Sedona Plein Air Festival Artists

11TH ANNUAL SEDONA PLEIN AIR FESTIVAL OCTOBER 17-24, 2014 11th ANNUAL

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES SedonaPleinAirFestival.org Presented by Sedona Arts Center

OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

JOSHUA BEEN

Joshua Been, born in 1974, had no shortage of outdoor adventures that cultivated his appreciation for the natural world. Drawing since he could manage a pencil, he was captivated by animation and cartooning. This interest remained with him throughout high school and an active duty enlistment in the US Army. Been then went on to pursue his BA in Fine Art at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. As a Magna Cum Laude graduate from this small liberal arts college, Been found interest in more than just art classes. He was active in theatre and performing arts, while studying Earth Sciences as well. This interdisciplinary foundation is evident in the intricacies and truthful fascination of his landscape as well as his figurative work.

After graduation, Been relocated to the Los Angeles area where he worked for several years in the entertainment industry as a Character Animator and Visual Development Artist. Cartoon Network, and Disney TV were some of the studios where he found work. It wasn’t long, however, before Been craved a more liberating artform, and enrolled in some figure painting classes at the California Art Institute. While simplifying his life in order to pursue the more nomadic life of a painter, Been moved back to his native land in Colorado. For a short time in order to get his feet on the ground and further hone his teaching ability, Been taught art and design to inmates at the Buena Vista Correctional Facility. He now lives and paints full time in Salida, a place known as the “Heart of the Rockies”.

JoshuaBeen.com 11th ANNUAL

SedonaPleinAirFestival.org Presented by Sedona Arts Center

OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

SHONTO BEGAY

Shonto Begay was born on a Navajo reservation sheep camp to his mother, a traditional rug weaver of Tonalea storm patterns and his father, a respected medicine man.

In addition to being a prolific painter, lecturer and author, Shonto is a spokesperson for environmental rights. He uses acrylic paint on canvas to convey memories and his concerns about the environment and encroaching development.

Shonto’s impressionistic brushstrokes depict moments in time. From images of hogans to the government boarding school he was forced to attend, to paintings of hitchhikers and mesas that seem to go on forever, his art balances the harsh realities of reservation life with the amazing beauty found among its people, canyons and mesas.

A professional artist since 1983, Shonto spends his time painting and speaking to audiences of all ages.

His art has been shown in more than 50 shows in galleries and museums including The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe, the American Indian Contemporary Arts ‘s museum in San Francisco and Phoenix Art Museum.

11th ANNUAL

SedonaPleinAirFestival.org Presented by Sedona Arts Center

OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

MICHELE BYRNE

Michele Byrne is recognized for her figurative plein air work. She lives and works in Reading, Pennsylvania where she was born. However, she travels extensively, painting in various locations including, Manhattan, Paris, California, Colorado and Key West, Florida. Michele was a Faculty Demonstrator for the Annual PleinAir Convention in Monterey, CA in April 2014.

Byrne has won numerous awards in her plein air and studio work including a top prize in the prestigious Salmagundi Club in New York City. Painting in plein air is not just a passion for Michele it is a dedication.

The on the spot challenge means that the artist cannot copy from photographs or other materials. The artist must make decisions about time of day, direction of light and inclusion of figures despite that in front of you everything is changing. The decisions allow the artist to paint dynamically with light and air as a part of the final image. This is hardly possible when the artist is constrained to a studio.

“Painting plein air allows me to create a more fluid diary of the ever-changing activity of a café or street scene.”

MicheleByrne.com 11th ANNUAL

SedonaPleinAirFestival.org Presented by Sedona Arts Center

OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

LIBBY CALDWELL

My most recent paintings combine my formal training in portraiture with the documentary nature of journaling, capturing a moment of life and distilling it into a work of fine art.”

Libby has been a professional portrait painter since 1976, and an illustrator since 1993. Her work has been exhibited in galleries in Norwich England, Gandia Spain, McAllen ​​​ Texas and most recently in both Sedona and Phoenix Arizona.

