Stephanie Langley grew up in Monterey and discovered a love of drawing and painting as a teenager, an early passion that would shape the course of her life. She went on to study graphic design at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and later earned a degree in drawing from CCAC, California College of Art and Craft, in Oakland. After completing her studies, Stephanie worked as an illustrator in Palo Alto while maintaining her own art studio there. Alongside her professional work, she taught art to elementary school children in the Palo Alto school district, finding in teaching a natural extension of her creative life. In 2016 she returned to the Monterey Peninsula, where she has focused on painting full time ever since. Her background in illustration continues to inform her work in distinctive ways. Stephanie strives to give her paintings an abstract narrative quality, weaving in unexpected visual elements that reward a closer look. She has a deep love of contrast, color, and pattern, and moves fluidly between realistic and abstract imagery, juxtaposing these different elements to create work that is rich and layered.