Catching the light fantastic
Capturing the essence and color of the Santa Monica Mountains and
local coastlines is what makes Burbank artist Bruce Trentham tick.
Although he has experimented and worked in many mediums including
etching, his tactile sense has kept him pretty faithful to his use of
pastels when creating his sea and landscape impressionistic works of
art.
“Nothing else was quick enough for me,” Trentham said. “With
pastels you buy the colors you want to use so you don’t necessarily
have to mix colors and everything is totally immediate.”
Many days this artist can be found wandering the mountain trails
looking for something that catches his eye or searching out an
untouched coastal inlet where the ocean meets land in a blend of
color that so depicts California.
“My idea is to go out there and find something that clicks for me,
something that I can connect with and do in one setting,” Trentham
said.
Trentham, along with more than 30 local artists will participate
in a premier Quick Draw plein-air art event on Saturday called
“Jardins en Plein Air 2005” organized by Glendale resident Laura
Segil, owner of Segil Fine Art Source in Monrovia and Linda Strack,
owner of Whites Gallery in Montrose.
A Quick Draw is traditionally a competition of painters working in
public view on small canvases and paper for a very limited period of
time.
During the day, each invited artist will have the opportunity to
paint from a variety of settings on the grounds of Dr. and Mrs. James
Sharp’s 2-and-a-half-acre estate in Glendale. Guests will be able to
stroll the grounds watching them work from beginning to end.
The event will culminate with a reception and silent auction
Saturday evening at Whites Gallery in Montrose where each artist’s
work from the day’s event will have been framed and placed on
display, allowing guests of the event to bid on them. Following the
event, any unsold paintings will be divided and shown at both
galleries.
“We’re trying to highlight what we call the ‘corridor artists’
that live in the Valley,” Segil said. “These are all wonderful
artists and we want to get them out there into the public eye.”
Segil said the money raised from the event will go toward covering
the costs of putting on this public show and toward the Best of Show
award chosen by juror Tim Solliday, a signature artist with the
California Art Club.
“Artists will also have the opportunity to paint from three staged
settings ranging from formal, holiday and Asian, and will also be
able to utilize a live model in period dress in their work,” Segil
added.
Having taught art for more than 17 years in and around the
Glendale area, La Crescenta artist Margot Lennartz said painting like
this is very much like how the impressionists did their work.
“There’s a certain amount of pressure in painting under these
circumstances without having the benefit of adding finishing touches
in the studio,” Lennartz said.
Many of her masterful oil painted pieces reflect the ever-changing
light and shadows that cast themselves upon trees on lofty hillsides
filling them with warm sunlight or shades of fall, where desert skies
are filled with a familiar haze and where often brilliant natural
flora cast their shadows over romantic Mediterranean courtyards.
“California is my favorite palette,” Lennartz said. “I think it
has wonderful atmospheric conditions and the mountains, the hillsides
and the desert have beautiful ambience.”
La Canada Flintridge artist Ray Harris has been involved in art
ever since he left Pasadena’s Art Center of Design in the mid-1970s.
After graduating, he was immediately snapped up by Walt Disney
Studios because of his sense of design, color and creativity and
spent 15 years working on films and other projects with the company.
Over the past four years, he’s been developing his own company.
“I’m doing painting, story boarding art for films, commercials and
music videos,” Harris said.
But just as his business grows, so does his collection of oil
paintings. Some of his more recent work, done in Northern Italy and
Switzerland while on vacation visiting his brother, represents a
sharp cold contrast to his sunny Southern California portrayals.
“I did some plein-air painting there and got to meet some
interesting people,” Harris said. “Working on location gives you a
better feel for the color and light and it’s great to work this way.”
Never shy to work in front of a crowd Harris said many times,
because of his cartooning experience, he will draw people, his
favorite subject to paint, at parties just for fun, so he’s looking
forward to having an opportunity to work in public view.
Harris said he prefers to work on larger sized canvases but hopes,
because of the 11-inch-by-14-inch size restraint at this event, to
complete two or three paintings during the day. He will pick one for
the silent auction.
“I think it’s great to give people an opportunity to see your set
up, the colors you use, the brushes -- there’s so much paraphernalia
that goes along with the artist,” Harris said. “For a lot of people
who are interested in art, including amateur painters, it’s almost
like a free lesson.”
FYI
WHAT: Jardins en Plein Air 2005
WHEN: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Quick Draw and 7 to 9 p.m. Reception and
Silent Auction
WHERE: Quick Draw at 1620 Hillside Drive, Glendale; Reception and
Silent Auction at Whites Gallery, 2414 Honolulu Ave., Montrose
ADMISSION: $10 includes reception and silent auction (buy at the
entrance, also available at Whites Gallery)
CONTACT: (626) 358-5563.