In 1934 at New York's Julien Levy Gallery, Salvador Dalí declared, “I’m in Hollywood where I’ve made contact with the three American Surrealists, Harpo Marx, [Walt] Disney, and Cecil B. DeMille. I believe I’ve intoxicated them suitably and hope that the possibilities for Surrealism here will become a reality.”

Here's something we just learned from IMDB (Internet Movie Data Base). In 1956, Cecil B. De Mille (one of Dali's top three American surrealists) was filming his Biblical epic The Ten Commandments at Paramount Studios. He was having difficulty animating the "Pillar of Fire" scene. De Mille asked his friend Walt Disney (another of Dali's American surrealists) for help. Disney offered de Mille the services of Joshua Meador.

We had long known that Walt Disney loaned Meador's services to MGM Studios for their 1956 Sci-fi blockbuster, Forbidden Planet. In that film, Josh was responsible for the "Monster of the Id" scene. For his efforts, Joshua Meador gained an industry-wide reputation for being able to stretch the abilities of on-screen animation effects to new heights.

Looking back 64 years, Meador's pre-computer animation effects look considerably dated, but in 1956, it was state of the art and was considered phenomenal.

What makes Joshua Meador's work in 1956 such a great story is a meeting he had with Disney the previous year.

In 1955, Walt invited Josh to his office and offered him an unheard of deal. What were the terms? Walt allowed Josh to move out of LA to Carmel where he could focus full time on his fine art painting while still drawing his full Disney Studios salary. This gave Josh the financial security to invest his efforts in becoming a well recognized fine art painter. In return, Josh agreed to return to Disney Studios when needed for specific projects.

Well, that was the plan. But the next year, 1956, did not go according to the plan. Through Walt, Josh was offered a great opportunity to expand his animation credentials beyond Disney Studios. In a response to a request from MGM and a later request from Cecil B. de Mille, Walt's prized Director of Animation Effects was offered a couple of opportunities. To put it mildly, 1956 was quite the year for Joshua Meador's animation effects career.

For the past thirteen years, Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery has featured the fine art paintings of Joshua Meador. Over the years, we have been learning more and more about Meador's career and sharing that information with our gallery visitors and clients.

Now, we have improved our Meador webpage.

Regarding his animation effects career, we have added two webpages, "iconic film clips" and "4 Artists Paint 1 Tree". The film clips webpage visually demonstrates what Joshua Meador brought to Disney animation. The film 4 Artists Paint 1 Tree may be about Disney animation but also gave Josh an opportunity to demonstrate his palette knife technique on prime time television. He explains in his own words how he lets colors mingle as he spreads them across the canvas.

Regarding his fine art painting career, we've added a "Critics, exhibitions, etc" webpage. This webpage shows what art critics said of his fine art painting, including the San Francisco Chronicle's Alfred Frankenstein and the LA Times' Arthur Millier. The webpage also shows thumbnails of the many Meador paintings we have sold.

If you wish to consider acquiring a Joshua Meador painting from our collection, we'd love to hear from you. Just call, text or email us at 707-875-2911 or Art@BodegaBayHeritageGallery.com. If you're close by, we can arrange an opportunity to preview your selected painting(s).

If you wish to sell us a Joshua Meador painting for resale, please email us at Art@BodegaBayHeritageGallery.com. Include large file photos of your painting (front and back) with notes regarding its title, dimensions, and condition along with any stories relating to the painting's provenance. We are especially interested in stories about Joshua Meador, such as, "My parents bought this painting directly from Josh at his studio."

Robert E. Wood (1926 - 1999) studied with Phil Dike and Rex Brandt. By the late 1940's, he was exhibiting watercolors in museum and gallery shows. He was known for regional subjects found near Claremont, CA where he was attending college, and harbor subjects near Corona del Mar and Newport Beach."

"By the early 1960's, he was acknowledged as one of the premier California Watercolorists to emerge during the post-war era. While most of his works have been painted with transparent watercolors, he also freely incorporated opaque colors or other complimentary mediums if they improved a specific work of art. His paintings often balance areas of pure abstraction with stylized but recognizable subject matter.
http://bodegabayheritagegallery.com/Wood_Robert_E.html

Ralph Hulett (1915-1974) studied at the Chouinard Art Institute under Millard Sheets and Phil Dike. He was a member of the American Watercolor Society (AWS) and the California Watercolor Association (CWA). He was among the post WW II California Scene painters, and was known for his urban landscapes of booming post-war Los Angeles along with landscapes and sea scapes around California.

