How do you find inspiration? Paula B. Holtzclaw: I always find visiting art museums, looking through art books and magazines as well as my photographs, to be very inspiring. Experiencing new sights while travelling spark new and exciting material. Just showing up at the canvas will create inspiration! One of my favorite quotes is by Chuck Close, regarding inspiration: “The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who’ll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you’re sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I fine that’s almost never the case.”
What is the best thing about being an artist? Paula B. Holtzclaw: The best thing about being an artist is truly being able to recognize and experience the awareness of the beauty that surrounds us. I believe artists have the gift of being present in the moment; we have to be, in order to absorb and then portray. I know that lucky, and not always common, is the person who is able to do exactly what they love to do.
As part of our effort to continue to help artists and art galleries thrive, we’re proud to bring you this week’s “Virtual Gallery Walk.” Browse the artwork below and click the image itself to learn more about it, including how to contact the gallery.
Fish Creek Reflections, Marian Fortunati, oil on linen panel, 16 x 20 in; Marian Fortunati
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Dusk Over the Gorge, Laurie Hendricks, oil on canvas, 16 x 20 in; CAC 114th Annual Gold Medal Show; Laurie Hendricks
Want to see your gallery featured in an upcoming Virtual Gallery Walk? Contact us at [email protected] to advertise today. Don’t delay, as spaces are first come, first served, and availability is limited.
How do I find inspiration?
Susan Hediger Matteson: There can be days where you can feel stumped but not too often for me. I find it is good practice to go to a spot and paint what is there, whether a small scene or an expanse. I like to revisit some spots to refine/revisit a design. My favorite thing to do is to head out when there is weather in the area. On those weather days, snow and rain, there are a million paintings happening, kind of an “everything, everywhere, all at once” and I feel I just can’t paint fast enough.
Susan Hediger Matteson, Moonlight Sonata, oil on linen, 14 x 11in; available through artistSusan Hediger Matteson, The Far Hills, oil on linen,14 x 18 in; available through artist
Just announced: The Laguna Plein Air Painters Association’s 27th Invitational and this year’s Gallery Exhibition Master Artists. From the organizers:
LPAPA: Beyond the Landscape
The Laguna Plein Air Painters Association (LPAPA) is known for its prestigious Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational, now in its 27th year. What may not be known is LPAPA opened its own nonprofit art gallery in Laguna Beach in 2021; and while they continuously strive to promote the legacy of plein air painting, LPAPA is not only about ‘plein air’ art.
Plein air painting, or the practice of painting outdoors, informs the artist’s studio work when their studies, sketches, and color notes are brought back to the studio to create larger studio paintings.
Some artists become so proficient at completing a work of art onsite, that the plein air painting is framed and sold as is. Some collectors enjoy collecting the artist’s outdoor studies. The artists selected to participate in LPAPA’s annual Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational are the top award-winning outdoor painters from across the country, and outside the US.
Some artists evolve to a point in their careers where they retire from painting competitions, or rarely compete in painting invitationals. LPAPA believes, however, that their work should be seen and celebrated with the LPAPA community of artists and patrons. Each year since opening the LPAPA Gallery in 2021, LPAPA has invited an artist to paint for a “Master Exhibition” showcased at the gallery. Past Master Artists have been Kathleen Dunphy, Jove Wang, Ray Roberts, and John Cosby.
Introducing the 2025 LPAPA Gallery Exhibition Master Artists
This year LPAPA is excited to announce that Jove Wang will return to exhibit with two other Master Artists, Scott Burdick and Dan McCaw.
This special exhibition goes far beyond what you would expect to see at the LPAPA Gallery. The show opens in Laguna Beach on June 5 with an Art Walk Reception, and continues through June 30. Subscribers to LPAPA’s free E-News will have the opportunity to preview the show online beginning June 2.
Scott Burdick
Scott and his wife Susan, who is also a celebrated artist, live in a rural area of North Carolina. Surrounded by forests and the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, their house is a perfect resting place after the many trips they take throughout the world in search of subject matter to paint.
Scott Burdick was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1967 where his mother and father early on encouraged his interest in art.
“I spent a lot of time in hospitals as a child and remember my mother showing me how to transform simple shapes like circles, triangles, and squares into objects like planes, helicopters, and fish,” Scott said. “It seemed like such a magical thing and made spending so much time in casts and on crutches much more bearable.
“I see painting as both a way of exploring the world and then as the vehicle of sharing those discoveries with others. I travel to find subjects to paint, as much as paint, so I can travel and expand my horizons. Through this unique language, one can say things that are impossible with words.”
Scott Burdick, “A Friend From Nowhere,” oil, 36 x 24 in.
