Paul Gavin Fine Art

Paul Gavin Fine Art: About the Artist

En Plein Air — Paul has been painting on location since his first painting at age 7. Since then his love for plein air painting — from the French en plein air, in the full air, outdoors, a method of painting which gained popularity in France in the 1860s — has taken him to sites around his own home in Tustin, to southern California's coastal cities, to Paris and Normandy, France.

Paul has long admired the Marine Corps Blimp Hangars and has used the enormous structures for subjects of many paintings. Paul traveled to Normandy, France to attend and capture in art both the 1984 and 1994 Anniversaries of D-Day, sitting through cold, freezing, wet days to recreate many of the locations he visited. 

Also in 1984, Paul began donating artwork for the Marine Corps in support of Open Houses and other activities, and in 1989, created the first of a nine poster El Toro Air Show series that expanded to include many military installations and cities including Andrews Air Force Base, the City of Chicago and MCAS Miramar in San Diego.

Paul writes: If I had only six months to live, what would I do with my life? Exactly what I am doing right now.

Though it has been difficult at times, I have been lucky enough to turn my passion into a successful living, and the rewards have been rich. Life has blessed me with much, including a wife whose talents I believe are much more natural than mine, and into both of our artistic lives have come so many magnificent clients and friends. And although there are just too many to mention, I must say so very lucky we have been to work with the men and women of our Armed Forces, especially our Tustin, El Toro, Camp Pendleton and MCAS Miramar Marines. They are truly heart and soul.

Throughout, it has been family's, friends', and even passersby's compliments and encouragements that have kept me going when my foundations seemed swept away or when life became an overwhelming flood. Yet, like the beach flag, it is sometimes amazing how things work out and where we end up. I could never have planned to be where I am now.

The man who took the small color picture of me in Paris, when I said I did not know what the future would bring, told me, "Don't worry. God takes care of artists."

So many times remembering that one sentence has made the difference. It still does.

As does remembering the beach flag and a once anonymous tree.