Juried members of the California Art Club contributed close to 40 paintings to the exhibition “Endless Summer,” a show on view at The Old Mill in San Marino, California, through September 7. The official opening is tomorrow night.
Among the notable painters participating is Andrew Dickson. The Long Beach, California, artist chose a desert scene for his contribution, along with a still life. His approach in the desertscape, which captures the setting sun in Saddleback Butte State Park in Lancaster, California, was to present a non-idealized depiction. “It was a short period of time, so it was a challenge,” recalls Dickson. “I had just a half-hour window on that light color. I set up an hour before the light was right, drew it, blocked it in, and then the light was gone. I had to come back and finish it the next night.”
“Saddleback Butte Sunset,” by Andrew Dickson, oil, 12 x 16 in.
In the detail, one can clearly see the bold way Dickson showed the shadows in the warm rocks. “I used a light green-blue for the cast shadows of the bushes, and a darker blue for shadows — but I was just trying to preserve what was in front of me,” he says. “When you’re out there, you look at these almost blue shadows — they reflect that sky light in the evening. The effect was intensified because of the contrast with the sunset light.”
Materials for the show state that the featured paintings “remind viewers of how they can enjoy the longer days of summer.” Organizers of the show say the theme is a natural for sunny Southern California.
“Pacific Wheel,” by April Raber, oil, 11 x 14 in.
“With the exhibition ‘Endless Summer,’ California Art Club artists celebrate the ease of summertime, with imagery ranging from sun-drenched landscapes to playful beach scenes and simple still lifes,” says Madeleine Aguilar, exhibition coordinator for the CAC. “This theme is ideal for capturing moments in time en plein air, perfecting on techniques used by the organization’s founding artists.”
