Erin Lee Gafill
48510 Highway 1, Big Sur, (831) 238‑2837, eringafill.com
Erin Gafill has a resume that helps explain why she is the best. The award‑winning artist, teacher and author from Big Sur was honored as a Champion of the Arts in 2008 by the Arts Council for Monterey County, and the State of California. She is an artist member of the Carmel Art Association. She teaches regularly at Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Baja California, Mexico, in Italy and at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur. She also offers creativity and painting workshops online and in‑person. But it’s less about her accolades than it is her art – abstracted landscapes, plein air and still‑life paintings that are at once familiar and unthinkably beautiful – that make her the best.