Plan to join us October 2-7 for the inaugural Plein Air Mt. Lebanon when these artists and many others will converge and paint. On October 5, you can buy them at a gala in the municipal building. Details: www.pleinairmtl.com [1]. [2] Until then, peruse this partial list of artists or see the complete list at: http://pleinairmtl.com/artists/ [3]
[4]
Beverly Ford Evans, Franklin, TN
Beverly was raised in Nashville, Tennessee and now resides in Franklin, TN. As a child she was drawn to the beauty that surrounded her. Encouraged by her parents, she began drawing and painting. Her talent, and a strong desire to create, led her to a successful career in interior design. She continued to have a yearning to create beautiful paintings. In 2003 she took her first workshop to help her achieve this goal.
Beverly has become a prolific artist. She has studied with the accomplished artist of The Cumberland Society of Painters, which includes Roger Dale Brown, OPA, Dawn Whitelaw, and Paula Frizbe; the Plein Air Painters of the Southeast; and Jeremy Lipking. She also spends time analyzing and studying many of the old masters, to draw from them techniques that she uses in her work.
With her deliberate brushwork and attention to the scene, Beverly captures the essence of the landscape beautifully and artfully. She loves to pack her paints and travel to other parts of our beautiful country, where she is inspired by the diversity and beauty at every turn in the road. Coupled with her love of landscapes is her love for animals. Beverly is sought after to paint commissions for loving pet owners. Beverly assists Roger Dale Brown teaching plein air, still life and studio workshops across the country. Visit www.rogerdalebrown.com for their workshop schedule.
“I am very excited about the opportunity to share the talent given to me and I am driven to do all that I can so that I continue to improve. I was surprised how vulnerable I felt the first time I had a show, but that was quickly overshadowed by excitement and humility when I saw my work evoke emotional reactions in people.I sincerely thank God for this incredible blessing; I celebrate the connections that I make with people and I am constantly left standing in awe at the magnificent world around me.”
[5]
William M Vrscak, Pittsburgh
Bill Vrscak is a free-lance artist/illustrator and signature member of the American Watercolor Society. He is a representational painter whose work reflects a strong sense of freshness and simplicity, consistent with his attitude that “the simplest statements make the most impact.” A frequent national award winner, his work is widely published, included in The Artists’ Magazine, Watercolor Artist Magazine, Painting with Passion (North Light Books), International Artist magazine and Print’s Design Annual. His paintings reside in many corporate and private collections in the U.S., Canada, England and Australia. Vrscak studied painting and design at the Ivy School of Art and worked in the advertising industry 16 years before striking out on his own. Besides doing illustration and commission work he has taught painting workshops and seminars throughout the United States as well as Canada and the Virgin Islands. Bill lives in Pittsburgh, PA with his wife, Marlene and ill-mannered dog, Riley.
[6]Chris N Rohrbach, Mt. Lebanon
Creating paintings that establish harmonious arrangements of tonal values, colors, shapes, textures, and repetitious directions based on my subject matter is my goal as an artist. I enthusiastically participate in a traditional practice of painting that emphasizes proportional relationships, informed decision-making, and a generative process that examines the relationships of parts of the composition to the whole. The ever-changing Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania landscape and cityscape, where I live and
work, and the Atlantic and Caribbean coastlines that I visit often, are the basis of my current paintings. They provide vast compositional possibilities and a range of focal points. I am excited about my work and I hope you enjoy it too.
[7]
Richard Sneary, Kansas City, MO
I have been a watercolorist for 32 years, as an architectural illustrator/ architect and more recently as a plein air painter. I am an ASAI President Emeritus, and have been jury selected to 20 Architecture in Perspective exhibits, winning a Formal Category Award and three Juror’s Choice Awards. I received Best of Show at Stems Plein Air 2011, an Award of Merit at the 2012 Watercolor Missouri National Exhibit, Architectural Award Easton Plein Air 2012, and have been jury selected to Easton
Plein Air 2011 & 2012, Telluride Plein Air 2012, and Art at the Center 2007 & 2011. Most recently, I have had one of my paintings accepted into the 2012 NWS 92nd Open Annual Exhibition. My work was featured in the March 2012 issue of Plein Air Magazine. I am represented by Strecker-Nelson Gallery in Manhattan, Kansas.
[8]
Ellen Gavin, Millvale, NJ
[9]
John Zanetta, Pittsburgh, PA
John is a free lance architectural illustrator living in Pittsburgh, PA. His clients consist of architecture, planning, marketing, real estate, and development firms as well as municipalities around the United States. Specializing in watercolor, his work focuses on the built environment, the natural environment, and how the two complement each other to create
beautiful spaces.
[10]John Brandon Sills, Phoenix, MD
John Brandon Wills works in a manner that derives its technical inspiration from the Old Masters and its stylistic appearance form Barbizon and Impressionist paintings. Being a classically trained artist, John uses a mastery of drawing to infuse his work with a sense of spontaneity and life.
Thought he is accomplished in all types of painting, John has chosen landscape as his primary means of expression. John paints nature in all its forms, emphasizing those aspects that create an awareness of man’s relationship to the environment. Toward this end, his landscapes exhibit the sensitivity that urges the viewer to appreciate the spiritual aspects of the land and actively participate in its protection. John shares his knowledge by teaching classes and conducting plein-air.
