TODD BONITA [email protected]
After a twelve year career as an illustrator, Todd focused on fine art oil painting full time in 2006. He paints coastal New England imagery in his Portsmouth, NH studio and outdoors in plein air. His oil paintings are represented by ten art galleries around New England, Florida and the UK. and has exhibited his paintings in four museums. He was chosen by the U.S. State Department to participate in the "Art in the Embassies" program and currently has work in the US Embassy in Kuwait. He teaches studio and Plein air workshops throughout the year. www.toddbonita.com 
ALASTAIR DACEY
London born painter Alastair Dacey’s formal training began at the Rhode Island School of Design. He then attended The Ingbretson Studios in NH, studying closely with Boston School master Paul Ingbrestson for over four Years. To focus more closely on the human face and form, Mr. Dacey then went to Florence Italy to study at the Cecil Studios. Mr. Dacey’s work as a professional has led him to open studios in Vermont, New York, Boston and San Antonio and most recently moved to Portsmouth NH. He fulfills commissions and exhibits in the Boston area, throughout New Engalnd and in Washington DC., Texas and Mexico. www.alastairdacey.com.com 
MIKEL WINTERMANTEL (Copley Master)
I am an artist schooled in tradition and raised in a modern world. I have been able to cross the advancement in modern materials and tools with my deep respect for old world methods. Through years of exploration my method and materials have become almost transparent in the creation process. I strive to keep my vision fresh in each painting. I keep my palette simple by sticking with pigments that work well together. I paint layer by layer scumbling in color in thin, transparent washes at first then working to final details in rich opaque paints. The multiple layers of color marry into a luminous display of color, light and atmosphere. I begin a painting in an almost frantic fashion. I try to establish the overall feel of the piece in the first moments the paint meets the surface. As it develops with each successive layer of paint, I make adjustments as needed pondering the mission of the work. My attention to detail becomes more focused as the painting nears completion, avoiding overwork at all costs. My work is inspired by the Luminist Artists of The Hudson River School. I am most drawn to the deeply filtered light of dawn and dusk, it is then you can usually find me scanning the horizon and sky for nature's light show, making plans for another painting. My paintings have found a home in numerous collections worldwide. I have had the pleasure of meeting many of those collectors. From that, I am at once humbled and flattered to be included in those collections, hanging alongside many of my favorite artists. http://www.mikelwintermantel.com 
Tom Hughes
Tom Hughes was born in Massachusetts in 1965. He attended Northeastern University and M. I. T. for physics but left in 1986 to work as a staff artist for the Christian Science Monitor daily newspaper, until 1989. After this, he did freelance illustration for a few years while he taught himself to paint. Hughes has been a professional artist - having finished his last actual job in 1992 - for 20 years. He paints figures, portraits and landscapes in various media: oil, acrylic, watercolor and alkyd. He has had solo exhibitions at galleries in San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, the New England states, and France. His work has been featured in American Artist Watercolor magazine and Fine Art Connoisseur, for which he painted the magazine's publisher Eric Rhoads's portrait in oils. Tom Hughes is one of the artists whose work is featured in a book about watercolor painting skills, Watercolor Painting by Tom Hoffmann, published in 2012 by Watson-Guptill. www.tomhughespaintings.com |
CHRIS VOLPE
With a graduate degree in poetry, I taught college English and art history for several years before falling in love with American landscape painting and becoming a professional artist. Drawing on that background, my work begins in mood and emotion, encompassing Tonalism and extending to abstraction through a contemporary sensibility. I paint on site, en plein air and from life, to absorb sensations and a visual vocabulary of place that later in the studio I try to draw upon with greater freedom of expression. More than anything else, I aspire to be a brilliant composer. I see painting as a lens for exploring perception and viewing the world through feeling. Increasingly, my paintings seem to be about the tension created between looking and responding to the world – questions of perception, subjectivity, and representation. Yet it is always also about a state of mind – something purely non-rational and intuitive. Painting bounces between the thrill of the medium of paint, the challenge of responding authentically to the world and to the painting in progress, and mindfulness of the history and traditions of western art. www.christophervolpe.com 
KAREN BLACKWOOD
Karen Blackwood was born in N.H. and received her BA in the Studio Art program at the University of N.H. studying under Conley Harris and Sigmund Abeles, with continued studies at the Art Students League in N.Y. and the Institute of Art in CA. After spending the earlier part of her professional life as an Art Director for a major New York City ad Agency, she moved to California, picked up her brushes and dedicated herself to painting. Trained in the classical tradition, Karen painted portraits and figurative work before focusing on landscapes. As a member of the California Art Club, Karen's new passion for landscapes bloomed among a group of plein-air painters inspired by the rich tradition in California Impressionism. The clubs renowned members include Granville Redmond and Edgar Payne. They, as well as American Masters like John Singer Sargent, James Abbott McNeil Whistler, Winslow Homer and the Hudson River School Artists are influential to Karen. Like the California Impressionists, Karen feels light is a defining factor, and it is the atmospheric quality of the light that she captures in her paintings. Her work is a desire to convey an emotional response to the landscape and to attain that perfect state of being that sometimes comes from painting it. Now living in Newburyport, Massachusetts, the coastal scenery is providing her with endless inspiration