Scott participated in the first Laguna Plein Air Painting Invitational in 1999, and returned to compete in 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2006, receiving numerous awards. Although he continues to paint the landscape, especially in his travels, he’s also known for his portrait and figurative work.
He explains, “What makes a portrait a good painting is simple. Emotion. If you look at a portrait, or any other painting for that matter, and feel nothing but admiration for the technical skill, it is pointless, in my opinion. A certain lack of technical skill can be forgiven if the emotion still shows through, but the opposite is never true.”
Dan McCaw
Dan McCaw in the art studio
Dan McCaw is a contemporary American artist who lives and works in Torrance, California with his two accomplished artist sons, John and Danny.
Dan’s work is a bridge between his traditional background and the contemporary influences that continually impact his art. Strong design is the foundation that his work is based upon, but curiosity is the fuel that drives his creativity. “Art flourishes in change, it expands when its limits are limitless,” he says. “The artist must remain open to its possibilities and eliminate the dispassionate. The dignity of art is not in its constants but in the liberation of its possibilities.”
Dan McCaw, “Sisters,” oil on board, 36 x 24 in.
Influenced by the classical Masters at an early age, Dan has seen his appreciation and seduction for many different genres of art: “Anything that makes me think, makes me engage and broadens my perceptions, is of great importance and interest to me.” Dan says he tries to make his paintings somewhat ambiguous so that the viewer, if they wish, can participate and walk through a door that he just holds open, what you find inside becomes your own. If he defines or explains everything, Dan feels that he robs you of your own experience.
He explains, “Painting is an intimate conversation within ourselves, the canvas is like the pages of a diary, and at times the artist is willing to share this intimate conversation. The pages are fragile, the edges frayed, some have been torn out of frustration, some smeared from fear of failure, some wrinkled from being held too tight, some have been dipped in dreams and dried in the sun and some are waiting to be turned. What is said between the words becomes more important than the words themselves. Art at its best moves something that is indefinable within myself. This is why I turn the pages.”
Jove Wang
Jove Wang at his studio easel
Jove Wang was born in Jilin, China in 1962. At the tender age of seven, he apprenticed with the master oil painter Gang Gu, subsequently studying at Jilin School of Art for three years and graduating in 1982. He was accepted into the most prestigious art institute of China, Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now known as China Academy of Art), and graduated as an honor student in 1988. In 1990 he immigrated to the United States where he soon met with success. Immersing himself in the art study and exploration of old Masters, he has established a career that has garnered him national recognition.
Jove participated in the Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational in 2000 and 2001, and returned to compete in 2005, 2007, 2012, 2017, and 2018, as well as 2021, 2022, and 2024, receiving numerous awards. Jove is known for his expressive landscapes and portraits.
Jove Wang, “Mama Joy,” oil on board, 18 x 28 in.
Jove shares, “I have made it my goal: Each work I paint has to be endowed with its own life and soul from deep within; be it a drama, an opera, a poem, or even a fantasy. In terms of concept and thinking of creation, I adopt the point-line-mass elements of modern design aesthetic, the expression performance of oil painting and the coordinated change of overall colors to make paintings full of life and vitality. Meanwhile, realistic tactics are used to express the spirit of modern expressionism.”
LPAPA’s President Toni Kellenberg adds, “LPAPA is a vibrant, growing artists community that connects painters to Laguna’s century-old legacy as an Art Colony. We celebrate the arts and artists by welcoming artists to join LPAPA and participate in juried art shows that are exhibited at the LPAPA Gallery. With the exception of the annual Best of Plein Air, all of LPAPA’s juried shows are open to both plein air and studio art submissions, and a new exhibition is hung each month.”
“Nuance”, Daniel Volenec, Framed Pencil, Chalk, Pastel Drawing, 9 x 12 in; Available through Chelsie Nicole Contemporary
Daniel Volenec: After years of creating large works, Daniel Volenec is again exploring small drawings, often of individuals within the confines of patterned, thematic backgrounds. He explores deeply personal themes; the act of decision making, the struggle for acceptance, the reconciliation of broken relationships.
His subjects reveal strength, hope, dignity, faith, and the myriad complexities of the human condition.
“Morimoto’s Muse”, Daniel Volenec, Framed Pencil, Chalk, Pastel Drawing, 9 x 12 in; Available through Chelsie Nicole Contemporary“Flight of Fancy”, Daniel Volenec, Framed Pencil, Chalk, Pastel Drawing, 12 x 12 in; Available through Chelsie Nicole Contemporary
“Sotto il Ponte Vecchio," Jill Stefani Wagner, oil on canvas, 20 x30 in; available through J. Petter Galleries
Jill Stefani Wagner: “Whatever I paint, my focus is always the light and how it affects the scene I’m trying to capture. Working in pastel and oil, I approach my paintings as a sculptor would, carving out nuances of light and shadow.” A devoted plein air artist, Jill paints worldwide. A Master Pastelist in Pastel Society of America and International Association of Pastel Societies, her work has been published in Pastel Journal, Fine Art Connoisseur and Plein Air Magazine.
