As an artist, plein air painting allows my art to showcase two of my greatest passions: my enthusiasm for being outdoors and the beauty of watercolor. Plein air painting helps me focus intensely on my work while promoting a sense of mystery and spontaneity.
Watercolor echos this idea of immediacy and nature. I find that watercolor is both medium and metaphor, and at times both a blessing and a curse. I love that aspect of art making- when something is slightly out of my control and a challenge. It allows me to feel that I am playing with mysterious forces beyond my own understanding.
Previous Guest Artist Demos
In 4th grade, Mary complete her first plein-air painting and that memorable experience seeded a lifelong desire to pursue the arts. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Washington and then began work as a cartographer.
In ensuing years she studied with renowned artists and took courses at such places at the Gage Academy and the Watts Atelier. She began earning many private and public commissions and also worked as Artist in Residence for the Stillwater School District in Stillwater, MN.
Years have passed and now Mary is an Artist Member of the California Art Club, a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America, The Pastel Society of the West Coast and a Master’s Circle Member of the International Association of Pastel Societies. Mary has received considerable recognition for her pastels and has received numerous awards in various exhibitions. She has been recognized in the annual Pastel 100 of the Pastel Journal and has recently exhibited her work in “American Women Pastelists in France” in 2022. She shows her work in the summer at the Festival of Arts, Laguna Beach.
From his early memories, Hugo Rivera loved to paint and draw. After studying civil engineering in Guadalajara, Mexico he relocated to the United States and returned to his passion for fine art. Hugo describes his artwork as a fusion of his abstract world and the traditional methods in art instruction of the human figure; where colors play with the rhythm of the forms and textures, creating interesting compositions. The Hugo Rivera Gallery was opened in 2013 in Laguna Beach.
Many of us know Pamme as one of our favorite Emeritus teachers, teaching us watercolor, gouache, oil, acrylic and pottery. During this time she was also head of the Saddleback Emeritus art department. She left us over year ago, but has continued teaching watercolor with gouache classes, internationally in Italy and France, where she has met great success, teaching her impressionistic style to full workshops. In addition, she still conducts workshops and demonstrations in the U.S. Join us as we watch Pamme take an ordinary, everyday scene and turn it into a beautiful piece of art. She is the artist breathing life into common and usual that makes it memorable.
An avid world traveler, Pamme invites us to share her love of art and travel in her blog, travelingartist.blog and pammeturner.com; embark on a delightful journey with an outstanding artist and teacher! Enjoy the work painted during these travels!
Among Barbara’s recent awards are:
People's Choice Award, LPAPA Annual Waterworks Exhibition
2rd Place, Laguna Plein Air Salon, 2022
Best in Show, LPAPA Plein Air Invitational, 2020
Honorable Mention, Watercolor Plein Air Salon, 2022
Honorable Mention, Mendocino Paint Out, 2021
Image showing Gil Dellinger's pastels of choice;
My paintings are about color and shape and how to best balance the two within a painting. I often start out by marbling my paper or canvas in acrylics, allowing unusual patterns to develop on the paper. Later, I stand back and evaluate what’s there—often making the shapes into figures. It’s that element of chance that keeps it interesting for me and (I hope) for the viewer. –Liz Walker
Liz Walker has been active in the local art scene since she moved to Portland in 1999, and has received local and national recognition for her work in exhibits throughout the United States.
Click on the image below to watch Febuary 2023 Demo!
Elaine Cohen is a Laguna Woods–based artist recognized for her bronze figurative sculptures, portraits, and abstract paintings. Although she dreamed of being an artist as a child, her early career led her to roles as an editorial assistant for Gastroenterology Magazine, a classic car salesperson, and an assistant vice president for a national insurance company. After retiring, Cohen pursued her artistic passion through workshops with renowned public sculptor Robert Cunningham, leading to her sculptures being finalists in the Smithsonian National Portrait Competition and her recognition as a featured “Emerging Artist” on PBS White House Chronicles. In 2005, she expanded into abstract painting and went on to teach workshops and serve as a demonstrator and educator for Pebeo Paints.
Gil Dellinger discovered his passion for art after taking a single sculpture class—an experience he describes as the moment his life “caught fire.” A versatile artist best known for his seascapes, Gil works primarily in acrylics in the studio and in oils or pastels when painting on location. His work is represented in numerous private, corporate, and museum collections, and he has participated in many solo and group exhibitions. A dedicated advocate of the plein-air movement, Gil has taken part in major events including painting at the Forbes Trinchera Ranch in Colorado, the Forbes Chateau in France, and a rafting expedition through the Grand Canyon. Deeply committed to the artists’ community, he is a past president and Signature Member of the Plein Air Painters of America and a Signature Member of several leading art organizations. Gil taught drawing and painting for over 30 years as Professor of Art at the University of the Pacific, earning the Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence, and he continues to teach at Laguna College of Art and Design and through workshops. Now based in Laguna Woods, Gil focuses his work on painting the California coast.
The final painting from our February watercolor demonstrator, Barbara Tapp: The Tourists: Nubble Lighthouse, Maine
The final painting from our March watercolor demonstrator, Mary Aslin: Roses
Award-winning watercolorist, Fealing Lin of San Marino, California, was born in Taiwan and began her journey into artistic expression as a protégé of renowned professor Ching-Jung Chen in Taiwan, subsequently pursuing her career in the United States with watercolorist and senior art historian professor Verna Wells.
Kathleen Abood is a lifelong creative whose artistic journey has taken her from Detroit to Northern California and ultimately to Hawaiʻi. Along the way, she has worked in graphic arts, jewelry, stained glass, scrimshaw, and gardening, and has taught art to at-risk populations. Since settling in Kona in 1999, Abood has lived and worked in a home she designed with a spacious studio surrounded by a tropical garden, where she continues to create art inspired by nature.