pacific ocean art

Second Chances on First Thursday

SURFACING @Sullivan Goss

Second Reception: THURSDAY, September 7th from 5-8pm

September is widely recognized as the official kickoff of the art season. Some galleries, reopening after a summer hiatus, offer up fresh exhibitions curated during the period of August's scorching hot days. Artists and galleries alike, eagerly await the return of art enthusiasts who have been away on their summer sojourns.

And, as we transition from one season to the next, while children settle back into the routine of a fresh school term, it is an ideal moment to reunite with friends and explore the vast array of exciting new exhibitions on display.

September First Thursday events mark the launch of Santa Barbara’s own art season. SULLIVAN GOSS at 11 East Anapamu will host a brand new show in the main gallery titled SPACE while in the back and front gallery is the second chance to see my show SURFACING and Holli Harmon’s exhibit To Feast on Clouds. Most of the artists will be in attendance, myself included.

If you need some enticing JOE WOODARD has written a fabulous review of SURFACING in the Independent.

A Bit of Perspective 14x14” oil on cradled birch panel

Click to read the full article

Summer heat has arrived. The sizzle of August meets us before sliding into fall.

It has been such a mild summer here on our piece of coastline. I’ve been wondering when the hot days would arrive. So often we get a good blast of heat in October and as the summer ticked away, with cooler than usual temperatures, I kept wondering if September and October were going to be blazing. The heat always shows up, it’s just a matter of when.

Evening Sizzle by Nicole Strasburg. Oil on birch panel. The summer heat has arrived. Evening color over the Pacific Ocean in Santa Barbara, California. Available at Sullivan Goss Gallery.

Evening Sizzle, 14x14”, oil on birch panel

Summer at Sundance

Summer Solstice marks the first day of of the new season, the season of blue skies, heat, and running to the shoreline, lake or mountain tops to cool from the radiating summer sun. Sundance has a new collection of paintings celebrating the season, big sky and cool ocean colors or mountain pines with night skies.

Post Show Disappearance

My show concluded at the end of September of this year and what an amazing show. I felt like I ran a marathon at a sprint putting together the 54 pieces that were delivered to the gallery in July.

By the end of the show all the gas had been consumed from my tank. My normal pattern would be to celebrate by traveling somewhere and filling my eyes and heart back up before returning to the studio. Alas, it has been another grounded year.

Life continues and despite being home there are shows still on the horizon. Right now at Sullivan Goss you can find my work in both the annual 100 GRAND exhibition as well as the Winter Salon.

Sky Sea 40, 4x4”, Gouache on Arches Board - 100 GRAND Exhibition at Sullivan Goss Santa Barbara


I hope the season finds you all well and thriving. May your creativity find you hard at work. Happy Holy Days.

Campus Tide 5, 28x40”, oil on cradled birch panel - Winter Salon, Sullivan Goss

SEA CHANGE officially opens

Please join me in celebrating a new exhibit at Sullivan Goss in Santa Barbara. It’s been 5 years since my last solo show and I’m returning to the subject of a perpetual obsession, the pacific ocean. After the many months pummeled by news of the world and forced seclusion, I offer you color and vast horizons.

The First Thursday reception has been cancelled for August but don’t let that stop you from the respite that the show can offer, a traveling armchair, a breeze blowing onshore, sunshine radiating from the work.

A catalog for the show is also in the works, look for it mid month.

With hopes of seeing you around the gallery, be well, stay safe and let joy find you outside in the sun.

Gallery walls, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara

Gallery walls, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara

CATALOG EXCERPT:

SEA CHANGE: a profound or notable transformation, substantial change in perspective, transformation after undergoing various trials or tragedies. 

This body of work emerged after the long months of quarantine. We can all agree that the year 2020 altered the way we see and experience the world, a noticeable change in our work patterns, change in our socializations, change in emotional atmosphere.  

During the long seclusion I spent my time combing through old source material for inspiration. Reexamining photographs, I tried to recall the “aha” moment that captured my attention. Looking more closely at these images I was reminded how much information the camera records verses what our eyes are capable of seeing. I question how this influences my work in the studio, the actual verses the recorded, the recorded verses the perceived, all woven into the personal dialog with my materials.

This work represents healing in the making of marks, solace also comes to mind and growth after a long winter. The uncertainty of this past year is veiled as horizons beckon us forward, the passing clouds offer comfort and respite that the storm is moving on, leaving the glorious remains of being washed clean and full of hope.

SEA CHANGE catalog coming soon!

SEA CHANGE catalog coming soon!

Summer Salon at Sullivan Goss

I love to be hanging with friends and beloved colleagues.

Coastal Fog can be viewed now at Sullivan Goss through July 26, 2021 beside the works of John Nava, Nathan Huff, Patricia Chidlaw, Phoebe Brunner, Angela Perko, Colin Campbell Cooper, Lockwood DeForest and many more.

Left to right, Nathan Huff “A Sudden Lurch to Help”, Angela Perko “Refugio Beach, West End #2”, Nicole Strasburg “Coastal Fog” and John Nava “Summerland 4-2”.

Left to right, Nathan Huff “A Sudden Lurch to Help”, Angela Perko “Refugio Beach, West End #2”, Nicole Strasburg “Coastal Fog” and John Nava “Summerland 4-2”.

Wintering .... there is beautiful art to be seen.

Winter Salon at Sullivan Goss in Santa Barbara

February Storm Quad, 29.5x78” Oil on Birch panel

February Storm Quad, 29.5x78” Oil on Birch panel

Sullivan Goss presents a curated selection of pieces from our inventory and recent acquistions.

February 5th through March 22, 2021 at Sullivan Goss

11 East Anapamu, Santa Barbara

open every day from 10-530

Commission Installation - just in time for the holidays

Pacific Coast Fog 60x36” was recently finished and installed into the home of a happy client. They had been looking for the perfect something for this location and when they found it the painting was just too small. We figured out the perfect size and recallibrated the image for the new dimensions and zhuzhed up the color. Happy holidays from Santa Barbara.

Pacific Coast Fog 60x36”, oil on birch panel ©2020

Pacific Coast Fog 60x36”, oil on birch panel ©2020