The OC Art Blog was created in 2004 as a way to build community and promote the marginalized but dynamic Orange County art scene.

Imagine a bright and colorful world where light pippy jazz is always playing, an assortment of soothing scents casually linger in the air, the weather is never not pleasant, and the diverse and eclectic people all around you are upbeat and friendly… This world is at your fingertips, thanks to the immersive art and design of Priscilla Moreno.  A SoCal native, Moreno grew up in Los Angeles, but now calls Long Beach home. She is a full-time artist, and has shown her vibrant and fun artwork...

13 October, 2020 /

Last month, over thirty artists from the 2020 Festival of Arts of Laguna Beach opened their private art studios and gallery venues for visitors to take a no-cost, self-guided journey through the Orange County coast in an event called “Art Along the Coast.” For two consecutive weekends, artists from San Clemente to Santa Ana shared their new art as well as works in progress to locals looking to support and connect with the art scene in their community. This was a great opportunity for both...

21 September, 2020 /

If ever there were an exhibition curated with the intention of discovering the visual and unseen splendor of the Golden State, it would be this year’s social-distanced version of “Made in California” (MICA) at the Brea Art Gallery. This annual show, now in its 35thyear, traverses through the minds of several Californian artists, uncloaking the density of California’s current state of mind. MICA’s electrifying display of artworks frames contemporary Californian lifestyles, trends, politics, passions, and dedication to aesthetics. It is an exhibition that mostly invokes ethereal images...

09 September, 2020 /

We know that reality is a construct and artistic expression is an attempt to relay one’s interpretation of that construct. Perception is everything—it is personal, how the world is viewed through one's eyes, and no two people can truly perceive reality the same way, even if those two people happen to be romantic partners. Currently, the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (OCCCA) is hosting an exhibition called “Terra Incognita,” which explores this concept by showcasing various works by five artist-couples and how despite being...

31 August, 2020 /

Climbing the walls and growing on the floor like a mold in various colors or stages of propagation, pill bottle caps encased a gallery space, bringing awareness to the spread of addiction to pharmaceuticals and its similarity to the growth of bacteria. I stumbled on this installation in 2012 as a part of the Huntington Beach Art Center’s “Escape from the Landfill” exhibition and was immediately enamored and enthralled by the power of this Long Beach-based installation artist, Olga Lah. Lah’s installation art is more powerful...

17 August, 2020 /

Paradise for SoCal art lovers during summertime is usually Laguna Beach. With three art festivals, the Pageant of the Masters, many art galleries displaying their treasures and rotating exhibitions at Laguna Art Museum, the city has been a garden of earthly delights for decades. Of course, this summer is different. The throngs of art-viewing tourists and residents — along with local artists eager to talk about and sell their work — are replaced by quiet streets and empty art venues, thanks to COVID-19. However, the abundance...

10 August, 2020 /

The world has come to a standstill. In the wake of COVID-19, people find themselves spending more time with themselves than they ever have before. It is a prime opportunity for the creation of art. Enter Abigail Albano-Payton, a 21-year-old artist from Laguna Beach via Dallas who has dedicated her quarantine to researching new ways to hone her artistic craft. She has dedicated herself, specifically, to learning how to paint black, indigenous and people of color; a methodology that she feels has largely been excluded from...

27 July, 2020 /

Local painter and art instructor, Eric L. Jones has been a fixture in the Orange County art scene for more than decade. His work blends a new kind of Abstract Expressionism with spirituality, poetic reflection, and Deconstructivism. He has shown his work in galleries in Fullerton, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, and Santa Ana, and actively shares his talents and passions with many different college populations in OC. Maribele, I am with you (after and before), Eric L. Jones, oil on canvas. Jones’ art practice reaches far and wide, touching...

20 July, 2020 /

On the first day of June, while the entire country was still heartbroken and mourning the cruel torture and murder of George Floyd in the hands of police, Larissa Marantz, a multitalented published book illustrator, cartoonist, gallery artist, educator, and owner of OC Art Studios, was hit by yet another institutional betrayal, this time coming from Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD), the school she has taught at for years: Artwork by Larissa Marantz “The moment I heard about the LCAD “All Lives Matter” Instagram post,...

13 July, 2020 /

While most cling to the familiar, artist Sureya Davis strives for the unknown. Davis is an African American Orange County-based artist who was originally born in Staten Island, New York, but would ultimately move to Southern California to pursue her career in art.  “I knew going into this profession as a woman of color, it would not be simple, but my drive to create is stronger than my fear of failure.” Study of Vanna, Sureya Davis, Oil on canvas board. When asked what the driving force for Davis...

06 July, 2020 /

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus, the existentialist anti-hero, is punished for being so full of himself that, as he valiantly rolls his rock up the mountainside, the Gods have it roll back down just as he nears the top, doomed to do it again and again forever with the same result. In his way, he’s the perfect absurdist saint for artists: Daily work in isolation, never reaching the end of the journey, valiantly continuing, despite the cost of supplies, the inability to make rent, or difficulty...

29 June, 2020 /

The City of Fullerton has for the better part of the last decade been the favorite rebellious and beloved artistic community of Orange County. Laguna Beach can keep its seascapes and figurative sculptures; Santa Ana can dominate street art; but, Fullerton has led the county in art walks and offbeat artworks. Santa Ana took a lesson from Fullerton in art walks, and now seems to be the leader in interesting contemporary art, but just a few years ago, most people would say that Fullerton was...

22 June, 2020 /

Perhaps it is serendipity or simply good luck; but more likely, Elizabeth Turk’s presence working in an expansive artistic environment is the result of her irrepressible ambition, sense of adventure and impressive talent. In this time of Covid-19, Turk is busy and locked away creating sculptures and installation works at Logan Creative in Santa Ana. And while numerous artistic spaces are closed, this compound welcomes artists working in many different media. With large, airy studios, the space affords easy social distancing for participants to work comfortably, to dialogue...

15 June, 2020 /

Some traditions never die; and, one that has stood the test of time is art itself. Despite the trying times of the COVID-19 quarantine, the California Art Club and Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University are working together to bring the 109th annual “Gold Medal Exhibition” to the public virtually. The California Art Club was founded in 1909 with the intention of bringing together artists in California—a place to share ideas, teach, and hone their craft. A place where masters could gather and showcase their finest work. The...

04 June, 2020 /

Colors pursue me like a constant worry. They even worry me in my sleep. - Claude Monet The recent release from Doppelhouse Press, Even When Fall is Here is a bilingual, fictionalized, multi-seasonal, communication between now deceased landscape architect Chris Shea, Painter Erick Meyenberg, garden owner Eloisa Haudenschild, and curator and writer Ruth Estevez. In it, Estevez creates an intertextual, fictionalized narrative that brings together Meyenberg’s observations, various email communications, historical accounts of gardening by other writers, video recordings, and logbooks kept by Shea, to create a...

30 May, 2020 /