On Oct. 23, the Catalina Island Conservatory will host the Sixth Annual Catalina: The Wild Side Art Show at Newport Harbor Yacht Club, featuring the works of 10 nationally recognized plein air artists who have interpreted Catalina Island’s wildlands, Avalon and Two Harbors. This year, four new participants in the show – artists Brian Blood, Laurie Kersey, Kathleen Dunphy and Debra Huse – will join the roster of returning artists, John Cosby, Don Demers, Andy Evansen, Kim Lordier, Ron Rencher and Matt Smith.
On Oct. 23, the Catalina Island Conservatory will host the Sixth Annual Catalina: The Wild Side Art Show at Newport Harbor Yacht Club, featuring the works of 10 nationally recognized plein air artists who have interpreted Catalina Island’s wildlands, Avalon and Two Harbors. This year, four new participants in the show – artists Brian Blood, Laurie Kersey, Kathleen Dunphy and Debra Huse – will join the roster of returning artists, John Cosby, Don Demers, Andy Evansen, Kim Lordier, Ron Rencher and Matt Smith.
“The artists capture beautiful portraits of the Conservancy’s protection and restoration of the Island,” said Tony Budrovich, Conservancy president and CEO. “This event is an exceptional opportunity to see and purchase the works of these nationally acclaimed plein air artists and to support the Conservancy’s unique use of art for conservation’s sake.”
Most of the artists have been to Catalina Island many times to paint in the plein air style, which is art created in the outdoors. While you may have seen them around town and in the wildlands, we wanted to introduce you to the artists in a series of three columns.
This week, we are introducing Blood and Kersey, residents of Pebble Beach, and Evansen from Minnesota.
Married to award-winning artist Kersey, Blood is widely recognized as one of California’s most important plein air impressionist artists. His work has been featured in numerous magazines, including Southwest Art magazine, Plein Air magazine and The Central Coast Journal.
Among his many awards are the 2012 American Art Collector Award of Excellence at the 101st California Art Clubs Gold Medal Exhibition; 2012 Plein Air magazine Award of Excellence, Carmel Art Festival, and 2010 and 2011 Best Local Artist, Carmel Art Festival.
“I am honored to be asked to be a part of this show and am excited to show my interpretations of experiences on the Island. My works are a simple reaction and a new glimpse of the Island’s stunning beauty,” Blood said.
Kersey is an Artist Member of the California Art Club and the American Impressionist Society, as well as a Signature Member of the Oil Painters of America. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including an award in the Oil Painters of America National Juried Exhibition, First Place in the Artists’ Magazine Competition in 2002 and Fine Art Connoisseur magazine Award of Excellence in 2013. Her work has been featured in many magazines, including Southwest Art magazine and American Artist magazine.
When Kersey and her husband were painting on Catalina Island near El Rancho Escondido earlier this year, she said that “it was so peaceful that I remember hearing the flapping of bird wings as a couple flew overhead.”
Evansen, who is Catalina: The Wild Side Art Show’s only watercolorist, served as president of the Minnesota Watercolor Society from 2004 to 2006. He is a Signature Member of the prestigious Plein Air Painters of America and serves as its president. His paintings have won numerous awards, including the Bronze Medal of Honor at the 2012 American Watercolor Society Exhibition, the Painters Award in the Northwest Watercolor Society’s 2012 Waterworks Exhibition and the 2015 Artists’ Choice Award at the Laguna Plein Air Festival.
Evansen’s works have appeared on the cover of American Artist’s Watercolor, International Artist and The American Art Collector.
To meet these artists and purchase their works, please join the Catalina Island Conservancy on Oct. 23 at “Catalina: The Wild Side Art Show.” Proceeds from event are used to support the Conservancy’s conservation, education and recreation programs. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit CatalinaConservancy.org or call 562-437-8555 ext. 1239.
