Drew Mayerson’s loosely painted Hollywood Taxis has a dreamy quality that perfectly captures Southern California light. He looks “for ordinary scenes that can be described as muted with a noticeable splash of color or light that draws the viewer into the painting,” he said in his artist statement as the featured artist at Paso Robles’ Studio on the Park through the end of August.
Mayerson was born in Hollywood and now lives in Westlake Village. He studied geology at UCLA, and upon graduating, began searching “for oil in the wilderness of Idaho, Nevada, North Dakota, and Wyoming.”
Many of his oil and pastel paintings look like they’re plein air—they have a spontaneous feel about them—but he finds that the changing light and fast-paced work of plein air detracts from the personal vision that first drew him to the scene.
“Painting and geology are very similar,” Mayerson said. “Both are interpretive, and the audience must rely on the interpreter to convey nature. The interpretation need not be accurate, but the story must hang together or else the audience loses interest.” Δ
This article appears in Aug 14-24, 2025.