March 7 - June 1, 2021
CAC Virtual Gallery
The inaugural installment of our new quarterly Excellence in Traditional Fine Art Competition, Renewal and Rebirth asks artists to depict in their works the arrival of Spring and the new life the season brings each year.
Our gratitude goes to Peter Trippi, editor-in-chief of Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, for being the guest judge and curating these images for this virtual exhibition, showcasing the most exemplary submissions as well as the prize-winning works.
All artwork is available for purchase. If you have interest in acquiring a work, please submit a purchase inquiry. Additionally, we suggest consulting our Terms of Sale to answer any questions.
Congratulations to the Winners!
First Place – $1,000 Prize
Nathaniel Skousen
Birth of the Moon
Oil on canvas, 38" x 30"
This symbolist scene is not only superbly painted, but also reminds us that the moon has long been associated with renewal and rebirth by cultures around the world. The artist quotes John Everett Millais’s famous floating Ophelia (1851–52) without the morbid, even misogynistic overtones some artists bring with that motif. Instead, the girl depicted here is very much alive, ready to awaken and move forward.
– Peter Trippi
Second Place – $500 Prize
Rebecca Arguello
Breakers at Indian Beach
Oil, 16" x 20"
Waves breaking on California beaches can be a cliché, but the talented artist who painted this scene has transcended the usual by simultaneously capturing ocean water’s varied textures AND establishing a stable pattern of lights and darks bolstered by the shadowy geological forms at right. The result is both realistic and abstracted, deftly leading our eye back and forth, left and right, without losing focus.
– Peter Trippi
Third Place – $250 Prize
Anna Rose Bain
A New Dawn
Oil, 20" x 30"
Painting a nude figure outdoors is always challenging because the tones and handling we expect to see for flesh differ considerably from those for landscape. Resolving this challenge at dawn—a difficult time of day to capture in its own right—might seem just about possible, but then this ambitious artist added the challenge of depicting a person of color, whose skin tones are more subtle. Somehow it all comes together beautifully, with just enough photographic veracity in the face and neck contrasting convincingly with the generalized brushing of sky and water.
– Peter Trippi
Honorable Mention – $75 Prize
Davis Perkins
Stemple Ranch
Oil on panel, 14" x 18"
Special Recognition – Associate Artist Category
William Gullette
Skin Shed
Oil, 18" x 24"
Nathaniel Skousen
Birth of the Moon
Oil on canvas, 38" x 30", $13,800
Last summer, I did an Ophelia themed photoshoot of my daughter Juliette. I loved the result but the subject was lacking the resolution and depth I was striving for. I mentally set the idea aside. This year, for the "Renewal and Rebirth" show, I spent much time thinking about a birth-themed allegory. It then occurred to me the idea of a nascent moon with my daughters’ photo shoot. Instead of an Ophelia idea about death, the subject then became a painting about the Moons’ birth and the Earth becoming complete in the Moons’ presence.
For years I have been considering how to combine the figure with space themes, both of which are beautiful and deeply embedded narratives in our human history. I am glad this show’s theme sparked new ideas and had an impact on my creative process
Purchase InquiryRebecca Arguello
Breakers at Indian Beach
Oil, 16" x 20", $2250
Previous to this studio piece I spent the day at Indian beach doing a Plein air composition and color study. The misty atmosphere from the breakers hitting the rocks and the sunlight filtering through the marine layer was truly inspiring. I was able to take that palatial feeling back into the studio and really insert myself emotionally into this piece.
- Rebecca Arguello
Anna Rose Bain
A New Dawn
Oil, 20" x 30", $3600
When my friend Constance modeled for this painting, the events of spring 2020 were still fresh in everyone’s minds. There was still much healing to be done. Yet this woman, who was grieving just like everyone else—maintained hope. She could still dance with strength and resolve. She held her head high and looked to the horizon, knowing that with the rising sun would come a new dawn. Her beautiful dark skin against the band of morning light in the overcast sky, created a literal and metaphorical juxtaposition that was for me, as an artist, simply irresistible.
- Anna Rose Bain
Davis Perkins
Stemple Ranch
Oil on panel, 14" x 18", $2850
William Gullette
Skin Shed
Oil, 18" x 24", $2000
For me, the search of motifs for paintings lies in the act of observation and appreciation of all things beautiful and particularly the small as well as the grand. When my interest is piqued I ask myself two questions. How would that look in paint? And how would I paint that? Then the journey begins.
For some years I have been walking through a park with a forest of eucalyptus trees and have been fascinated with the way they periodically shed their bark and the mandala like pile created at the base. My goal was to paint the scene with the idea of the whole rather than the particular and loose enough to border on abstraction.