Derek Buckner
Featured Artist - El Calendario de Todos Santos,
January 2000
Born
in Brooklyn, New York in 1970, Derek Buckner grew up painting with his
father, the artist Walker Buckner. After studying sculpture and painting
at Laguardia High School for Music, Art and The Performing Arts, he went
on to attend Vassar College and the School of Art Institute of Chicago,
where he earned his B.F.A. studying with Suzanna Coffey and Dan Gustin.
After finding inspiration in his travels to Sienna, Italy, where he painted and studied sculpture, Derek went to Baja California, Mexico in order to paint the light. He stayed three years, exhibited at the Galerķa de Todos Santos, and then began exhibiting his work in Santa Fe, New York and Scottsdale. These days Derek and his wife, Joanna, split their time between New York and Todos Santos.
"In much of the art world, painting for the sake of esthetics is considered self-serving. Art today is supposed to make some kind of social or political statement, and often that is the kind of art that sells. But that's not how I see my work. My art is more a vehicle for a spiritual journey. It requires that I concentrate deeply, see clearly, and stay in the present moment. These qualities will take years to develop. This willingness to create art for its own sake, to work without grandeur and without the vanity of trying to say something new, requires a modesty that is difficult to sustain. You have to love what you're doing. The part I love is being so completely involved, feeling myself in the middle of creation. When people look at my landscapes, I hope they see much more than the subject. I hope they see the love of painting that goes into them." - Derek Buckner
Derek's paintings are displayed locally at the Galerķa de Todos Santos.
Michael Lane Cope
Featured Artist - El Calendario de Todos Santos,
January 2001
Michael
Cope was born in Cambridge, Ohio in 1950. He majored in sculpting and
design at the Dayton Art Institute in Dayton Ohio.
Michael left Ohio for L.A. and started working for Revlon. He took a few years off in his 20s to travel Europe, then returned to Revlon as the International Director of Beauty. By the mid-80s Michael was tired of the traveling, and took a position as the Vice President of Sales Promotion for the 1928 Jewelry Company in Burbank California. He ended up spending most of his time traveling (again) so he resigned in 1990 and started painting and freelancing.
When Michael and his wife, Pat, got to together in 1992, he didn't want to move to her home in Seattle and Pat didn't want to live in L.A. Michael brought Pat to Todos Santos and she loved it. They bought land on their first trip and moved here in 1994. While looking for studio space, Michael met Robert Whiting and saw the corner space of the Todos Santos Inn. He knew it was destined to become the Galerķa de Todos Santos, the first fine arts gallery in Todos Santos representing Mexican, American and international artists.
Michael had studios in Southern California, England and Greece. While traveling during his corporate career he was able to "portrait paint" many people from around the world. He enjoys painting the people and landscapes of Southern Baja California. He works mainly with oils on canvas and wood. His work has been shown at various exhibitions in the Los Angeles area and is also in many private and public collections in the United States, Mexico, Canada and Great Britain.
