COLLECTOR'S FOCUS
LANDSCAPES
June Grey moved to Maine after graduating from art school and fell in love with its landscape, changing light and colors. In 2005, she became interested in miniature painting. Her painting, Maine: Pines and Blueberries, is quintessential Maine—in a format of 6½ by 6 inches.
Wild, lowbush, “Maine” blueberries thrive in the acidic soil left behind when the glacier melted 10,000 years ago. Unlike the highbush cultivated blueberries we find at the store, lowbush berries are, literally, wild, cut or burned back occasionally by the people who harvest them to encourage new growth. In Grey’s painting the berries grow among the boulders softened by the grinding of the glaciers in a scene unchanged for millennia.
Grey uses photographs for reference but relies on her memory of her feelings for a place, recalling it in a meditative state. This painting brings back to me many pleasant hours sitting in fields on the Maine coast nibbling on the wild blueberries and raspberries while gazing out to sea.
Andrea Johnson lives in Monterey County, California. There, the fertile fields of the Salinas Valley are cultivated and irrigated and produce a wide variety of crops, earning it the title of “The Salad Bowl of the World.” Often, she focuses in on birds among the colorful flora of the region. She also turns to its vast fields of crops and its dramatic skies.
John Steinbeck (1902-1968) was born in Salinas and often wrote about it in his novels. By the time he went off to college, lettuce was the “green gold” of the valley. In 1939 he published The Grapes of Wrath about the trials of migrant workers escaping the Dust Bowl and seeking work in California’s agricultural valleys.
Johnson paints the area today in Off Foster Road with Green Field, a canvas at 5 feet wide. She depicts the rows of crops with a vanishing point far to the right of the composition. The sun-burnt hills rising above the irrigated valley are overshadowed by a dramatic sky. She says, “This valley gives life to many. The cycle of earth to green to harvest reflects the larger cycle of life from beginning to end and then beginning again.”
The beauty of the planted fields may raise the question of how they got there. Although farming is often mechanized, many fields are still planted, weeded and harvested by hand—some fruits and vegetables require it to prevent bruising. The field workers are essential during the pandemic, refocusing attention on their working conditions as Steinbeck did back in the ’30s.
Steinbeck wanted to create a portrait of the valley “so that it would be the valley of the world.” Johnson says, “It is my hope that I too have been able to capture a sense of place and the spirit of this valley called Salinas.”
This special section dedicated to landscapes shows many views of the world in both vast and intimate settings. It also highlights the inspirations and techniques of some of today’s leading artists of the genre.
In New York City is Stone Sparrow NYC, which in November will have solo exhibition for Carolynda Macdonald. Macdonald, who lives and works in the U.K., is exclusively showing her work with the gallery in the United States. She considers her paintings to combine two traditional genres, the still life and landscapes.
“As mythological creatures, dragons fly in the imagination, inhabiting the dreams of writers, artists, readers and viewers alike. My paintings occupy an analogous realm, operating in a space reminiscent of daydreams or areas of quietude within the mind. I endeavor to bring together both landscape and still life painting in ways not normally encountered. For me, it is exciting to employ a Chagall-like freedom to place anything anywhere and find a way to make sense of it all. In an increasingly busy and confusing world, I feel it is important to find solace for the soul, whether in art, music or literature, and these works are my contribution,” she says. “The landscapes in my paintings are conceived to instill a beguiling atmosphere, pushing beyond their assumed role as a backdrop. These views of the land, often with reflective water, imply the stillness of twilight integral to the whole and provide a tranquil space to retreat into.”
Chicago-based Lotton Gallery’s latest landscapes by Miguel Peidro highlight the artist’s passion for the natural world in all its seasons. “Miguel Peidro’s landscapes could be anywhere, places visited or nearby,” says gallery director Christina Franzoso. “For Peidro, his landscapes are personal. He lovingly portrays his native country of Spain and finds inspiration
while hiking—his other passion. He seeks out the magic that is alive in nature. His paintings seek the hidden mysteries of untouched land and water. The combination of his passion for Spain and his love of painting create alchemy.”
The goal of Portland, Oregon-based artist Annie Meyer’s monotypes is to portray peace and tranquility. Her vibrant minimalist landscape and figurative works transport one to a calmer place. Luminous colors and sparse lines capture the essence of a figure or a landscape with simple but brilliant power—matching the composition’s intriguing essence of an abstract sense of time and place. Her inspiration is the landscapes of France where she has traveled the last 25 years, her Midwest roots and her Oregon home. Meyer’s broad appeal attracts audiences with traditional, contemporary or modern sensibilities.
