Show Preview | Landscape Show

San Francisco, CA
John Pence Gallery, June 3-July 9

Stock Schlueter, Salmon River, oil, 20 x 24.

This story was featured in the June 2016 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art June 2016 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

Landscape painters often possess a spirit of adventure, traveling to far-flung and sometimes remote destinations around the globe. With new, alluring terrain come fresh ideas and inspiration, they say. For collectors of such worldly works, a show this month at John Pence Gallery is a dream come true. “This exhibition depicts scenes all across the United States, as well as from South and Central America, Europe, Asia, and the islands between,” says gallery owner John Pence. “This promises to be a visual world tour in styles that vary, with palettes running the gamut of the color wheel. There is beauty everywhere when one gets out of themselves long enough to appreciate the colors of nature.”

The show opens with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, June 3. Viewers can expect to see 50 to 60 paintings by 27 esteemed artists from across the country, including Dean Larson, Clark Mitchell, Jeremy Mann, Joseph McGurl, Jacob Collins, and Justin Hess. There are also works by deceased masters such as American painter Robert Maione [1932-1987]. The peripatetic Maione was an inveterate globe-trekker who sought out hard-to-reach locations for his evocative vistas.

Don Demers, Sunday Morning Surf, oil, 18 x 24.

Northern California artist Stock Schlueter journeyed to Idaho for his lush landscape titled SALMON RIVER. The painting portrays a moment in time along the legendary river, which has captivated and inspired Schlueter for years. “It is a beautiful, wild river,” he says. “This scene is one of the calmer places. My first rides alongside it were in the back of a pickup truck with my brother on our way to go camping. The river was amazing to me then. Who knew I would grow up to share its beauty? So, for me the painting is a mixture of the wonder of the natural landscape mixed with the nostalgia of youth.”

For his impressionistic painting SUNDAY MORNING SURF, artist Donald Demers traveled from his home in Maine to Southern California’s Laguna Beach. Demers recalls that it was a particularly pleasant, warm day on the sandy beach when he began his field study. “I was struck at how enjoyable the total look and feeling of the scene was, and I was inspired to try and portray this lovely morning by the sea,” Demers says. “Being from New England and also living on the coast of Maine may have made this scene’s warm and welcoming quality all the more pleasurable.”

Although he’s known for his moody, atmospheric cityscapes, San Francisco artist Greg Gandy turned to the wilderness of Yosemite National Park for inspiration last summer. In an effort to escape the armies of tourists who regularly descend on the park, Gandy backpacked into the Cathedral Lakes area. In his painting VIEW FROM INSIDE YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, he captures the texture and the majesty of a mountain peak with patches of snow on a cloudy day. “The clouds parted long enough to collect the reference for this painting,” Gandy says. “The challenge for me was to create a painting of the granite that showed depth and enough color variety to keep it interesting.” —Bonnie Gangelhoff

contact information
415.441.1138
www.johnpence.com

Featured in the June 2016 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art June 2016 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.