Linda Shrader- Artist Bio

Short Bio

Artist, muralist, sculptor, photographer, arts advocate, and arts educator, Linda Shrader is a two-time first place award winner in previous Joshua Tree National Park Art Expo juried exhibitions (2022, 2023) for her 3-D “Joshua Tree Forever” sculptures, which also have been awarded first place and featured-artist placement at the California Welcome Center in Yucca Valley. Over the years, she has received awards for her fine art as well as her murals.

In 2007 she established a mural business, Larger Than Life Murals, and has painted nearly 100 murals in California, many with her daughter Echo Westover. In 2015, answering an international call-to-artists, they were awarded a contract to paint a 16’ x 20’ mural, titled “Welcome Home Warriors,” honoring veterans of the Vietnam war, commissioned by the Manteca Mural Society, Manteca, CA.

Shrader is an advocate for public art and art in the schools and has taught classes to all ages. She was a founding board member of the Morongo Basin Cultural Arts Council, helped to create the original Hwy 62 Open Studio Art Tours, and currently serves on the Executive Board of Directors for the non-profit organization Hi-Desert Artists (HDA). Shrader was also an awards judge for the 2024 Joshua Tree National Park Art Expo.

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CV

Learning, creating, and sharing, has been my life-long driving force,

my passion, my bliss.

I started photography with a plastic brownie camera when I was 8 years old.

Not wanting to waste film, I started looking at everything more closely before I shot.

I began noticing more and more detail which deeply fascinated me. I soon began

drawing, thrilled by the challenge of trying to achieve as much detail and realism as

possible. At age 11, I won my first Jr. Artist Contest.

Over the years I have received awards for my fine art, as well as murals. I established a mural business, Larger Than Life Murals in 2007 with my daughter Echo Westover, and have painted nearly 100 murals in California. In 2015, we were invited to submit a design for an international call to artists, and were awarded the contract to paint a 16’ x 20’ mural, titled Welcome Home Warriors, honoring our veterans of the Vietnam war, commissioned by the Manteca Mural Society, Manteca, CA. 

Throughout my life, I've studied and experimented with various mediums and painted on many surfaces including stucco, concrete, block, wood, metal, canvas, clothing, drums, glass, sculptures, and more. Subject matter has ranged from portraiture to desert landscapes featuring Joshua Trees which is very popular with locals and tourists. Always striving to improve, I’ve attended various classes, and workshops with successful artists, including Trompe l’oeil Mastery I & II with internationally recognized, master artist William Cochran.

Community involvement and support is also near and dear to my heart. I am an advocate of art as an economic engine, public art, and art in schools. As a founding board member of the Morongo Basin Cultural Arts Council, I helped form the organization and create the first Open Studio Art Tours (now called HWY 62 Open Studio Art Tours). I am currently on the executive board of Hi-Desert Artists (HDA) as Membership Director.

I’ve mentored and taught classes to all ages, and donated my time and skills to many schools, and non-profit organizations including the Boys and Girls Club. I also created and facilitate Paint Nights, for the enjoyment of friends and family, and as non-profit organization fundraisers.

As a long-time resident of the Morongo Basin, I’ve spent countless hours hiking in our desert for my own enjoyment, and to study and photograph the landscape as art reference. It was on one of my hikes in the Joshua Tree National Park that the thought of sculpting a 3D Joshua Tree first occurred to me. I remember standing motionless, staring at a Joshua Tree with my mind racing, wondering if it was possible, what technique and material I could use, and again, is it really possible!?

It took quite sometime before I found the perfect modeling compound, but I sculpted my first stand alone Joshua Trees in early 2019, and several wall sculptures all of which sold during the Open Studio Art Tours that year. With the creation of my newest 26 piece collection, the name Joshua Tree Forever Sculptures came into fruition because I want visitors to our area and the JTNP to be able to take home a lasting physical reminder of their experience here.

My sculptures have been honored with first place in 3-Dimensional at the Joshua Tree National Park Art Expo in 2022 & 2023. In 2024, I was asked to serve as an awards judge for the 2024 Art Expo.

I used to have this voice in my head saying, "To be successful, you must focus on just one thing." Just the thought of that made me very unhappy. Now I listen to my heart, which says, "Just be you, and do what you love." That makes me very happy <3