By permission of the artist, The Cyber Art Show is pleased to feature the first of two 12-piece Exhibitions of works by American landscape artist Paul Zegers, (born 1950, in Joliet, Illinois).
 

While growing up, Paul always enjoyed viewing and making art, but never seriously considered it for a career. He attended Northern Illinois University, where he received a BS degree in 1972 and an MS in 1974, both in Biology. His art education began with a summer job during high school and college where he had the opportunity to learn technical illustration from a patient mentor. He and his wife moved to Roseburg, Oregon in 1975 and he started a graphic design and printing business there in 1977. The business was successful and he sold it in 2000 and continued to manage it for the new owners until he retired in 2010. All the while he pursued oil painting as his hobby.

 

Once he retired, Paul began painting more seriously and began attending painting workshops, from among others, Charles Waldman, Mitch Baird, Josh Elliott, Thomas Kitts, Dave Santillanes and Marc Hanson. His work has been juried into numerous exhibits and he has been featured in several solo shows. He has completed a number of commissions for both private and corporate collections and his work is displayed in collections nationally.

 

Paul’s work has received numerous honors including Honorable Mentions, Artist’s Choice Award and Best in Show. One of his highest honors was to win the Grand Prize Purchase Award in the 2010 Paint America Top 100 competition for representative paintings.

 

Last year proved to be a busy year for Paul. He attended the Great Alaskan Plein Air Retreat, where he received a Third-Place Award. He received an Honorable Mention in the Emerging Plein Air Artist online competition and a purchase award for the Umpqua Community College permanent art collection. An article in the December/January 2014 issue of Plein Air Magazine mentioned Paul and featured two of his paintings that were completed on a Rogue River plein air rafting trip.

Also in 2014 Paul was selected to paint the Mt Hood Wilderness for “Art of the Wild,” a traveling exhibit sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service and the Columbia Arts Center to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Wilderness Areas. He was the Judge for the 2014 Create Eugene Plein Air Painting Competition and conducted a workshop in conjunction with the event in Eugene, Oregon.

Paul was one of 100 artists selected for the Where  in the World is Plein Air event this year.

             http://www.whereintheworldispleinair.com/2015-         artist/paul-zegers/

 

When not painting, Paul loves to travel and exploring the wild areas of the Pacific Northwest. He also serves on the Board for several non-profit organizations including the Umpqua Valley Arts Association in Roseburg, Oregon.

 

His work is currently available at the Portland Art Museum Rental and Sales Gallery, Steamboat Inn on the North Umpqua River and Gallery 7 in Canyonville, Oregon.