Ventura Beach Series

A number of experiences this last summer provided inspiration for a number of paintings I have recently finished. Each painting has focused on the interaction of summer light on the environment. These paintings attempt to express the dynamic visual patterns created in strong sunlight interacting with buildings, landscape and people. The paintings attempt to capture the unique qualities of early morning light as well as that which is found in the brilliance of the afternoon.




Porch with Light
The face of this house although painted an off white, suggested for me an array of color hidden beneath the surface that was freed by the morning light. Was the off-white of the house really bluish or reddish in color. I seem that it was made up of both. In part my goal was to give to what seemed a simple isolated house a personality created by its own visual make up. The side bushes with their sharp angled leaves created a striking contrast to the straight and simple lines of the entrance, doors and windows. Although there is an inherent humility to the house, it is configured with a simple beauty made evident in the clear morning light.





Porch with Bench
Morning light has always attracted me visually and psychologically. The angle of light early in the morning always interacts with the environment dynamically creating shapes, angles and brilliant color. A bright clear morning always suggest the newness of experience with a renewed sense of discovery. One early morning in Ventura , I was attracted to the interplay of light on the downtown buildings. As I drove around a number of interesting compositions caught my attention. Although this building with porch seems simply enough I was intrigued not only by the configuration of the shadows, but by the deep intense colors within the shadows themselves. It was as if the light had painted itself a deep bluish purple as it intersected with the covered structure.





Reading at the Beach
As Mike sat reading in his beach chair, he seemed to become part of the environment of beach goers wishing to relax their lives for a few hours at the beach. I painted him as a part of this environment. My goals was to utilize the umbrellas, towels and clothing to create a composition of interconnected colors and shapes. The strong colors suggested to me the bright sun that would either reveal the inherent intensity of the objects or create the contrasting shadows. Mike seemed to act a contrast as he relaxed amid the interplay of color, shape and shadow.





Ocean View
One day this summer we took a family trip to Zuma beach. It was a great day The temperature was perfect, the water was clear and the sky was very blue. I was inspired to walk along the beach to take in the environment and to search visually for what made up this sort of beach experience. One of the views that struck me were the shapes and colors created by the position of people, umbrellas and beach towels facing the breaking waves. In this scene the two chairs sit lonely on the beach gazing into the surf. Actually, there is a figure. He is almost totally hidden by the chair on the right. It might suggest that although the chairs seem to have a personality of their own, they re nevertheless part of the larger meaning connected to time, place and human experience.





Light with Church Door
This church architecture was made much more dynamic as the sun rose and moved across its façade. It seemed especially interesting to me by viewing the door at somewhat an extreme angle. Such a perspective seemed to create an focus on the overall design rather than on the architecture itself. Color, pattern and shape always end up becoming the greater message for me as I attempt to bring the meaning of the composition together.