Canal Cafe, Amsterdam

Art and diverse cultures have always interested me. As a kid, my mom often took my two sisters and me to different cultural events and art happenings. She once took us to a street fair in the Los Angeles community of Watts. Neighborhood kids and I colored side-by-side on the street with chalk, fast becoming friends in the way small children do. We ate food together that afternoon, with flavors and varieties I had never experienced before.
A few days later, the Watts riots erupted. As I watched with a child’s eyes the scenes of protests and destruction on television, I worried about my new friends. Were they safe? Were their homes on fire? Would they be able to go to school? I felt a bond with my friends, an unbreakable link created through art and innocence no matter how fleeting the moment. Little did I know how this sense of kinship, of empathy for others and their struggles, would become foundational to my creativity.
As I became older, art became my passion and I came to firmly believe art can change the world. I completed my education at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, where I would graduate with honors. I went on to work as an illustrator and college art instructor.
In 1991 my daughter April was born. She was eight months old when I first noticed the small pale patch on her skin. Over the years, she and I came to learn quite a bit about vitiligo, a medical condition that causes white skin patches that often grow bigger over time.
It inspired me to write and illustrate Different Just Like Me, a children’s book that showed how we are all different, yet so much alike. This led over the next 20 years to making presentations about diversity and acceptance at schools, bringing together communities to create public murals, and even an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, in between teaching art and creating my own art (learn more at differentjustlikeme.com, and https://www.differentjustlikeme.com/get-creative- for more about the murals).
Recently I began creating pieces for shows and exhibits that focus on social issues and current events. I consider it part of a lineage that began with that little girl drawing in the street with chalk, a lineage with waypoints marked by travel, college, motherhood, teaching, and writing. Empathy and kinship have remained ever present along the way, a notation of sorts that we all need a little of both as we deal with life’s challenges. It will always be a part of my art. I hope it shows our similarities and differences in a new way. I hope it stirs a conversation. I hope it helps people consider a different point of view.
EXHIBITIONS
JURIED
2022
Urban Sketchers, Gallery 21, Spanish Village, Balboa Park, San Diego , CA (San Francisco buildings, San Francisco Buildings 2, Say Cheese, Man reading news with dog.)
2022
San Diego Watercolor Society, Member Exhibition, "Grey Matters," juried by Drew Brandish. ("Training Day")
2022
San Diego Watercolor Society, Member Exhibition, "Visual Dialogues," juried by Ken Goldman. ("Main Street Fantasy," Honorable Mention)
2022
San Diego Watercolor Society, Member Exhibition, "Break for Soup”," juried by Edward Abrams. ("The Hug," Honorable Mention)
2022
San Diego Watercolor Society, Member Exhibition, "Simple Pleasures," juried by Thomas Franco. ("Mama I can't Breathe")
2022
San Diego Watercolor Society, Member Exhibition, "I Got Rhythm," juried by Ralph Kingery. ("Phoebe")
2022
San Diego Watercolor Society, Member Exhibition, "Go Paint," juried by Pierre Guidetti ("Coffee with Dan")
2021
San Diego Watercolor Society, Member Exhibition, “Beyond Rules,” ("Good Kids" AKA "Summer")
2021
San Diego Watercolor Society, Member Exhibition, “My Life, My Story," juried by Graeme Stevenson. ("Saturday", and "Sunday")
2019
Athenaeum, Annual Juried Show, La Jolla, CA, 2 pieces (US1 and US 3, now called "Family")
2019
Art on 30th, Juried Show "Double Trouble", San Diego, CA, 2 pieces, (US1 and US3)
2019
Oceanside Museum of Art, Sparks Gallery, Juried Show, San Diego, CA, (10 Women)
2017
Athenaeum, Annual Juried Show, La Jolla, CA, (10 Women)
2016
Cannon Gallery, Annual Juried Show, Carlsbad, CA, (10 Women)
2014
Athenaeum, Annual Juried Show, La Jolla, CA, (Little People)
SOLO
2021
Girard Gourmet, La Jolla, CA, “From the Archives”
2019
Girard Gourmet, La Jolla, CA, "20 Years of Different Just Like Me"
2019
Athenaeum, Bread & Salt, Barrio Logan, CA, "10 Women," for Women’s History Month.