[11]
Kit Paulsen, Pittsburgh, PA
[12]
Mary Culbertson-Stark, Pittsburgh, PA
Mary Culbertson-Stark is an award winning nationally known artist and teacher. She has presented 25 solo shows in Pittsburgh since 1984 and has exhibited in Spain, China, Bulgaria, Japan, and Canada as well as the USA. As a member of Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Watercolor Society, among others, she has exhibited in hundreds of group exhibitions throughout the region. Her work has been shown at Carnegie Museum of Art and The Andy Warhol Museum.
She was honored with a solo show at the Westmoreland Museum of Art in 2003. Her work is now included in over 400 private and public collections worldwide. She has been the honored with numerous awards for her art and teaching acumen from the Pennsylvania House and Senate, regional art organizations, educational institutions and local media. She has spent many hours working behind the scenes as part of a number of Pittsburgh art initiatives; a personal favorite is the Master Visual Artists registry, a registry that preserves the legacy of artists over the age of 60 through archival methods. She has been the recipient of three Skidmore College Art Fellowships as well as an Entrepreneurial grant from the Pittsburgh Youth Works Program and Associated Artists of Pittsburgh to work with at risk adolescent artists. Mary earned a BFA from the University of South Carolina with a concentration in drawing and printmaking. She also completed a Masters degree in Art Education at the University of Pittsburgh in which her thesis focused on identifying patterns of psychosis in children’s drawings. An art teacher with the Bethel Park School District for 35 years, Mary retired in 2010 to pursue extended projects connecting her art with another passion: alternative medicine.
She is currently working on a series of paintings inspired by a 16-month experience working with a natural healer. Mary’s work can be seen at GalleriE Chiz in Shadyside, or by appointment
[13]Christopher Moeller, Mt. Lebanon, PA
Christopher Moeller has been writing and painting graphic novels from his studio in Pittsburgh since 1991 (his debut was Rocketman: King of the Rocketmen, a 128 page graphic novel for Innovation Comics). Most recently, he released the graphic novels JLA: A League of One and JLA: Cold Steel from DC Comics. His two science-fiction graphic novels The Iron Empires are currently in print from Dark Horse Comics. He is working on a third.
Alongside his storytelling work, Moeller was the cover artist for the monthly comic Lucifer from Vertigo comics, and Batman: Shadow of the Bat from DC Comics. Moeller has provided illustrations for a variety of game publishers, including Wizards of the Coast, Blizzard Entertainment, White Wolf games, and many more.
[14]Steven James Stannard, Ellicott City, MD
Steven James Stannard has earned a remarkable reputation as artist, illustrator, and Landscape Architect. As illustrator, his images have been published across the country. As artist, his paintings appear in dozens of private collections, while his landscape and planning designs are found throughout Maryland, D.C. and Virginia.
Steve began his career in Detroit, Michigan near thirty years ago. Earning both a Bachelor of Science in Geography and a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Michigan State, he embarked on a successful career as Landscape Architect and urban designer in the Baltimore- Washington region. Somewhere along the way, Steve realized the value of the illustrations he was producing in conjunction with his projects, and in 2001 opened his studio- The Salient Group- to design and produce architectural illustrations and fine art. Today, he maintains an open studio on Main Street in Ellicott City, Maryland.
Steve’s fine art follows a pattern complementary to his design and illustration work. He paints what he loves–the built environment. Fascinated by what people have contributed to the landscape, he works in oil and watercolor to produce images that evoke familiar emotions, those of home, of work, of family. Steve often works from life, and typically paints just where he is at the time. “I never leave the sketchbook behind. Subjects come along often in the places we all work and live. Painting this moment allows me to explore the lives of others as they go on about their day, doing what people do- they build things.”
Mr. Stannard’s images are widely collected, and he is represented by galleries in Delaware, Michigan, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC. He is a board member of the prestigious American Society of Architectural Illustrators (ASAI), where his art has toured the country with their annual exhibit. Steve has also served six years as an executive officer in Maryland for the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). He is a member of the Mid- Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association (MAPAPA) and can be seen regularly in organized painting competitions. Steve has been guest instructor at the University of Maryland College Park and at the Institute for Classical Architecture (ICA & CA) in NYC. He frequently gives demos and workshops across the country.
[15]
Susan Lynn, Manhatten, KS
Born and raised in the Kansas City area, I received my BFA degree from Kansas State University, and worked for 15 years as an architectural illustrator before transitioning to being a full-time artist. I paint primarily with watercolor, but have recently begun taking an occasional foray into acrylics. Recent awards include the Southwest Art Publisher’s Award of Excellence at the 2011 American Plains Artists Juried Exhibit, Award of Merit at the 2010 American Landscapes National Juried Exhibition, the Winston Churchill Painting Award at the 2010 Watercolor Missouri National, and most recently, 1st Place, Watercolor Category, at Stems
Plein Air 2012. I am a signature member of the Kansas Watercolor Society and the Missouri Watercolor Society. My work is represented by the Strecker-Nelson Gallery in Manhattan, Kansas.