Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery, Exhibition September and October, 2009

Joshua Meador Self Portrait at approximately age 43
Josh, a Self Portrait
Joshua Meador 1911-1965
and selected artists of California's Film Industry
Joshua Meador at work at Disney Studios
At his Disney "day job"
Click here and read more about Josh
Joshua Meador artist for Walt Disney and CaliforniaLandscape Painter
On his own time
with his ever present sketch pad

Joshua Meador (Disney) 1911 - 1965
Jon Blanchette (Fox) 1908-1997
Bennett Schroeder Bradbury (Disney) 1914-1991
Phil Dike (Disney) 1906-1990
Jan Marinus Domela (Paramount) 1894-1973

Ralph Hulett (Disney) 1915-1974
Charles F. Keck (Columbia) 1913-2003
Orpha Mae Klinker (Portraitist) 1891-1964
Harold Charles Landaker (MGM) 1892-1966
Charles Wesley Nicholson (freelance) 1886-1965

Joshua Meador The Last Symphony Midsized Thumbnail
The Last Symphony

Meador family collection, done in honor of
Salvador Dali's his visit to Disney in 1947

Joshua Meador (Disney) 1911 - 1965

You've seen Joshua Meador's work before, in all the Disney classics in which he was privileged to participate.

Josh began at Disney in the midst of the Great Depression soon after he had graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago. He became Disney's director of special effects, and was part of the special effects team which won an Oscar for Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. click to read more below

Joshua Meador Warming in the Sun Midsized Thumbnail
"Warming in the Sun"

Meador family collection
Joshua Meador Strolling in the Park Midsized Thumbnail
Strolling in the Park

Meador family collection
Joshua Meador Remote Midsized Thumbnail
"Remote"
SOLD
Joshua Meador Rainy Windy Day Midsized Thumbnail
Rainy Windy Day
SOLD

Joshua Meador Paintings in the family collection not currently on exhibit
They available for sale except where noted.

Joshua Meador Cloud Patterns Midsized Thumbnail
"Cloud Patterns"
Disney Collection
unavailable for sale

Joshua Meador Cliff Shapes
"Cliff Shapes"
courtesy of the Meador family

Joshua Meador Mood Indigo Midsized Thumbnail
"Mood Indigo" Disney Collection
courtesy of the Meador family
Joshua Meador Beach at Caspar Point
"Caspar Point" (N of Mendocino)

courtesy of the Meador family
Joshua Meador Sheep Ranch Mendocino Midsized Thumbnail
"Sheep Ranch" Mendocino
courtesy of the Meador family
unavailable for sale

"Colts"
Joshua Meador Pow Wow Disney Collection Midsized Thumbnail
"Pow Wow" Disney Collection

courtesy of the Meador family
Joshua Meador Andreas Canyon Midsized Thumbnail
"Andreas Canyon"
Palm Springs, Disney Collection
courtesy of the Meador family
Joshua Meador Far Beyond Disney Collection Midsized Thumbnail
"Far Beyond" Disney Collection
courtesy of the Meador family
Joshua Meador Studio Still Life Midsized Thumbnail
"Backlight"
courtesy of the Meador family
unavailable for sale
Joshua Meador Sea of Sand Midsized Thumbnail
"Sea of Sand"
Joshua Meador The Golden Day Midsized Thumbnail
"The Golden Day"

Jon Blanchette (Fox) 1908 - 1987
... worked for Fox designing sets in New York and Hollywood
Jon Blanchett Three Fishing Boats
Three boats
Jon Blanchett Watsonville Slough Midsized Thumbnail
Watsonville Slough
Jon Blanchette Mendocino House Midsized Thumbnail
Mendocino House
Jon Blanchette Fishing Boat in Inner Bay Midsized Thumbnail
Fishing boat in inner bay
Jon Blanchette Mendocino Church Midsized Thumbnail
"Mendocino Church"
Jon Blanchett Coast on a Cold Winters Day Midsized Thumbnail
Coast on a winter's day

