94th Annual California Landscape Show: Award Winners
Congratulations to every artist who participated in this incredible exhibition! We would like to share these words from our Juror, Kim Lordier (pictured above), reflecting on her experience with this exhibit:
“I’m honored to be in this position, and I do not take the job lightly. Every artist that sends their work in to be considered for this show, or any show, puts their heart on the line, and a bit of their soul gets sent out in to the universe. I respect each of you who have shared your work with me for consideration.
Things I look for, aside from a working knowledge of the foundational principles design, values, draftsmanship, and color, are more subjective in nature, and that is what selecting work for a show and awards is all about. Anyone who tells you different is not being truthful. Of high priority to me is: quality of light being created, mark making - how do the artist’s hands make music on the canvas, do all the elements in the painting work together to convey and strengthen the concept.
I’m particularly drawn to beautiful or unusual color harmonies. Is there an emotional component that pulls me? Awards are icing on the proverbial cake of creativity. What goes into making our paintings is the real reward, the joy and happiness that comes from the doing.”
First Place: Carolyn Lord, “Sunset of Valley Pool”
Juror’s Note:
“A conundrum. Powerful and subtle. Elegant and raw. Sleek and textural. Why is there a slide on the top of a building? There is an exquisite razzle dazzle here. It is not in our faces, like a broadway play, it is in the juicy paint application, the textural quality that defines the sculptural shape of the slide and rooftop. It is in the poetic play of shifting color in the sky, the gentle glide of that ochery yellow that defines the roof edge as it slides to a deeper gold. This piece is bold, confident, elegant and subtle. Not to mention beautifully presented in its frame.”
Second Place: Jamie Morgan, “Day Road Ranch”
Juror’s Note:
“Clean in presentation, clean in color, clean in drawing, just enough, not too much. Day Ranch Road is an alluring study in greens, and shines in its subtleness. The cool harmonious palette supports the story of a peaceful pastural calm , leaving me with a cozy feeling. The elegant drawing of the fence line draws my eye into the painting as it reaches the dark canopy of the tree and takes me right to that lovely grove of trees and farm. I feel the moisture in the air and the smell of the ground.”
Third Place: Erika Perloff, “Rising From The Sea”
Juror’s Note:
“This painting is all about the light. That moment right before the sun sinks into the sea. I know this artist works from life because this painting tells me so. It is all in the subtle shifts of color and value as we travel back in the painting. Notice the warm crisp light on the foreground rock face, and how the artist slowly and gently cools those warm colors off as we travel farther back. Photos won’t show this atmospheric effect so poetically as this artist did. Her color harmony is poetic, creating an elegantly rich environment. I can feel the sun on my face and smell the salty air.”
Honorable Mentions
Aaron Johnson, “Wilder Live Oaks”
Juror’s Note:
“Big and impactful design of a very intimate scene. Beautiful quality to the softly filtered light and very well painted. This piece is reminiscent of an Early California Impressionist Edgar Payne piece called Autumn Sycamore. It stood out to me early on in the online submissions. What I didn’t see online though was the subtle nuances in color shifts, just take a look at the bounced light under the branches. This painting is a beautiful conversation among friends.”
Peggy Jelmini, “Concerto”
Juror’s Note:
“This piece stood out to me early on, as well. This piece, to me, is reminiscent of California’s Joaquin Valley, surrounded by the coastal range and the west side of the Sierra’s. Organic, like the produce grown there, sculptural, like the undulating foothills, textural, like the natural flora, and full of glorious color if only one takes the time to slow down on I5 to take a look. I ask you to look deeper into this piece and share with me what you see.”