Landscape painter Jim Caldwell usually has his feet planted firmly on the ground. However, for his show at PMA, Caldwell takes us on a glorious ride over the Delta and the South Bay salt flats:
"A few years ago some friends invited us out on the San Joaquin Delta on their boat. It was beautiful, but I knew that if I could get a few hundred feet in the air, it would be a very different visual experience. Partially inspired by Thiebaud, I chartered a helicopter and early one morning I flew over that beautiful scene. I really loved the pattern of the meandering waterways, the long shadows over the rich soil, and the geometry of the fields. I jumped at the chance to do a similar flight over the salt flats."
"From a boat, these landscapes appear to have a soft, muted palette, while from the air, they become as vivid as a peacock’s feathers."
A Bay Area resident for several decades, Caldwell's love for home bursts from each canvas, wrapping the viewer in gratitude for all our natural splendor. Born in New York in 1942, he graduated from Williams College in 1964 as an Art Major, and spent the next year in Paris studying printing and etching at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. In 1969 he received his Master of Architecture Degree from the Yale School of Architecture. Caldwell works in his studio under the redwoods in Woodside, starting every morning with an hour at his easel. He has taught painting and drawing for over 20 years, first at Stanford University and now at Filoli.