Having moved to Missouri from Montana in 2005, Cindy Kopenhafer has enjoyed exploring and painting the Ozarks ever since. “I was introduced to the Margaret Harwell Art Museum in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, when I participated in the 2008 Watercolor USA Honor Society show. I am honored now to be having a solo exhibit there featuring Trees, Rocks and Streams, [showing] my love of nature,” says the artist, who is represented by Waverly House Gifts & Gallery in Springfield, Missouri. “I express them through different mediums, realistic drawings getting to know my subject, oils, watercolor and pastels exploring more ways of interrupting them. It is also exciting to me to paint the same subject multiple times. Some of my favorite trees are within walking distance of my studio, and I draw on location at different times of day and different seasons. It opens you up to how much amazing subject matter there is so close at hand.”
Coni Minneci’s newest series of paintings was inspired after she found the book Girls Think of Everything at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. She explains, “It was a book geared toward younger middle school age students with a dozen or so examples of women inventors. Starting a journal in October 2015, I wrote: ‘This series is meant
to inspire young girls and young women to be curious on how things work, to solve problems, to stand up for themselves, to not give up and to stay in school. With that in mind, through many hours of research and creative contemplation, I honor 26 women. My goal is to have the viewer see the ‘ART of invention.’”
Minneci is represented by Meibohm Fine Arts in East Aurora, New York, which will exhibit her artwork in a show from September 18 to October 17.
33 Contemporary Gallery in Chicago represents a number of artists who include landscapes in their oeuvre, such as Ricky Mujica, Judith Peck and JuliAnne Jonker.
Jonker says, “It is important that you connect with a painting on an emotional level. It can bring you many years of joy as you live with it beyond just decorating your space when you have this deeper connection. You can be transported to another place and time.”
Peck’s motivation when painting landscapes is “to make a simple, but engulfing landscape of substance, shapes and atmosphere come alive so the viewer can feel what I feel when I am swept over by nature.” She also paints the air movements, and in her paintings collectors can see how these movements affect the edges and colors.
“I think beauty matters,” says Mujica.
“I try to capture a moment in time and my feelings toward that moment, without any tricks or pretense that I’m trying to do anything other than make a beautiful painting.”
“Hidden in the Southwestern landscape are a myriad of colors that call out to me as an expressionist,” says artist Dianne Doan, who lives in New Mexico. “Instead of the photorealistic browns and greens others see, I choose to accentuate the underlying vibrant hues such as magenta mountains, purple skies [and] deep red rocks. My paintings are often enhanced with added texture, using gesso to build up mountains, or palette knife to give depth to foliage.
Toning the painting surface with gold or transparent orange creates a glow that seeps through the oils.”
Doan will be one of three artists featured at Mountainair, New Mexico-based La Galeria @ The Shaffer’s Enchanted Landscapes show, which opens September 5 and runs through October.
Also at La Galeria, collectors can find works by Linda Marie and Rebecca Anthony, who are also inspired by the New Mexico desert landscapes in their work.
“The sunlight in New Mexico is distinct, sometimes unworldly, unlike anywhere else I have been, and it touches my sensibilities,” says Marie. “The yellows and ambers of morning seem to melt from the desert grasses into the air, bathing everything in gold; the evening mountains blush sapphire and plum. My goal, whenever I pick up the brush to paint a landscape, is to capture that light and preserve it for more than the seconds that nature affords us.”
In her collages, Anthony combines heavily textured, finely woven Asian and Eastern papers to capture the variety of the New Mexico lands. “Sometimes I feel limited in the colors available to me so I experiment and play with intensifying or subduing hues by adding watercolor paint or tissue paper,” she says. “It is not unusual for me to layer as many as eight papers to achieve a particular look. Sometimes I would like to go back to painting, but there is nothing so satisfying as the texture of paper and tearing it into bits.”
Head north in New Mexico to Santa Fe and visitors will find Canyon Road Contemporary Art, which is currently highlighting the vision of two artists— Gina Rossi and Noah Desmond—who express the enchanting skies and high desert landscapes particular to Northern New Mexico.
Rossi channels an abstracted energy of the region. Her scenes feel at once real and imagined, as if from the after-image of the actual place. At times serene and at other times stormy, the resulting works convey the artist’s affinity for the dominant and powerful sky as it plays against the land.
