Robin Sawyer is a Carmel Valley-based painter and former professional piano teacher, who first entered the arts scene as a photographer. After her relocation to the area from Southern California in the late ’90s, she graduated from an MFA program at San Jose State, where she trained as a painter. Abstract oils are her favorite medium. See her newest pieces, shown next to the works by another design-oriented artist, Dennis Peak, at the Carmel Art Association in an exhibit titled Paired. Peak paints in a mosaic-like style; both artists are drawn to composition and think color first. An opening reception takes place at 4-7pm Saturday, Aug. 8. CAA is on Dolores Street between 5th and 6th, Carmel and is open from 10am-5pm daily. On display until Aug. 31.