Transitions The Beauty of Life's Journey

Brian Blood: The series of Beach house paintings in located in Pebble Beach is a spot I often go to and paint. Only minutes from my home, it’s a convenient and interesting composition to capture the ever-changing mood of the area. From moody foggy mornings to rich and warm sunsets, there’s always a challenge to be had. Artists often have to travel far and wide to find such subjects to paint, I have it all right in my back door.

Bill Cone: I’ve been painting some local creeks for several months, observing the roots of Redwoods and Bay Laurel exposed along the banks, sometimes in the water. One of the creeks completely dried up last summer and is currently shrinking. This narrow zone, transiting between wet and dry, changes throughout the season. I’m studying the elements that interest me about this space, the exposed roots, the dappled light, the wet to dry behavior, shallow to deep, reflection.

Inna Cherneykina: Art for me is an exploration of the intricate interplay between the world and the human mind in its most beautiful form. The still life compositions and landscapes I paint are reflections of this enigmatic entanglement of mind and reality. They fuse the real world, my vision of the world, and my emotions brought to life by beautiful flowers or gorgeous sunsets.

Nancy Seamons Crookston: "We are all dancing through every stage of life!"

Ellen Howard: For this exhibition I choose to highlight the transitional elements experienced along the California Coast. Each day the weather can change dramatically from beautiful clear sunny days to skies filled with billowy clouds to views that are completely blocked by thick fog. The ocean waves can be gently rolling in or dramatically crashing on the beach. These constant changes and transitions along the coastline is a gentle reminder to me how life is constantly changing; to appreciate the sunny calm days and also to have faith that the days where we cannot see our path forward, that it is only a temporary moment and the tides will change again soon.

Michelle Jung: Utilizing classical painting techniques and honoring the long tradition of recording our natural world, I find inspiration from landscapes in transition. My focus is being present and documenting a “here and now” image of our environment that creates a point of reference for future societies to compare and reflect on. In the past few years, as the seas continue to rise due to global warming I have been drawn to coastal communities because of their constant transitional state. My hope is the viewer will respond to the paintings and be inspired to protect and preserve our seas and coastal habitats.

Paul Kratter: I chose to base my theme on one of my favorite places to paint: Yosemite National Park. I love the park in the fall & winter, both of which can look vastly different. The iconic granite rock formations & falls are always a favorite to capture whether on location or in the studio. The color palette of autumn can be spectacular with the golden deciduous trees contrasted with the variety of evergreen trees. Winter has its own special color variations with the cool blues hues of the snow in shadows.

Tia Kratter: Almost everyone looks at flowers as objects of beauty; we strive to arrange them at the peak of their perfection. But the theme of“Transitions” offers an opportunity to show their exquisiteness beyond that edge of excellence as they fade, wilt, and lose their petals.

I find this is a grand metaphor for my own life.

I can’t stand to look in the mirror because I’m often surprised by the truth- that I’m wilting, losing color, and drooping. This is my chance to prove that although everything ages, we can dream that we are indeed still sublime, and perhaps even more interesting than ever before.

Richard Lindenberg: The California coast has always inspired me along my painting path of twenty-three years. The sheer power of the Pacific Ocean overwhelms as the changing rhythms of the water dance to meet the cliffs and rocky shores…a perfect metaphor to represent the constant changes in our lives.

Carolyn Lord: The corrosive effect of fossil fuels is evident in global, political strife, degradation of the landscape, and compromised health and fecundity of all organisms. I hope there will be a speedy and complete transition away from fossils fuel towards renewable energy, and the environment will be restored. As a result, the old infrastructure will become artifacts of this earlier era. My paintings depict a mid-20th-century gas station, where low-mileage cars would fill up before cruising the endless highways.

Kim Lordier: Transition, moving from one place, stage, or state of being to another. Pretty straight forward in concept. But, for me, transitions of mood and feeling are more complex to illustrate visually.

By all counts the sunflower is considered a happy flower, one that brings joy laughter. They symbolize unwavering faith and unconditional love. Immersed in a field of sunflowers the experience is a sea of happy faces smiling down on you. However, I’ve embraced the aging beauty of the wilting sunflower as my muse.

