Mike Bagdonas
Mike was born and raised in California with artistic abilities noted early in his life. He worked in law enforcement, however, over a quarter of a century before turning to art full time. Mike spent three years studying art at the California Art Institute following degrees from LA Valley College and Pepperdine University. He has also attended many workshops hosted by distinguished institutions and artist/teachers
and has an extensive library of art books from many master artists that he continually studies to better himself.
Mike primarily paints oil paintings on location but also in his studio in Placerville, California. He finds inspiration from the Sierra Nevada mountain views and spends much of his time painting between Lake Tahoe and one of his favorites: Yosemite National Park. He also paints oil paintings of cowboys, American Indians and wildlife. His paintings are strongly influenced by a number of distinguished master artists including Edgar Payne, Maurice Braun, Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell among others.
Colleagues refer to Mike as a draftsman in that his renderings are very accurate while his style is impressionistic. His portraits display an uncanny ability to show a spark of the subject’s personality. Mike's paintings are in a number of private and corporate collections in the United States and abroad in England, Japan and Switzerland.
I am an oil painter who loves the great outdoors from the mountains to the seas. My favorite painting locations are mostly in our nation’s National Parks, which I believe contain the most beautiful scenery in the world. I also love our American heritage from the settlers who perilously ventured out west to the American Indians who understood the rugged unspoiled beauty of our western landscape long before we settled here. I hope that the ability that God has given me to record my view of our countries greatest treasures will inspire the viewers as much as it inspires me every single day.
I also believe that the key to an outstanding work of art is painting from life. I mean that painting from photographs does not lend itself to true value or color relationships and other proper compositional elements of a great work of art. I pride myself on being able to paint from life quickly and accurately whether the subject is our beautiful western landscape or a model posing in period costume. I use photographs for cowboy, American Indian and wildlife paintings but I do this only out of necessity due to posing problems that I'm sure you can imagine! Many of these paintings, however, include landscapes that were created from plein air studies. I also use studies in combination with photographs to create larger studio paintings. My goal is to give the art patron a two dimensional piece of fine art that is as close to three dimensional as possible without seeming contrived, abstract or photo realistic.
Chablis Gallery Placerville, CA
Sierra Country Home Placerville, CA
Mike Bagdonas Studio, Placerville, CA
National Academy of Professional Plein Air Painters (NAPPAP) – Professional (signature) member
Oil Painters of America - Artist member
Laguna Plein Air Painters Association - Artist member
California Art Club - Painting Patron member
El Dorado County Arts Council - Artist member
1993 – 1996 California Art Institute, Drawing, Painting Thousand Oaks, CA
1974 – 1975 University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA
1971 – 1973 Pepperdine University Malibu, CA
1968 – 1970 Los Angeles Valley College Van Nuys, CA
2007 Carolyn Anderson Portraiture Jackson Hole, WY
2006 Bye Bitney Portraiture Fredericksburg, TX
2005 Scott L. Christensen Plein Air Jackson Hole, WY
2004 Ray Roberts Portraiture Angels Camp, CA
2003 Jim Wilcox Plein Air Jackson Hole, WY
1996 Neil Boyle Figure In Landscape Westlake Village, CA
2005 Chablis Gallery One Person Show Wild Wild West Placerville, California
1997 Brentwood Art Center Two Person Show Brentwood, California
2008 Kolb Studio Top 100 Paint The Parks Exhibit Grand Canyon, AZ
2008 St George Museum Top 100 Paint The Parks Exhibit St George, Utah
2007 Napa Valley Museum Northern Views In The Plein Air Tradition Yountville, CA.
2007/2008 Nomadas del Arte Painting the Southwest En Plein Air Exhibition held at the
Sage Creek Gallery Santa Fe, NM, March 2008
2007 Frank Bette Plein Air Paintout, Alameda, CA.
2007 "Northern Views" Plein Air Exhibit, I. Wolk Gallery, St Helena, CA.
2007, Gold Country Plein Air Invitational, The Vault Gallery, Sonora, CA.
2006, 2007 Estes Park Plein Air - Painting The Parks, Estes Park, CO.
2006 Marin County Fair Plein Air San Rafael, CA.
2005, 2007 Carmel Art Festival Plein Air Event Carmel, California
2005, 2006 LPAPA The Best of Plein Air Laguna Beach, California.
2004 Helper Plein Air Competition Helper Utah
2007 National Paint The Parks Top 100 Competition(two paintings) Westboro Fine ArtsTopeka, Kansas
Opening: August 1, 2007
2007 Salon International 2007 Greenhouse Gallery San Antonio, Texas.
2007 NAPPAP Professional (Signature) Member Exhibition Texas Art Gallery Dallas, Texas,
2006 LPAPA Less is More Laguna Beach, CA
2006 Mother Lode National Art Exhibition Placerville, CA
2006 Celebration of Life in the West Sunset Magazine Corporate Campus Menlo Park, CA.
2006 LPAPA Artist Membership Exhibition Laguna Beach, CA.
2005 California Art Club Our National Parks Women's City Club of Pasadena Pasadena, CA.
2004 LPAPA Artist Indoors Laguna Beach, CA.
2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 Celebration of Western Art Cow Palace San Francisco, CA.
2003 A Celebration of Art & Wine Shingle Springs, CA.
2007 Two Paintings in Top 100 National Paint The Parks Competition Topeka, KS
2007 Honorable Mention For Artistic Excellence Salon International 2007 Greenhouse Gallery San Antonio, TX.
2006 4th place Marin County Fair Plein Air San Rafael, CA.
2004 Honorable Mention Celebration of Western Art Cow Palace San Francisco, CA
2005 Article published in Foothill Style Magazine September issue, Page 24
2006 One Day Western Oil Painting Techniques Workshop Placerville, CA.
2004 Plein Air Painting Lake Ediza (Ansel Adams Wilderness) Sierra Nevada Mountains 5 Day backpack trip
2004 Plein Air Painting in Italy three and a half weeks
2003 Plein Air Painting on the rivers of Europe two weeks
If you require further information, or to place an order/commission, please email:
mike.bagdonas@1066artgallery.co.uk