“Lake Trees,” Jill Stefani Wagner,oil on canvas, 16 x 20 in; available through Somebody’s Gallery“Long Road Home,” Jill Stefani Wagner, oil on canvas, 20 x30 in; available through artist
Bill Farnsworth (b. 1958), "Afternoon Walk," 2024, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 in.
The nonprofit organization Oil Painters of America (OPA) will soon launch its 34th National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils at the Herrig Center for the Arts in Bradenton. On view will be representational paintings created by approximately 200 artists, as well as many of OPA’s Master Signature artists.
The opening week will encompass OPA’s annual convention (May 27–June 1), the highlight of which is the reception and awards ceremony set for May 30. At that time, awards juror Patrick Saunders will present roughly $100,000 in cash and merchandise prizes, including the $25,000 Gold Medal.
This busy period will also encompass the fifth annual Student Art Competitions targeted at younger artists aged 14–18 and 19–23. The top three winners in each division will be invited to display their works in tandem with the National Exhibition.
At a Glance:
OIL PAINTERS OF AMERICA NATIONAL EXHIBITION
Herrig Center for the Arts
Bradenton, Florida oilpaintersofamerica.org
May 30–June 28, 2025
As part of our effort to continue to help artists and art galleries thrive, we’re proud to bring you this week’s “Virtual Gallery Walk.” Browse the artwork below and click the image itself to learn more about it, including how to contact the gallery.
River of Life- Navajo Bridge, AZ, Marian Fortunati, oil on linen panel, 18 x14 in; Marian Fortunati
Want to see your gallery featured in an upcoming Virtual Gallery Walk? Contact us at [email protected] to advertise today. Don’t delay, as spaces are first come, first served, and availability is limited.
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is set to launch its 53rd annual Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition & Sale, always one of the field’s highest-quality events. Opening on June 6 will be a display of nearly 300 paintings and sculpture created by more than 90 invited talents. Their works depict landscapes, wildlife, figures, portraits, and significant moments in Western history and lore. Prix de West is the museum’s largest annual fundraiser, with last year’s revenues totaling $3.2 million.
The action really gets underway on the weekend of June 20–21, when collectors in person and online will enjoy a fixed-price art sale as well as a range of seminars, workshops, receptions, dinners, and an awards presentation. Among the presenters that weekend will be Greg Beecham, Thomas Blackshear II, C. Michael Dudash, Daniel F. Gerhartz, Abigail Gutting, Daniel J. Keys, and Gladys Roldán-de-Moras.
To make reservations, see the full schedule, or arrange to bid by proxy, please visit the museum’s website.
Attention Art Collectors! May 20-22, 2025: Visit the Plein Air Convention & Expo’s robust pop-up art gallery at the Nugget Casino Resort in Reno, Nevada, where hundreds of artists, including our master faculty, will have studio and plein air works on display and ready to purchase. Register for the full event at PleinAirConvention.com now.
Please help us congratulate Daniel Keys for winning Overall First Place in the April 2025 PleinAir Salon, judged by J. Ben Whiteside, owner of The Red Piano Gallery.
1st Place Overall: “Summertime”
Daniel Keys, “Summertime,” Oil, 36×36 in.
“I have been a fan of Daniel Keys’s work since I first saw one of his paintings,” Ben said. “To me, the artist typically presents his florals within their natural environment; usually a detail of flowers in the field as opposed to a vista. I really enjoyed seeing his work in this collection and consider this artist to be one of the best of his generation.”
Keys also took the prize for “Best Artist Under 40” with his still life, “Camellias & Antique Tea Tin.”
Daniel Keys, “Camellias & Antique Tea Tin,” Oil, 16×12 in.
Enter the PleinAir Salon Art Competition Today
All winners in the PleinAir® Salon will be entered into the judging for the annual cash prizes, including the Grand Prize of $15,000 and their painting on the cover of PleinAir® Magazine.
Kyle Ma accepting the Grand Prize for the PleinAir Salon at the 2025 Plein Air Convention & Expo, with Eric Rhoads and Kari Stober
Could you be the next winner?
The next round of the PleinAir Salon has begun so hurry, as this competition ends on the last day of the month. See the rest of this month’s winners and enter your best art in the PleinAir Salon here.
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