Artist Alan Sonneman won the $2,500 first place prize for his oil painting Foxtail Pine, Western Slope of Cirque Peak, Sequoia National Park, in the juried exhibit Celebrating the National Lands of California, sponsored by the Wildling Museum in Solvang.
Lynn Hanson was awarded the $1,000 second-place prize for her Fieldnotes, Channel Islands National Park, a charcoal work featuring an island fox on a vintage Santa Cruz Channel nautical chart.
Third place prize of $500 went to Nancy Yaki for her acrylic painting Santa Monica Mountains.
Jurors Nathan Huff, George Rose and Stacey Otte-Demangate presented awards at the July 20 opening reception for exhibit at the Wildling Museum. The exhibit is on view through Jan. 20 in the museum’s main gallery.
The award marks Sonneman’s second first-place win at the Wildlling, where he also won in 2016 at the Wildling Museum’s inaugural juried competition, Celebrating the National Parks of California, focusing on California public lands.
With regards to his winning painting, Sonneman said: “The southern entrance to Sequoia National Park is populated by a large grove of Foxtail Pines along Cirque Peak. This tree stands a few yards from the entrance marker of Sequoia National park on the Pacific Crest Trail at an elevation of 11,329 feet.
“Their forms are carved by winter storms with winds that often exceed 100 miles per hour, stripping their bark to their core. They are some of the oldest living creatures on earth, reaching over 4,000 years in age.”
Talking about her work, Hanson said: “The Channel Islands are visible on the horizon from the beaches near my home where I explore and take fieldnotes nearly every day. I feel fortunate to have the magnificent Channel Islands National Park so near to me.
“This drawing is of the beloved island fox (Urocyon littoralis), which is found nowhere else on earth, a natural choice to grace this authentic vintage chart of the Santa Cruz Channel.”
Artist Yaki said: “My attempts at investigating landscape opportunities from a high vantage point in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Ara in early March and again in late April were unproductive due to closures from the Woolsey Fire and erosion from heavy winter rains after the burn.
“Undeterred by a moody marine layer on my third visit to the area, I decided to redirect my focus with day hikes concentrating on landscapes at sea level.
“One late afternoon, I crossed Highway 1 to rest and refuel around the Leo Carrillo area. Unexpectedly, the fog withdrew, retreating behind me to the shoreline and unveiling a deep canyon in front of me, embraced by the Santa Monica Mountains.
“An invitation to take in this landscape and interrupt Mother Nature’s resilience and her determination to heal after so much devastation was an offering I could not refuse.”
Honorable mentions were awarded to Sue Britt for Spring Cove at Point Reyes, Robert Cooke for Zabriskie Point, Ivan Hernandez for Spring Serenade, Mariah Reading for El (Hub)Capitan II, and Blake Whitaker for Joshua Tree.
Celebrating the National Lands of California features 63 artworks by 57 artists from across the U.S. Locations featured include Carrizo Plain National Monument, for which the Wildling Museum produced a short documentary film with filmmaker Jeff McLoughlin featured in the exhibit space.
Other sites are Channel Islands National Park, Death Valley National Park, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Joshua Tree National Park, Kings Canyon National Park, Mojave National Preserve, Point Reyes National Preserve, Redwoods National Park, San Jacinto National Monument, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park.
“The diversity of the entries is inspiring,” said Rose. “As a native Californian who has spent a lifetime walking these parks, monuments, and preserves, judging these entries has reminded me how fortunate we are to have these lands protected for all to appreciate, and to remind us that we all play a part in preserving them for future generations.”
The Wildling Museum thanks Huff, assistant professor of art at Westmont College; and Rose, a professional photographer and board member of the Wilding Museum, for judging the entries, along with executive director and curator Otte-Demangate.
Works featured in the exhibition are available for sale with 40 percent of proceeds benefitting the Wildling Museum.
Support for Celebrating the National Lands of California provided by the Wood-Claeyssens Foundation, Pete and Becky Adams, Tierra Alta Vineyards, and donors to the Patti Jacquemain Exhibition Fund.
Featured artists are:
Neal Abello, Illona Battaglia Aguayo, Kathy Barnhart, Stephen Berry, Nancy Bingham, Peggy Brierton, Sue Britt, Barbara Brown, Bob Canepa, Chris Chapman, Ted Chin, Robert Cooke, Carla Crawford, Taylor Crisp, Dennis Curry, Joseph Doherty, Celeste Evans, Kevin Gleason, Lynn Hanson, Chuck Harris, Patricia Hedrick.
Ivan Hernandez, Mark Hespenheide, James Hodgson, Christine Huhn, Susan G. Jorgensen, Gretchen Kieding, Christine Kierstead, Linda Kunik, Ed Lister, Dana Mano-Flank, Deborah Newman, Ana Phelps, Linda Sue Price, Kelly Radding, Robin Raznick, Mariah Reading, Ines Roberts, Hannah Rothstein, Ann Sanders.
Brenda Whitehill Schlenker, Samantha Schwann, Stephen Shachtman, Virginia Sharkey, Pamela Sloan, Libby Smith, Jen Snoeyink, Alan Sonneman, Geralyn Souza, James Stoicheff, Nic Stover, Cheryl Strahl, Janice Tieken, Chris Turnham, Blake Whitaker, Chad Williams, Nancy Yaki.
For more about The Wildling Museum. visit www.wildlingmuseum.org.
— Lauren Sharp for Wildling Museum.