After Chouinard in 1938, Ralph began working at Walt Disney Studios, creating watercolor backgrounds for use in Disney's multi-plane camera. He was a close friend of Disney artist Joshua Meador, and often accompanied Meador on sketching and painting trips. http://bodegabayheritagegallery.com/Hulett_Ralph.htm

If you wish to consider acquiring either or both of these paintings, we'd love to hear from you. Just call, text or email us at 707-875-2911 or Art@BodegaBayHeritageGallery.com. If local, arrangements can be made for viewing and purchase.

The de Young's hallowed exhibition space where Bay Area art lovers have previously seen the works of Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso, Manet, Whistler, Vermeer, and so many others, now is filled with the artworks of contemporary Bay Area artists. Their new show, The de Young Open features 877 works done by 762 Bay Area artists. https://deyoungopenexhibition.artcall.org/pages/web-gallery .

The selection of these paintings was done by a jury including four of the de Young's and Legion of Honor curators along with Bay Area artists Enrique Chagoya, Mildred Howard and Jung Liu.

The jurors made their decisions based on digital images submitted by the artists, and jurors did not know the identity of the artists when making their choices.

Their task was enormous. An astonishing 11,514 works of art were submitted by 6,188 artists. Only 7.5% of the paintings were chosen for the exhibition.

What's really unique about this exhibition is that the paintings are for sale, and the artist gets to keep 100% of the sale price.

To make room for the largest number of works, the exhibition is hung in "salon style," as tightly packed as Gertrude Stein's apartment walls or the walls of the 19th century Paris Salon.

For the visitor, the effect is dazzling and nearly overwhelming ... as the saying might go, "It's hard to see the trees because of the forest." But, after catching one's breath, the experience of seeing so many different works by such an array of artists is a wonder to behold.

In this article, I've chosen a select group of images that grabbed my eye. But my choices in the moment I made them is just one opinion. I'm certain every art lover would make different selections. If you click on each image in this article, you will be able to find out more about each painting. Or, you may go to the de Young's website and view the entire exhibition, including artist info for each work. https://deyoungopenexhibition.artcall.org/pages/web-gallery .

Reservations are required. Purchase tickets on the museum's website. The museum has full Covid protocols in place. With your most comfortable and fog-free mask, enjoy your visit. If the weather suits, their cafe is open outdoors. Also on view is Frida Kahlo: Appearances can be Deceiving through February 7.

Gallery Notes ...

At the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, we feared that the art market would totally die. But surprise! we've had some orders. In retrospect, we believe that art may be one of the ways of coping with shelter-in-place, and we are grateful to our website viewers and buyers. Drop us a line, "follow us" on Facebook, and please share our information with other art lovers.

Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery and Linda Sorensen Paintings are OPEN (via our websites). We offer free shipping within the United States. Sales delivered within California require 8.25% sales tax. Link to us via our websites, or you may call or text, 707-875-2911

Art @ the Source (June) and ArtTrails (October) could not hold their open studios for 2020. However, the Sebastopol Center for the Arts has instead presented SebArts Virtual Open Studios with substantial "virtual" content including a wealth of images, artist information including links to their websites and contact information, and videos, and even artworks that can be purchased online. SebArts has extended this virtual exhibition/virtual open studios through the holiday season to year's end - Virtual Holiday Market.

We've changed the format of our newsletter. Previously, it had been Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery Monthly. It is now called Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery Musings. We are freeing ourselves from a monthly deadline, but will still dedicate our time and talent, keeping our readers informed about art and art happenings.

Linda Sorensen with Keven Brown at Corrick's, Downtown Santa Rosa (one of her vineyard paintings that Corrick's sold is at upper left).

Bentonville, AR
Crystal Bridges
Museum of American Art

... IN GRATON, CA ...
Linda Sorensen's studio and Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery's showroom is now located in Atelier One, Graton. You may view paintings in Linda Sorensen's or Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery's online offerings. Call or email for an appointment (required for access).

... IN YOUR HOME ... Call or email for a an appointment. If appropriate, we'll bring the art to you (up to 200 miles from Bodega Bay).

... ONLINE ... Call or email about pieces which interest you. We offer FedEx shipping (included in price) in the U.S. for major purchases.