Art

Southern California has been an important center for painting and decorative arts for more than a hundred years, now. Laguna Beach began as something of an artists' colony, and the area served as subject for plein-air landscape painters, as well as a marketplace for artists. The city has many galleries and studios, and hosts several art festivals each year.

The Irvine Museum, housed in an office building near Orange County Airport, is a treasure that seems generally overlooked by the local populace. The museum has an authoritative collection of Southern California Impressionist paintings, but is rarely crowded, even though the admission is free. The museum is small, but the collection is amazing, and presents frequently changing curated shows.

We are fortunate to own a few nice paintings by Michael Situ and W.Jason Situ, who paint in the regional tradition. We purchased these at The Gallery on Glassell and The Exchange Fine Arts Gallery, both in downtown Orange.

Corner of Street

Michael Situ

This happens to be a street corner in downtown Orange, just a few blocks from The Orangerie.

Glorious Tree
Michael Situ

(Probably Laguna Canyon.)

Laguna View
Michael Situ

Michael Situ is very good at capturing atmosphere, color and time of day. This is the Orange County most of us want to believe we live in.

Untitled
W. Jason Situ

Hazy Day
Michael Situ

I believe that this is Santiago Canyon, just east of here.