Impressions Series… the Story
The Impression series was inspired from a love of 3 things… Creativity, Nature, and Manhattan Beach
In September of 2024 my wife, Dr. Tara, and I moved to 19th Street and immediately fell in love with Manhattan Beach. The love for Manhattan Beach and a Monet biography inspired me… inspired me to begin my Impressions series… the series I see becoming my next big creative movement in my art career.
My new favorite Studio :)
Painting outside, Plein Air, was a completely new artistic adventure for me. For all intents and purpose, my entire art career, 2015 - present, was spent inside my amazing DTLA Studio and Gallery creating giant Skulls, Stuffed Animals, cRaZy stuFFed aniMALS, Quilts, Bronze Sculptures and so much more… seriously, I have hundreds of paintings only a few have seen (more to see at the bottom of this page).
My personal DTLA Gallery showing my 2017 Solo show ‘the ANIMALS’
Entrance into my DTLA Studio
The Hangout Room in my DTLA Studio
Where I created some of my greatest pieces… and yes, I am an extreme clean painter
10 years of constant Creating
What I created in this time helped present me with the opportunity to show at Galleries and Art Fairs around the World; have paintings sell for double the reserve price at the Christies Auction House; join the art collection of some of the biggest Art Collectors such as Nobu, Seth Green, and Miky Lee; and had my first Museum Solo Show at The Long Beach Museum of Art in 2022 at the age of 38… it has been and still is a wild journey.
Below is a succession of some of the best pieces in these series…
“Bloom” 2017, from my Skulls series which was directly influenced by my Dental schooling from 2010-2014 and a divination to depict Nature.
“Treasure Chest” and Dr. Tara. Part of my 2022 Long Beach Museum of Art solo show. This painting sold for $130,000 and all my other Stuffed Animal series have been collected and are in homes around the World.
In 2018, I decided to paint solely from my own imagination and the series cRaZy stuFFed aniMALs was born. This series is now my most collected and has helped me break the barriers into the infinite possibilities of Creativity.
Quilts became a full expression of the beauty and texture of oil paint. As I developed in this series, they eventually taught me one of my best life lessons… the power of the present moment.
“Smiles” Bronze Teddy Bear Sculpture. This ~800lbs sculpture was an edition of only 2 and now one resides in the Cayman Islands and the other was craned into the 6th floor of a private office in Monterrey, Mexico, each selling for 6 figures. The painting in this picture is the largest painting I have ever created!… “ToyBox” sold in 2025 for well into the 6 figures.
The inception of the Impressions series
There is a rhythm and vibration in Nature that I wish to capture and still continue to pursue.
The idea of painting outside in Nature first began in Gstaad, Switzerland during my 2024 Solo Show and 2 month Residency with Maddox Gallery.
07/2024, this painting was created in the mountains just north of the beautiful town of Gstaad in the center of the Swiss Alps.
Creating with only the sound /vibration of Nature.
Sunsets and painting in the wild of Manhattan Beach
All the Sunsets I created were painted on 19th Street, The Strand and within the brief 30-45 minute window as the sun was setting… a real artistic challenge. Because of the brief window of time, the Sunsets encouraged me to paint what I felt, rather than solely what I saw…there was no time to overanalyze my brushstrokes and movements, I had to capture the impression of what I was experiencing.
“Sunset 12-25-24” was the 2nd Sunsets painting and was created on a very special day... my niece’s birthday… and Christmas :)
“Sunset 01-07-25” was created the night of the most devastating Palisades fires and I hope this piece honors the beauty we have in life even after great hardship.
Although the Sunsets series are technically impressionistic paintings, I leave them in their own category because of the extreme time limitation of the creation process. With that said, this series was the catalyst of the Manhattan Beach Impressions series.
MB and the Impressions series
The Sunsets started the desire to paint Plein Air in Manhattan Beach and the biography, “Monet, The Restless Vision” was the the tipping point to commit to this new artistic endeavor.
From our patio, which I have now turned into my Art Studio. “Paradise”, so aptly named for the feeling I have for living here in Manhattan Beach, was the 1st official of the Impressions series and, even more importantly, was the painting I credit to unlocking the creative vision of what this series is to ultimately become!
Below is a list, in chronological order, of the Impressions series to date.
“Paradise” 03/2025… I kept this painting for Tara and me :)
“the Beach” 03/2025… standing at 19th street and the bike path.
“Home” 04/2025… another painting I kept for Tara and me :)
“La Casa” 04/2025… the 1st Impressions painting that I sold to a local Manhattan Beacher… you can probably guess what home it is in ;) (sold)
“Day at the Beach” 05/2025… the 1st of many Pier paintings however, there is nothing like the magic of the first time an artist approaches a new subject.
“19th Street” 06/2025… the second piece created from our patio of the beautiful 19th Walk Street. (sold)
“Sky, Ocean, Beach, Garden” 06/2025… the beginning of creatively focusing on one of my favorite things in the World… Flowers!
Everything I created before is put into what I create now.
The more I create, the more I see how all of the series and paintings I have done, show themselves more and more within each new piece. My latest painting, “New 19th Street” (tentative name, I am going to have the Collectors choose a title) is the epitome example of how all all my series informs what I create today.
“New 19th Street” 07/2025… this painting was commissioned by 2 art loving Manhattan Beachers… Lan and Desmund Shirazi. (sold)
Artist careers are a continuous rollercoaster of euphoric bliss and all-consuming challenges… constantly reinventing and evolving. If an artist continues to create and push their own boundaries, they are periodically rewarded with divine inspiration… the Impressions series is my next Creative blessing :)
Are you interested in collecting or commissioning a painting?
please email inquire@brentestabrook.com
or… come talk to me in person :)
some pieces few have ever seen!… guess which one was in the Christie’s Auction
