Blog

When Kay Zetlmaier and I took our road trip up along the California Coast on our way to a California Art Club paint out at the Mission San Antonio de Padua, we found that the best part of the trip wasn't the paint out but it was the trip up the coast.  The mission was founded by Father Serra in 1771.  It has an interesting history and has been restored several times since it was built.  We enjoyed our visit and our time meeting the other artists.   But the trip up the coast was really the best part of all.

We explored along the coast and saw some breathtaking scenes.  We painted and we took lots and lots of photographs.  I look through those photos often and enjoy the road trip all over again.  Here is one of Kay getting a shot of the lupine on the hillside just before the turn

in the road where we saw the view in this painting which I called:

"Beyond A Sunny Hillside"

I loved the way the sunlight was hitting the mustard on the hillside and the way the road disappeared. 

When I painted this painting, I had several of Dan Pinkham's paintings in my head.  Although I liked how my painting came out, I didn't come even close to the wonderful paint handling and color transitions that can be seen in Dan's work.

Wonderful examples of work from the fabulous artist, Dan Pinkham.

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I am the chairperson for a group of volunteers within the California Art Club called the Ambassadors.  Because of that I have been able to attend the annual board meeting for the CAC for two years now.  Seriously for most of my clubs, attending any kind of board meeting is a drag, but this once a year meeting has been interesting.  Last year Dan Pinkham gave a presentation about his work.  As he talked, it became clear that his art is a part of how he practices his faith.   He calls his pencil sketch his "prayer".  He calls his plein air piece a celebration.  The studio piece is a work of "contemplative faith".

This year, I wasn't sure anything could beat that, but this year's meeting was just as interesting.

Peter Adams, CAC President, spoke about the Four Styles (or Groups) of California Art.  He showed examples of the work of each person mentioned within each style.

1. Bold Muralistic - Japonism - characterised by rhythm - shapes thought out from a design standpoint -- hard edges give strength and keep the eye moving
   
   • Frank Brangwyn
   • Dean Cornwell
   • Frank Tenney Johnson
   • Edgar Payne
   • William Wendt
   • Franz Bischoff
2. Decorative Style -- gentle lyrical curvilinear
   
   • Alphonse Mucha
   • William Russell Flint
   • Arthur Mathews
   • Reginald Machell
   • Yoshida Hiroshi
   • Jessie Arms Botke
   • Marion Wachtel
   • Theodore Lukits
3. Tonalist Style -- not much detail -- leaves lots to the imagination -- inner voice is apparent
   • George Innes
   • John Twachtman
   • Emil Soren Carlson
   • Russell Chatham
4. Realistic / Naturalistic Style
   • John Singer Sargent
   • Anders Zorn
   • Guy Rose
   • Jack Wilkinson Smith
   • Hanson Puthuff

I love learning.