The California Landscape and Plein Aire Conference, 2010

Press Release Schedule Artists Registration

Artist Biographies

Mike Bagdonas

Mike Bagdonas was born and raised in California with artistic abilities noted early in his life. He spent three years studying art at the California Art Institute following with degrees from LA Valley College and Pepperdine University. Bagdonas primarily paints on location, but sometimes works in his studio in Placerville, California.

Colleagues refer to Bagdonas as a draftsman in that his renderings are very accurate while his style is impressionistic. He finds inspiration from the Sierra Nevada mountain views and spends much of his time painting between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park. He also paints portraits of cowboys, American Indians and wildlife.

"I believe that the key to an outstanding work of art is painting from life. I mean that painting from photographs does not lend itself to true value or color relationships and other proper compositional elements of a great work of art. I pride myself on being able to paint from life quickly and accurately whether the subject is our beautiful western landscapes."

Andrew Dorn

Born and raised in the Finger Lakes Region of upstate New York, Andrew Dorn has been creating art for more than 20 years. Predominately a plein aire Impressionist painter, Dorn has strong influences in Art Nouveau and Abstract Expressionism.

Dorn's artistic training is largely self-guided through art books & monthly publications. He is currently focused on taking painting workshops and painting with other plein aire painters. In 2006 Dorn and his fiancee moved to Davis from New York State to build his artistic career as a painter; in 2008 he made the leap to painting full time.

"I am a plein air painter and my passion lies in creating painterly personal interpretations of the scenes and situations that move me. My goal is to paint my feelings in such a way that the viewer can really feel my paintings. I love the workability, richness, and permanence of oil colors. I paint impressionist oils en plein aire and then finish them later in my studio with a completely fresh perspective. Painting daily allows me to work by instinct, which helps keep my work more direct and spontaneous. I fell in love with northern California and my current work is a journal of my exploration of this magnificent landscape."

Don Hagerty

Don Hagerty is one of the most knowledgeable scholars of the art and culture of the American West. He taught for 22 years at the University of California, Davis. In 1981 Hagerty organized the first important exhibition of the art of Maynard Dixon, Images of the Native American, held at the California Academy of Sciences. Hagerty is the author of Desert Dreams: The Art and Life of Maynard Dixon (1993, 1998) and numerous other books on historic and contemporary painters of the West.

Leslie Toms (b. 1951)

Leslie Toms is a contemporary American painter focused on landscapes, cityscapes & still life. These paintings are filled with rich colors and dramatic brushstrokes. Her work often recalls influence from Impressionistic and Fauvist traditions as well as those of her native Sacramento area. In Tom's ongoing pursuit of color and light, her subjects become more symbolic than real.