Audrey E. Gabrielson

Feb 14, 1932 - Nov 19, 2018

Born in Alberta, Canada, Audrey passed away at her home in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood, surrounded by loved ones. Gabrielson was an artist, poet, sculptor, photographer, muse and an integral part of the San Francisco art scene of the late 1950s to late 1970s. She was a friend and contemporary of artists such as Benny Bufano, Jean Varda, Pascal Cucaro, Alfonso Pardinas, Alexander E. Anderson, Charles Dawkins, Raymond Howell, Leonard Cahn and more. Her paintings have hung in San Francisco, in locations such as the famous Hungry I, as well as Modesto, Gualuala, Berkeley, and Sausalito. A collection of her paintings are on permanent exhibition at Alberta Art in Red Deer and Uglies in Lacombe, Canada.

Gabrielson’s interest in art began at a young age. She drew, modeled in clay, and studied art by correspondence and began winning honors. Her introduction to oils began with a Canadian Indian instructor and later continued at Reed College in Portland, Oregon where she studied under the famous West Coast artist, Louis Bunce. She also worked in bronze, studying under San Francisco sculptor C.B. Johnson.

After retiring from a career as a Secretary of the Courts for the San Francisco Superior Court, she dedicated herself to her art, focusing on oils, acrylics, water colors and photography.

A lover of all of the arts, Gabrielson had a passion for gems and minerals and was very involved with the San Francisco Gem and Mineral Society. She held season tickets for the San Francisco Ballet and Opera for many decades, in addition to regularly attending local and independent artists exhibitions and installations, touring bands and musicians, and other performances in and around San Francisco.