While Libby was a City Commissioner on the Art and Culture Commission (commissioner for art in education), she created an arts immersion program; this program took part of the humanities curriculum at the high school and used the arts as the learning vehicle to transport the students to another time or place. This program has now been running in the school district since 2001.

She created and has been teaching a journaling workshop since 2007. The workshop is about engaging all the senses in recording the moments of life. This workshop is currently taught as part of Sedona Art Retreats.

Libby’s painting “Private Call” has been awarded ‘Honorable Mention’ in the 78th Midyear Exhibition at The Butler Institute of American Art, July 27, 2014 through Sep 07, 2014

11th ANNUAL LibbyCaldwell.com

SedonaPleinAirFestival.org Presented by Sedona Arts Center

OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

BETTY CARR

Betty Carr was born and raised in Santa Cruz, California, and developed a love of art from visiting museums. In 1980, she married landscape painter, Howard Carr, and they have devoted their lives to painting. She and her artist husband, Howard Carr, travel several months of each year, from Oregon to South Carolina in a specially equipped mobile home. In numerous locations, they teach artist workshops.

She advises her students to draw continually because ‘drawing is critical to good painting.’

From the time she was a young girl, Carr has been represented by galleries. She has been featured in numerous publications including Art of the West, Southwest Art, American Artist, Art Talk, American Artist and Vitality magazines. She is extremely proud of her acceptance into the exclusive Knickerbocker Association of New York City.

“What catches my eye is the effect light has on form in unique situations whether fleeting, spilling over, striking, subtlety changing, etc. I challenge myself when painting to capture the essence of the spirit of the light. The spontaneous qualities of watercolor and the quick moving action of the oil brush lends itself perfectly to my impressionistic style of painting when capturing light. I strive for confident, enthusiastic brushwork, the maximizing of color’s value and intensity range and a fresh painterly approach, the result appearing effortless. “

BettyCarrFineArt.com

11th ANNUAL

SedonaPleinAirFestival.org Presented by Sedona Arts Center

OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

BILL CRAMER

Growing up in southern California, Bill always had an interest in exploring nature and creating art. As an experienced rock climber, he spent much of his youth enjoying the more vertical places of the American west. This gave him a perspective of the world that few others would ever experience. He received a fine arts degree from California State University Long Beach in 1989, and later moved to Prescott, Arizona with his wife Michelle to be closer to the scenery they both enjoyed. It was there that Bill discovered the joys and challenges of landscape painting, his outdoor experiences providing much of the insight and inspiration expressed in his art.

“Any landscape worth painting is more than the obvious visual elements. The push of an evening breeze, the feel of sun baked sandstone, the scent of sagebrush or the sound of a raven suddenly overhead are examples of the many unseen elements that inform my work. I’m satisfied when a painting is as rich as the landscape that inspired it. My goals are to keep exploring the southwest’s wild places, search for new ideas and express what I find exciting about landscapes and about painting.”

BillCramerPaintings.com 11th ANNUAL

SedonaPleinAirFestival.org Presented by Sedona Arts Center

OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

BRUCE GÓMEZ

“Bruce A. Gómez has been working in pastels for twenty-six years and has been working solely with pastels full-time for the past seventeen years. Born in Denver in 1957, Gómez was educated at Colorado State University and the University of Colorado at Denver where he received his degree in political science as well as in Romance languages.

Entirely self-taught in pastels, Bruce works exclusively in that medium on cold-pressed watercolour paper. His artistic influences include Maxfield Parrish, Gustav Klimt, and his cousin Ernic Gallegos. He has participated in more shows than he can recall and has been featured in Southwest Art’s Artist to Watch.

Bruce has been with the Abend Gallery of Fine Art for around eighteen years and with the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art for twenty-five. His work has been featured on the Telluride Jazz Festival poster in 1991 and in 2000, as well as the Chamber Music Festival poster for the past four years. You can literally find Bruce often painting into the wee hours at Abend in Denver, where he lives, walks his grown children’s dogs, and waters the cat.”

