Laguna Art Gallery: On a Gallery Wall for the First Time

Written in 2026, looking back at summer 2021.

In August 2021 two of my paintings, North Carolina Sunset and Moonlit Lake, were shown at the Laguna Art Gallery in Mission Viejo. It was the first time I saw my own work hanging on a gallery wall. The showing was extended by 30 days, so the paintings stayed up for about two months.

From a virtual exhibition to a real wall

The path started that March. I had connected with Laguna Art Gallery almost by chance, and they selected three paintings (Laguna Niguel Lake, Moonlit Lake and Laguna Beach Morning) for their online exhibition. With the world still mostly closed, that felt like plenty. I announced it here along with my own 3D virtual gallery, and hoped that someday, once restrictions lifted, I might show work in person.

It happened sooner than I expected. That summer the gallery hung two paintings in its physical space, and on August 7 they held an artist reception and mixer. The room was full. Along with seeing my own work on the wall, I got to see a lot of incredible work from other artists and talk with the people who came to look at it.

Why it meant so much

My mom taught me to draw when I was young. She had taken art classes and painted for years before I was born, then stopped, always meaning to get back to it someday. She encouraged my creativity, and my dad encouraged the technology side, which became my career.

In 2016, after losing both of my parents within a few years, I was cleaning out my childhood home. Hidden in the attic I found canvases, sketches and notes of hers that I never knew existed. That discovery made me think about what she taught me, how much art meant to her, and the fact that she never got back to it. I started painting again in her honor.

For a few years it came slowly, a dozen or so experimental digital paintings. Then in October 2020 something clicked. With a lot of encouragement, and finally giving myself permission to paint, I started painting nearly every day.

After moving to this area, I had driven past that gallery many times and thought, “someday I’d love to have art in a gallery.” Less than a year later, there it was.

Thank you

I’m thankful to everyone who encouraged me along the way: friends, family and the people I’ve met through social media. Special thanks to my friend Ori Bengal, a fantastic artist whose daily painting gave me hope while I was blocked, and to Mimi Griffard Peak, who helped me turn a creative crisis into a creative flood.

Looking back from 2026, that summer was the beginning of taking this seriously. It’s been a crazy and fun journey, and I’m still excited to see where it goes.