Jeanne Rosier-Smith, Shimmer, pastel, 18 x 18 in. 

Clouds are central to Bikbov’s landscapes because, he says, “they never repeat and always evoke an emotional response, allowing the sky to shift from quiet harmony to drama, tension and mystery even when it occupies only a small part of the composition.” This is especially true for Bikbov’s nocturnes, including show piece Moon Glow, where “silhouetted clouds become a space for imagination, suggesting symbolic forms while torn storm remnants, curtain-like openings, and translucent veils reveal or soften moonlight, creating subtle color effects and ambiguity between sky and distance. Through these varied cloud structures, I use the sky as an expressive instrument that can introduce harmony or deliberate dissonance within the landscape.” 

Marc Hanson, Summer Blend, oil, 30 x 36 in. 

On the summer day depicted in Bergeron’s Rising, the flat horizon provided a perfect stage for the slow-moving clouds gathering above it. “They moved with grace and authority, seemingly untouched by the steady ocean breeze below,” the artist recalls. “The soft and gentle, yet massive form hanging in silence between the dark sea and rich blue of the summer sky created its own great composition right in front of me. It is the one-of-a-kind subject I am always searching for, and I am always grateful for finding the next painting.”

Leonard Mizerek, Summer Sail, oil, 12 x 24 in.

Hanson points out that clouds pose a challenge for landscape artists that they’ll have to confront at some point. “They’re not easy to paint from life; [their] amorphous nature is challenging to pin down even when they seem to be standing still,” he explains. “They’re more challenging in the studio—photo reference or sketches of them only go so far with the information you need to fully understand them. To successfully paint them, you need to [understand] how they’re moving and relating to the mass of clouds in your view, and work to paint the essence of what interested you about them in the first place.” In his painting Summer Blend, Hanson focused on the opposing movement between the clouds in the foreground and those in the distance, and the warm/cool color relationship between them. “Summer skies are almost always more active than winter skies,” he says, “making it a definite seasonal preference as a subject to paint.”

Peter Bergeron, Rising, oil, 48 x 36 in.

Captivated, like many, by the magic light of the “golden hour,” Mizerek chose to represent the sweeping sky in Summer Sky to enhance the movement and direction of the lone sailboat. “The cloud formation helps to balance the composition and tie the boat in visually,” he adds. “I wanted to convey a feeling of calm and solitude as the sailboat moves with the evening breeze.”

Paul Beebe, Evening Splendor, oil, 12 x 24 in.

As a landscape painter, Rosier-Smith feels a responsibility to cultivate a sense of awe in the natural world. “No matter where we are, as humans we all have access to that sense of awe...something larger than ourselves...just by looking up,” says Rosier-Smith. “The sky can nearly always be counted on to put on a show." For the artist, her featured piece Shimmer is about promise. “One morning at the beach we awoke to a sky shrouded in thick clouds…the beach day looked like a bust,” she says. “Then little by little the sun burned through, creating a luminous, moon-like glow in the sky reflected in the water and the wet sand, bathing everything in an otherworldly peaceful shimmer.”

Zufar Bikbov, Moonglow, oil, 14 x 11 in.

Cloudscapes opens with an artist reception on Friday, April 17 from 5 to 8 p.m. —