Behind the partially closed doors of a small auditorium in Santa Ana College are a few handfuls of people captivated by the artist who speaks. Danielle Eubank stands in front of a large screen displaying his works and talks to the group about his 20-year journey which is his exhibition, “An artist five oceans.”

Eubank is an abstract artist based in Los Angeles who uniquely captures the movement of water in her oil paintings. She examines and explores the relationship between realism and abstract art. Speaking at engagements and exhibiting his work around the world, Eubank is a master of his craft.

Eubank started the body of “Once Artist Five Oceans” in 2001 with the Pacific Ocean. Eubank set sail to paint the Atlantic and Indian Oceans in 2003 and 2008 for one and two years respectively, then began sailing back to the Arctic Circle in 2014.

His last expedition took Eubank to Antarctica and its final destination, the Southern Ocean.

“I was very excited to take on this because it would mean I was going to paint and sail every ocean on the planet,” Eubank said. “This expedition was truly mine.”

The Southern Ocean and its sub-freezing temperatures posed challenges for Eubank, from ensuring his paints and oils didn’t freeze to navigating his tools and canvas with gloves on. thick. However, Eubank persevered and achieved his goal of painting the five oceans.

Replicating sights of animals, landscapes and even trash that littered the water as she sailed on her expeditions over the years, Eubank uses rich hues of blues, reds, oranges and yellows to cover linen canvases in the main gallery of the SAC.

Eubank takes the “real world situations” and problems humans create in Earth’s oceans and transforms them to “evoke emotion”.

“All my paintings are quite formal. It’s about shapes, colors. It’s about lines,” Eubank said. “It’s kind of my way of dealing with it.”

To continue to raise awareness of the state of Earth’s oceans, Eubank will head to the Great Pacific Trash Patch for his next adventure. “I want people to really observe and think about water,” Eubank said in his “One Artist Five Oceans” YouTube promotional video. “If we appreciate our oceans, we are more likely to appreciate them and help them.”

The “One Artist Five Oceans” exhibition will be presented at Santa Ana College in its Palace of Fine Arts until April 7.