Irvine Museum Award...

This painting won the Irvine Museum Award at the Maui Plein Air Invitational last week. Sorry there is a small amount of glare in this photo, but I really like this painting and wanted to share the only photo I have of it. The award is a great honor and I am proud to have received it. Jean Stern was the judge at the Maui show, and as part of the award he gave me a copy of a book he wrote on Franz Bischoff. (Not to be confused with Elmer Bischoff, also a California painter,  but from a later generation and most often associated with the Bay Area figurative movement.) I have to admit that I was not at all familiar with Franz Bischoff’s work before this, and I am very impressed with all of his painting. His career started with floral paintings on porcelain, but I am most moved by his still lifes and expressive color in his landscapes from California.

This scene was a fun one to try to catch as the sun dropped in late afternoon. I like working with the warm light and the cast shadow on the grass and boat from the palm tree that I was standing next to as I painted. I also like the juxtaposition of the traditional Hawaiian double canoe, and the modern structures in the background. The guys who were restoring this boat told me about sailing a canoe like this from Hawaii to Japan. A pretty impressive feat.

7 Responses to “Irvine Museum Award”

1. Claire says:

   March 2, 2012 at 11:35 am

   Congratulations, Colin! The painting is great!
2. Andy says:

   March 2, 2012 at 12:03 pm

   Really neat and evocative. soothing. what size?
3. Dan Corey says:

   March 2, 2012 at 2:01 pm

   Congrats Colin! Well deserved !
4. sam says:

   March 2, 2012 at 2:22 pm

   Beautiful painting, Colin. Congratulations! No doubt the restorers still tell stories of the great canoe, Hokule’a, which broke up in a storm off of Maui 34 years ago on it’s way to Tahiti. Eddie Aikau is still honored for trying to save the crew.

   Thanks for mentioning Franz Bishoff, a remarkable painter of atmospherics. And cows.
5. David Westerfield says:

   March 2, 2012 at 6:33 pm

   I agree with the others, as I told you on Maui, Colin. I did a study of the canoe while I was there too. It’s name is Mo’olele, one of the guys told me it means “leaping lizard.”
6. Mary Sheehan Winn says:

   March 3, 2012 at 8:04 pm

   Well deserved, Colin.
   Thanks for the mention of another great painter.
7. Randy Saffle says:

   March 4, 2012 at 11:55 pm

   Everything I have seen of your Maui work is stupendous. You have a great eye and wonderful talent.