BruceGomezArt.com 11th ANNUAL

SedonaPleinAirFestival.org Presented by Sedona Arts Center

OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

J. BRAD HOLT

J. Brad Holt grew up in Cedar City, Utah. He is a graduate of Cedar City High School and Southern Utah Universtiy. He spent childhood summers working on his grandfather’s ranch in Orderville, Utah, hauling hay and punching cows. At age seventeen he joined the Utah Army National Guard where he served for the next twenty years as a member of HHB 2/222 FABN. Brad is a musician specializing in Early Woodwinds. He spent several seasons as a musician/performer with the Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City, Utah.

Brads desire to become an artist began with a childhood facination with the images of the surrealists, particularly those of Yves Tanguay. Eventually he was mentored by the renowned landscape painter Jimmie Jones, who was a friend of the family. Jimmie gave him a lot of old paint and brushes, taught him how to stretch a canvas, and showed him how to lay out his palette. Brad recalls: “Raw Umber and Ultramarine were the core of Jimmie’s palette, and they remain the core of mine to this day. They allow a subtle interplay of temperature in the underpainting.”

11th ANNUAL JBradHolt.com

SedonaPleinAirFestival.org Presented by Sedona Arts Center

OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

CHARLIE HUNTER

Over the last two years, Charlie Hunter has burst onto the national plein-air scene. He was awarded the 2013 Vanishing Landscape Award and the 2012 Best New Artist at Plein Air Easton (MD), and has racked up an impressive number of awards at other plein air events. He was the subject of a feature in PLEIN AIR magazine in 2012, featured on the main stage of the 2014 Plein Air Expo and received a very special shoutout from no less a luminary than Richard Schmid in the new edition of ALLA PRIMA: “No master of the pure line can surpass what Charlie, almost matter-of-factly, does when he takes pencil in hand.” He was raised in rural New Hampshire and Vermont, where he lives today. He is a member of Schmid’s “Putney Painters” salon and, in his spare time, runs long-distance train trips featuring live music. Curiously, his cats remain entirely unimpressed with these accomplishments.

“I live in Vermont on the banks of the Connecticut River in an old mill town, and paint what nature does to what man creates. I tend to use a monochromatic ‘earth palate’ blend of ultramarine blue, viridian and burnt sienna, with maybe some unbleached titanium and Naples yellow. My goal is to paint beautifully that which is not traditionally considered beautiful, with aspirations toward a less-grotesque Anselm Keifer in a considerably better mood.” - Charlie Hunter

11th ANNUAL Hunter-Studio.com

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OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

MICHAEL CHESLEY JOHNSON

An award-winning plein air landscape painter noted for his expressive use of color, Michael works in both oil and pastel. He paints primarily outdoors, choosing locations from the American Southwest, Downeast Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. He has been an Invited Artist at the Sedona Plein Air Festival (20062011) and in 2011 also participated in the Plein Air Southwest, Grand Canyon National Park and Zion National Park invitationals. In 2012, he was an invited artist in PleinAir Magazine’s First Annual Plein Air Convention & Expo and again at the Grand Canyon event. He has been invited again for the Grand Canyon and Sedona events for 2014.

Michael was awarded Master Pastellist status by Pastel Artists Canada in 2008, and he is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America and the Pastel Society of New Mexico as well as a juried member of Oil Painters of America and the American Impressionist Society. His paintings have appeared in The Artist’s Magazine, Pastel Journal, American Artist and Fine Art Connoisseur (PleinAir Magazine) and are in both corporate and private collections. He was featured in The Artist’s Magazine in September 2013.

Michael’s ability to talk about the act of painting in easy-to-understand terms has made him a popular teacher and writer. He gives workshops across the U.S. and in Canada to all levels of students, from beginner to professional. He is a Contributing Editor for The Artist’s Magazine and writes regularly for The Pastel Journal. He is the author of several books, including Through a Painter’s Brush: A Year on Campobello Island, Through a Painter’s Brush: The American Southwest, and Backpacker Painting: Outdoors with Oil & Pastel. He has two 11th ANNUAL art instruction videos available through ArtistsNetwork.tv and NorthlightShop.com as well as an online video course, Plein Air Essentials, at www.pleinairessentials.com.

