France, Italy inspire new Plein Air art show

(Originally published in the 1/3/16 edition)

   Plein Air Gallery artist Susan Johnson has always been enthralled with Europe, especially France. After visiting the country in the ‘80s, she fell in love with the colors and landscapes to the point where she made several return visits, earned her master’s degree in French and gained a long career as a French teacher.

  Inspired by the works of great French painters like Henri Matisse and Pierre Bonnard, Johnson has painted many French and Italian landscapes, and they are the subject of her new show at Plein Air Gallery, “Room with a View.”

   “I looked at the places these painters had painted, and I went traveling to them and found them to be the most exquisite places,” she said.

   The idea to do this show came when Johnson was sitting at a cafe in Portofino, Italy and noticed a familiar landmark: the house from the 1985 British film “A Room with a View,” based on the 1908 novel by E.M. Forster.

   “I didn’t realize they had shot it in Portofino,” she said. “One of my paintings is the view that you would get from that room.”

   Many of the paintings on display are from places Johnson has stayed in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in France and Santa Margherita Ligure in Italy, particularly the water views from villas she stayed in.

   “Each window had a whole different view, so I painted those,” she said.

   The Santa Margherita paintings were inspired by an Andrea Boccelli concert from Portofino that Johnson watched on KQED.

   “I went to my computer right away and booked a hotel there and went right over and painted,” she said.

   Johnson has a different style from a lot of painters. She uses a palette knife instead of a brush and paints very fast, giving her paintings a thicker texture.

   “I think it was Matisse who said ‘I don’t paint what I see, I paint what I feel,’” Johnson said. “That’s kind of what happens to me. I don’t think about it at all, and pretty soon I have a painting.” 

   Johnson says she is drawn to Southern France and Italy because of the colors. 

   “They’re pastels and warm colors, and I often have turquoise and pink in my paintings because you see those colors so much,” she said. 

   She eventually developed a knack for painting small European towns.

   “I think that’s why I enjoy living in Benicia,” she said. “It’s intimate, people are walking down the street, it’s not vast quantities of parking lots or anything- just the towns and their architecture and their color.” 

   Johnson hopes that people will view her paintings with a sense of joy and positivity.

   “I hope they take away a sense of joyfulness at the beauty of the scenes,” she said. “I think they’re happy positive paintings, they’re colorful and have a nice thick texture. You almost want to touch them.”

   “When I’m painting, it’s almost like frosting a cake,” she added. “I just load up that palette knife and spread the colors, one on top of the other.”

   “Room with a View” will be on display at Plein Air Gallery from Tuesday, Jan. 5 to Sunday Jan. 31. A reception will be held 5 to 7 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 9., and refreshments will be served. Plein Air Gallery is located at 307 First St. and is open Thursdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Reception to honor work of local artist

(Originally published in the 10/9/15 edition)

    Local artist Rolando Barrero will be hosting a reception for his latest paintings on Saturday. The paintings will continue to be shown for the rest of the month.

   Barrero has been painting watercolor portraits for over two decades, picking up several awards along the way. Most recently, he took second place in the Great Petaluma Paint Out competition on Sept. 26 for his painting “Across the Bridge.” Back in April, he won first place at the American Arts Foundation’s 23rd Annual Art Extravaganza for “Getting Ready,” a watercolor portrait of a sailboat being hoisted into the Berkeley Marina.

   Barrero has become known for his paintings of street scenes and landmarks, which he feels have a simple charm to them.

   “I like to capture the essence of a place and the beauty of its surrounding environment,” he said.

   Many of his paintings have been of places in the Bay Area, including San Francisco, Berkeley and Alameda. A lot of these paintings have been of Benicia, where he’s managed to capture the Farmer’s Market, the Yacht Club and the Capitol building with his brush and canvas.

   “I like Benicia because it’s very historical,” he said. “Benicia’s also very supportive of the arts. They’re good people, and I’m glad to know a lot of them.”

   He noted that most of his paintings of Benicia have sold.

   Additionally, Barrero has done a lot of paintings and photographs in Europe, including places like Rome, Venice and Greece. Of these, Barrero says Venice is his favorite place.

   “It’s the only place in the world where when you step on the bridge, you have four sides to paint,” he said. “I’ve been all over the world, but Venice is the most pictorial.” 

   Barrero says his favorite painting was one he did of the Southern Pacific Train Depot at the end of First Street, but it has since sold.

   At his reception Saturday, Barrero will be featuring his newest paintings in an exhibit called “Street Scenes and Travel Sketches.” Among the newer Benicia paintings to be featured are those of the National Defense Reserve Fleet off the Carquinez and the gazebo in City Park. Additionally, he will be raffling off prints of his works.

   The reception will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Saturday at Plein Air Gallery to coincide with the Benicia Art Walk’s Day of the Dead event. The gallery is located at 307 First Street, and the event is free to the public. Barrero’s paintings will be on display until Nov. 1.