Category Archives: California

The Plein Air Perspective at the Millard Sheets Art Center, Pomona, CA

I have three paintings in The Plein Air Perspective, an exhibition opening this weekend at The Millard Sheets Art Center in Pomona. The show will be on view from November 5, 2016 – January 28, 2017. Opening Reception is November 5, 2016 from 5:00-7:00 pm

Big Sur, Fogged In 2013

Big Sur, Fogged In 2013

Blue Cove, Big Sur 2015

Blue Cove, Big Sur 2015

Backlighting, Anza-Borrego 900

Backlighting, Anza-Borrego 2015

Etherton Gallery – The Artists of Lewis Framing

This summer I was invited by Etherton gallery in Tucson to participate in the exhibition: The Artists of Lewis Framing. The exhibition ran from June 7 – August 27th, and showcased the work of seven Tucson artists who work, or have worked, at Lewis Framing Studio, one of Tucson’s preeminent framing establishments.

lewisartists

Back before leaving for graduate school, I worked off-and-on at the studio in Tucson, which is a kind of hub in the local art community. It provided, and still provides, great framing of art and art objects, but it’s also a place where a lot of institutions, museums, galleries, collectors and artists cross paths and connect with each other.

Owner Bea Mason has built a great business and a great resource for the local arts community. She has also created a positive working environment for the artists she employs. She’s very supportive of them and their artistic pursuits, (even after they’ve moved on from the shop for many years, as I have). I am pleased to have been included in this show, and happy that Terry Etherton mounted an exhibition that not only showcases a lot of local Tucson talent, but gives some much deserved credit to Bea Mason for her support of local artists, and the position she holds in the local art community.

The show was a chance to exhibit with artists I’ve known for many years, but have never had the opportunity to show with, and also nice to have another body of work up in Tucson during my Lebowski Cycle exhibition at University of Arizona Museum of Art. Below are the paintings I had in the Etherton show.

 

California Landscape Painting Exhibition, College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita, CA

Summer Light, Santiago Canyon • Joe Forkan 2015 12 x 12 inches

Summer Light, Santiago Canyon • Joe Forkan 2015 12 x 12 inches

I’m pleased to have a number of paintings in an exhibition of Landscape Painting at the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California. The show includes the work of seven contemporary painters and will also include a collection of historical landscape works from the 1920’s to the 1940’s. My paintings include work painted in California over the last few years in Anza-Borrego, Big Sur and Monterey Bay, The Salton Sea, Santiago and Silverado Canyons, Newport Back Bay, Laguna Beach and Crystal Cove.

Silverado Canyon 900

Silverado Canyon • Joe Forkan 2015 11 ½ x 24 inches

The exhibition runs from September 1 – October 22, 2015.  For more information, gallery hours, etc., contact the College of the Canyons Art Gallery at www.canyons.edu/artgallery or call (661) 362-3612.

Fogged In, Big Sur 900

Fogged In, Big Sur • Joe Forkan 2015 12 x 12 inches

 

Red Hills, Anza- Borrego 900 noframe

Red Hills, Anza- Borrego • Joe Forkan 2013 12 x 11 inches

 

Lifting Fog, Newport Back Bay • Joe Forkan 2013 10 x 9 inches

Lifting Fog, Newport Back Bay • Joe Forkan 2013 10 x 9 inches

 

Silver Dusk, Anza-Borrego • Joe Forkan 2015 12 x 12 inches

Silver Dusk, Anza-Borrego • Joe Forkan 2015 12 x 12 inches

Some Recent Landscapes

Carbon Canyon 02(900)

Afternoon Sun I, Carbon Canyon • Joe Forkan 2015 10 x 10 inches

Here are a few park paintings I’ve done over the last couple of months. These are really an excuse to look at color and engage the shifting winter light, which moves very quickly, and has a greater subtlety than summer light. I can’t always get out for a longer, more remote painting trip, and regional parks afford an opportunity to get in a days painting without a lot of planning.

Carbon Canyon 01(900)

Afternoon Sun II, Carbon Canyon • Joe Forkan 2015 10 x 10 inches

I’m in the early stages of a new body of work, and even brief sessions in the landscape seem to sharpen my sensitivity to color and help me maintain a certain aggressiveness to my paint handling in the studio.

Winter Tree Study craig park 1200

Winter Tree Study • Joe Forkan 2015 12 x 12 inches