Photo by George Robertson
On Sunday, November 1, more than a dozen artists affiliated with the California Art Club and other arts organizations throughout the country set up their easels on and around the Ventura Pier to create paintings that captured sweeping vistas of the landmark and its surrounding coastline. With this “paint-out,” the artists continued a rich tradition of the Club – to create artwork that highlights the state’s natural beauty “en plein air” or “in the open air.” This genre of painting is known today as California Plein Air or California Impressionism, and was inspired by founding artists of the century-old arts organization.
The California Art Club coordinated this paint-out as the opening event for The Representational Art Conference 2015 (TRAC2015), one of the premier international art conferences focused on contemporary-traditional fine arts held in Ventura. The Club is one of the partners of the conference, which has been held annually in Ventura since 2012.
