Plein Air Gallery
2024 Plein Air Recap & Winners
Last year's inaugural Plein Air Competition was a real masterpiece - bringing together talented artists from across Southern California to create landscape pieces capturing Big Bear's endless beauty. The winning landscapes were determined by a jury of esteemed judges including John Budicin; California Art Club Signature Member & Diane Moore; Founder & President Desert Plein Air Association. Take a look at the painters and award winners of 2024, and be sure to join us and cast your vote for the 2025 People's Choice Award!
1st Place - Susan Eyer Anderson's "The Beauty Before Us"
2nd Place - Nita Harper's "Quiet Waters"
3rd Place - Victoria Huff's "Garstin Island Luster"
People's Choice - Carol Mullvihil's "Into the Woods"
Awards & Ceremony
Artists In The Wild
Diane McClary
Fine Art Master & Loyal Patron
Painting and teaching are my two passions. I believe that they are equally important and that one feeds into the other. For the past 30 years I have been painting and involved in the study of fine art.
The greatest influence on my painting style and process came from Sergei Bongart, the internationally known Russian Impressionist artist, and his colleagues, Ron Lukas, Sonny Apinchapong, and Delbert Gish. In the past, I was involved in attending and sponsoring workshops for the artists who worked with Sergei.
In my plein air painting, I search for scenes outdoors where the color of light and shadow catch my attention. Diane McClary
For many years, I have exhibited, demonstrated, and taught painting and drawing workshops in Washington, Colorado, California, Florida, France, and Africa. I also organized a tour for artists to visit mainland China and study at the Zhejiang Provincial Fine Art Academy in Hangzhou.
Along with painting landscapes, I enjoy painting still lifes outdoors because of the beautiful color expressed on the subject matter that happens with the natural light. Please visit my website for further information about me.
Diane McClary - Awards & Exhibits
EDUCATION
- Bachelor of Arts Degree, University of Washington, Seattle, Major: Art Ed., 1966
- Studied with Ron Lukas, Sergei Bongart, Del Gish, Sonny Apinchapong, Ovanes Berberian
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
- Instructor and Demonstrator, Martha Lake Gallery and Studio, and numerous art associations in WA and CA, 1995 to present
- Instructor: Palm Springs Art Museum
- Instructor: Frye Art Museum, Seattle 1995
- Instructor: Puget Sound Art League, City University, Bellevue, WA, 6 years
- Public school elementary teacher, Bothell, WA. All subjects, art emphasis. 10 years
AWARDS AND EXHIBITS
- 2012 Exhibition at the LaQuinta Museum, LaQuinta, CA titled "Creativity in the Cove" - painting chosen for poster
2012 Participated in Plein Air Painting Competition at Lake Arrowhead, CA - Awarded Honorable Mention
2012 Plein Air Paint El Paseo, by invitation
2012 Paintings Joshua Tree in Blook and Canterbury Bells commissioned for the Joshua Tree Natioanl Forest Desert catalog
2012 Painting Palo Verde in Bloom was juried for the Poster to represent the Coachella Wild Flower Festival
2012 Desertscapes, A Sense of the Place, invitational show of plein air paintings at the College of the Desert, Palm Desert
2011 Palm Springs Art Museum Artist Council Exhibition
2011 Desert Activity Guide, "God's Creation" selected for cover
2011 Art in Bloom at the Palm Springs Art Museum - painted and donated a 24x30 painting of fresh flowers -
2011 La Quinta Arts Foundation selected Diane's paintings for a benefit art show at Chico's dress shop
2011 Palm Springs Art museum - painting demonstration and donation of large floral painting to museum
2011 La Quinta Arts Festival exhibitor - juried into show in the original paintings category
2011 Selected artist to model and exhibit work, La Quinta Arts Foundation benefit at Chico's, La Quinta
2010 Wildflower Festival Invitational Exhibit, San Jacinto National Monument Visitor Center
2010 Borrego Springs Invitational Plein Air Painting & Exhibition, Borrego Springs, CA