for her marine work, garnering her an award of Honorable Mention in a recent OPA online showcase. Karen's paintings have been included in exhibitions organized by the Huntington Museum in Pasadena, CA, the Pasadena Historical Society and the California Art Club, solo shows at the Birmingham Community House, the BUC in Bloomfield, MI and the Saline Art Center in Saline, MI. As a select group of artists invited to join Plein Air Magazine host, Eric Rhoads, for a week in the Adirondack Publisher Invitational - she is a founding member of the Adirondack School of Painters. Memberships include OPA and The American Society Of Marine Artists. Karen's work is represented by Susan Powell Fine Art in Madison, Connecticut and Trees Place in Orleans, Cape Cod, MA. Her work has been featured in numerous publications including American Art Collector, Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine (Nov. 2014 Artists Making Their Mark) , APVM-(Artists To Watch), The New York Times, The LA Times and The OPA Online Newsletter. http://karenblackwoodfineart.com 
Dennis Poirier
Dennis Poirier grew up in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The colors, sights, and sounds of the busy port and fishing fleet inspired Dennis. His earliest memory is of his father drawing his portrait. Dennis says his parents always supported his art and that gave him confidence. Dennis began to paint and soon became a part of the long line of Cape Ann’s contribution to American impressionist painters. He feels proud and fortunate to be part of the Cape Ann legacy. Dennis began his studies in high school and then went to Butera School of Art in Boston. He returned to Cape Ann to become the first student studying the Atelier System with John C. Terelak and Ted Goerschner at the newly formed Gloucester Academy of Fine Arts. Later he moved to New York City to study at the Arts Student League winning the Charles J. Romans Memorial Award at his very first national exhibit at the Allied Artists of America Show. He treasures his time, memories, and inspiration from artists Don Stone, David A. Leffel, John C. Terelak, Salvatore Fortunato Grasso,Tom Nicholas and Paul Strisik. Dennis is a member of the North Shore Arts Association, and Rockport Art Association. www.dennispoirierstudio.com |
DONALD JURNEY
(Member, The Guild of Boston Artists) Donald Jurney was born in Rye, New York in 1945 and was educated at Columbia University, The Pratt Institute and The Art Students League. He has lived and worked in the Hudson River Valley, in England, and extensively in France. In 2015, he is teaching workshops in Wales, Norway, and the Adirondacks, as well as The Ogunquit Summer School of Art. Donald Jurney is represented by Quidley & Company in Boston, Nantucket, and Naples, Florida, by The Guild of Boston Artists, and by the Todd Bonita Gallery, Ogunquit, Maine. His work is widely collected internationally by private and corporate patrons and is included in the permanent collections of the Oakland Museum in California, Museum of the City of New York and the Husdon River Museum. Donald now lives and maintains a studio on the North Shore of Boston where he continues to focus on sharing his distinct and inspiring vision of the landscape. www.donaldjurney.com 
DAVID LUSSIER
is a plein air painter whose landscapes of sparkling autumn hillsides, muted spring days of melting snow or fishing boats under a hazy summer sky convey his passion for New England and for fine art. He has dedicated himself not only to his profession, but also to being a steward for the landscape that is his inspiration and to sharing his love for his craft with others. He has won numerous awards and accolades for his work as a fine artist. David was trained as a commercial illustrator, but discovered his passion when he tried painting outdoors. It was then that he came to the full realization that God intended for him to be a landscape painter. Only by painting en plein air can he react to the ever-changing, energy-charged world of nature with a spirit and spontaneity unobtainable in the studio. Lussier is a true believer that less is more in painting and the brushstroke is an artwork's essence. David Lussier's plein air landscapes reflect an interest in strong Impressionistic brushwork and the value relationships of color.The rhythm established in Lussier's paintings by bold thick strokes of paint brings the surfaces to life and beg the viewer to return for a and Charles Sovek and studied privately with George R Carpenter. He has also independently researched color theory by studying the palette systems that Robert Henri and the Ashcan School explored at the turn of the last century. Lussier is an artist almost entirely devoted to plein air painting. Studio paintings are always done from a combination of pencil sketches, oil sketches and notations completed on location. Lussier's professional memberships include the Rockport Art Association, the Northshore Arts Association and the Hudson Valley Art Association. He is also a signature member of the National Academy of Professional Plein Air Painters and is an elected artist member and the past president of the Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society. Recently he was selected to become a Signature Member of the American Society of Marine Artists. Lussier is also recognized on the west coast as a signature member of the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association. Also on a national level, Lussier travels throughout the US and participates in both juried and invitational plein air events. He believes it is important for an artist to reach out to those willing to learn just as his teachers and mentors did for him. His paintings and workshops have been featured in numerous publications including a feature article 'How to Express Content With Fewer Brushstrokes' by Stephen Dohertyin the July/August 2010 American Artist Magazine, an article in March 2007 American Art Collector, March 2006 'Artist Profile' article 'Homage to J. Alden Weir' by Gail Braccidiferro in Fine Art Connoisseur, a feature article about his Monhegan Island Workshop entitled 'Fundamentals First' by Lynne Moss Perricelli in the 2005 winter edition of <em>American Artist Workshop Magazine</em> and 'A Conversation with David Lussier' by Charles Movalli, featured in the December 1995 issue of American Artist Magazine. www.davidlussiergallery.com |