Fine artist Richard Gallego will demonstrate oil painting at the March 19 meeting of the Santa Clarita Artists Association at Barnes & Noble, 23630 Valencia Blvd., starting at 6:30 p.m.

Gallego’s longtime love of nature’s wild places has taken him far afield from Arizona’s Canyon de Chelly to the beaches of Hawaii.

From the rivers, gorges and adobes of Northern New Mexico to the glaciers of Alaska and so many places in between; all in search of the scenes he loves to paint. Referring to his obsession with painting as “my wonderful affliction,” he is constantly searching for new ways to reveal the natural world to others through paint.

“Only a divine Creator could have imagined and constructed a world of such unparalleled beauty as the one in which we live,” Gallegos said. “Simply put, I paint in tribute to the Creator. I truly see what you have made. I love it.”

Gallegos is an artist mentor for Open Studio Online where he provides critiques, demonstration videos, and artistic guidance for other artists. He is a member of the Laguna Plein Air Painters’ Association and was juried into the organization’s Best of Plein Air show in 2015, 2016, and 2017. Rich has been featured in several articles on Plein Air Magazine’s online publication, Outdoor Painter and appeared as a featured artist in American Art Collector magazine.

Additionally, Gallegos teaches weekly plein air workshops in Southern California, annual workshops for Cloudcroft Art Workshops in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, and has taught weeklong workshops for the Taos Art School in Taos, New Mexico each summer/fall since 2009. See www.richgallego.com.

Come early; it’s usually standing room only by 6:30. See www.SantaClaritaArtists.org.

Richard Gallego Ocean

Richard Gallego Hill

Richard Gallego Cabin