Three more videos for ArtistsNetwork.tv are in the works.

MichaelChesleyjohnson.com

SedonaPleinAirFestival.org Presented by Sedona Arts Center

OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

SHELBY KEEFE

Shelby Keefe is a contemporary impressionistic painter, teacher and performance artist. Born in Whitewater, WI, in 1958, she graduated in 1981 with a BFA from Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, WI. After retiring from a career in graphic design in 2005, she operates her own art studio and exhibition space in Bay View, on the south side of Milwaukee. Her award-winning urban landscape paintings have earned her participation in prestigious national juried shows, plein air painting competitions, and arts festivals as well as garnering commission work for a variety of corporate clients and private collectors. Her oil paintings are found in collections such as The Bradley Foundation, Acuity, Northwestern Mutual, Ozaukee Country Club; WE Energies; University School of Milwaukee; and other businesses around Milwaukee, and in private collections in Wisconsin and around the country.

“I am influenced by Impressionism and the brighter Fauvist palette and generally specialize in urban architectural subjects. I use my own photographs as reference as well as painting “en plein air”. My creative intentions are to put the viewer in the scene; transporting them to the location and transforming their mood through color and composition. I’m attracted to scenes where the subjects are dramatically lit, which adds a vibrancy and a sense of immediacy to the paintings. I like to apply the oils freely and liberally over brilliant acrylic underpaintings, creating a juxtaposition of contrasting colors that vibrate and illicit emotional engagement as well as excite the eye. I believe that a work of art has a longer lasting, “multigenerational wall life” when the viewer continually finds something new in the work, and the paint, itself, is allowed to do the “talking.”

11th ANNUAL

StudioShelby.com

SedonaPleinAirFestival.org Presented by Sedona Arts Center

OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

JOHN P. LASATER IV

John P. Lasater IV developed a love for art working as a designer and illustrator for a division of Hallmark Cards. Fine art was a natural transition after years of study and practice. John now paints full time, both from his studio in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, and on the road painting “en plein air”.

He also teaches workshops.

John’s honors include national plein air painting awards, artist-in-residency’s, feature articles in both Southwest Art and Plein Air Magazine, and mentions in art magazines including Art of the West, Southwest Art, International Artist, and Plein Air Magazine.

Part of John’s mission is to promote the arts in areas currently indifferent to it. He is accomplishing this through Heart of America Artists’ Association, an organization cofounded with artist and friend, Todd A. Williams. John also started a tour called “24 Paintings in 24 Hours” in which he partners with galleries in these art-starved areas by showcasing his ability to do 24 plein air paintings in 24 straight hours.

John studied under master artists C.W. Mundy, Carolyn Anderson, John Budicin, and Todd A. Williams.

LasaterArt.com

11th ANNUAL

SedonaPleinAirFestival.org Presented by Sedona Arts Center

OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

ROBERT LEMLER

Robert Lemler is a respected and dedicated artist and teacher educated at Northern Arizona University.

His award-winning paintings have been exhibited in fine art galleries throughout the country and are included in numerous corporate and private collections. Robert’s many honors include Gold Medals at the national exhibitions for Oil Painters of America and Pastel Society of America. In 1996, Robert won the prestigious Grumbacher Hall of Fame Award . More recently, Robert was named the grand prize winner in the Fifth Annual Ray Mar Art Contest and has been a three time “best of show” winner of the Boldbrush Competition . 2012 was marked by election to membership in the Northwest Rendezvous Group and in 2014, Robert was named as a signature member of the Plein Air Painters of America. Lemler’s work has been exhibited with distinction at such venues as the Pastel Society of America, Laguna Plein Air Invitational , Maui Plein Air Invitational, Maynard Dixon Country Invitational, Coors Western Art Sale and Exhibit, American Masters Exhibition and at the annual Northwest Rendezvous Group’s show . For more than two decades he has taught painting and drawing classes in oil , pastel and charcoal.