When he is painting, Desmond is forever in the process of pushing and pulling elements against and away from each other. Creating and releasing tension among the elements in the landscape, the artist works loosely with layer upon layer, often revisiting his subject months after the painting is completed to build more complexity into the story of the place. Northern New Mexico has a particular character born of vast wilderness and deep culture that Desmond taps into to evoke the unique environment.
In Arizona, one of the summer’s anticipated events is the Grand Canyon Celebration of Art. Although circumstances have made this year’s event different from previous years, one thing has not changed—the 12th annual Grand Canyon Celebration of Art, September 12 to January 18, will still be showcasing among the best of Grand Canyon art being created today by an elite group of artists. The artists work to overcome the challenges the Grand Canyon presents and capture its vastness, complexities, depth, character, and its ever-changing light, colors and moods on canvas.
Each of this year’s 23 participating artists submits a studio painting prior to the plein air event at the Grand Canyon. Included among them artists are John D. Cogan, who has exhibited since the show started, and Paula Swain, who paints colorful renditions of the Canyon. Cogan’s studio work is Sunlight, which shows the evening light, looking into the sun from the West Rim drive. Swain has painted River Mile 52.8, a work that shows Colorado River mile 52.8 in the Nankoweap area from a downriver view toward Gray Castle and the ancestral Puebloan’s granaries to the right.
At Blue Spiral 1 in Asheville, North Carolina, collectors will find the works of British-born painter Julyan Davis, who paints the American landscape. Following in the tradition of immigrant observers, such as painter Thomas Cole and photographer Robert Frank, for 30 years, Davis has recorded hundreds of places lost to neglect or gentrification, as well as capturing the wilderness from Maine to Texas.
In recent years, he has expanded his body of work to include similarly overlooked narratives from American folklore and legend. “I paint for storytellers—novelists, songwriters, poets. I also paint for those who love history,” says Davis. “There has always been a narrative thread in my work. Even when a scene was notably empty of incident, I have strived for a sense that something vital happened here, or that something will.”
Nadine Charlsen lives in Asheville, with her working studio located at North Light Studios in the city’s River Arts District. “I have always been inspired to paint the world around me. I love traveling and photographing the scenes that excite me to re-create them as watercolor paintings,” she says. “The energy of cities, the
serenity of open spaces gives me a different drama that I create with the light and shadows of the moment. My tendency is to create an impression of a complicated subject through stylized realism. I always leave areas to the viewer’s imagination.”
Artist David Marty lives in the Pacific Northwest and paints its vast landscapes. He says, “I’m drawn to paint scenes that give me a sense of peace and I strive to convey those feelings to the viewer. This is especially important in these uncertain times. Art is powerful and can really speak to collectors. I hope mine sends messages of comfort and hope.”
Frank Eber is a contemporary artist painting in both oil and watercolor. His paintings inspire an emotional response to nature, resulting in timeless, enduring artwork. As a teacher, Eber offers one-onone online mentoring to students through his website. Among his paintings is Waves Kinetics II, an oil on board that shows waves crashing along a rocky beachline.
Pacific Northwest-based artist Neal Philpott says art is subjective and personal, so collectors should look for “something transcendent that resonates with you on all levels, emotionally, spiritually and intellectually.” Many of his paintings are derived from views he’s experienced personally.
Snow Country was a contrasting view on a road in Idaho that called out to be painted. “You can see the difference that water and light make on the landscape. The slow melting snow waters [in] the northfacing sides of the mountains provide for growing a forest, and the south-facing side is barren because it melted too fast,” Philpott explains. Another one of his works, Spring Promise, depicts acres of farmland around the corner from where he lives, and shows a promise that “spring will come again and all is right with the world.”
Artist Pamela B. Padgett loves to travel and that is reflected in her artwork. “As a painter, it brings me right into my surroundings in an intimate and inspiring way…journaling a moment in time,” she says. “Quiet on the Cape is a plein air piece I painted one morning in September. I happened upon a scene that was quintessentially Cape Cod. So peaceful, birds calling out and breaking the stillness of the quiet waters in the bay. There was nothing epic about the scene. That’s what I love to paint—just everyday beauty, happened upon beauty.”
In his landscapes, Robert Steiner tries to communicate his sense of awe and wonder at the beauty of nature. “I try to capture the intricacy of the infinitesimal level of detail simultaneous with the vast scope and power of nature. I enjoy scenes that include strong rock formations. I use shade and highlight to create a structural, volumetric effect on which to hang the details of texture. I prefer early and late light to create shadow and warm/cool color schemes,” he says. “As a collector myself, I only collect works which move me emotionally and impress me with their mastery of technique. However, I do also consider the reputation of the artist.”
