Celebrating the Heritage and Practices of Traditional Fine Arts Worldwide
January 9 - March 20, 2023 CAC Virtual Gallery
Building upon the California Art Club’s long history promoting traditional art forms, we are pleased to present Winter Wonderland, the eighth installment of the quarterly Excellence in Traditional Fine Art Competition!
Our gratitude goes to Eric Rhoads, CEO-Streamline Publishing/Publisher of Fine Art Connoisseur and PleinAir Magazine, for being the guest judge and curating these images for this virtual exhibition, showcasing the most exemplary submissions as well as the prize-winning works.
All artwork is available for purchase. If you have interest in acquiring a work, please submit a purchase inquiry. In addition, we suggest consulting our Terms of Sale.
Snow has the ability to transform an ordinary scene to something extraordinary. I’m always amazed at this. The reflectivity of snow is a joy to paint. The idea for Going Home came to me on a journey to grandma's house with the family on a cold winter night.
A miracle in the center of New York City is the glorious Central Park. Anticipating the great city that would eventually surround, it continues to be a blessed oasis of civility and joy night and day, all year round. This painting is a celebration of one of Central Park’s most iconic jewels - beautiful Belvedere Castle from 1872. My painting is not intended to be a precise portrait, but rather a record of my emotional response to and my experience of the place on a bright winter’s day - it’s connection to the land, the silent lake, the great city beyond, and the vast arc of sky above.
Bugle Boy stands calling in the unsettled forests and plains in the American West. His antlers, which grow substantial in the fall and winter months, look beautiful but are also a burden to carry. I see this weight as a symbol the responsibility society must bear to preserve the habitat of these beautiful creatures.
An Amish cabin Airbnb in the remote Conejos Valley, Colorado was the location for the inspiration of this painting. An early morning first-of-season snow flurry and frisky hunting dog were captured quickly in a sketch and photo, then refined later in the studio. Several years later the size was enlarged and an elk replaced the dog in the final painting.
Apex is about striving toward something higher, even though we may not be perfect, we must always aim for it, and keep our dreams and ideals high. The world around us is far from what we envision it should be, but it was built on morals and values, aimed at the highest pinnacle we could imagine. And hopefully humanity will never be at its summit, because its important to keep aiming higher. We might miss our mark, but we should never stop trying to find it.
Kit Carson State Park in New Mexico is pristine in its beauty when the weather turns cold. I found endless compositions here for painting that feature light and shadow against the colors of the snow.
Soft pastel on archival surface, 20" x 16", $2,000
Mission Creek is a spot I came across while visiting Montana. I happened to visit after the first snowfall and the combination of cool and warm colors along the creek were wonderful to see. The stately winter cottonwoods revealing delicate and intricate patterns that would only be seen during winter months were too inviting not to paint.
Returning home in December is a great feeling. The warm buildings are a welcome sight in the cool Northwest. My passion is to capture the emotion I feel when I’m out painting and share those feelings with others. I love to paint outside on location. Nothing can compare to the joy of being out in nature in all of it beauty and realize I have been blessed with the opportunity of doing what I love most. This has taken me to a wide variety of locations throughout the Northwest and beyond. I am drawn primarily to places that give me a sense of peace and tranquility – quiet streams, mountain meadows, secluded beaches. Recently I made the leap from graphic design to painting full-time. I’m tremendously excited about exploring what lies ahead!
One year, towards the end of winter...It rained heavily at the end of February that year. I went hiking the next day. To meet the snow, I climbed the mountain wearing the new season. I didn't know that the season I always longed for was so close... LA is truly a blessed place. By the time I came down, the snow on the branches had already melted. It was a lucky winter that I was able to meet the snow of LA even for such a short time.
During the late winter I visited Yosemite Valley in the early morning after it had snowed. The valley was beautifully empty and silent, the snow absorbed all sound. Half Dome stood between two worlds, grounded firmly to the earth but reaching up and touching the clouds above.
Tennis is an all-season sport. But as a Southern Californian and an avid tennis player myself, I find the sunny days and cooler temperatures in Winter the ideal time to play.
My work revolves around the actions in tennis. My figurative sculptures capture the beauty of the actions in the sport, celebrating the journey of the player from the beginning of the game to the end.
My sculptures focus on the interaction of player’s change in body form and his gesture in a particular action. Construction of the sculpture is a complicated process. First, I study thoroughly the tennis player’s body movement, then coil-build, often altering, discarding and replacing many parts before the entire piece takes its final shape, and eventually casted it into bronze.
Each one of the 8 sculptures in my “Tour de Champion” series captures not only a specific action, but also the mindset of the tennis player. Each highlights a different testing moment, from the start of the game escalating to the final bliss of the victory. Each one is an individual action, yet they are all tied together. Each one, in truth, is a celebration in itself.
Tennis is an all-season sport. But as a Southern Californian and an avid tennis player myself, I find the sunny days and cooler temperatures in Winter the ideal time to play.
My work revolves around the actions in tennis. My figurative sculptures capture the beauty of the actions in the sport, celebrating the journey of the player from the beginning of the game to the end.
My sculptures focus on the interaction of player’s change in body form and his gesture in a particular action. Construction of the sculpture is a complicated process. First, I study thoroughly the tennis player’s body movement, then coil-build, often altering, discarding and replacing many parts before the entire piece takes its final shape, and eventually casted it into bronze.
Each one of the 8 sculptures in my “Tour de Champion” series captures not only a specific action, but also the mindset of the tennis player. Each highlights a different testing moment, from the start of the game escalating to the final bliss of the victory. Each one is an individual action, yet they are all tied together. Each one, in truth, is a celebration in itself.
