Landscape

Ray Roberts is one of California’s most respected, recognized and awarded Plein Air artists. He recently won the Gold Medal for “Best Painting” at the California Art Club and the Artists’ Choice Award, the highest accolade from fellow artists, at three major Southwest art events. He is best known for his seascapes, figurative work, and majestic views of California and the Southwest. Ray’s vibrant use of color, bold textures, and sensitivity to shifting patterns of light give life and movement to his paintings. They are to be experienced, not merely observed.

Inspired by such early California impressionists as Hanson Puthuff, William Wendt, and William Ritschel, Ray seeks to capture the luminous, golden light and the magnificent, vanishing landscapes of his native state. Like his other great hero, Maynard Dixon, Ray shares a reverence for the land and a marked spirituality in his work.

Ray grew up in an Orange County with orange groves, before the days of freeways and sprawling housing developments. It has given him an enduring affection for the untamed, undeveloped California of his youth. The Art Center is where Ray met his wife, impressionist painter Peggi Kroll. While dating, the two of them would go out nightclubbing, to sketch rather than dance! It has been a successful partnership ever since.

Ray and Peggi now live with their three children on a 20 acre ranch in Angel’s Camp, an old California gold rush town, surrounded by the oak-studded hills which he frequently paints.

krollroberts.com

Cookies Diner

Each part of the West has its own distinctive characteristics that encompass geography, history, and culture. Lorna Dillon, a native Californian, now living in Columbia, CA, sets her paintings in rural California. The influence of the cowboys and vaqueros and their honest horsemanship is so classical that their legacy comes to life under her brush.

As a child, Dillon was intrigued by paintings in her family home. Her fascination was profound, and the seed was planted. It lay dormant until the late 70s when Lorna took up painting to see if her interest could be developed. She followed a long and laborious path filled with much trial and error, studying the styles, composition and techniques of other artists whose work she admired.

Gradually her style developed and her interests aimed her for the western art genre. Livestock trade shows did double duty as both a source of subjects and sales. There she learned more about the animals and their various characteristics, sold a lot of art, gained discipline and brush mileage, and, most importantly, Lorna says, “I met a lot of wonderful people in the livestock industry. ” The ranching life felt very natural to her, and she found the ambiance warm and genuine. Success and her reputation in the field grew.

After many years of this self-taught effort, workshops became a springboard for her to really begin to mature as an artist. Many well-known regional shows in the western states led to her inclusion in the prestigious Prix de West Invitational at the National Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City for the past six years. That event has been “the pinnacle of my career” according to Dillon, “and I thank God for the guidance to make it all possible”.

lornadillon.com

Wine Bottles

Inspired by her children she paints beach scenes and other aspects of their lives. She also breaks away from the conventional still life by painting scenes of cosmetics and the occasional coffee cup or slab of butter. Peggi’s work gives us a new appreciation of our own daily life.

Mark Twain sculpture at the entrance of Camps.

* Sculpture with meaning.
* Sculpture to lift the human spirit.
* Sculpture to inspire.

This sculpture is part of the artist’s “Great Contributors” collection that features people, such as Mark Twain, who has had a profound beneficial impact on the world.

Gary Lee Price life-size bronze sculptures capture the unique human spirit. This is the essence of his work. This is his life’s journey. His sculptures and images also grace the covers of various magazines and books. His works are included in public and private collections in homes, galleries, museums, libraries, corporations, cities, and educational institutions throughout the world, including the front entrance of CAMPS Restaurant at Greenhorn Creek in Angels Camp, California.

The sculptor resides in Springville, Utah. He credits his success to his mother, who instilled in Gary the ability to express himself through art; to his friend and wife, Lanea, who offers constant love and support; and to their five boys who provide constant inspiration.

garyleeprice.com