by the Judith Hale Gallery. There work can also be seen at the Pepper Tree Show in May and November, and the Wilding Art Museum Gallery Tour in November. For information on Ted’s upcoming October seminar, visit www.judithhalegallery.com or call (805) 688-1222.