Artist Statement “ The character of my work has been forged painting from life. As a painter, I seek a simplification of the visual characteristics of the motifs I chose to paint and hope the viewer finds a resonance of truth and honesty in my interpretation “

11th ANNUAL

RobertLemler.FineArtStudioOnline.com

SedonaPleinAirFestival.org Presented by Sedona Arts Center

OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

GRETCHEN LOPEZ

Gretchen majored in advertising and design, when she attended Ventura College, then went on to study fashion design and illustration at the Fashion Institute of Design and Mechandising in Los Angeles. She completed her studies at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. As a tenth generation native of California, Gretchen has a rich family heritage. She is a descendant of the first Spanish settlers of what was to become the Mexican Rancheros, her colorful family background includes Chumash and Apache Bloodlines. Gretchen’s works are greatly inspired by her ethnic heritage.

Being experienced in many mediums and techniques allows her to express a feeling of freedom, vibrancy and spontaneity through color and design to depict the varied faces, fabrics and gentle beauty of Native and Hispanic women in her paintings. She combines traditional as well as comtemporary elements in her works, from the figurative to still lifes. Gretchen resides with her husband in Northern Arizona, where she pursues her love of painting. A teacher of painting, life drawing and portraiture at the Sedona Arts Center in Sedona, Arizona, Gretchen was nominated for the Viola Award for Excellence in Art Education. Her works are included in numerous private collections both nationally and internationally, and can be seen in select galleries throughout the Southwest.

11th ANNUAL GretchenLopezArt.com

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OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

CARL ORTMAN

Carl’s affinity for art began at an early age when he was accepted into Western Reserve Academy boarding school to study fine arts. Though his next step was to go to college, he knew from his initial moments there that he would not end up with his ideal life if he followed the predetermined degree outlines. He viewed college as a means to help sharpen who he was as an artist and person, not a place to follow a systematic course schedule en route to receipt of a degree. He proceeded to take an assortment of college classes dealing with psychology, design, and traditional art skills.

After he finished his formal education, he pursued career paths in graphic, interior, and conceptual design and fulfilled entrepreneurial interests by starting two businesses. Carl also sought out mentors and life coaches over the next several years in an effort to continue bettering who he was as both an artist and a human being. These people’s gracious efforts and time investments have forever molded and shaped his life. His background in art and psychology, through formal education and mentored apprenticeships, has helped to form the artist you see now.

In 2004, Carl had an epiphany that came when he found that he could couple all of his earlier pursuits into a single rewarding career by producing gallery quality art. The years since that breakthrough have demanded tremendous faith on his part that his work could succeed and that the path he took to follow his heart’s desire would be the right one. Looking back, Carl can honestly say with confidence that he made the right decision. His life has never been richer or fuller now that he has allowed himself to do what seems to be intrinsically a part of who he is.

Carl spends part of the month in Salida colorado and the other half of the month in NYC where he studies at the New York Student Art League.

11th ANNUAL

CarlOrtman.com

SedonaPleinAirFestival.org Presented by Sedona Arts Center

OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

JASON SACRAN

Jason Sacran has a BFA in painting from Tennessee Tech University, and credits towards an MFA from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Jason and his family live in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he was the curator for the Fort Smith Art Center for almost three years. In 2010 Jason became a full-time artist/painter, and part-time instructor for the University of Arkansas Fort Smith. Jason is also the Arkansas state ambassador for the Portrait Society of America. He has had several exhibitions and been awarded many times for his works and achievements including a first place award in the Portrait Society of Americas 2011 Members Competition, Best of Show in the 2010 Wisconsin Plein Air Painter Association Annual Competition and Best of Show in the 2010 Winthrop Rockefeller Institution Invitational. Although known for his figurative and portrait work, Jason is quickly rising as a top plein air painter, and considers plein air one of, if not his favorite subject.

STATEMENT In general, my work is about the process of creating by painting subjects that evoke a mood or feeling introspectively. I am interested in documenting things of today, mostly with overlooked or even forgotten aspects of everyday life – scenes we pass by every day, objects we often use, people we know well, but hardly ever think twice about. In the chaos of daily life, I believe we all take the simple and familiar things for granted. Sometimes they are the very things we come to miss.

