An Affair to Remember
Hank Pitcher, Yellow Umbrella, 2024.
Written by Lorie Dewhirst Porter
No one captures the color-drenched vibe of the Santa Barbara coast better than local painter HANK PITCHER. Growing up in Isla Vista, he was a star fullback at San Marcos High School. He went on to study art and literature at UCSB’s College of Creative Studies, where he has been a core faculty member since 1971. His fearless approach and masterful technique have remained consistent over five decades. Yellow Umbrella, 2024 was the undisputed star of Pitcher’s solo exhibition at Sullivan Goss—An American Gallery titled Hank Pitcher: The Miramar Affair, which featured 20 paintings depicting the sandy enclave of Miramar Beach. The title refers to Pitcher’s youthful romantic adventure with “a sophisticated New Yorker from the Upper East Side” who agreed to move in with him “if I got us a house on Miramar Beach.” He got the house. As for Susan, the New Yorker, he married her.
