By Bonnie Gangelhoff
California painter Pang-Yen Chou arrived in the United States in 1999 with one goal in mind—to broaden his art education. Chou settled in San Francisco, which he still calls home today, and earned a master’s degree in fine art from the Academy of Art University. He cites his teachers, Huihan Liu and Po Pin Lin, as major influences. They helped him make the tricky transformation from “Chinese painting to a western style of oil painting,” Chou says. ‘
A hard worker, the 34-year-old artist has quickly found his niche in the painting world. Landscapes are his subject of choice, and he prefers painting on location in scenic nearby towns such as Sausalito, Mill Valley, and Kensington. “I don’t like to stay at home,” says Chou, noting that he prefers getting in his car and driving until he finds the perfect vista to render for his next painting. Often the scenes include weathered architecture, old boathouses, and seaside neighborhoods, including ones in Monterey Bay. “They offer a chance to create texture and capture the atmosphere of a place,” he explains.
Chou is a regular participant in the Carmel Art Festival in Carmel, CA, and is a member of Oil Painters of America, American Plains Artists, and the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association. He is represented by Masterpiece Gallery, Carmel, CA.
Featured in “Artists to Watch” February 2006