2018
Athenaeum, La Jolla, CA, “The Super Secret Show”
2018
Girard Gourmet, La Jolla, CA, “Coffee Shops,”
2015
2017
Girard Gourmet, La Jolla, CA, “People & Places,”
Girard Gourmet, La Jolla, CA, “The Art of Lori Mitchell”
2014
Girard Gourmet, La Jolla, CA, “Illustrations by Lori Mitchell"
GROUP
2023
"Black and White," Fallbrook Library, Fallbrook, CA
2022
“Turning Tides” with TWA, BFree Gallery, La Jolla, CA
2022
“Metamorphosis of a Coffee Shop,” Flower Pot Cafe, La Jolla, CA
2021
Oceanside Museum of Art, "NOW" with TWA, Oceanside, CA
2020
Fresh Paint, "20/20" with TWA, La Jolla, CA.
2019
San Diego Art Institute, "A Tribute to Pam Whidden: Models are to Artists Like Flowers are to Bees." San Diego CA.
2018
Cannon Gallery, “Prom Show,” with Twenty Women Artists ( TWA), Carlsbad, CA
2018
Inspiration Gallery, “San Diego and Beyond” Exhibit with the Art Posse,
Liberty Station, San Diego, CA.
2018
Fallbrook Library, Exhibit with TWA, 10 women, Fallbrook, CA.
2017
Helmuth Projects, “Nasty Women” Juried exhibit, San Diego, CA,
2016
Girard Gourmet, “Three Generations,” La Jolla, CA,
2015
California Center for the Arts, “Writing with Pictures” Escondido, CA.
2015
Art Walk, Liberty Station, San Diego, CA
2014
Cannon Art Gallery, “Original Art: Celebrating the Fine Art of Children’s Books,” Carlsbad, CA
2004 - 2015
Boehm Gallery, Annual Faculty Exhibit, Palomar College, Escondido, CA.
PERMANENT COLLECTION
2019
Baldessari, Athenaeum Music and Art Library, La Jolla CA. Acquired 2019
PERMANENT INSTALLATION
2021
Warwick’s 125 year Anniversary. La Jolla, CA.
Three panel timeline of the family-owned bookstore from 1896 to 2021.
MURAL
2021
Warwick’s 125 year Anniversary Mural. La Jolla, CA.
The mural covers the second floor of the Warwick's bookstore with portraits of 20 authors that have visited the store to sign books.
EDUCATION
1984 - 1987
Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA
BFA, with Honors
1980 - 1983
San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton, CA
AA , Honor roll
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2004 - present
Athenaeum, La Jolla, CA.
Pen & Ink, Watercolor and Mixed Media
2015-2019
UCSD Extension, La Jolla, CA. Pen and Ink, and Animal Illustration. Illustration Certificate Program.
2017
One week teaching urban sketching on location in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
2015
One week teaching urban sketching on location in Nice, France.
2009
LINK, a free once-a-month program for at-risk teens sponsored by the AIGA.
Mixed Media
2007 - 2008
Canyon Crest Academy, San Diego, CA.
High school conservatory program.
Children’s Book Illustration, Pen and Ink and Mosaic
2004 - 2017
Palomar College, San Marcos, CA.
Drawing and Composition
ART FOR A CAUSE
February 2022
Feeding San Diego
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the hunger relief sector increased the total amount of food assistance by 85%: from 17.5 million meals per month in January 2020 to 32.3 million meals per month in March 2021. Half of my profits from the opening night at Girard Gourmet went to Feeding San Diego.
March 2022
UNICEF
The war started in Ukraine while I had my show at Girard Gourmet so I pledged 100% of my profits to help.
March 2022
Pannikin, La Jolla
I donated my profits from prints of the sketch I did of Pannikin, La Jolla. They lost their lease after being there since 1968.
AFFILIATIONS
2014 - present
Time for Women Artists (TWA), San Diego, CA
2013 - present
Art Posse: AKA Sisterhood of the Traveling Paints, San Diego, CA
2005 - present
San Diego Urban Sketchers, San Diego, CA 2005 – present
2004 - present
The Athenaeum Music and Art Library, San Diego, CA
WEB INFORMATION
To see more about Different Just Like Me and related projects go to:
https://www.differentjustlikeme.com/
Shoutout Socal article https://shoutoutsocal.com/lori-mitchell-artist-art-instructor/
SD Voyager article http://sdvoyager.com/interview/meet-lori-mitchell/
ATHENAEUM CLASSES
Check with the Athenaeum for my next class.
https://www.ljathenaeum.org/art-classes
Classes run during Spring, Fall and Winter terms.
Monday 1-4pm and Wednesday 9:30-12:30pm