Celebrating the Heritage and Practices of Traditional Fine Arts Worldwide
January 25 - May 19, 2024 California Art Club Gallery at The Old Mill
Moonlight Serenade will showcase the power and ambiance of nocturnal landscapes, seascapes and urban scenes. Figurative works can explore a more mythical/conceptual side of the moon.
We invite artists to submit paintings that explore how the moonlight has inspired artists for centuries. Works can feature anything from urban scenes after dark lit up by the street lights, moonlight reflected on waterscapes, the moon peaking over luminous mountains, etc.
The guest judge for this exhibition is Jennifer Moses, Signature Artist of the California Art Club.
I saw this Malibu Moonscape from my balcony at 5:30 in the morning. The dramatic clouds and moonlight brought to mind the scripture: Psalm 89:37 "It shall be established forever like the moon, even like the faithful witnesses in the sky."
This painting was inspired by one of my many trips to Yosemite. There is something magical about a moonlit night there. I just had to paint this scene!
I aimed to capture the serene magic of a snowy city at night. The moonlight bathed everything in a soft glow, revealing pathways and charming streets. A few people were making their way from work to home or stopping to buy some late-night snacks. As I painted, the interplay of light and shadows became my brushes language, creating a sense of mystery and inviting viewers to take a leisurely stroll through the urban night with me.
Painted during the Laguna Plein Air Invitational on a side street above the Laguna Art Museum. The evening was brisk, there was not a single moving car on the street. Peace pervaded the scene, and the painting.
Vantage point: "El Encanto Hotel," in Santa Barbara, CA. The viewer looks over the city below, through the moonlit trees arching over the hotel's dining plaza. It's a reverie, a recalling of peace in the night, and the beauty of night.
Summer evenings are spent on our patio, listening to the cricket song as we watch the stars slowly emerge into the deepening dusk. Capturing the serenity of our summer evenings on canvas is a joy for me.
A view of the Super Blue Moon from my studio. Large Saguaros balance the night sky as the Super Blue Moon rises in the eastern sky on August 30th 2023.
I wanted to create a moody dreamlike atmosphere with this painting. I used a limited palette to capture the serene feeling of the moonlight casting light on the eucalyptus trees along the shoreline.
As the Full moon rises along the Sea of Cortez the sunset lingers in the atmosphere reflecting in the tide pools while the moonlight gives just enough light to make the white water glow. I wanted to capture the ebb and flow of the water at this extreme tidal force that occurs with the full moon. The desert air combine with the Sea of Cortez creates a unique Baja atmosphere stirring emotions of wonder and gratitude to witness such beauty.
This was a studio painting from memory and a study on location during Sonoma Plein Air 2021. There was a full moon, obscured by clouds, which made this a dramatic scene from a high hill. I love tackling nocturne paintings, highlighting the lights of the valley coming awake as the dark descends.
This is a plein air piece I completed at 2:00 a.m. I was awake thinking about a problem I was having on another studio piece. I got up and the scene out the window, with the blue-green cast and the huge light coming from the obscured moon compelled me to start a painting.
The Griffith Observatory overlooks Los Angeles in the background and a rising moon. This painting captures the moment when the lights of the city blink on. "I have painted the Observatory many times but there is always something new to discover. The moon added mystery to the scene."
