Highlights from the 79th Statewide Landscape Exhibit at SCAL

The crowd at the reception near my painting "December Tapestry"

Patrick Woodman "Pelican Point" First Place Oils

Robin Purcell "October Afternoon" First Place Watercolor

Carolyn Lord "Holly's Fig" Best of Show

For those of you unable to get to the exhibit at the Santa Cruz Art League, I took photos of three of the paintings that got awards. I love both Carolyn and Patrick's paintings so I am thrilled be in their company. Coincidently, this is the 90th anniversary of the Santa Cruz Art league, so they had a birthday cake at the very well attended reception. There were 14 awards in all. The exhibit runs through June 28.

First prize Watercolor at the Santa Cruz Art League 79th Annual Statewide Exhibit of Contemporary Landscape Painters juried by Kevin MacPherson

October Afternoon, watercolor on arches, 14 x 21

My Painting " October Afternoon" just won 1st Prize Watercolor at the Santa Cruz Art League this afternoon. Kevin Macpherson was the juror for this 79th Annual Statewide Exhibition of Contemporary Landscape Painters titled "Irreplaceable Places" and I am thrilled! MacPherson is one of the leading landscape painters in the country. His book "Landscape Inside and Out " is one of those books I study again and again. Kevin MacPherson one of the country’s leading plein air painters, is highly respected among collectors and fellow artists alike. Past President of the Plein Air Painters of America, Kevin is a popular instructor, guest lecturer, and art jurer throughout the country and abroad. His website: http://www.kevinmacpherson.com/.

October Afternoon was painted in Danville ,started plein air and finished by glazing over to create darks later. It is Mt Diablo as seen from near Blackhawk. This show is very balanced and overall has a very high level of quality and variety. I have a second painting in it as well and will blog more about the rest of the exhibit next post.

On Location in Malibu : California Art Club at the Weisman Museum ,Pepperdine

My two paintings as displayed at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum ,Pepperdine University, On Location in Malibu

Corral Canyon watercolor on Arches 13 x 17

Zuma Canyon watercolor on Arches, 14 x 21

I have two paintings on exhibit at Pepperdine until August 9. The California Art Club web site has the entire exhibit online at http://californiaartclub.org/resources/malibu09.shtml I had two days to paint there, so I painted ridges since I am most comfortable painting them. There are 60 painters whose work is on exhibit , mostly oil paintings and landscapes as well as a few figurative works. The quality level is very high from what I see online and really speaks to the whole Malibu experience from the mountains to the beaches and the people. I saw and admired this exhibit in 2005 and I am thrilled to be a part of it this time.

I have not gone yet, but hope to this summer. Two of the exhibiting artists, Micheal Obermeyer and Larry Cannon were kind enough to send photos of my paintings hanging in the museum.

Sacred Mountain: a Juried Exhibition at Saint Mary's Hearst Gallery

Mount Diablo Summer Sunset, 14 x 14 watercolor

Here is the information on the opening events this weekend:

Hearst Art Gallery, Saint Mary’s College, Moraga
SACRED MOUNTAIN: IMAGES OF MT. DIABLO AND MT. FUJI

May 2 - July 3, 2009
Featuring nearly 100 works of art, including paintings, woodblock prints, photographs, works on paper,textiles, and decorative objects, circa 1650 to 2009.

Opening Events -Sunday, May 3 ,2 – 3 pm Lectures

Preserving and Protecting Diablo: Ron Brown

Fuji and the Japanese People: Naoko Uehara

Soda Activity CenterEvent

Reception following -3:15 – 4:30 pm

Hearst Gallery & patio

It will be interesting to see this exhibit. I think of Japanese Art as being more on paper, such as woodcuts and watercolor ( or actually traditionally ink) paintings vs as using oil paints. When I delivered my painting, I was the only watercolor in the Diablo portion of the exhibit at the time. It will be interesting to see the different interpretations: we all have our own views of Diablo as our population is scattered around the entire base. I am somewhat focused on painting mountains and ridges and am interested in how Mt Fuji has inspired artists on the other side of the world. My painting Mt Diablo Summer Sunset was painted from the West Side of Danville.

Pacific Swirls

Pacific Swirls 14 x 11 watercolor

If you are familiar with my work you know I gravitate towards painting panoramas , particularly mountains and canyons. I started this work last summer and probably should have documented it's tortured evolution. For a long time it just looked too blue. I finally got the color green of the water and I like the patterns in the water, but I need to do many more rock paintings before I feel good about them. They are tricky, they need to be solid, but simplified. I think simplifying foregrounds is one of the most difficult things for me to pull off as a painter.

142nd AWS Annual International and 40th CWA National Exhibition

A Tangled Place 14 x 14 the 142nd American Watercolor Society International Exhibition

Valley Vertigo 21 x 14 40th California Watercolor Association National Exhibition

The 142nd American Watercolor Society Annual International Exhibtion opens in four days at the Salmagundi Club in Manhattan. Across the country, here in San Francisco at the Presidio, the California Watercolor Association 40th National Exhibition is installed now. I am thrilled to be an exhibitor in both. Why go to all the expense of entering and shipping these paintings?

I was listening to Chuck Close on NPR the other night and he articulated it very well. Art that has lasting value is usually that which is well-regarded by other professional artists. My goal is to create something original of lasting importance, that shows I have something unique to say about my subjects. The jurors in the exhibits are professionals and their acceptance of works gives me some validation and important motivation to get out there and paint .

The AWS exhibit is a first acceptance. The California Watercolor Association makes the fourth acceptance out of the last five. So I am trying to develope a track record of national recognition that hopefully collectors and galleries will notice (I also have one NWS National under my belt, so that makes a grand total of six national acceptances )