JasonSacran.com

11th ANNUAL

SedonaPleinAirFestival.org Presented by Sedona Arts Center

OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

LORIANN SIGNORI

“I spend a considerable amount of time studying the landscape. I paint small plein air pieces and make color notes. My goal is to understand the essence of the landscape. Later, when I return to the studio, I allow this “information gathering” to work like a seed. I fertilize it by creating more small paintings - offshoots of the plein air piece. For me these new pieces, color harmony studies, work to help me understand the possibilities of color. Like a writer composing a poem, the colors are my words, and when I rearrange these words I hear/see a different experience.

The studio is the place where the real work begins. I build my paintings on ideas, and the multitude of color combinations available to me is my language. My goal is never to record a place, rather to understand the poetry of color through the landscape. Each painting goes through a process that begins with an underpainting and progresses with thin layers of glaze. Oftentimes it is necessary to scrape, rub or sand the surface in order to maintain the translucence I desire. Like an opal, each layer of color affects the other layers. This constant alteration is not an intentional process but the byproduct of my striving to make something better. I find that after all my planning I must always surrender some measure of control and pursue the unanticipated. The painting speaks, and I respond.”

11th ANNUAL

LoriannSignori.com

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OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

RANDALL SEXTON

California based artist, Randall Sexton, is nationally known for the use of color and expressive brushwork in his oil paintings of “everyday” scenes. Raised in rural Connecticut, Sexton moved to San Francisco, CA in 1980 after completing a BFA from the University of CT, Storrs.

The Bay area has proven to be home, where he has earned a great reputation for being an educator as well as a fine artist. He taught classes in drawing, painting, and composition at the San Francisco Academy of Art until 2005. He now leads private workshops around the country and teaches as a free lance instructor at Pixar Studios in Emmeryville, CA. He has been featured in various national journals including: “American Artist”-August 2000, “Southwest Art”-July 2003, “Plein Air” (currently- “Fine Art Connoisseur”)-November 2004, and “Workshop”-December 2006 He has been a member of the California Art Club, The Laguna Beach Plein Air Painters Association, “The Outsiders”, a group of artists loosely connected to “The Society of Six” and The Baywood Artists Group committed to working on environmentally sensitive projects.

“Each painting is a simple sentence in an ongoing story that will take a lifetime to unfold. The tale is a compilation of images that reflect the magic of life itself and the mysteries of light, color, and shape as I respond to the world around me. Painting has enabled me to be more observant and appreciative of the beauty and richness in everyday life”.

11th ANNUAL

RCSexton.com

SedonaPleinAirFestival.org Presented by Sedona Arts Center

OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

DAVID TANNER

David Tanner is a representational oil painter in Richmond, Virginia. Since receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1991, his study of traditional painting technique includes workshops with modern masters Nelson Shanks in Philadelphia and Robert Liberace in Washington DC. After more than a decade of oil portraiture, David has been focusing on figurative and plein-air painting since 2006. Frequent traveling has provided rich opportunities for capturing the light and color of locations in Russia, Italy, Spain, Morocco, and Great Britain. While visiting painting collections in these countries, David has studied the work of Sargent, Sorolla, Zorn, Repin, and other late 19th and early 20th century masters.

David’s paintings have been accepted into national exhibitions including Oil Painters of America and Salon International. National awards include four paintings honored for the Portrait Society of America’s 2014 & 2011 Member’s Only Competition, as well as honors in competitions hosted by PleinAir Magazine, The Artist’s Magazine, and the Raymar Fine Art Competition. His Self-Portrait won 1st prize in American Artist magazine’s annual competition and was featured on the cover of this respected publication in September 2012.

In April 2014, David’s Painting Phillip Scaggs of Richmond Ballet was featured in the “Classic Moment” back-page feature of Fine Art Connoisseur. In July 2014, Fine Art Today shared the story of a recent successful solo-exhibition. Also in 2014, the December issue of American Art Collector featured his work in their “Artist Focus” 11th ANNUAL series. A five-page interview with David on working methods can be found in the April 2015 issue of PleinAir Magazine.

