Laguna Plein Air Signature Artist Ran Wu
Cupertino, California
RanWuArt.com

Ran was born in Taiwan. At a young age, Ran showed her special interests in art so her parents sent her to learn drawing, watercolor, and Chinese brush painting with the local artist Liang Dan Mei. Ran moved to the United States in her mid-twenties and took a break from creating art in favor of starting a corporate career and family in Northern California.  In the early 2010s, Ran decided to resume her art career and become a fine artist.

To further develop her artistic craftsmanship and comprehension, Ran attended the MFA program at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.  She also studied under the master artists Jove Wang and Huihan Liu. Though mainly focused on the portrait and figurative paintings, Ran has also painted plein air and still life extensively. Ran is always intrigued by the surrounding light, shapes and colors, and she has the keen eyes to extract beauties from common scenes and people she encounters at home or on the road. These are all the inspirations for Ran’s painting. With bold brushstrokes, strong colors to emphasize the design elements and fine details, Ran’s painting style can be best described as post-impressionistic modern representational fine art. 

Ran has been showing her arts nationally and juried into the most prestigious and competitive art exhibitions and won awards.

Laguna Plein Air Signature Artist Member Jove Wang
Alhambra, California
JoveWang.com

Jove Wang was born in China. As a youth, at age seven he apprenticed with the master painter Gang Gu, subsequently studying at Jilin School of Art for three years and graduating in 1982. In 1984 he was accepted into the most prestigious art institute of China, Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now named the China Academy of Art) and graduated as an honor student in 1988. He also received professional training from the Tokyo Academy of Fine Arts.

In 1990 Jove immigrated to the United States where he soon met with success, the beginning of a career that has garnered him national recognition and awards. In addition, paintings by Jove Wang are in the permanent collections of several important California art collections including those of the Bowers Museum, the Bakersfield Museum of Art and the art collection of Mission San Juan Capistrano, as well as in the art collection of the Museum of Jilin, China.

Jove Wang also maintains a busy schedule teaching art classes and workshops to a wide circle of students eager to learn from a master artist. He has been invited to teach oil painting workshops at various art schools and galleries including the Scottsdale Artists’ School in Scottsdale, Arizona. In addition, he has been invited to give demonstrations and lectures at the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena and at the Autry Museum. Jove Wang is also a guest professor at several academies of fine art in China.

LPAPA Signature Artist Jim Wodark
Orange, California
JimWodark.com

Jim is an award winning plein air artist who was born and raised in Colorado. Throughout childhood, his parents were incredibly encouraging of his creativity. He went on to earn his Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from University of Northern Colorado and attempted to fulfill his passion for art by taking an art class each semester. After several years of working real jobs, and trying to fit art around his schedule, it occurred to him that he either was or was not an artist. Luckily for his many fans and patrons, he chose the former.