2010 Art Under the Umbrellas, La Quinta, CA
2010 Southwest Arts Festival, Indio, CA
2009 Rancho Mirage Art Festival, Rancho Mirage, CA
2009 Southwest Arts Festival, Indio, CA
2009 Art Under the Umbrellas, La Quinta, CA
2009 "Earth, Water, Sky", group exhibition, Borrego Springs, CA
2009 Wildflower Festival, San Jacinto National Monument visitors Center
2009 First Place Award, Quick draw Competition, Tukwila, WA, Invitational Plein Air Event
2008 Commissioner's Choice Award, Federal Way City Hall Competition, Federal Way, WA
2008 Plein Air Exhibit, La Quinta Art Museum, La Quinta, CA
2008 Plein Air Exhibition Invitational, Palm Desert Visitor Center
2008 People's Choice Award, Women Painters of Washington Exhibit, Columbia Center, Seattle, WA
2007 Blue Heron One-Person Exhibit, Vashon Island, WA - 2007
2007 Plein Air Artists Exhibition, Mountain Trail Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
2005 Group Exhibition, Desert Art Collection, Palm Desert, CA
2004 Paintings from France, Evergreen Fine Art Gallery, Evergreen CO
2001 Oil Painters of America, Juried Exhibit and Membership, Zantman Galleries, Palm Desert, CA.
2001 Carpenter Museum, Cle Elum, WA., Individual Exhibit
2001 Clymer Art Museum, Ellensburg, WA., Individual Exhibit -
2000 Washington State Convention Center, Seattle; Juried Exhibit
2000 Millennium Exhibit, Sea-Tac Airport; Juried Exhibit
2000 Mockingbird Gallery, Bend, OR., Individual Exhibit
2000 La Quinta (CA) Invitational Plein Air Festival
INDIVIDUAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- 2009 Demonstrated for art groups at Ironwood Country Club and Marrakech Country Club, Palm Desert, CA
2009 Demonstrated painting at the Art Center, Palm Springs, CA
2009 Taught "Drawing with Confidence" at the Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA
2009 Invited to demonstrate for 'Artist in Action', Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA
August 2009: Plein Air Invitational, Cle Elum, WA.
June 2009: 1st Place Award, Quick Draw Portrait Painting Competition.
April 2008: Taught a Still Life and Outdoor Painting workshop in Panama City, FL.
March 2008: Began a 4-month class, Meet the Masters, for parents and children at 29 Palms Marine Base.
February 2008: Taught a 1-week Still Life Painting workshop at the Palm Springs Art Museum.
February 2008: Taught a 2-day plein air painting workshop in La Quinta, CA.
January 2008: Taught a 2-day plein air painting workshop in La Quinta, CA.
November 2008: Taught a 2-day Basic Drawing workshop at the Palm Springs Art Museum.
November 2008: Demonstrated for the United Artists Group in Seattle, WA.
October 2007: Taught a 3-day workshop on plein air painting for the Plein Air Painters of Washington.
July 2007: Taught a plein air workshop in Cle Elum, WA.
July 2005: Taught a plein air painting workshop in Provence, France.
March 2004: Taught a 3-day workshop at College of the Desert, Palm Desert, CA.
June 2004: Completed several commissioned works for Sunrise design center, Toscana Homes.
February 2003: Taught a 1-week painting workshop at the Palm Springs Art Museum. - Three trips to France, specifically to visit and paint in Provence and at Monet's gardens at Giverny to further the artist’s experiences in plein air painting.
- Jan-Apr, 2001: Invited by the following artist groups to lecture and demonstrate at their premises: Mercer Island Art League, Sky Valley Artists Guild, Artists United, and the Seattle League of Arts.
- Jan-Mar, 2001: At the Clymer Art Museum (Ellensburg, WA) along with her solo exhibition of oil paintings, the artist presented lectures on the French, Russian, and world-wide Impressionist painting movement, with an emphasis on how these artists had influenced her work. She also did an outdoor painting demonstration on painting snow scenes and indoor demonstrations on color harmony.
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
- Oil Painters of America (OPA)
- Women Painters of Washington(WPW)
- Plein Air Painters of Washington
- The California Art Club