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SANTA BARBARA’S MAGNIFICENT COASTLINE, hemmed in by graceful hills and the imposing backdrop of the San Rafael Mountains, has long attracted artists and art lovers alike. From the early days of California impressionism, painters have loved Santa Barbara's golden light, a gift of our South facing coastline, and the way shadows play on the mountains. The ever- changing light begins silvery blue and shrouded in fog at dawn, intensifies the red ochre of the earth in the heat of the afternoon, only to turn rose and violet at sunset, when gnarled oaks stand coal black against the disappearing hills of the Santa Ynez Valley. Small wonder then that from the early days of California impressionism, landscape painting has been an important expression of artists' love for the splendid vistas our region affords, and that local art galleries often give it pride of place. Lockwood de forest, Thomas McGlynn, Douglas Parshall, and other early California plein air painters are prominently featured. Contemporary landscape artists, some already famous, such as the members of the increasingly acclaimed Oak Group, and others soon to be, are also widely displayed. But landscapes are not all you will find at our local galleries. |
