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SOCALPAPA'S

Virtual Holiday Celebration

Saturday, December 5, 2020

6:30 pm to 8:00 pm

 

Grab your Santa hat, the beverage of your choice

and join us for a virtual, Zoom party!

Over $500 in gift giveaways, exciting news on upcoming shows

and paint outs. This is a time to celebrate with fellow artists

while discussing the club's exciting plans for 2021.

To Join Our Zoom Meeting
check your email for the zoom link.

 

 



SOCALPAPA - CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF PLEIN AIR PAINTING

Compiled by: Jim Ellsberry, President SocalPapa


Painting outdoors in natural light – or “en plein air” - enjoys worldwide popularity. There are annual competitions, large informative gatherings, and many organizations dedicated to promoting the practice of plein air painting. SOCALPAPA is one of these organizations, celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year.


SOCALPAPA started as an off-shoot of a plein air painting class taught by artist Jeff Horn at Irvine Valley College. Jeff’s small group gained attention not only for their outdoor presence but also for the fine art they produced.  Their work began to appear in places like Mission San Juan Capistrano, the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum, and the Upper Newport Back Bay. Soon the group went from a few to many, and was formally organized under its first President and founder Margaret Jamison.

   Now, 20 years later, SOCALPAPA continues to promote plein air painting throughout Southern California. Its robust membership is active in arts education and community outreach. Partnerships with local businesses and institutions have now grown to include the Newport Bay Conservancy. The Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center at the Back Bay, in association with OC Parks, graciously provides a meeting space for SocalPapa, plus the center sponsors an annual exhibit and juried show for its members.

   Many members of the small group that started two decades ago have received national recognition for their work and their support of the arts. Jeff and Margaret are still active painters today. And the organization they formed continues to encourage others to grow as artists, and to document, respect and care for the open spaces of Southern California.


SOCALPAPA Featured Artist
SANDRA
MORRISON









Orange County California based plein air painter, Sandra Morrison, likes nothing better than to gather up her easel, brushes, paints and paper and go outside in nature to paint.  Since the first grade, art has been a constant in her life and watercolor her first love.  After graduating from San Diego State University with a B.A. in Fine Art, she worked full time to support herself and still pursued painting landscapes and figure drawing to keep her skills sharp.   


She prefers going out with a group and then you find her off on her own further along the trail or under a tree.  Her style has evolved to constructing shapes, deconstructing by erasing most of the pencil marks and then painting intuitively from nature in front of her.   Her paintings are a study in fluidity, movement and luminosity with her use of transparent watercolors.  Recently she has expanded to having a studio practice experimenting with different subject matters and pastel.


Since 2015, she has been an art instructor for the Treasures Program at Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California and an art facilitator, helping people with Alzheimer’s watercolor paint.  This year she was juried into Art-a-Fair in Laguna Beach and hopes she will be able to participate in 2021. sandramorrison.com






SOCALPAPA: YOUR MEMBERSHIP

   For 20 years now, SOCALPAPA has been promoting plein air painting in Southern California. But we too are impacted by restrictions right now. Our weekly paint-outs and demos have been temporarily suspended along with other social gatherings.

   On a more positive note - as a MEMBERSHIP BENEFIT - we are working to create virtual demos and events, online promotion of our work, plus other art-related resources that can be helpful, instructional and inspiring to painters. IMPORTANT: If you can contribute in any way, please let us know.

   Our premiere event each year is the Newport Back Bay Show and Sale, held at the Muth Interpretive Center. We are hoping this July 2020 event will still take place - and we will keep you informed. We are also hopeful that our Annual Christmas Party gathering will close out this challenging year and provide a time to reflect, share and reconnect with each other.


Stay well, be safe, and continue to paint!

If you haven’t renewed your membership, please help us by doing so! Member Signup / Information

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MEMBERSHIP - JOIN NOW


Our members enjoy great benefits throughout the year. SOCALPAPA offers painting demos (to be online in 2020), information about local plus national online shows and sales, and suggestions on great places in Southern California to individually get out and paint - mountains to sea! Looking ahead - if current CA restrictions on gatherings are eased - our premiere event is the Back Bay Show and Sale and we close the year with a wonderful holiday party!

Membership is $65 per calendar year. Renewals are made during December and January each year.  Please be aware that if you join late in the year, or renew late, we are not able to extend your fee into the following year.

We love our Art Patrons and our Student members! Your Patron membership is a cool $35/year. Student memberships are $35/year. Again, renewals are in December and January.
Join our group of enthusiastic outdoor painters - be part of the fun - and click here to sign up:    Member Signup / Information


Board Members

SOCALPAPA's new board members will be taking over starting January 2021. We appreciate their interest and commitment!

SOCALPAPA's Board Members

President - Jim Ellsberry

Vice President - Randi Moran  

Secretary - Anne Small  

Adv/Promotion - Diane Prendergast  

Directors at Large 

Past president - Kevin Davidson  Demos - Kevin Davidson

Webmaster - Anne Small  Other - Lorraine Dawson

Other - Sandy Morrison  Other - Dawn Buckingham

 

OPEN positions:

Treasurer - (acting Jim Ellsberry)

Newsletter - 
Quick Draw Events -

Weekly Bulletin

Caryn Maldanado


 
   Jim Ellsberry is acting treasurer, but he would like to let someone else take the treasurer's position for 2021. If you would like to volunteer or know someone else who would, please contact us through the website at info@socalpapa.com or Anne Small at annesmall521@gmail.com. If you have questions as to what the treasurer's job entails, you can contactJim Ellsberry directly at jim@jimellsberry.com.
 
 


Bi-Monthly Board Meetings - 2020 / Wednesdays, 10am-12Noon

Meeting dates are Jan. 8, Mar. 11, May 13, July 8, Sept. 9 and Nov. 11. Until further notice, all Board meetings will be held online. All SOCALPAPA members are welcome to join the Board meeting, and instructions to do so will be published prior to each date. 

Your help, support and ideas are encouraged. 

Thank You to our Sponsors
A special thank you to our sponsors for their generous support


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