Laguna Plein Air Painters Association

Ben M. Young

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LPAPA Signature Artist Ben M. Young

LPAPA Signature Artist Ben M. Young
Poway, California
BenMYoung.com

Ben Young was born and raised in southern California. He started drawing when he was two years old and has always known he wanted to pursue a career in art. At nineteen he found Watts Atelier of the Arts, which taught him the fundamentals of drawing and painting. After three years as a student Ben was asked to teach there. His original goal was to be an Illustrator but soon learned that fine art was a better fit for him.

Ben paints a variety of subjects from landscapes and animals to the figure. Ben is influenced by the figurative artists of nineteenth century Europe and Russia and illustrators from the “Golden Age of American Illustration” like Howard Pyle, Dean Cornwell and Norman Rockwell.

Received LPAPA Signature Artist designation in 2019

Marc Dalessio

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LPAPA Signature Artist Marc Dalessio

LPAPA Signature Artist Marc Dalessio
Estremoz, Portugal
MarcDalessio.com

Marc describes himself as an American naturalistic painter.

He was born in Los Angeles in 1972. From the age of 6 to 10 Marc lived in the Fiji Islands where his father was a regional director of the Peace Corps. The beauty of Fiji and his native California instilled in him a love of the natural world.

Marc’s foundation in fine art began at the University of California at Santa Cruz where he originally studied biology. The excellent art instructors Patrick Ahern and Hardy Hanson introduced him to plein air landscape painting and academic drawing, respectively.

After finishing Phi Beta Kappa in 1992 he moved to Italy and trained at Charles H. Cecil Studios in Florence from 1992 to 1996. Cecil Studios is a traditional painting atelier directly descended, via R. H. Ives Gammell and William Paxton, to the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris under Jean-Léon Gérôme. Today the school maintains a rigorous drawing and painting curriculum similar to the Academies of 19th-Century Europe.

Received LPAPA Signature Artist designation in 2019

Chuck Kovacic

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LPAPA Signature Artist Chuck KovacicLPAPA Signature Artist Chuck Kovacic
Los Angeles, California
ChuckKovacicArts.com

After acquiring a BFA in graphic design with a minor in painting from the Cleveland Institute of Art, Chuck art directed campaigns for a variety of print and media clients and detailed urban revitalization programs for communities participating in the “Main Street” program sponsored by the National Trust For Historic Preservation.

​Upon relocating to Southern California, he focused his artistic skills as a restoration expert specializing in early merchandising ephemera and related antiques. His disparate interests contributed to his creation of 221b BAKER STREET/Los Angeles, a full-scale recreation of the sitting room of the famed detective, Sherlock Holmes. As a performer/emcee, he has staged presentations for numerous Fortune 500 companies and hosted the California Art Club’s revived lecture series.

​His paintings investigate a variety of subjects rendered in the “plein air” style of the post-Impressionists.

Received LPAPA Signature Artist designation in 2019

Keiko Tanabe

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LPAPA Artist Keiko Tanabe

LPAPA Signature Artist Keiko Tanabe
Carlsbad, California
www.KTanabeFineArt.com

Keiko was born in Kyoto, Japan.  As a child growing up in an art-loving family, she always enjoyed drawing and painting and won many awards in children’s art contests.  However, art was not her chosen field of study later on.  She earned a B.A. in intercultural communication (International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan) and an M.A. in international education (UCLA, California).  She then worked in international relations positions in a Japanese government trade organization in Tokyo, at a large law firm in San Francisco and at a private consulting firm in San Diego.  For decades, she has traveled extensively, mainly in European countries, Asia and North America.

Through all these years, Keiko knew there was in her heart the growing desire to someday become an artist.  That, fueled by her love of travel and strong interest in other cultures, eventually found its way out in 2003.  After learning basic drawing and watercolor painting skills at a local community school in San Diego, she took on her first project as an artist together with her father, a renowned scholar of French literature in Japan.

Received LPAPA Signature Artist designation in 2019

W. Jason Situ

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Laguna Plein Air Signature Artist W. Jason Situ

LPAPA Signature Artist W. Jason Situ
El Monte, California
JasonSituFineArt.com

Jason Situ immigrated to the United States with his family in 1989. He was fascinated by the beautiful California landscape and soon decided to become a plein air painter. In 1997, he became a full-time artist and has shown his work across the United States. Jason is a prolific, dedicated painter, receiving numerous awards in prestigious juried art competitions.