Peninsula artists offer exhibition-goers 72 ways to look at California.

For some, it’s the use of vivid colors.

For others, it’s the subjects: turn-of-the-century ladies in white dresses in San Diego’s Balboa Park, fishermen, two boys marveling over a sand crab, the dull gray siding of old wooden buildings.

For one person, it’s a rough, round, mottled ceramic aptly named “Palos Verdes Boulder.” That’s what it looks like.

These are ways some South Bay artists capture the look and spirit of California, and they are among the visions of the state in “The California Experience” as seen in painting, sculpture, ceramics, assemblage and weaving.

The free exhibition of 72 works by more than 40 artists is on view through Nov. 22 in the gallery of the Joslyn Center of the Arts, run by the Torrance Parks and Recreation Department. The artists in the show will be honored at a public reception tonight, where awards will be given for outstanding works.

The artists are members of Peninsula VI, a conglomeration of six artists groups affiliated with the Palos Verdes Art Center on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The artists present group shows in libraries, cultural centers and art galleries. Some give classes at the center.

Jan Napolitan, a Palos Verdes Estates artist, describes the Peninsula VI groups as a combination of social clubs and support groups for artists.

“Artists tend to feed off of each other and to share,” she said. “We have people present and discuss what they are doing and have critiques. Plus, it’s wonderful just to be with a group of artists, a bunch of creative minds. It’s very special.”

The show--the first Peninsula VI has presented at the Joslyn--was drawn from a competition among about 150 works by member artists. Morris Shubin, a watercolorist and teacher, served as the juror to decide what should be put on view.

“I tried to select a variety of work for the show, so we didn’t get all one thing, all objective or all abstract, but a balanced show,” said Shubin, who juries art shows across the country.

When selecting works for a show, Shubin concentrates on the excellence of an artist’s technique rather than the subject of a piece. “I’m looking for skillful work . . . how the artists carry out what they want to do.”

Joslyn gallery curator Barbara Johnson said the panel that decides on the 12 shows to present in the Joslyn gallery each year was impressed by the strength of the Peninsula VI work.

“Sometimes with groups, you get a portion of the works that aren’t so good, and a few good ones carry the weight of the whole,” she said. “In this case, all of the works submitted were good. It was good, quality work.”

Johnson said the graphic use of color is one of the strongest elements of the show. “One work is of a woman sunbathing, with an exquisite sunset falling over her breast,” she said. “There’s a huge red-blue bow in her hair, a unique composition.”

Other works, she said, use color overlays that create “a luminescent quality, as if you’re looking through water.” And she said that some of the most unusual works in the show are ceramics where leaves were placed against the pots in the kiln. “They gave them a sheen that was not controlled by the artist,” she said. “The artist lets the artwork take its own shape in natural forms.”

One of Napolitan’s contributions to the show is a ceramic called “Horizon,” which is a low, round bowl with a copper-cable handle. She said it emulates what she sees when she looks at the horizon. “The piece is a study in curves, which is what I find when I look out,” Napolitan said.

Torrance artist Evelyn Sexton said she created her oil painting, “California Dream,” especially for the Joslyn show. Said Sexton, “I thought people sitting in a park by the ocean, with boats and a sunset, that’s California.”

What: “The California Experience” artists reception.

When: Friday, 7 to 9 p.m.; exhibit open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m.

Where: Joslyn Center of the Arts Gallery, 3335 Civic Center Drive, Torrance.

Admission: Free.

Information: 618-2837.