ABOVE: The painting “Ischia at Twilight,” by Sondra Holtzman LEFT: Bend artist Sondra Holtzman relocated to Bend from the Bay Area in 2000. Amid the growth and quickening pace of life here, she finds solace in hiking, teaching and creating art.

In recent years, Bend artist Sondra Holtzman has divided her time between teaching art around the world and creating her own masterful paintings working with oils, pastels and watercolors.

Holtzman, this week’s featured Central Oregon Creative Artists Relief Effort (CO CAREs) artist, moved to Bend in 2000. Educated at the Rhode Island School of Art and Design and California College of the Arts, she freelanced as an art designer for corporations such as Delta Airlines and Nike earlier in her career.

“I think my biggest claim to fame was doing an ad for Nike, for women’s running shoes,” Holtzman said. “They wanted a collage piece (and) wanted it to look like the type and photographs were done in old journals. So I had to buy one of those journals at Barnes & Noble, and make it look like it was really old.”

Among her efforts to make the new journal look old and distressed, she put it in the oven — and almost started a fire. Her project was successful, however, and Nike released it as a sort of postcard.

“It was like someone journaling about running shoes. It was really cool and really fun,” Holtzman said. “It was a wonderful experience, but I came really close to losing my house.”

As a single mom, she found commuting into San Francisco increasingly difficult, not to mention expensive.

When people she knew began moving to Bend, “I thought, ‘God, where is that? What happens up there?’” Holtzman said. “I flew up to look at it and never looked back, just like me and billions of other people. … And if I hadn’t gotten this little house when I did, I wouldn’t be able to live anywhere near Central Oregon.”

Bend’s growth over the past years leaves her feeling as though “we all sold our souls,” Holtzman said. “I mean, it’s a very different feel.”

Still, she finds solace in hiking with her dog away from the maddening crowds, and, of course, in creating art. The COVID-19 pandemic left plenty of time for her to do both.

“I’m a solitary person to begin with, so I didn’t suffer any depression because I was by myself or anything like that,” she said. “I’m a naturalist. I love being in nature. I got out more. I went for long, long walks in the woods, and I got out with my miniature labradoodle and did the things that I always do, really. It did help with an extra focus on the artwork.”

For Holtzman, “Art is kind of a refuge,” she said. “Is it going to be a great, big burgeoning career? No. But is it my passion and gives me total joy? Absolutely.”

Holtzman isn’t in local galleries and is grateful for collectors of her work, some of which is posted on her website, sondraholtzman.com.

Another portion of her income comes from the international wine and painting trips she offers with good friend and business partner Katie Wendel, a wine expert and foodie. Not surprisingly, the trips ground to a halt last year. She’s looking forward to ramping back up next year, with trips planned to Portugal and Italy.

“I love teaching, so teaching also fills out a nice spectrum of work,” she said. “It gives me great joy to be in that position where you can walk alongside someone in their artistic journey.”