LPAPA Signature Artist Renae Wang
Aliso Viejo, California

Renae Wang is a California-based painter working in oil and gouache. She is known for her nocturnal landscapes of “non-places” like gas stations, freeways and airports. Her work explores the theme of isolation in public spaces of transience, and is characterized by rich colors and compositions in first-person perspective. The viewer often becomes a part of the narrative in these nocturnal paintings.

Renae received a BFA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA from the Laguna College of Art and Design, where she currently works as an adjunct professor. She is also an instructor at New Masters Academy. She was featured in Southwest Art Magazine’s article 21 Under 31, and Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine’s Three to Watch. She has exhibited at sites like the Salmagundi Club, Hilbert Museum of California Art, California Art Club, Laguna Art Museum, and Laguna Plein Air Painters Association.

Learn more at RenaeWangArt.com.

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.

LPAPA Artist Member Mason Williams
Laguna Beach, California
MasonWilliamsArt.com

Mason Williams (b. 1995) is a passionate landscape painter and teacher from Carmel, California. He received his BA in Studio Art from Principia College in 2017, but it wasn’t until after he attended a summer artist residency at Otis College of Art and Design in 2018 that his artistic path came full circle. Inspired and motivated to grow his technical skill, Williams took a job back home as studio manager at Carmel Visual Arts. During this time, he began mentorships with renowned Carmel artists Jesse Powell, John Burton, and Brian Blood. It was under their tutelage that Williams discovered his love for the landscape and plein air painting. In 2022, Williams graduated from the Laguna College of Art and Design with his Master of Fine Arts Degree in Painting. He was featured in the Southwest Art Magazine’s article 21 Under 31, Young Artists to Collect Now, and more recently featured in an article American Art Collector Magazine. Williams has exhibited work at the Laguna Art Museum, the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, the California Art Club, Salmagundi Club, the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, American Impressionist Society, and Oil Painters of America. Williams won the Landscape Award of Excellence for his painting in the Oil Painters of America Western Regional exhibition in 2022 and the Gold Medal for Landscape Award at the 112th California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition in 2023. In summer of 2024, Williams participated in the Hudson River Fellowship through the Grand Central Atelier. Williams is an adjunct professor for the Laguna College of Art and Design Entertainment Design program and a teacher at the Orange County School of the Arts in the Visual Arts Conservatory. Williams is also an exhibitor at the Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach, California.

Received LPAPA Signature Artist designation in 2025

LPAPA Signature Artist 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.

Jove Wang has received numerous awards for his work including the 1997 Best of Show Award at the California Art Club’s 88th Annual Gold Medal Show, 1998 First Place Award in the 89th Annual Gold Medal Show, 1999 Best of Show at the 8th Annual National Juried Exhibition of Oil Painters of America, 200o First Place at the Viewpoint 2000 Cincinnati Art Club Exhibition, and in 2001 he won the Best of Show and the Artists’ Choice Awards at the 2001 Carmel Art Festival. Jove has participated as an invited plein air painter in the prestigious Laguna Plein Air Painters Association ten times. He received the Laguna Invitational 2001 Honorable Mention Award, the 2017 Collectors’ Choice Award, and the 2022 Artists’ Choice Award. Jove’s work was featured in “The Great American West” a solo exhibition at the LPAPA Gallery in 2022, and he is an invited master artist in the LPAPA Gallery’s 2025 special exhibition “LPAPA Beyond the Landscape” featuring works by Jove Wang, Scott Burdick and Dan McCaw.