Bennett Schroeder Bradbury (Disney) 1914 - 1991
... worked for a time at Disney before dedicating himself to his art full time.
Bennett Bradbury Beach Sentinels Midsized Thumbnail
"Beach Sentinels"
Jon Blanchette Dusk China Cove Pt Lobos Midsized Thumbnail
"Dusk, China Cove Pt. Lobos"
Bennett Bradbury Laguna Coastline Midsized Thumbnail
"Laguna Coastline"
Bennett Bradbury Pacific Sunset Midszied Thumbnail
Pacific Sunset
Bennett Bradbury Pacific Seacoast Midsized Thumbnail
Seacoast
Bennett Bradbury Pacific Cove Midsized Thumbnail
Pacific Cove

Phil Dike After Sailing Midsized Thumbnail
After Sailing
Philip Latimer Dike (Disney) 1906 - 1990
... as a teacher at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, Phil Dike was contracted to teach advanced drawing and composition at Disney.
Phil Dike Urban Shore Midsized Thumbnail
Urban Shore

Jan Marinus Domela (Paramount) 1894 - 1973
... worked 40 years at Paramount, winning two Oscars and designing their mountain logo.
Jan Domela Point Lobos Carmel California
Point Lobos, Carmel , California 1959
Jan Domela Tracks in the Snow Midsized Thumbnail
"Tracks in the Snow"

Ralph Hulett (Disney) 1915 - 1974
Ralph was a Chouinard Art Institute graduate and student of Phil Dike and Millard Sheets. Today is considered one of the California regionalists, and recently his works were exhibited with Emil Kosa Jr. At Disney, he was involved in animation and color styling. Ralph and his family were close friends with Joshua Meador and accompanied him on several painting trips.
Ralph Hulett The Open Gate Midsized Thumbnail
The Open Gate
Ralph Hulett Fishing from a Beach Midsized Thumbnail
Shoreline Cliffs

Orpha Mae Klinker 1891 - 1964
Orpha Klinker Valley Oaks and Mountain Thumbnail
Valley Oaks and Mountain
Orpha Klinker Winter Touches the Desert Midsized Thumbnail
Etching, "Winter Touches the Desert"
Orpha Mae Klinker Goats Chavez Ravine Midsized Thumbnail
Goats, Chavez Ravine

Charles F. Keck
(Columbia)
1913 - 2003
Harold Charles Landaker
(MGM)
1892 - 1966
Charles Wesley Nicholson
1886 - 1965
Charles F. Keck Hillside Farmstead Midsized Thumbnail
Hillside Farmstead
Harold Charles Landaker The Herdsman Midsized Thumbnail
"The Herdsman"
Charles Wesley Nicholson Mission San Juan Capistrano Midsized Thumbnail
Mission San Juan Capistrano

More about Joshua Meador

During his time away from the studio, Josh would pack up the family station wagon, and together with his wife Libby and son Philip, pulled a teardrop trailer throughout California, painting as they went. Josh's favorite medium was the palette knife. His son Philip recalls his father kept some brushes around just to sign his work. Toward the end of his career, he remained under contract with Disney while he maintained studios and galleries in Carmel Highlands and later in Caspar just north of Mendocino.

Joshua can be seen explaining his painting technique on film. Josh participated in a short feature created for Walt Disney's television show in 1958 and it is entitled "Four Artists Paint One Tree." Walt Disney introduces and narrates as the four artists, Eyvind Earle, Marc Davis, Walt

Four Artists Paint One Tree Joshua Meador, Marc Davis, Eyvind Earle, and Walt Paragoy
"Four Artists Paint One Tree"
from left, Joshua Meador, Marc Davis, Eyvind Earle, and Walt Paragoy

Paragoy and Joshua Meador paint a California live oak tree using four different artistic styles.

Joshua is a native of Columbus, Mississippi. He is being honored this fall as one of the town's favorite sons, along with fellow native, playwright Tennessee Williams. Link

Josh is but one of the many skilled and talented painters attracted to California by the film industry. Fortunately for California, theses artists have left an artistic legacy well beyond their work in film.

Back to Joshua Meador's Paintings