Celebrating the Heritage and Practices of Traditional Fine Arts Worldwide
Building upon the California Art Club’s long history promoting traditional art forms, we are pleased to present Winter Solace, the fourth installment of our quarterly Excellence in Traditional Fine Art Competition!
Our gratitude goes to Tim Newton, the publisher for Western Art & Architecture 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.
Artwork is available for purchase. If you have interest in acquiring a work, please submit a purchase inquiry. In addition, we suggest consulting our Terms of Sale.
The Eastern Sierra has always captivated me with its immense beauty. I first visited the area while on a fishing trip with my father as a young boy and I knew then it was a special place I would return to, time and time again. Years later, as a professional artist and living at the base of the Sierra in the Owens Valley, I was inspired to paint Big Pine Winter. It depicts the light and atmosphere of the early afternoon that permeates the High Country at times, during the winter.
The concept for The Snow Bush came to me during a week last summer where we had temperatures here in the desert that hovered around 118. I thought that thinking about winters I had experienced growing up in the Chicago area would create a fun diversion from the heat. I never really liked winter. I hated being cold and wet, I wasn’t good at winter sports. I did, however, love the low, winter sun casting golden light and long shadows over the heavy, wet, lake effect snow that dragged branches to the ground and drifted into deep piles. It was beautiful.
At Little Big Horn the legendary and notorious site of Custer’s Last Stand, torrents of cold rain were pouring down, and then a strong wind blew the clouds away, and the sun came shining through. It was as if the heavens were weeping over this stark and solemn site, with only the wild horses to breathe life where so many were lost.
Point Dume State Beach is a long, gently sloping Malibu beach which culminates at its southern end with a sheer cliff and giant boulders tumbled into the sea by some past catastrophic event. In stark contrast to this rocky shore, the calm winter sea and bright sunshine on this day offered a gentler scene, but with crashing waves to remind the rocks that a less gentle sea will soon return to continue its relentless pounding to slowly grind them down to join the smooth sand of the nearby beach.
I'm always looking for inspiration in the everyday scenes around me, and this ocean of grays immediately drew my attention. I wanted to capture not only the warmth and comfort, but that rush of bliss one gets when jumping into a soft bed with heavy blankets, and the smell of the down pillows and cotton sheets.
We have many happy memories of our winters in Yosemite while staying at Curry Village Cabins! We often hiked out in the snow early mornings and late afternoons to catch the glow on Half Dome.
– Cliff Barnes
Brian Belfield
Aftermath
Oil on canvas board, 16" x 12", $750
I enjoy painting waves in all their various forms. Here is one that has broken itself on the rocks. The ocean has been aerated by the wave and is partly air and partly water and everything in between. This is a studio painting of Sunset Cliffs, Ocean Beach, CA.
I walked to the edge of the Vermillion cemetery early one morning in a beautiful heavy snowfall. It was so peaceful and still, I could literally hear the snow hitting the ground, and as I stood there I took comfort that it was providing a blanket for those buried there.
I visited Yellowstone as a child and have never forgotten the billowing steam from the hot springs! Even in winter the steam would rise into the sky. This beautiful and mysterious memory has been stored indelibly in my mind.
On a brisk cold walk on Laguna’s Wood’s Cove Beach in February, the early morning sun broke through the thick clouds and cast itself upon the shoreline. The ocean’s agitation from a winter storm waves foam onto the sand just below Bette Davis’ former grand home. A quiet moment of inspiration. Created with six colored pencils on toned paper.
The events that took place these past two years bring us into an immersive landscape that blend empirical fact and illusion, mix the physical and spiritual, and probe the space between consciousness and oblivion. They are taking us to a place that is both readily familiar yet unmappable, and can make us hyperaware of the inherent unreliability of our relationship to the world around us. Maybe it is a brief moment in history when we look back, but the effects will last for generations. The truth will come out eventually just like the thawing snow will give the unvarnished beauty back to the land.
This painting was inspired by my brief stay to Gdansk, Poland, where I got to experience winter there for the first time. Every morning on my walk to the local coffee shop, I would pass by this lovely church and I loved to observe how the light hit the spires at different times of the day; in the afternoon the church looked like it was aglow in a fiery orange. Even though I never went in, the church to me was a gentle reminder of comfort, nostalgia, and solidarity, and I wanted to commemorate its presence in this painting.
Baker Creek is a studio painting I created this year and is based on a plein air study.I live in south central mountains of Idaho and am continually fascinated by color, texture and the play of light and shadow on snow and frozen water. Scenes depicting "winter solace” are my favorite motifs to paint. I paint on location all winter this is my favorite spot - a small creek up north with a seldom-used bridge where I can safely set up my easel directly over the water. I am influenced by the winter scenes of past and present Russian Impressionists. The first painting I ever bought is a snow scene by a contemporary Russian painter - I think that painting subconsciously influenced my brushwork and color choices in Baker Creek.
During the Summer and warm days of Fall, Laguna Canyon Road is busy with art lovers and beachgoers.
As Winter approaches, the road becomes a wide open space with a view of the mountains, winter storm clouds and deep blue skies.
I was inspired to do this painting after I had visited the Nicolai Fechin Academy in Kazan, Russia. Nearby was this beautiful snow-filled trail lined with trees. I was able to capture this special moment of an elderly woman walking with a child.
– Barbara Sokol
Charlotte Sweetland
Winter Visitor
Oil on linen panel, 20" x 18", $550
By early winter we have a multitude of dark-eyed juncos descend upon our backyard bird sanctuary. They stay the winter and we are sad to see them depart for cooler climates in the spring.
This particular morning we had fresh snow that was still falling when the first rays of sunlight came peaking under the clouds. I grabbed my camera and headed outdoors just in time to capture this little scene.
Grant Ranch is a very large park of almost 10,000 acres in the Diablo Range of hills to the east of San Jose California. Once used for cattle grazing, its trails are now used for biking, hiking, horse riding, and camping. This original old barn sits at an elevation of about 1400 feet, so when the occasional snow falls, it is a rare thing...ephemeral and beautiful for the moment before it is sun struck and gone.
