Painters’ Paradise : Artists Vie to Capture Unique Aura of Mission San Juan Capistrano

Had Father Junipero Serra happened upon Mission San Juan Capistrano any morning this week, he might have been astounded to see the latest group attracted to the now world-famous edifice he built 219 years ago.

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Nestled in the quadrangle, amid sweeping bougainvillea, palm trees and cobblestone pathways dotted by petunias, were scores of painters. Painters, in fact, were everywhere.

They came as early as 7 a.m., every day this week, seeking the sweetest mixture of light and shadow. Sixty or more showed up each morning, hoping to produce works that on Saturday would be judged worthy of the $5,000 first prize in what may become an annual competition.

The outdoor painting festival, with one of the country’s most historic landmarks as its focal point, is sponsored by Joan Irvine Smith Fine Arts Inc., in conjunction with the California Art Club of Pasadena.

Established in 1909, the club carries on the traditions of California’s plein air artists, whose impressionistic, oil-based works were reflected in every canvas on every easel propped in every corner of the mission--where the very spirit of Serra, its founding father, seems to lurk in the shadows.

“This is a terribly special place--an almost sacred place,” said artist Lynn Gertenbach of Calabasas. “I’m not just saying this. The mission is one of the things that drew me, as an artist, out of Colorado and into California. So for me, at least, it has a special resonance.”

Whether it’s the feeling of history and tragedy that pervades the grounds or an almost magical sense of serenity and peace that all but obliterates the hum of traffic on Interstate 5, the mission has lured both sculptors and painters for centuries.

Administrator Gerald J. Miller said the mission has drawn such artists as Charles Percy Austin, Alson S. Clark, Franz A. Bischoff, Joseph Kleitsch and Colin Campbell Cooper, all attracted by the light and its interaction with the landscape.

John Gutzon Borglum, who sculpted the heads of the Presidents on Mt. Rushmore, once acknowledged being fascinated by the interplay of light and shadow at the mission.

“The light does the most unusual things here,” Miller said. “For one, it changes every 25 minutes.”

“The light is the reason we come,” said painter William Martin of West Los Angeles. “I know it sounds trite, but the light here is gorgeous. It’s a show --the textures, the colors, the radiance of it. . . . It’s the way it changes that stays with you. You can sit here all day and just watch it and never be bored. The whole place has a timeless quality that’s like heaven to an artist.”

All day long, the light casts its spell on adobe walls, the Moorish fountain, the trees, the flowers and the arches above the doors through which Serra and his missionaries once passed.

“Light is everything to an artist, and it puts on a show here, the likes of which you’ll rarely see anywhere,” added painter Ruth Jones of Simi Valley, who admitted to also being fascinated by the prize money, which is $3,000 for second place and $2,000 for third.

When the 475-member club announced the competition, about 80 painters immediately signed up, said Pam Ludwig, director of Joan Irvine Smith Fine Arts Inc. That organization has hired judges from the Laguna Art Museum and the Redfern Gallery in Laguna Beach to assess the entries in a ceremony that begins at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

So far, the event has brought out an average of about 60 artists each day, Ludwig said.

“I’m sure most of these people were drawn here for artistic reasons, but the prize money is pretty wonderful--and pretty unusual for an artist,” said Jack Johnson of Marina del Rey, who noted that $10,000 is, “to say the least, exceptional.”

“There’s so many painters here,” Johnson said, “that sooner or later you’re going to see a painting which has in the foreground a painter standing at an easel.”

The chance to leave the sterile confines of a studio drew Rolf Zillmer of Los Angeles to the competition. Zillmer, like many who came this week, called painting at the mission in August, when cool breezes sweep through the sycamores, an “indulgence.”

Not every artist dreams of winning the competition.

“I’ve got no hope of winning the contest, believe me,” Kristi Krafft of Malibu said with a laugh. “So for me it’s the colors, the richness of the place and the weathered, aged effects that you won’t find anywhere. There’s an emotional impact here, in the combination of ancient architecture and nature, that you just can’t duplicate, at least not in Southern California. In many ways, it’s a lot like Europe.

“I love it. It’s like you’re surrounded by something irreplaceably special and historical, and you’re continually drawn back. Once you’re here--somehow, some way--this place never really leaves you. In your mind, you find yourself coming back again and again.”