Joe Mancuso

"Lifting Fog" a haunting pastel painting of a endless trail in Morgan Hill CA

2022

"Morgan Hill Morning" is a pastel painting by Torrance, CA based artist, Joe Mancuso. This painting was created at Harvey Bear Park in Morgan Hill, CA, known for its lush scenery and excellent hiking trails. Mancuso ventured out prior to the Plein Air Paint Out event and became inspired by the landscape of the quiet town. Framed: 13.5" x 15.5" Unframed: 8" x 10" Framing includes a black matte border with an ornate gold fillet on top of museum glass, all included in the price. About the Artist: Joe Mancuso is a plein air pastellist based in Torrance, CA. Mancuso is well known for the light in his paintings. His paintings are deeply influenced by the environment, especially seasonal changes and climactic weather. Mancuso creates his breathtaking paintings on location and though he may respond to a certain place or scene, his goal is to always make capturing the light his focal point. Joe participated in Colibri Gallery’s 2nd Annual Morgan Hill Plein Air Paint Out, where he won third place for his painting, Roses Among the Vines. In 2021, Mancuso achieved Master Circle Status with The International Association of Pastel Societies and is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America. Mancuso holds membership with The California Art Club, Laguna Beach Plein Air...

"In for the Night" is a contemporary plein air landscape painting in gouache (opaque watercolor) by Idaho artist Aaron Cordell Johnson. The paint...

"Crossroads A-73" by Janet Richardson-Baughman is a pastel landscape drawing. The landscape figures a yellow field in the foreground and a cluster of deep green trees in the middle ground, behind which the tiniest strip of water is visible in light blue. On the distant horizon, a dark green hill meets a serene blue sky. Art size: 16" x 12" Frame size: 29 1/2" x 25 1/2" Framed to conservation standards. Matted with a cream-colored acid-free mat board and glazed in UV Clear Glass that filters 99% of UV Rays to inhibit fading. All this is housed in a traditional moulding in a gold finish. A move to an eighty-acre farm in Western Michigan from Detroit suited Janet Richardson Baughman to a tee. She and her three siblings loved country life and relished the many humorous adjustments to their new surroundings. The one-room schoolhouse she attended, for example, contrasted sharply with her earlier city school. Sports programs had been fairly sophisticated in the city. Rural sports consisted of her teacher piling everyone in her car, including the trunk, and then driving the children to another one-room schoolhouse for games. When Janet reached the sixth grade, a chapter in American history closed because all of the one-room schoolhouses were annexed by the nearest cities, but that unusual educational experience is something Janet fondly remembers. Growing up in a family that was very artistic, it is not surprising that Janet loved drawing. She and her brothers and sisters would make Christmas decorations for the Christmas tree and had ongoing art projects all year long. Her architect father was an artist in his free time. As the children have become adults, they are all involved in artistic endeavors from carving to sculpture. Janet's high school years were spent riding and showing her horses. "That was my life," she says. Living on the farm allowed her freedom to indulge her love of animals including the dogs that were so special to her. Active in 4H, Janet became an accomplished seamstress and an excellent cook. She took no art classes in high school although she sometimes helped her father with drafting. Starting college with the intention of majoring in speech and drama, Janet took an art class only because it was required. She found the art classes so appealing that she took one after another. Eventually, having taken every art class offered, the university had to design independent studies for her. With her beloved horses back on the farm, Janet discovered a new passion, and that was ceramics. First working as a waitress during college to earn income, Janet later became a Student Assistant and lived at the Ceramics Studio. As an assistant, she would make clay and glazes, fire the kiln, and assist the instructor however she could. At first, she had planned to become a high school teacher, but she was encouraged to earn her graduate degree and pursue her artistic endeavors, in addition to teaching. Janet graduated in 1975 with a BFA in Ceramics and Weaving from Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, MI. Following her mentor's advice, she went to Indiana State University in Indiana for her graduate work where she studied under Dick Hay...

West Branch Forest Preserve, Misty Morning 16.0 x 12.0 x 0.5, 1.0 lbs Oil paint on canvas Hand signed by the artist Artist's Commentary: I was inspired to paint this picture after...