Vanessa Rothe Fine Art | 5/28-7/30 | Laguna Beach, CA

California Dreamin’

Vanessa Rothe assembles a stable of California impressionists in a dreamy summer kickoff.

By Gina Teichert

Celebrate summer at Vanessa Rothe Fine Art in Laguna Beach, California, during Memorial Day Weekend as the gallery rolls out Midsummer Nights, a show that brings together West Coast impressionist painters working at the top of their field.

Sparkling seascapes by Ray Roberts, John Cosby, Jesse Powell and Derek Penix celebrate the Pacific while pastoral scenes by Marc and Tina Dalessio, Jane Hunt and gallery owner Vanessa Rothe round out the joyful show.Derek Penix, In the City, oil, 30 x 30"

“The works for Midsummer Nights are, in a word, delightful,” says Rothe. “All the works have an uplifting feel to them, like summertime itself.” A nod to Shakespeare’s seminal play, the show transports viewers to idyllic locales from California to the French countryside.

As Covid put the brakes on international outings, many of the show’s artists used that time to paint closer to home. “For California impressionists, it’s easy for us. We just go to the beach,” says Rothe.

“I was not interrupted at all by the pandemic,” San Clemente artist Cosby explains. “In fact, business actually got better here in California because I think people were staying home looking at their walls and going, ‘Hey, let’s get a painting. We’re not going on vacation.’”Ray Roberts, Pacific Light, oil, 24 x 30"

Further supported by smaller crowds at popular spots and his go-anywhere campervan, Cosby explored his own backyard more deeply. “We have such a marvelous coastline here,” he says, noting the way a scene can change in a split second. “The ocean is never-ending interest to me.”

Similarly, Roberts found inspiration in the crashing waves of the California coast. “Water is the original life,” he says. “It’s so hypnotic and it’s so essential to life.
I get lost in it.” A luminous meditation on a breaking wave, Roberts’ painting Pacific Light showcases the artist’s skilled execution of the sublime subject.Vanessa Rothe, Big Blue Tuscan Skies, oil, 20 x 16"

Love for the ocean isn’t the only thread running through the exhibition. Paintings by Rothe and Marc and Tina Dalessio transport the viewer to dreamy European landscapes, channeling a time when traveling to paint was more feasible. Based on one of her favorite plein air painting locations, Rothe’s Tuscan Skies came out of study, repetition and muscle memory back in the studio. For her, painting Montepulciano was as close as she could get to being there during the lockdown.John Cosby, On the Sand, oil, 18 x 24"

Rothe’s intention as exhibition curator is to bring people closer to inspiring, dreamlike places and instill a sense of joy which, she says, “is much needed at this time.” From beach scenes, to hay fields and flower filled meadows, Midsummer Nights takes viewers to bucolic vistas near and far. No ticket required. —

Vanessa Rothe Fine Art • 418 Ocean Avenue • Laguna Beach, CA 92651 • (949) 280-1555 • www.vanessarothefineart.com