Sparked by the first piece, “Sad Sue” painted plein air on a day that required a huge effort to just be. This series reflects my reaction to current global events, my social conscious, and the inner struggle to stay relevant as I age out to anonymity.

The silver lining is the beautiful light that emanates from the top of each painting, bringing hope and beauty to the process of living life. To age gracefully is not about being pretty or young, it is about being strong in the face of adversity, of listening to others even if we do not agree, it is about embracing the gifts each one of us brings to the world.

Terry Muira: My set of paintings for Transitions, is an investigation off how paintings evolve in a series. I chose to interpret “transitions” as applied to the creative process, rather than a depiction of change in time, seasons, etc. Initial small study is done in gouache, using a photo reference of an urban environment. This becomes the reference and the jumping off point for the next piece, which in turn becomes the catalyst for the one following. With each painting I experiment freely, with design, application of paint, narrative, color (or lack thereof), and ask myself what if? What if the placements of objects were different? What if the point of view was different? What if the suggested narrative was different? What if the color scheme was different? In this way, the creative process continues to evolve and the vision transitions from something based on a photo of an actual place, to a much more personal expression of an environment borne of imagination and introspection.

Linda Mutti: I love California, it has a special light that beckons to be painted. I am particularly drawn to paint the sunrises and sunsets. These are the times that the landscape is draped in shimmering golden light. It takes my breath away. I don’t mind getting up in the dark or staying out late in the cold because I know the treasure that nature has waiting for me to experience. This is my cathedral.

Michael Obermeyer: When painting the coast, I’m always looking for some different idea, whether it be a view from above the beach or below, using the light in a different way, perhaps focusing on an activity on the beach. Finding something new can seem like an impossible task - the coastline in Southern California has been painted inside out over the past century, and I’m sure I’m not breaking any new ground. As long as I find something that interests me, I know that I will enjoy the process and that, hopefully, the viewer will feel my emotional response to the scene.

Carole Rafferty: I'm fascinated by people, people in all their wonderful diversity. I like to hang out in touristy spots and snap photos of my unsuspecting subjects who are usually oblivious to what I'm doing. Sometimes I'll make quick sketches as well and I'll often strike up a conversation with them to find out a little bit about their lives. In this exhibition I've included a variety of different people I've spotted on the street or on the beach: two old friends celebrating Christmas in Puerto Vallarta, a couple beginning their second marriage, a mother and daughter on a shopping expedition and an older couple who have been together for such a long time that their mannerisms and postures are identical. Such is the beauty of life's journey!

Randy Sexton: A few months ago I was lucky enough to join some of the Contra Costa Plein Air Painters at the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek. It was great just to get out...but as I arrived at the garden I was overwhelmed with how much it had changed since my last visit (perhaps 10 years prior). The place seemed to have grown up, filled in, and exploded!! This group of work is to honor the efforts and vision of Ruth Bancroft and the folks that keep her vision alive and flourishing. The garden itself evolves, forever morphing, twisting, turning, and bursting with the colorful mathematics of nature.

Barbara Tapp: Transitioning from line work to brush strokes. A passionate Plein Air Watercolorist observing how we occupy space in our Californian agricultural landscape.

Finding color and design harmony in random natural arrangements.

Elizabeth Tolley: In the context of Transitions, I have painted in different times of the day and seasonally as well exploring the light and color of a given painting day. It is my nature to work in series. I enjoy going back to the same location and seeing it in a different light or composing in a different format. The conversation starts, the painting begins, and I paint until I stop asking what if….

Durre Wassem: In one of my plein air trips to Mission Capistrano I watched the visitors entering the centuries old premises of this structure. Their figures glowed with blazing heat of courtyard. To me the diminished detail was like body leaving the earthly activities and entering a more spiritual and tranquil space.

Dug Waggoner: The journey of my working process has taken many experimental paths in finding an ever evolving, signature style. My most recent painting technique utilizes a textured surface that is enhanced by the pastel as it finds harmonious passages and movement within the composition. This transition from my previous painting process has been a healthy journey in the growth of my pastel paintings.