David Moreland Bates studied illustration at the Art Center School in Los Angeles (now Art Center College of Design) in the 1960’s, left art school for a four-year stint in the U S Navy where he trained and worked as a photographer. Following that he enjoyed a 28-year career as a software designer and computer programmer before returning to painting in the early 1990’s. Since then he has studied with a number of well-known painters including Kevin Macpherson, John Encinias, Scott Christensen, Matt Smith and others.

He is a co-founder and signature member of the Outdoor Painters Society, a group of artists who enjoy plein air painting. He is also a signature member of the Oil Painters of America. His work has appeared in Southwest Art Magazine and in such exhibitions as Albuquerque Miniatures, Gilcrease Museum’s American Art in Miniature, Salon International, a number of OPA national and regional shows, Arts for the Parks and others.

Dave says, “Every artist makes a personal statement in visual terms. My objective is to use the tools of painting to share with others my reaction to the visual world. I am a devotee of painting from life to obtain visual truths, but I also like to manipulate those truths in the studio to make stronger statements – telling small lies to convey larger truths”.