Gaviota bluffs

The Watery Cave

On the third morning of our Channel Islands Plein Air Painting excursion, we attempted to anchor at Santa Rosa island. Captain Jerry said that the winds and swells were not going to allow for a good safe harbor, so after a brief bit of motoring around the island, we were off to Santa Cruz Island. First stop, Painted Cave. Dave Gallup was inspired to do a rendering of Painted Cave which won him California Art Club’s prestigious Gold Medal earlier this year. His painting was also featured in the current issue of American Artist Magazine. Knowing all of this, I was very much looking forward to seeing this wonder. And, a wonder it is! It is the WORLD’s largest sea cave. The Captain turned into the small nook that was hard to see if you were simply cruising past the cliffs of the island. Then we slowed down and the walls were closing in on us. He slowed down further and actually took us into the cave. All aboard were floored by his wonderful management of this vessel in some pretty tight quarters. WOW! it was beautiful. The rock walls were so many colors. We all could see why they called it “painted cave”. He went even further forward until the boat was nearly all under the outer lip of the cave. We paused there before slowly backing away. We all snapped away at the scene with our cameras, but nothing compares with actually being in front of this.

Once we left Painted cave, we went into a few more spots where we could see more beautiful spots. Then to Pelican Harbor, where we came to the spot where I did a 10″ study for The Watery Cave (see left). It was a great day, and I decided at that time that I would be working this study into a larger studio painting.

Well, here it is above, The Watery Cave.

My friend Christine asked me this morning; “Rich, what is the significance of this painting?”
I paused at that.
I told her that I had not actually thought of it except that I felt compelled to paint it, but then I said,
“First, it is a painted memory of a wonderful morning I spent learning about myself, simply enjoying the moment…
… secondly it is a watery cave, which is not unlike a watery grave. But not a place of death, but a place of birth for me.  Although I could not see into the cave, I was drawn to its opening. I wanted to enter and explore the possibilities of it. It might be 10 feet deep, or it might be 1,000 feet deep…
dangerous and yet compelling. Being somewhat of a risk taker, I wanted to get on a kayak, enter it and look around, but I first had to paint it, which I did… then anchors away, and before I could get into a kayak, we were off to the next spot… Potato Cove and some extreme kayak plein air painting…

Blue Sky Art Center

So, if you’ve been watching my blog for any length of time, you would have heard me dreaming of the day when I could open an art center where a generous amount life and creativity would flow.  I am compelled to help myself and others to have eyes to see and a voice to expose the injustices that surround them. I also hope to replace it by showing The Beautiful that is woven into everything around us. With this in mind, I have opened Blue Sky Art Center in my community; Camarillo, CA. I have been surrounding myself with many people with the same heart as myself to impact our world with the Arts. I have many artists, seasoned college professors, a lawyer and other community leaders, willing to invest time and effort into making this art center a reality to impact our world. In both lean times and in times of growth, we need prophets to share the stories of creation, redemption and of healing. The Arts have a special ability to affect social change. As a creator who sees value in this, I want to create a permanent space that will become into a regional destination where this can take place… where artists learn to be seers, where the voice of the Creator can speak through creation, affirm His people and lead in change.

So, I have embedded Blue Sky Art Center in the SCIART Studios because there is so much creative inertia, and it makes good sense to go where there is already movement in the same direction. To get the ball rolling, I have posted a list of classes on the website. See if there is any offerings that you or your kids would be interested in. CLASSES

Studio Walls and Figures

I have three partners that will be sharing my new studio. Dennis Peterson, Gretel Compton and Nobel (Ace) Powell. Dennis and I spent the better part of yesterday building the frames for our new walls and adding the skins to them. These walls will help add a great bit of wall space in order to show the work of each of the artists. Although the windows are fantastic, they take up all that wall space. Tomorrow, painting and installation.

Announcing: Camarillo Figure Artists. Starting in mid-September, I will be hosting uninstructed life-drawing and painting workshops on Thursday evenings from 7 to 10 pm at 2222 Ventura Blvd, Classroom A4. Most nights will begin one session of 2-minute poses, followed with twenty-five minute poses for the remainder of the evening. Once a month will be a long pose, so you can get a good chunk of time to paint or sculpt the model. We will have a mix of nude and costumed models and the details will always be posted in advance for each workshop. If you’re from around these parts and would like to join us, sign up to the mailing list at http://www.meetup.com/Camarillo-Figure-Artists