Ray Roberts and Charles Muench, along with former tattoo artist Sergio Sanchez, received top awards in the California Art Club’s 101st Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition on view in Los Angeles until April 22, 2012. Renowned landscape painter Ray Roberts, whose Gold Medal painting is on the cover of the April/May issue of PleinAir magazine, and sculptor Lynn Christopher received Gold Medals for “Best of Show” honors on Saturday, March 31.

Over Memorial Day weekend, a three-day Festival of the Arts will take place in Paso Robles, CA. PleinAir magazine editor Steve Doherty will give a lecture and judge both the plein air and quick draw competitions, and Ray Roberts and Peggi Kroll-Roberts will offer workshops at the Studios in the Park.

Oregon artist Thomas Jefferson Kitts offered a wealth of good advice when he was interviewed for an article by Bob Bahr on marketing plein air paintings that will be included in the April/May issue of PleinAir. We decided to included more of his helpful comments in this issue of the PleinAir Today e-Newsletter. Kitts will be a valuable demonstrator during the  Red Rock National Conservation Area during the 1st Annual PleinAir Convention & Expo.

When Scott Gellatly paints in the Red Rock National Conservation Area during the 1st Annual PleinAir Convention & Expo, he will offer the benefits of his experience as both an accomplished painter and an expert on artists materials. That’s because in addition to being an exhibiting artist he is a Product Manager for Gamblin Artists Colors, a Bronze Level Sponsor and maker of the Official Oil Paint of the convention.

When British artist Karl Terry comes to the United States to participate in plein air festivals and paint-outs, he brings with him a completely different tradition, range of techniques, and set of historic influences. He talks about those influenced in an article published in the most recent digital edition of PleinAir magazine.

As part of Streamline Publishing’s exciting new DVD program, Erik Koeppel has just finished filming a program on the painting techniques he uses that are based on America’s first indigenous school of art, The Hudson River School. This informative new program will soon be released to accompany the program already available on artist Max Ginsburg (www.GinsburgVideo.com).

Audiences were spellbound by Eric Rhoad’s dynamic presentations in California last weekend. Rhoads, publisher of both PleinAir and Fine Art Connoisseur magazines, moderated panels during the California Art Club’s (CAC) Winter Symposium in San Francisco and the Los Angeles Art Show: Historic and Traditional convention. He will offer the same kinds of informative and motivating presentations during the 1st Annual PleinAir Convention & Expo in Las Vegas from April 12-15, 2012. 

PleinAir and Fine Art Connoisseur (FAC) magazines' parent company Streamline Publishing, is about to release its first information-packed DVD on a major American artist, Max Ginsburg. The Ginsburg DVD is available January 31st so you can save $30 by pre-ordering now at www.GinsburgVideo.com. You can also register to win a Ginsburg painting at www.WinGinsburg.com. To watch a short video trailer and pre-order the DVD set, visit www.GinsburgVideo.com.

The winter, 2011 issue of PleinAir magazine has been sent to the printer and will be in the mail this week and sent to the newsstands soon. The digital  edition is being prepared now and will be sent via email by Zinio as soon as they have it processed. The digital edition is an excellent alternative for foreign subscribers and those who want a sneak peek while waiting for the Post Office to deliver it. Plus the digital edition has an additional 40 pages of content, video and the ability to blow up the size of every photo.

One of the artists who will be traveling from outside the United States to participate in the 1st Annual PleinAir Convention & Expo from April 12-15, 2012 is Ulrich Gleiter, a German artist who studied at the Repin Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia.