June Felter

June Felter was a figurative painter born in Oakland, California in 1919. She studied at the Oakland Art Institute from 1937-1940, California School of Arts and Crafts,1954-1958, and the San Francisco Art Institute from 1960-1961. 

She started her career as a fashion illustrator, who later created war bond ads. In the 1950s, inspired by California Figurative painters approaching reality with the freedom of abstraction, June studied with Richard Diebenkorn, and became a colleague of Elmer Bischoff and Wayne Thiebaud. In her landscapes, nudes and complex still-lifes, June's work was admired for its graceful spontaneity. 

She taught art to children and figure drawing to adults at SFMOMA. Her etchings are featured in the book "Why Draw a Live Model?" by Kathan Brown. 

Her watercolors are based on her personal history giving full reference to the life of an artist. The 1991 Oakland Firestorm destroyed the Felter home and studio, with hundreds of paintings and drawings. June photographed the fire while madly collecting artwork, family photos and Dick's 8mm films, before escaping in a friend's small car. Later, she made paintings of the fire.

Her works are in the National Museum of Art, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and the Oakland and San Jose Museum of Art.