Bears and rabbits spend most of their days foraging.

In the world of California painter Robert Bissell, they frolic. They chase butterflies. They watch sunsets. They sit and chat as if nature were a front porch on a summer afternoon.

It’s not natural behavior, but Bissell’s animals inhabit a world that’s more romantic than real.

“They are sort of my protagonists in depicting life,” said Bissell. “I use bears and rabbits as subjects that are mirrors to us, as humans.”

Bears and rabbits, said Bissell, are two critters that children’s culture and literature adore. People identify with them and it “helps draw them in.”

In Bissell’s animal paintings, his cuddly subjects are depicted in dizzying detail; you can count to the hundreds the hairs in their coats. And they are often placed in stunning scenes with nature’s majesty as the backdrop: waterfalls, emerald green hills and verdant forests.

The trouble with the animal paintings, though, is the demand of detail. To lighten his load, Bissell paints landscapes.

“It’s two different mind-sets really,” explained Bissell. “Animals are fantastical in terms of conceptualizing them, and it’s very detailed work in executing them. Landscapes are more meditative, more zen-like in approach. I’m a little freer with the brush.”

It’s real places he paints, often first caught by the artist with his camera.

A native of England, Bissell earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Fine Art Photography from the Royal College of Art in London.

He’s painted the lakes and hills of his native Somerset County in southwest England to the rugged rivers and bluffs of California’s Mendocino Coast.

In both series — the animals and the landscapes — Bissell’s paintings have a slightly surreal quality. Sometimes it’s perspective, as in trees that loom impossibly large over a meadow, to metaphysical monkey business, such as bears meditating in mid-air.

Bissell is one of many artists represented by Lahaina Galleries, a Hawaii-based chain that opened a Bend location in 2002.

Bissell and eight of the gallery’s prominent artists — some local, some of international reputation — are coming to town to help the chain celebrate its 31st anniversary. A free reception and chance to meet the artists will take place at the gallery Sunday (see “If You Go”).

“It’s a pretty big deal,” said managing director Julie Gagnon. “I can’t imagine there’s been an art show of this magnitude here before.”

Joining Bissell will be Yankel Ginzburg, a Washington, D.C.-area painter known for his contemporary paintings, sculptures and a floor-to-ceiling tapestry that hangs in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Aldo Luongo, an Argentine of Italian descent known for his post-impressionist portraits; Hisashi Otsuka, a Hawaiian artist who blends traditional Japanese values and aesthetics “with the bold, exciting colors and forms” of the Aloha State; James Scoppettone, an impressionistic landscape painter from California; and Lyle Sopel, a sculptor who works in bronze and jade.

Local and regional talent includes Tom Browning, a Bend artist well-known for his cowboy and Western-themed paintings; former Bend resident and landscape artist painter Donna Young; and Rockwell-esque painter Jim Daly of Eugene.

“These artists are collected by people from around the world,” said Gagnon.

Bissell has been to Bend before (He used to exhibit at Bend’s storied Sunbird Gallery) and is excited to come again. He’ll have a chance to get out with his camera and sketch pad (“I’ll have my backpacking sketching setup”), as well as mingle with close to 60 clients of the gallery who have paid to go on outings with the artists.

The excursions are booked, but Sunday the gallery is open to all.

If you go

What: Anniversary reception featuring several of the gallery’s artists, including Robert Bissell, Yankel Ginzburg, Aldo Luongo, Hisashi Otsuka, James Scoppettone, Lyle Sopel, Donna Young, Jim Daly and Tom Browning

When: Noon to 4 p.m. Sunday

Where: Lahaina Galleries, 425 S.W. Powerhouse Drive, Bend

Cost: Free

Contact: 388-4404 or www.lahainagalleries.com