STEPHEN J. GRIFFIN
Griffin's studies have included classical painting and architecture with Alvin Holm AIA, Impressionism at the Cape Cod School of Art founded by Henry Hensche in 1931, and classical drawing and design at Barnstone Studios in Coplay, Pennsylvania.

Stephen Griffin’s study with the Egelis, in particular, shaped his Impressionist style. "They introduced me to Impressionism which ... was a revelation of color and light. I started seeing things as they really are, not the way we think they should be."

Favorite Chesapeake Bay locations are Tilghman Island, Galesville and Deal Island. His landscapes capture the distinctive light caused by the high humidity of Maryland summers. "It puts a haze over everything. The light has to go through the haze and it sets up beautiful screens of atmosphere. Favorite painting locations in New England include Provincetown on Cape Cod, Gloucester, Mass. and the coast of Maine.

He is a member of Classical America, the Maryland Society of Portrait Artists and the Mid- Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association (MAPAPA). He won both the People’s Choice and Best Marine Painting in MAPAPA’s "Paint Annapolis 2002" exhibit and has gone on to win numerous plein air painting awards in subsequent Paint Easton and Paint Annapolis events. He was selected for an Artist of Recognition in 2001 by the Portrait Society of America; also exhibiting his work in the 63rd Annual Juried Exhibition in 2003 at the Woodmere Art Museum in Philadelphia, PA. Stephen was honored to be juried into the 2004 "Sunlight and Shadow" exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausaw, Wisconsin.

KEN DEWAARD - http://kendewaard.com
For Ken there is nothing more rewarding and challenging than painting under an open sky, surrounded by the scents and sounds of nature, along with it's ever changing color and harmonies to excite one's creativity.
After receiving his Bachelor of Arts with honors, Ken began working in a commercial art studio in Chicago. He continued his studies at the American Academy of Art, where he studied with nationally recognized watercolorist, Irving Shapiro. Upon Irving's recommendation Ken joined the acclaimed Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Art in Chicago, where he soon began studying with Scott Burdick as well as Dan Gerhartz.

It is here that Ken adapted his direct and pure approach as well as his bravura brush style, which he achieves by painting from life. Strongly inspired by John Singer Sargent, Nicolai Fechin, Joaquin Sorolla and the Russian Impressionists, Ken finds himself painting an array of subject matter from everyday life. The feelings Ken evokes in his paintings are due in part to the excitement and passion he feels while capturing the fleeting effects of light, or the wonderful color nuances and harmonies presented by nature and all of her beauty.
 

THOMAS JEFFERSON KITTS - http://thomaskitts.com
Thomas lives in Portland, Oregon. He graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1984, after which he returned home to paint en plein air in the Pacific Northwest and California. Thomas is both inspired and exhilarated by the way light plays across a landscape and he has devoted over 27 years to capturing it in oil. Thomas prefers to paint directly from life for its honesty and immediacy, incorporating alla prima
techniques developed by master artists such as Sargent, Sorolla, and Zorn.

ELISE PHILLIPS - http://enphillips.com
" Where most people see the ordinary, I envision a painting."

Elise Phillips was born in Wayne, Pennsylvania into a family with an extensive background in the fine arts. Her great, great grandfather founded Newman Galleries in Philadelphia in 1865, and today she is the fifth generation of the family to exhibit there.

A graduate of The Hussian School of Art in 1983, she was an accomplished illustrator and graphic designer with many successful commissions in the business community. With an inherent passion for painting, she enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, emerging well schooled in the tradition of the Academy.

Elise has for many years maintained a studio in Elverson, Pennsylvania, where the bucolic countryside is a source of inspiration for many of her paintings, as is the Jersey Shore, New England and the Eastern shore of Maryland, where she is a frequent visitor.

An award winning exhibitor, she is a signature member of the Philadelphia Water Color Society, a member of the Philadelphia Sketch Club, Oil Painters of America, the Chester Springs Studio and the French Creek Art Colony.

ERIC BOWMAN - http://ericbowman.com
Award winning painter Eric Bowman began his career as a commercial artist in southern California creating original oil paintings for such high profile clients as Coppertone, Nike, GTE, Hallmark, Kellogg's, Nabisco, Southwest Airlines and the Kentucky Derby.
 
His work has also adorned the covers of  TIME magazine and The Saturday Evening Post, along with numerous books, music CD’s and other popular periodicals.  His original oil paintings reside in many private and corporate collections including the offices of Major League Baseball, the NBA and the United States Postal Service.

As a fine art painter, Eric has garnered many awards in juried competitions, showing in national & regional exhibitions in some of the country's most prestigious galleries.  His paintings are in collections around the world, including  England, Australia, Canada and Mexico.

Eric Bowman is an artist member of the Oil Painters of America, a Signature Member of the American Impressionist Society and artist member of the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association.  He lives with his wife and daughter in Tigard, Oregon.

JASON TAKO - http://jasontako.com
Jason Tako is a nationally recognized plein air landscape, wildlife, and western fine artist in Dover, PA working in a style that blends impression and realism.