Two Series
Over the past several years, my artistic work has grown from two distinct but deeply connected bodies of work: the Fire Series and the Water Series.
For many years, I made panoramic and close-up landscape drawings and paintings of the Santa Monica Mountains. Then a major California wildfire changed everything. We lost our neighborhood, our home, my studio, and years of artwork. The fire overturned the life we knew and left us trying to find solid ground again.
In the aftermath, I understood that I needed to hold on to a few essential things: to keep drawing, to continue teaching at the local community college, and to keep returning to the ocean. It took several years before life began to feel even somewhat normal again.
Before the fire, the ocean had already been an important part of my life. It was a place of joy, attention, and relief, a place where anxiety and fear could fall away. I found comfort in the rhythm of the waves, the sight of dolphins and seals, the flash of jumping fish, and the exhilaration of catching an inside barrel.
After the fire, the ocean came to mean even more. It became a refuge and a place of renewal. Replacing a lifetime of artwork, specialized materials, and personal still-life objects was impossible. More urgently, I had to confront the larger questions that can follow profound loss.
As I had during previous difficult times in my life, I found steadiness in the intimate, focused act of drawing. Since then, my work has become a way of moving between fire and water, destruction and renewal, loss and endurance.
These two series are not separate stories, but connected parts of an ongoing effort to make meaning, restore balance, and continue forward.
Water Series
REMOVE THIS GALLERY?
Fire Series
REMOVE THIRD AND FOURTH ROWS FROM THIS GALLERY?
Joe Kabriel
“Reflections of Life in the Landscape”
The beginning of a day and the first mark of a drawing are both acts of possibility. As the sun moves across the sky, a pencil moves across the page: a small point becomes a line, a line gathers into shape, and shape gradually becomes form. Each work begins with this simple act of orientation, an attempt to locate oneself through observation.
As the day unfolds, however, both a journey and a drawing inevitably move beyond their first intention. Initial marks are altered, covered, or absorbed into what follows. The image and the day develop and fluctuate through accumulation: adjustments, discoveries, changes in attention, and the unplanned circumstances that shape the final work. What begins as a single gesture becomes part of a larger field of relationships.
My recent drawings and paintings explore the tension between orientation and drift, scale and solitude. I am drawn to the experience of standing amid the loss and devastation caused by wildfire, looking across an expansive prairie, or facing the shifting energy and movement of the ocean. In such places, one can feel both small and intensely present. The vastness of the landscape does not diminish the individual; instead, it can offer humility, clarity, and a renewed awareness of one’s place in the world.
In my work, landscape is not simply a subject to be depicted, but a space for considering how we see, move, and locate ourselves. Through shifting lines, accumulated marks, and changing forms, I explore the relationship between the immense outer world and the intimate inner point from which it is perceived. I am interested in moments when these scales meet, when the feeling of being lost within something vast becomes inseparable from feeling deeply connected to it.
Each new drawing or painting begins as unfamiliar territory. Like the beginning of a day, it asks for attention, patience, and a willingness to proceed without complete certainty. The work ultimately reflects an effort to find a place within change: not to eliminate the unknown, but to recognize it as a condition of discovery, belonging, and continued movement.
Artist Bio:
Based in a picturesque coastal community in Southern California, Joe Kabriel draws inspiration from a landscape of sunlit rock formations, vibrant chaparral, winding canyon roads, and the ever-changing Pacific shoreline. His artistic vision has been further shaped by time spent along the West Coast, from the varied coastlines of California to the rugged shores of Oregon and Washington. Beyond the West Coast, his travels to Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Portugal, and New Zealand have introduced new landscapes and natural environments that continue to inspire and inform his creative expression.
Since 1990, Joe has been dedicated to teaching art, cultivating a loyal following among students who value his expertise in technique and design fundamentals. He emphasizes the importance of individual style and personal expression in his instruction. Currently, he teaches at El Camino College, where he is known for his engaging teaching methods and for encouraging students to explore, grow, and develop their own artistic voices.
Joe holds both an M.F.A. and a B.A. in Studio Art. His studies include the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C.; the Maryland College of Art and Design; the Maryland Institute College of Art; and the American University of Rome. Through his extensive experience and education, Joe Kabriel continues to inspire and shape the artistic journeys of many aspiring artists.
Artist Statement:
My work reflects life’s continual movement through cycles of loss, change, and renewal. Drawn from the force and beauty of the natural world, it considers both human vulnerability and our capacity to endure. Fire and water serve as literal subjects and metaphors for destruction, healing, and transformation. Each piece invites viewers to pause and reflect on the ways our surroundings, and the experiences we carry within us, shape who we are.
Selected Exhibitions
Gallerium Art, “Fire” Online Exhibition (2025)
North Coastal Art Gallery, Carlsbad, CA (2024)
Camp David, Thurmont, MD (2023)
San Diego Online Exhibition, San Diego, CA (2023)
Naturalist Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2023)
Multiple Works Acquired by the U.S. Government, Washington, D.C. (2023)
Blue Line Arts, Sacramento, CA (2022)
Brand Art Center and Library, National Juried Exhibition, Glendale, CA (2021)
ShockBox, Juried Exhibition, Redondo Beach, CA (2020)
Palos Verdes Art Center, Juried Competition, Palos Verdes Estates, CA (2019)
Malibu Chamber of Commerce, Juried Exhibition, Malibu, CA (2019)
Pence Gallery, Invitational, Davis, CA (2018)
Pence Gallery, Solo Exhibition, Davis, CA (2018)
Las Laguna Gallery, Juried Competition, Laguna Beach, CA (2017)
City of Brea Art Gallery, Juried Competition, Brea, CA (2017)
California State Fair, Juried Competition, Sacramento, CA (2016)
WaterWorks Art Museum, Juried Competition, Miles City, MT (2016)
Topanga Canyon Gallery, Juried Competition, Topanga, CA (2016)
Sol Studios, Invitational, Washington, D.C. (2015)
California Open Exhibition, Tag Gallery, Juried Competition, Santa Monica, CA (2015)