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My Great, Great Grandfather arrived in California in the1860's, and I was born in Southern California in 1950, which makes me a fourth generation Californian. My informal painting career started when I was thirteen years of age, simply by drawing things I liked.

At the age twenty-one I entered the Army, and while on leave I went to the Boston Art Museum and saw several Van Gogh works of art for the first time. I thought to myself "I would like to do that".

Upon returning for duty, I purchased a paint set. That started an on-again, off-again relationship with painting that has lasted for over twenty years. In 1991, I returned to school at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio to obtain a Nursing degree with a minor in art. My formal art training was launched and I have not looked back.

Currently, I am a member of the California Art Club, Oil Painters of America, Laguna Plein Air Painters Association and the San Clemente Art Association. I have shown at the Los Angeles County Fair, Utah State Fair, the Orange County Fair, the San Clemente Art Gallery and at the Laguna Beach Art Museum's annual Art Auction, in which I sold my juried painting "California Coast." I had a Second Place showing at the Utah State Fair, Third Place at San Clemente Art Gallery, and an Honorable Mention at the Los Angeles County Fair. Currently displaying at California State Fair were I recieved a Award Of Merit.

In my current position, I have the opportunity to travel quite a lot, which affords me the ability to paint many types of Plein Air Landscapes from the California Coastline, to the Arizona, Utah and New Mexico deserts and mountains. I feel fortunate in being able to capture the great western landscapes that give me constant inspiration.

Sincerely,

George M. Rawson