Artist

My painting is color-based and color-centric. Even the narrative landscapes play with the possible/impossible expression of what the eye sees. Sheer exuberance is allowed, rules are broken, even the trite can be rendered anew. Fear has no place here. Joy can also be serious.

Painting allows me to filter the world’s pain through the lens of abstraction. I begin with reality and eliminate it bit by bit until I find a small safe place to stop, rest and experience joy before returning to my frantic world.

As a part-time resident of Lopez Island for the past 40 years, the island’s many moods are my most influential source for imagery. Other influences are travel and the desert landscape of the Coachella Valley, where I spend the winter.

I returned to oil painting following degrees and careers in interior design and arts education. I paint nearly every day, and even on the days I don’t, I ponder it, read about it, look at the light, and consider the shadows, the negative space.
I have won awards for both my abstracts and expressionistic landscapes.

I am a gallery member of Women Painters of Washington, The Desert Art Center, The Lopez Artist Guild, and the Artists Council of the Coachella Valley.

Education
  • University of Oregon  B.A. Interior Design 1965
  • Rhode Island School of Design, M.A. 1969
  • Gage Academy, Seattle WA  2003-2009
  • Etruscan Places, Buonconvento, Italy 1999, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2011
  • Stuart Shils Workshop, Sedona AZ 2011
Exhibitions
  • 2022  Larson Gallery Yakima Wa, 3rd Place “Intersections”
  • 2022  Women Painters of Washington Gallery “Backroads and Backyards”, Seattle, WA
  • 2022  Women Painters of Washington Gallery “Northwest Styles”, Seattle, WA
  • 2021  Women Painters of Washington Gallery “Reflections”, Seattle, WA
  • 2021  Desert Art Center, Featured Artist, Palm Springs, CA
  • 2021  Lopez Island Studio Tour, WA
  • 2021  Anne Bedrick Gallery, featured artist, Cathedral City, CA
  • 2021  Solo Show, “Molly Preston “, Anne Bedrick Fine Arts, Cathedral City, Ca
  • 2020  “Honey I shrunk the Art “, Karla Matzke Gallery, Camano Isl, WA
  • 2020  Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center “ Legacy”, Wenatchee, WA
  • 2020  WPW Juried Show, “Present Tense “, Karla Matzke Gallery, Camano Isl, WA
  • 2019  Solo Show, The Hamlet Presents Molly Preston, Lopez Island, WA
  • 2019  Women Painters of Washington Gallery, “Blue “, Seattle, WA
  • 2019  Arts at the Port, Anacortes Arts Festival Anacortes, WA
  • 2019  Women Painters of Washington Gallery, “On Location “, Seattle, WA
  • 2018  “Annual Small Works Show “, Karla Matzke Gallery, Camano Isl, WA
  • 2018  WPW Juried Show, “Play of Light “, Karla Matzke Gallery, Camano Isl, WA
  • 2018  19th Annual City of Palm Springs Juried Art Show. Palm Springs, CA
  • 2018  Women Painters of Washington Gallery, “Duets “, Seattle, WA
  • 2017  September 2-3, Lopez Island Studio Tour, Lopez Island, WA
  • 2017  Women Painters of Washington Gallery, “Threads “, Seattle, WA
  • 2017  PAWA juried show “Small Gems”, Scott Milo Gallery, Anacortes, WA, Honorable Mention Award
  • 2017  EAFA Open Abstract Show, Kirkland WA, Certificate of Merit Award
  • 2017  18th Annual Juried Palm Springs Art Show, Palm Springs, CA
  • 2017  La Quinta Art Museum, “Tell me a story: Women in the Arts”, La Quinta, CA
  • 2016  Lopez island community center group show, WA
  • 2016  Southwest Arts Festival, Indio, CA
  • 2015  Fourth Corner Frames Bellingham, WA
  • 2015  “Itinerant” Dakota Arts Gallery, Bellingham,WA
  • 2015  Solo Show, Desert Art Center, Palm Springs, CA
  • 2014  Group Show, Colin Goode Gallery, Lopez Island, WA
  • 2013  Group Show, Lopez Community Center, Lopez Island, WA
  • 2013  Group Show, Colin Goode Gallery, Lopez Island, WA
  • 2012  September Lopez Island Studio Tour, Lopez Island, WA
  • 2012  Juried gallery member, Desert Art Center, Palm Springs, CA
  • 2012  Edmonds Art Festival, Edmonds WA
  • 2012  14th Annual Juried Palm Springs Art Show “Palm Springs Weekend” Palm Springs, CA
  • 2012  “Through Foreign Eyes, International Artists and Civita Castellana” Civita Castellana Italy
  • 2011  Solo Show, Colin Goode Gallery, August
  • 2010   Solo Show, Colin Goode Gallery, August
  • 2009  Group Show,Colin Goode Gallery Lopez Island WA
  • 2009  Gage Alumni Show, Seattle WA
  • 2008   Group Show,Colin Goode Gallery Lopez Island WA
  • 2008  Group Show Depot Gallery, Anacortes WA
  • 2008  Alumni Show Gage Academy, Seattle, WA
  • 2007  Alumni Show Gage Academy,  Seattle WA
  • 2006  Landscape Invitational Show, Gage Academy, curated by Mitch Albala
  • 2005   Third Place Student Show Seattle Academy of Art, Seattle, WA
  • 2005  Small Works Show Seattle Academy of Art, Seattle, WA
  • 2004  Student Show Seattle Academy of Art, Seattle, WA
Galleries
  • Women Painters of Washington Gallery,Columbia Ctr, Seattle, WA
  • Desert Arts Center, Palm Springs, CA 2012 ‐ present
  • Colin Goode Gallery, Lopez, WA 2008 – 2015
Professional Affiliations
  • Women Painters of Washington
  • Plein Air Washington
  • Lopez Artist Guild 2011–present
  • Artists Council of the Coachella Valley
Teaching
  • 2011-present volunteer drawing instructor for Palm Springs middle schools through combined program with the Desert Art Center.
  • 2011 Shiny Apple Award from Palm Springs unified school district for contributions to arts education.