Chris Potter
Christopher Joseph Stewart Potter, a renowned landscape artist beloved by the Santa Barbara community, died suddenly on February 3, 2024, just days after his 49th birthday.
Chris was born at Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital on January 29, 1975 to Susan and Jay Potter. He was a descendent of the founders of the famous Potter Hotel, which dominated the Santa Barbara shoreline in the early 20th century.
Chris learned to love the sea and the shoreline while growing up near the Ellwood Bluffs, a place that remained dear to his heart until the end, particularly an overlook where he loved to paint that’s now being called Potter’s Point.
He attended Ellwood Elementary, Goleta Valley Junior High, and Dos Pueblos High, then studied art at UCSB, where he became close to a large group of friends, including a surfer and songwriter from Hawaii named Jack Johnson. Upon graduating in 1998, Chris moved to be close to his brother, Jay Potter Jr., in San Diego, settling into a career as a stockbroker but continuing to paint in his free time.
During a trip to Europe in August 2001, he met a woman from Quebec named Julie Beaumont in Paris, sharing a bottle of wine under the Arc de Triomphe. Julie tracked down Chris in California, convinced him to focus on his painting as a career, and then they moved to Montreal. They married on June 14, 2003, in Bromont, Québec.
The couple moved back to Santa Barbara in September 2003, where Chris continued working as a stockbroker for Charles Schwab while painting every day. The Potters were blessed by the birth of their son, Malakye, in August 2006, and again by the birth of their daughter, Zenia, in May 2008.
In 2009, after more than a decade as a stockbroker, Chris quit that career to paint full-time, pledging to create at least one piece per day. His risky life change inspired the community at large, giving hope to those who wanted to follow their own dreams and live life on their own terms.
Chris mostly kept up that pace — often producing even more than one painting per day — until his death, becoming very successful in this endeavor. He was a common sight on the beaches and bluffs around Santa Barbara County, but he also brought his easel much deeper into nature than most plein air artists, exploring the rugged reaches of the Los Padres National Forest during annual backpacking trips and the isolated coves of Channel Islands National Park.
Chris Potter Family Art Shows became known as legendary gatherings, where he sold works small and large. Prices ranged from near-nothing to tens of thousands of dollars, and paintings were frequently donated to support a variety of causes, including his most recent donation just weeks ago to a young woman fighting cancer. Chris Potter pieces hang in public and private places all over Santa Barbara and beyond, leaving a visual legacy that will be appreciated long into the future.
His infectiously joyous life was interrupted in the fall of 2021, when Chris was diagnosed with an incredibly rare and aggressive form of cancer called NUT carcinoma that had invaded his lungs and elsewhere. He spent weeks on the verge of death in Cottage Hospital, eventually traveling across the state and country for consults and treatments.
The community rallied around him and his family, supporting them financially and emotionally through The Friendship Paddle in the summer of 2022. Miraculously, and against all predictions by doctors from Harvard to UCLA, Chris came back from near-death to return to his daily regime of painting and living the good Santa Barbara life.
Following recent scans that showed his body was free of visible cancer, Chris was in the midst of that life when he died suddenly while visiting friends and family in San Diego and Huntington Beach. He spent his last day golfing and hanging out with close buddies, but did not awake the next morning, having passed away peacefully in his sleep.
Chris Potter is survived by his wife Julie; son Malakye; daughter Zenia; mother Susan Potter; brothers Jay Potter Jr. and Alex Potter; sister Megan Elizabeth Stern; and five nieces. On Julie’s side, Chris is survived by his father-in-law Gilles Beaumont, mother-in-law Carmelle Brosseau; stepmother-in-law Lise-Margerite Legare; and brother-in-law Francis Beaumont. He is preceded in death by his father, Jay Sheldon Potter, who passed away in October 2023.
A celebration of life will be held at the Elings Performing Arts Center at Dos Pueblos High School on Saturday, February 24, 1 p.m. Given the potential for a large crowd, attendees are being asked to register in advance by visiting chrispotterart.com. Those who would like to support Malakye and Zenia can donate to gofundme.com/f/for-malakye-and-zenia.