DavidTannerFineArt.com

SedonaPleinAirFestival.org Presented by Sedona Arts Center

OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

WILLIAMSON TAPIA

The landscape paintings of Williamson Tapia are primary examples of ‘definitive plein air’ ... that is to say, ‘open air’ compositions made via ‘direct-study’ means, without even minimal use of secondary reference material (cameras and such) to complete the work: “For me, the real challenge and lure of landscape painting has always been the ‘full experience’ of working at the point-of-view ... where my paint strokes are influenced directly by nature, start-to-finish, through active study of a living outdoor subject.”

Most of Will’s work is produced over the course of days when the shadows and highlights on a given subject are recurring and similar ... during the same 2 to 4-hour period within a 24-hour cycle. Revisitation makes the full ‘direct-study’ aspect possible ... and depending on weather and other factors, the completion of up to 3 definitive ‘open-air’ compositions in a week’s worth of successful painting. Please ‘feel free’ to observe, and perhaps even ‘wish him well’ in his efforts ... do not mistake any silence for snobbery, however, as there is simply a limited amount of time for him to work as outdoor light is progressively changing.

If you like, don’t hesitate to take pictures of Will working ... and as he does not carry or use cameras, please consider forwarding images to his email at willtapia50@gmail.com. Photos posted online, or ‘in print’ will credit the photographer ... and would also be very much appreciated!

WilliamsonTapia.com

11th ANNUAL

SedonaPleinAirFestival.org Presented by Sedona Arts Center

OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

DAWN WHITELAW

Dawn Whitelaw maintains a studio at “The Factory” in Franklin, Tennessee. The opportunity to paint landscape plein air with colleagues adds richness and honesty to her studio work. For over 25 years she taught basic principles of oil painting as an adjunct instructor at David Lipscomb University. Among her influential teachers are Scott Christensen, Cedric Egeli, T. Allen Lawson, Quang Ho and Jim Pollard, but most of her instruction and inspiration comes from nationally preeminent artist Everett Raymond Kinstler. At present, she teaches workshops nationally.

Her ability to capture life in paint has been noticed. Her awards include the Certificate of Merit for her portrait at the National Portrait Convention in 1991, Best of Show at the Portrait Society of America in Washington DC, and the Award of Excellence in the Oil Painter’s of America exhibition in 2002. In 2010 Whitelaw was one of ten American women artists invited to participate in the “Inspiring Figures” exhibition at the Butler Institute of American Art.

11th ANNUAL DawnWhitelaw.com

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OCTOBER 17-24, 2014

JIM WODARK

Jim Wodark is an award winning plein air artist who was born and raised in Colorado. Throughout childhood, his parents, both artistic in their own right, were incredibly encouraging of his creativity, but drew the line (so to speak) when he filled his 2nd grade teacher’s shoes with paint. He went on to earn his Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from University of Northern Colorado and attempted to fulfill his passion for art by taking an art class each semester. After several years of working real jobs, and trying to fit art around his schedule, it occurred to him that he either was or was not an artist. Luckily for his many fans and patrons, he chose the former.

He started out putting his keen observation skills and humor to use as a cartoonist. Fourteen years later, attracted to the attitude and economy, He moved to Southern California. He found true love in Julie, now his wife of 14 years, and in fine art, as he began to explore the plein air technique, originally using watercolors and acrylics. “When you grow up in Colorado, it’s hard not to love the outdoors. For me, being outside and capturing the light, mood and atmosphere on a canvas for other people to enjoy, is just an incredible feeling.”

His next breakthrough came with the birth of his first child, and his discovery of oil paints as his medium of choice. As his family grew (twin girls!!!) so did his commitment to being a great father, husband and prolific painter, painting out in the field or in the studio every single day. “I paint to express myself. I feel compelled to share the inspiration that I feel when I see a beautiful scene, to be inspired and inspire in return. I want to translate the 11th ANNUAL beauty around me -- a fleeting moment -- into something permanent and timeless that brings those same feelings to life for each viewer.

JimWodark.com

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OCTOBER 17-24, 2014