George Tapley

BIOGRAPHY - George Tapley

I had my first art lesson at age 8 in Juneau, Alaska, on how to draw a row boat. Soon afterwards I drew my first comic book – a superhero, called Captain Dynamo, modeled after Batman. I especially enjoyed designing his car, which was amphibious and could convert into an airplane. At age 10, I won my first prize in a student art show sponsored by the Boston Globe. It was an ink drawing of figures in an ice skating rink.

In school I took art classes at every opportunity. In college I took painting, studied art history, and majored in art as an undergraduate. I went on to earn three advanced degrees, and eventually taught art and art history at the college level.

My first love has always been painting. Now that I am retired, I paint almost every day. With an occasional detour – such as a series of satirical paintings of Mickey Mouse - my subjects have mostly been traditional: figure, still life, landscape, scenes of everyday life.

Although landscape painting in plein air style is my current preoccupation, it is not new to me. I’ve painted outdoors in New Hampshire, in Minnesota, and in Louisiana as well as Northern California. I had been painting outdoors at the Arboretum in Fullerton fo...

1979 University of Minnesota, Ph.D., Art History

1965 University of California, Berkeley, M.A., Painting

1963 Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT. B.A., Art

1961 La Sorbonne, Paris, Certificat d’assiduite

2014 Legends. Fullerton College, Fullerton, CA

2014 Socalpapa paints the Back Bay. Newport Beach, CA

2013 Socalpapa paints the Back Bay. Newport Beach, CA

2012 Socalpapa paints the Back Bay. Newport Beach, CA

2011 Six by Six. Randy Higbee Gallery. Newport Beach, CA

2011 Earth and Sea. Art Gallery, Socalpapa, Newport Beach, CA

2011 On With the Show, The Gallery on Birch Street, Brea, CA

2010 Teach Me a Thing or Two, The Gallery on Birch Street, Brea, CA

2006 Fullerton College Faculty Exhibition, Fullerton, CA

2003 Artists Who Teach, Fullerton College, Fullerton, CA

1999 Courting the Muse, Cal State Fullerton, Fullerton, CA

1998 Wesleyan University, Alumni Exhibit, Middletown, CT

1998 Facetious Portraits, Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA

1998 Mickey Noir, UC Irvine Student Center, Irvine, CA solo

1997 Doin’ Mickey, Ventura College Gallery, Ventura, CA two person

1997 Greed, Orange County Center, Santa Ana, CA

1997 Unusual Perception, Hello Artichoke, Los Angeles

1997 Southern CA. Open Juried, Laguna Beach, CA

1997 Fidelity and Irreverence, Century Gallery, Sylmar, CA

1996 Leap of Faith, Chapman College, Orange, CA

1996 All Media 96, Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA

1996 Orlando Gallery, S...