Kilauea, HI and Laguna Beach, CA

SaimCaglayan.com

Saim Caglayan was born in Istanbul, Turkey and came to the United States in 1968 to study Architecture. After three years his interest changed and he went on to complete his BA degree in Sculpture from California State University, Long Beach. He then took further graduate courses in art from California State University, Fullerton and the Art Institute of Southern California. For over twenty years he taught sculpture for Crafton Hills College and Golden West College and recently plein air painting at Irvine Valley College, and private painting classes in California and Kaua’i.

Saim has been plein air painting the landscapes of the California desert, coastline, and Islands of Hawaii, for many years now.

In 1996 he founded LPAPA, Laguna Plein Air Painters Association. His goal was to revive the tradition of the early California painters who had lived and painted in Laguna Beach. Today LPAPA has become a vibrant force in the art community of California with an impressive membership from Hawaii to Florida.

Saim, in 2003 with Pierre Bouret started KOPA, Kauai Outdoor Painters Association, in 2005 with Ronaldo Macedo ISLANDERS, a group of painters representing the Hawaiian Islands and in 2007 with Katalina Prince BSPAI, Borrego Springs Plein Air Invitational. All these organizations and events promote plein air painting and benefit not for profit organizations in their respected communities.

“My goal as a painter is to capture the ever-transient light and its colors within a composition of balance and harmony.”

San Clemente, CA

CosbyStudio.com

As a painter John Cosby travels extensively painting what he sees and feels.  Bold use of color and an energetic brush stroke combined with the truth of the place is what you will see and feel when viewing a painting by Cosby.

Born in Hollywood California in 1955, Cosby was raised in the west.  At an early age he began to draw and paint and was lucky enough to have been inspired by a grandmother who was an oil painter.  “She would give me the paint, some brushes and a scrap of canvas and set me off to paint.  This early experience took the fear out of creating a painting,” said Cosby.

Cosby started traveling at an early age.  At 18 he was chosen as an advance man for the Executive Branch of the US Government, served under two Presidents and traveled the world.  He met many interesting people and saw many things but what most interested him were the great works of art he encountered.  “They haunted me and helped set the course for my career as a painter”.  After leaving the White House, Cosby rebuilt an old classic sailing sloop designed by Nathaniel Herrishoff.  With a friend (who had dreams of being a writer) he set sail up and down the eastern seaboard in the inland waterway for 3 years.  Thus he began his art career.

Major Exhibitions include: The Irvine Museum and the Cape Cod Museum of Art, The Presidential Museum in Texas, The Haggin Museum, The Bakersfield Museum, The Autry Museum and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

“When a person stands in front of one of my paintings, I want that person to feel the wind and the heat I felt when I painted it.”