Jalama Road is a little more than 14 miles of some of the most scenic landscape on the Central Coast. The winding path of road, stretching from the whirring noise of Highway 101 to a quiet strip of Jalama Beach, tells a story of the true California, a diverse state born from agriculture, ranching, and a love of the sea.
To painter Betsee Talavera, it’s a region that provides almost mystical inspiration. One of her favorite places is an area she dubbed “Swallow Bridge,” an unnamed bridge on Jalama Creek.
“I was out there in the evening in what we call the golden hour, the hour before sunset,” she said. “I leaned over the bridge and this flock of swallows came up from underneath. It was just one of those magical moments.”
For Talavera and the other artists of the Lompoc Ten, it’s just one more story about why Jalama Road holds special significance. The 10 painters–Vicki Anderson, Jon Arnold, Diane Atturio, Trish Campbell, Alan Freeman, Linda Gooch, Elizabeth Monks Hack, Carol Oliveira, Talavera, and Ann Thompson–focused their skilled eyes on the 14-mile-long byway for a show at the Grossman Gallery in Lompoc that runs through Nov. 30.
The group (which traces its origins in the Lompoc Valley Art Association) has been meeting for the past several years to offer critiques and support of one another’s work as well as network and discuss their craft. They had their first group exhibit in 2015, titled Variations, which featured a composite made of 10 paintings by each artist that all made up one landscape. This time the artists have chosen to focus on Jalama Road.
A skilled painter with a degree in Studio Art from the University of California Irvine, Hack pursued fashion as a career after graduation. She did a stint studying at Fashion Institute of Design at Merchandising in Los Angeles and traveled extensively before settling in Lompoc, where she taught art in local schools. It was through her work as an artist that she met Andersen.
“I delivered a lecture on tonal painting to the Lompoc Art Association,” Hack said. “That gave one of its members, Vicki Andersen, the idea to create a small group of artists who were ‘mad about painting.’ The group would be a place to discuss painting joys, frustrations, technical issues, details, and discoveries.”
Hack said most of the members are involved with other local artistic groups that focus on issues outside of purely painting. Early on, the group decided to focus on just painting and to keep the size of the group at 10.
“It was felt that more than 10 members would diminish the focus on painting issues,” Hack explained. “It was decided early to make this group very informal in structure. We have no governing body or rules, other than to eat, drink, and paint.”
Hack that said for her, the group helped her focus on painting and critique, an especially key area for most artists.
“It provides me with a support group of fellow artists who are able to critique each other’s work in a positive context,” she said. “Personally, what I like best about Lompoc Ten is to see what art surprises our members bring to the easel every month.”
The Jalama exhibit sprang out of an idea to paint scenes from the eclectic road. Andersen had previously collaborated with Santa Barbara photographer Diblee Hoyt on an exhibit documenting Rancho San Julian. So the group embarked on a field trip to explore the area.
“We visited a working ranch to draw and take photographs,” Hack said. “Although every aspect of the road is stunning, especially on a beautiful spring day, I connected with the age-old barns. I love the soft textures of the once-rigid geometries of architecture.”
Painting almost exclusively in oil, Hack focuses on aging urban architecture and other elements that highlight the region’s rich history. The barns and houses of Jalama Road are the subject of at least two of her paintings feautureed in the show.
The striking thing about the work of the Lompoc Ten is the diversity in the style and nature of the individual pieces. Some artists are more meticulous or realistic, whereas others incorporate more impressionist or modern styles.
Talavera loved to draw horses when she was young. She points to that time as the origins of her love of art. Her father had gone through the original Santa Barbara School of the Arts, which had opened in 1922 and closed in 1933. Art was an inherited passion and talent, and Talavera sought to pursue it until the realities of making a living as a commercial artist set in. She moved to Mexico for 10 years and later returned to the United States to work as a teacher, taking art classes in her free time as a hobby.
Now an avid and thriving acrylic painter, Talavera said she joined the Lompoc Ten five years ago through her membership with the Lompoc Valley Art Association. She said the association was filled with a variety of artists, including sculptors and other mixed media creators.
“A number of us just wanted to get together and paint,” Talavera said. “Most of us [in the Lompoc Ten] are interested in landscape art. We just wanted to work in a certain area of interest so we decided to form a small group.”
The group meets monthly, asking members to bring at least one piece to critique. Talavera said the group offers support when needed and talks about long-range projects and other ideas.
Critiques are vital to an artist’s existence in many ways. While art is largely a solitary process, critiques allow painters and other artists to gain perspective on their work, getting a glimpse at how other eyes see their pieces. An artist can get caught up in the minutiae of their work and have trouble seeing the bigger picture, Talavera explained.
“We definitely want the truth,” Talavera said. “It’s all really helpful. We’ve all benefited greatly from the camaraderie and the creative energy.”
Arts and Lifestyle Writer Rebecca Rose is on the road. Contact her at rrose@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 1-7, 2018.
