See yourself in the art we adorn in our Gallery.
We spotlight new artists with rotating exhibits throughout the year. The pieces that we are bringing to St. Augustine and Northeast Florida are thoughtful and reflective of the creativity that we want to see in the world around us.
Meet Our Featured Artists
Obadiah ‘Obie’ Hunter
On most days you'll find Obie at his easel somewhere in downtown St. Augustine, you can’t help but notice his big personality.
The road that led him here began decades ago with a Christmas gift. In high school, his grandmother handed him a set of Bob Ross oil paints. A scholarship to the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts introduced him to plein air painting. New Orleans taught him to paint on the street, and summers selling scenes on Burlington's Church Street gave him the nerve to bet everything on it.
Shortly after his twenty-first birthday he decided there was no great reward without great risk. In 1995 he landed in Ireland, where a culture that welcomed wandering artists let him paint his first canvas in Dublin's Temple Bar and trade his work for a meal, a pint, or a bed for the night.
"Procrastination and lack of urgency is an artist's undoing…"
…he wrote there, and urgency became his method: quick one-to-two-hour scenes in Montpellier, and portraits painted in the homes of Marrakesh families who came to trust him while he worked the camel treks.
Love found him on Mindoro Island in the Philippines, where he met his wife, Katherine, and in 2011 they welcomed their daughter, Oriannah. In Laos, the palette he'd held for decades grew brighter and purer. He went on to teach plein air painting in southern France and Sonoma, and saw four of his landscapes become wine labels. During the pandemic he finished his book, Obadiah Hunter Art, in time for the 90th birthday of the grandmother who started it all. Now St. Augustine is his studio. Every canvas he paints here carries the lesson of the road: it was the kindness of strangers in more than 50 countries, "people taking an interest in my art," that kept him going.
Kevin Dodge
Born in South Miami and a third generation Miami native, Kevin spent the last 20 years photographing the world of high fashion and other elegant subject matter. As an avid free diver and lifelong water sports enthusiast, Kevin has now turned his lens underwater, capturing the beautiful, exciting – and at times dangerous world that belongs to a vast collection of undersea creatures. Kevin’s new artwork invites the viewer to pause and take a moment to see the silent, yet thrilling, oceanic marvels that few get a glimpse at.
Kevin Dodge’s work has been featured in numerous international magazines and media. His creations are in the collections of Coca Cola, Ford, IBM, Dell, Budweiser, Hyatt Hotels, Bank of America, and Johnson & Johnson.
Kevin’s current oceanic art can be seen in a series of limited-edition prints he describes as Ocean Blue, celebrating the mysteries of our oceans and the beauty within this seemingly silent world.
“Creating this art has allowed me to capture the extraordinary moments when I encounter beautiful, yet wild, creatures and share these experiences with others.”
When Kevin is not shooting on location, he works from his studio in Delray Beach, Florida. His first love is spending time with his children and creating lasting memories. He is a staunch advocate for ocean conservation and hopes to share this desire for good stewardship with future generations.
Jay Fleming
It would seem that Jay had discovered his passion for photography upon inheriting his father’s hand-me-down Nikon film camera, at the young age of thirteen. Jay immediately developed an affinity for looking at life through the lens of his camera and what ensued was an exciting photographic journey that would eventually lead him to his career as professional photographer.
Though beginning under the tutelage of his father, former National Geographic staff photographer Kevin Fleming, Jay naturally developed a photographic style and identity all his own. Through experimentation, an incredible amount of patience & preparation, and countless hours spent researching potential photo opportunities, Jay began to capture such awe-inspiring photographs on his own. A pair of Yellowstone Cutthroat trout underwater, the last house on Holland Island reflecting in the rippling water just before it collapsed, and a fleet of wooden Skipjacks against an ominous grey sky are among Jay’s most memorable pieces from the early stages of his career.
Jay considers himself to be extremely fortunate to have found a livelihood that both satisfies his creativity and simultaneously supports his beliefs in environmental conservation.
Jay spent the summers of 2011 and 2012 working in Yellowstone National Park to preserve the park’s dwindling population of native Cutthroat Trout. During this time, he was able to explore his surroundings and capture some of the iconic beauty of the park’s landscape and wildlife—however, what was most memorable to him was the fact that some of those very photographs directly contributed to raising awareness to the conservation efforts being made. Jay’s photographs of these threatened Cutthroat Trout appeared in a National Geographic publication that informed the public of the increasing threat of invasive species.
Interested in Selling Your Art?
La Casa Studios accepts artist submissions on a rolling basis throughout the year. Artists are encouraged to apply at any time, and submissions will be reviewed periodically by the La Casa Studios Curatorial Team. Selected artists may be invited for exhibitions, pop-up showcases, retail representation, or special events.
If you are an interested artist, please follow the link below and we will reach out.
