Al Newman is an award-winning artist, author and inventor. His paintings are primarily plein-air oils and his sculptures are made with driftwood, concrete and stone. Al was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1941 and attended the Honolulu Academy of Art as a child. His family moved to western New York when Al was eight years old. He attended Alfred University, then followed the family back to Hawaii and graduated from the University of Hawaii.
After college, Al moved to Los Angeles and had a successful career in advertising. He wrote a series of children's books called Fun E. Friends, created Male Chauvinist Cologne, invented the Santa Baseball Cap, Flash-O-Lantern Trick or Treat Bucket, and with his wife Penny, formed Inky Dinky, Inc., a publishing company that marketed baby albums for cats and dogs.
While busy with those ventures, Al studied drawing and painting in night school. He painted with artists Claretta White and Louise Ellerding, then studied with Sergei Bongart, the famed Russian Impressionist, at the Bongart Art Institute in Los Angeles. In 1990, Al opened his own studio-gallery in Newport Beach, California and several years later, moved it to Laguna Beach.
In 2003, Al and his wife Penny retired and moved to Westfield, New York where they have spent six years restoring a property that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Al and Penny winter in Ft. Myers, Florida where he is starting a new series of paintings.
Studio visits by appointment.
Mediums: Plein-air oil paintings and Sculptures.
Address: 90 South Portage St. Westfield, NY 14787
Phone: 716-326-3500
Contact me by Email.
Chautauqua-Lake Erie Art Trail Member