At J GO Gallery in Park City, Utah, collectors can find the works of Canadian artist Taralee Guild, who loves to visit British Columbia’s temperate rainforests. The peace she enjoys while beneath the tree canopy is part of what she hopes viewers experience when they look at
her vibrant landscapes; a series she calls Forest Cathedrals. Her forest treks are both a literal break from the Vancouver studio where she spends most of her waking hours, and, as subject matter, they are a fun break from the hyperrealistic Airstreams and vintage cars for which she is renowned.
Guild’s forest paintings are like a metaphor for cathedral interiors and the overwhelming sensation possible in such surroundings. They are made of tiny panes of color divided by dark branches, giving them a stained-glass quality that adds to their reverential feeling. Using a combination of natural light, expanding space, and transparent colors, Guild creates an effect called dematerialization in which the structure of the space becomes less important than the experience of it.
Michael Berger Gallery features the work of Patricia Tobacco Forrester, who had a knack for selecting intriguing sites and was a genuine plein air painter. “She didn’t make a sketch at the site and take it home to be copied. She took her umbrella and her easel and paint regardless of the weather to places like the Dominican Republic, Hawaii, or even Rock Creek Park in D.C. She preselected views that intrigued her and proceeded to create the final version of what she saw. Because of her modus operandi Patricia worked only in watercolor on paper her entire career,” says gallery owner Michael Berger. “In her later years, my wife, Sherle, and I visited her several times, buying paintings and taking her to dinner. She was a lovely gentlewoman, unfortunately passing away in 2011. She had been educated at Smith College and Yale University where she studied with Leonard Baskin, Chuck Close and Janet Fish. Her works have been collected by The Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Brooklyn Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, British Museum and National Museum of Women in Art, among others.”
California artist Sally Ruddy’s latest series presents fleeting moments of life’s inherent magic as she honors her changing environments. Combining direct observation of nature with her boundless imagination, she reflects upon her surrounding world to capture these impressionable moments and preserve the memories on her canvas.
Her painting titled Just Before the Stars Come Out speaks of the end of the day; the moon is up and just before the stars are out. The sky is a beautiful shade of royal blue, like lapis lazuli. It only lasts for a moment, but it’s magic. “I often find myself painting in twos—such as the two chairs; it suggests a story, and I’ve been told it’s romantic,” she says. In a different painting, titled Turning, Ruddy was inspired by the orchard outside her window. It depicts the moment when one variety of trees changes to another.
Pennsylvania artist John Pompeo is inspired to paint places that have a sense of serenity and often finds himself enamored by the countryside near his studio in Chester County. “The woods, creeks, rolling hills and farmland provide endless points of artistic exploration. Each new painting starts with a walk, bike ride or drive. Eventually something makes me stop in my tracks as I enthusiastically try to capture a mood with photos, sketches and sometimes a plein air study,” he says. “I consider these ‘notes’ that I then take back to my studio to play with. My intention is always to produce pieces that inspire, awaken and soothe, whether they are briefly being viewed in a gallery, or contributing to the harmonious energy of a client’s living room.”
As a child, Lee McVey walked many times in the woods with her grandparents. “When I started painting, it was only natural to focus on the landscapes because of the appreciation of nature I learned from them,” McVey says. Her painting Late Light on the Sandias depicts one of her favorite places to paint, the Sandia Mountains that border the east side of Albuquerque, New Mexico. She adds, “In the fall, the mountains are a beautiful backdrop for chamisa with their yellow blooms. The light on the mountains and the yellow chamisa compelled me to paint this scene.”
Pittsford Fine Art in Pittsford, New York, features landscapes by Robin McCondichie and Bill Mowson, among others. “I’ll never forget the energy in the room when we all met in the space that was to become Pittsford Fine Art, the newest gallery in the area,” says artist Steve BonDurant. “With over 100 original works on display, our 11-member cooperative gallery thrives on the synergy of collaboration. The work combines for a compelling visual experience each month when we rotate display spaces and hang new work.”
Also affiliated with the gallery is Roland E. Stevens III, who shares, “Speaking as a ‘collected painter,’ there is nothing quite like the feeling of having a piece of your heart and soul added to someone’s collection. We like to think of purchased works as future heirlooms, contributing to the legacy of the buyer while adding an element of beauty to the home.”