2013 National Exhibition Winner Spotlight

The OPA 2013 National Exhibition was an exciting event with a brilliant display of skill and oil painting mastery.
We’d like to introduce you to a few of our National Exhibition Winners. Meet Tom L. Nachreiner, winner of the Dorothy Driehaus Mellin Fellowship for Midwestern Artists; Shizhong Yan OPAM, winner of the Gold Medal Award for the Master Signature Division; and Johanna Harmon OPA, the Gold Medal Award winner in the OPA Associate/Signature division…

Tom L. Nachreiner

The Dorothy Driehaus Mellin Fellowship for Midwestern Artists

Tom Nachreiner – 2013 – Driven by a passion for excellence, Tom spent his earlier years as a nationally known figurative illustrator. More recent years has afforded him the privilege of a fine art rebirth, painting from his heart “en plein air” and conducting year round workshops. Among many other recognitions, recently Tom has won “Best Of Show” at the 2006 & 2011 Cedarburg Plein Air Painting Competition. He won “Best Of Show” at Milwaukee’s Plein Air Event in 2008, and “First Place” at 2008 Door County Plein Air Festival, and “Second Place” at the same event in 2009, and Third Place in 2011. He was accepted into Oil Painters of America National Show in 2009, OPA’s Eastern Regional Show in 2010 and OPA’s National Exhibition in 2012. In 2013 he was accepted into OPA’s National Exhibition in Texas & into OPA’s 2013 Salon Show in Michigan. In 2010 He was published in “Best Oil Painters of America”. This July 2013 will be Tom’s seventh year at the Door County Plein Air Festival of 40 national and international invited artists. In May of 2013 Tom received “The Dorothy Driehaus Mellin Fellowship Award” of $20,000 for his painting “Stretching” at the 22nd National Juried Oil painter’s of America Exhibition.

“I want to say just enough with paint to evoke the imagination.”

Tom paints for the love of dynamic composition, the celebration of color, and the tactile feel of applying juicy, wet paint to the canvas, at the same time having fun, enjoying the sounds and feelings of being outdoors, talking to others, doing what he loves, and trying to learn as much as he can before the end of each day.”
Tom is represented by Edgewood Orchard Galleries in Fish Creek WI, at Katie Gingrass Gallery in Milwaukee WI, and online at www.tomnachreiner.com

Shizhong Yan OPAM

Master Division: Gold Medal Award

Shizhong Yan OPAM was born and raised in the coastal city of Qingdao, China. Influenced by his father who was an architect, Shizhong fell in love with art at a young age. He studied under various well-known local artists and at the age of sixteen, he was accepted by Central Academy of Fine Arts Affiliated School, often referred as the cradle of fine artists, where he studied for four years. When culture revolution swept China, Shizhong never gave up on his artistic dream. He was exiled worked manual labors in the countryside, but still took every minute he could to paint the world around him. When Cultural Revolution ended, he was one of the first students that were accepted by China Academy of Fine Arts’ graduate program. He continued his study under one of the most well-known artists in China, Mr. Quan Shanshi. Shizhong studied in-depth the styles and techniques of Russian, European as well as American Impressionist masters and was influenced by artists like Rechin, Degas, Cezanne, Sargent, etc.
In 1998, Shizhong and his family moved to the United States where he began a new chapter of his life as well as artistic career. Shizhong now resides in Illinois. He has four collections of artworks published and was published by countless magazines and newspapers. Shizhong has had many solo and group exhibitions in China, United States, Japan, France, Australia, Canada, Taiwan and Hong Kong. He has received many awards and his paintings are collected and loved by collectors all over the world. www.szyan.net

Johanna Harmon OPA

Associate/Signature Division: Gold Medal Award

Johanna Harmon OPA was born in 1968 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but spent most of her childhood in Tempe, Arizona. Johanna began designing and recording visual observations at the age of seven, but it wasn’t until almost two decades later that she was introduced to the traditional language of art at the Scottsdale Artists’ School in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Fechin Art Institute in Taos, NM, and the Art Students League of Denver in Denver, Colorado. There, she studied painting alongside prominent figure artists with varied artistic philosophies and approaches such as Carolyn Anderson, John Asaro, Scott Burdick, Mark Daily, Daniel Gerhartz, Quang Ho, and C.W. Mundy.
Her work has been exhibited with the Art Renewal Center, The Artist’s Magazine, California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition, Oil Painters of America (OPA), Portrait Society of America, and Scottsdale Artists’ School. She has received numerous prestigious awards throughout the years. Most recently she was honored with the OPA Signature Member designation, and acceptance into the 2013 Oil Painters of America’s 22nd National Juried Exhibition— her eighth National Juried Exhibition— where she received her second Gold Medal Award, becoming the first artist to receive two OPA National Exhibition Gold Medal Awards in the organization’s history. Her first Gold Medal was awarded in 2007.
Over the past decade, her work has been presented in numerous solo, group and juried exhibitions, and is collected internationally. Her work has been published inSouthwest Art, Artbook of the New West, and Focus Santa Fe.
Harmon has taught workshops at North River Arts Society in Marshfield Hills, MA, and the Coppini Academy of Art in San Antonio, TX. Currently, she teaches at The Art Student’s League of Denver. Her emphasis is the clarification of visual intention, while nurturing the overall painted subject. This pivotal understanding defines her work today. She credits Cecilia Beaux, Nicolai Fechin, John Singer Sargent, Joaquin Sorolla and Anders Zorn as inspiration.
Johanna now resides in beautiful Highlands Ranch, Colorado, with her husband, Steven, of 16 years. www.johannaharmon.com