Artist Profiles

Randall Graham adds cold wax medium to his oil colors so he can brush, scrape, thicken, thin, and scumble layers of color and texture to create a dreamlike state. See how he works with the medium.

During her presentation at the Plein Air Convention & Expo, Tennessee artist Kathie Odom will reveal that she has been fortunate to find spiritual and personal support as her career skyrocketed to higher levels. What will she recommend to artists in Santa Fe?

“If people start looking for color in the shadow, they will see it,” says Mark Fehlman, one of the featured artists at the Plein Air Convention & Expo. “If they stop and look, compare things, and consider what they want to emphasize most, they will get a lot more out of their observations.” How does Fehlman actually accomplish that?

Maine artist Stephan Giannini spent days creating two plein air paintings in an apple orchard. Find out why he worked so long on location.

Over the past 25 years, David E. Dallison has taken his portable watercolor equipment to more than 35 countries, sometimes ignoring travel warnings and political unrest. He is now being a bit more cautious since he is traveling with his young family. Here’s how he works with watercolors in distant locations. 

Utah artist Brad Teare stopped painting outdoors because he was putting too much pressure on himself and not enjoying the observational process necessary to discover nature’s subtleties. How did he adjust his attitude and reduce his stress levels?

Professional artist and software engineering manager at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon: Over the past several years, Karen Doyle has worked to juggle these two seemingly opposed career paths, spending her vacation time at plein air painting events or workshops, and painting several evenings a week from life in her home studio. Recently, however, she had the opportunity to completely mix and mash the two when she helped to bring plein air painting and an art exhibit to life at Nike, Inc.

Lighthouses are such wonderful subjects, aren’t they? They project into the sky with brilliant designs from sandy and rocky shores and are beacons of hope for weary sailors. For accomplished outdoor painter Poppy Balser, there will always be a special place in her heart for Point Prim. Discover why here.

New York State painter James Coe collects paintings that demonstrate good ways of tackling vexing painting problems — like presenting a variety of greens in a landscape.

No sun? No problem for Mary Monk. Overcast days at the Shadows-on-the-Teche Plein Air Competition did not deter the Louisiana oil painter.

Nova Scotia artist Poppy Balser is partial to watercolor—her chosen medium—but she is also partial to demos she's seen painted in person. There's one other trait that attracts her to a piece she is considering for her collection.

A few pieces in Boston painter Thomas Dunlay’s collection remind him to stay the course.

Oil painter Michelle Jung spends half the year in Santa Cruz, California, and the other half in Wellesley, Massachusetts. The contrast between the two locales has sharpened her skills of observation and has given her important insight that she can share with attendees of the Plein Air Convention & Expo (PACE), where she is on the faculty.

Florida painter Mary Garrish calls collecting art “a gut response” to what moves her. But she has another way to explain her choices, one that makes total sense.

John Caggiano painted a picture of a beach in the Venice, Florida area titled “A Touch of Paradise.” But it was the artist who gave it that magic touch, not nature.

Jill Stefani Wagner will tell you how the students teach the teachers and the teachers explore with the students in the drama-free, prima donna-averse atmosphere of the Plein Air Convention & Expo (PACE). It’s one of the reasons she loves being on the faculty there.

When Nancy Tankersley saw this scene, she felt like it captured the feel of Florida. The judge at the Lighthouse ArtCenter Plein Air Festival agreed.

Learning from somebody of Jeremy Lipking’s caliber at the Plein Air Convention & Expo (PACE) next month in San Diego is an attractive notion. But let it be known, PACE is designed to help both advanced artists and beginners. Attend Lipking’s demo, but also attend Jim Wodark’s pre-convention session about equipment, part of the Plein Air Basics Course.

Marsha Brook has enjoyed a successful career as a sculptor, and she has dedicated the rest of her career to sculpting portraits of people who work to improve society. She’ll discuss this during an exclusive demonstration at the Plein Air Convention & Expo (PACE) next month in San Diego.

Chula Beauregard discovered an exhilarating aspect of her artist-in-residency at the Carpenter Ranch, located outside of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It involved snow, her 7-year-old, sunshine, and more than 100 other people.