After early experience with watercolors, I fell in love with the qualities of this medium – the vivid colors and the expression of fine detail. I enjoy interpreting what I see thru color and imagination. I have recently completed a series of local scenes to capture the beauty of the Monterey Peninsula Coast. In this series of trees and cottages, I have included elements both of the sunshine and the sea mist that defines the light of this region. I also enjoy painting portraits, landscapes, and Monterey Peninsula wildlife.
I had no idea I would end up being a painter, even though my life has always been infused with art. Dad taught us the Munsell color system when we were in elementary school, showing us tubes of natural pigments and how they combine. I was surrounded by beautiful art as I grew up, spent family together time at museums, and was involved in photography and many needle crafts. Art History was a natural major for me in college.
My desire to paint arose from my father's example as a wonderful watercolorist, a lack of purpose in my life, and a SPECTRA artist's lesson to the third grade class I was teaching in 2004. Due to my background in art history/art appreciation, excellent instruction and some natural ability, I have experienced a bit of success.
I was born in Cape Town, South Africa with a passion for the outdoors. The Monterey Peninsula has been my home for 30 years. My artistic journey with painting started 13 years ago, inspired by my horses in the landscapes of ever-changing light in their pastures that surround my home in The Steinbeck Hills. Whatever I paint has to capture my attention, otherwise it's just another thing to do!
Michele LaMontagne Hausman creates original landscape oil paintings both en plein air and in her California studio. Her love for painting first led her to watercolors but in the mid 1990s she found her true love in painting with oils. Constantly honing her craft, Hausman sees painting as a life long adventure of study and exploration. She has studied at the Scottsdale Artist School and with modern day master artists in the USA and in France. Hausman also teaches painting at her Soquel studio and through the Santa Cruz Art League.
Michelle Murphy-Ferguson is a Northern California painter, born in the mill town of Scotia and raised in the Eel Valley town of Fortuna.
She has had a lifelong devotion to the Arts. Her works include landscapes, seascapes, still lifes, and portraits. Whether working in plein air, or alla prima in her studio, she strives to bring the viewer into reflecting on the world around us.
Inspired by past and present artists, she continues learning and studying, for painting is an ongoing process.
She has studied abroad in France, Germany, Italy and has participated in workshops in Southern California. Her work is held in public and private collections nationally and internationally.
One block and a world away from the hustle-bustle of Carmel-by-the-Sea's celebrated Ocean Avenue, the Nancy Dodds Gallery is home to the work of some of Northern California's most engaging contemporary and plein air artists. "Light and airy, open and unconfining," wrote one critic, "the Nancy Dodds Gallery offers a cheerful refuge from the often overwhelming world of Carmel Art Galleries." Simply put, Nancy's imaginative collection is a must visit for all Carmel gallery-goers. Please come by - we think you'll agree.
Robert Lee Burcar III was born on September 16th, 1981 and raised in Helena, MT. In High School, he majored in Theatre, English and Art, constantly dreaming of a career as an artist. He graduated from Academy of Art University.
Robert has experience in several mediums including charcoal, oil, acrylic, mixed media, silkscreen, printmaking, watercolor and digital illustration. His subject range includes still life, abstract, landscape and portraiture.
I have been honored three times at the Carmel Art Festival, was winner of the first Monterey Plein Air Festival, and have been part of a number of painting competitions and exhibits across the nation. I have lived in nearly every region of the country from Alaska to the Deep South, from the California to Maryland. This variety of scenery has contributed to my long fascination with the enduring beauty of the landscape. Plein air painting is the perfect expression of my love of landscape and being in the landscape.