Oil on Panel; 11x14inch; Aout Artist: Mason Mansung Kang was born and grown up in the Republic of Korea (South Korea). He obtained a BS Degree in Chemistry Education from Seoul National University, Korea, in 1975. Mason worked for petroleum/ oil & gas/ construction industries until he retired in 2012 after 35 years of service. Learning to paint has been his biggest dream since he was young. As an amateur painter, he acquired six group exhibitions and three solo exhibitions, the first two in 2013 and the latest in 2020, in Korea. He was finally able to pursue his passion after retirement by studying at the Graduate School of the Academy of Art University, San Francisco, USA from Feb 2014 until he obtained MFA in Painting in Aug 2016. He likes scenes of nature with harmonious light and shadows, especially in the sunny weather in California. Because of joining the fine art Study Abroad program to Florence, Italy in 2015, he also gained plenty of experience with plein air painting there as well. He has recently been listed as a Finalist in the Landscape Category of the 13th & 14th international ARC Salon Competition in 2018 and 2019 respectively. He also obtained many awards from various renowned international competitions such as the Gateway International 2017-2018, Sedona Art Prize 2016-2017, Light Space & Time Online Gallery, The Artist's Magazine 34th Annual Art Competition, Patchings Competition UK, Manhattan Arts International, etc… Notably by his painting, ‘On the Hill’, he won the Best Landscape award in Jun/Jul 2016 of the 6th Annual Plein Air Salon Competition, selected as the ‘Winner Emerging Artist’ of the Artmuse Contest in 2016, and also selected as the Painter for the Online Gallery of the Leisure Painter Magazine in the issue of August 2016. He has been elected as one of the Featured Artists of the Manhattan Arts International and his artworks being exhibited through its homepage as a registered artist. He used to be represented by the ‘Bill Hester Fine Arts’ gallery and 'Gallery 901' in Santa Fe, NM. "