In 2014, six women artists from California began traveling across the country to paint side by side. And while the pandemic temporarily stopped their travels, the PAC6—which includes Linda Brown, Marian Fortunati, Nita Harper, Debra Holladay, Laura Wambsgans and Sharon Weaver—didn’t stop painting.
PAC6 group photo. Courtesy of Garters and Bloomers Old Time Photos in Virginia City, California.
Even though they were no longer able to paint together, the PAC6 still had a mission in mind. In an exhibition at the Santa Paula Art Museum titled Vistas, Varmints and Vagabonds: The PAC6 Paints the Wild West, each artist used their past travels and experiences to put their own spin on Mark Twain’s 1872 travelogue, Roughing It.
Wambsgans oil Engine 29 portrays the Robert C. Gray locomotive on an early morning as it heads out from the Virginia City depot, along the same railroad as lumber and mining trains did during the Virginia silver rush of 1859. “The railroad crossing the plains, heading west, played a major role in history, and I felt it would be an interesting subject for our show,” she says.
Sharon Weaver, Leave the Light On, oil and gold leaf on canvas, 24 x 30”
The Sierra Nevadas have always been a favorite subject of Brown’s, but in Heading for the High Country, she tried to look at the mountain range from the perspective of an early American pioneer. “After months of difficult travel, a scene like this would feel like an insurmountable barrier to their westward progress,” she says. “And yet somehow, they found the will and the strength and a way forward. I admire that courage.”
Holladay focused on the people who went West to find a better life—even when that life wasn’t glamorous. Searching for the Mother Lode features a man and his donkey resting briefly in the shade during a long day’s work. Another painting called Gold Rush Fever depicts two miners posing in their work clothes. “I felt these two miners embodied the hope, fear and resolve needed, as well as the sheer exhaustion of following your dreams,” she explains.
Debra Holladay, Searching for the Mother Lode, oil on panel, 12 x 16”
Laura Wambsgans, Engine 29, oil on canvas, 30 x 40”
“I was particularly taken by their dirty bare feet and dilapidated boots—they came as they were.”
After a childhood in Chicago, Harper first became enchanted by the West because of shows like Gunsmoke, but after moving to Arizona for college, she had the opportunity to fall in love with the land’s real culture and history. Meeting the rest of the PAC6 allowed her to share that passion. “All of us share a similar fascination with history and how our country was settled, but also with the dramatic beauty the West has to offer artists,” she says. Her painting Wild West Show will be on view, which features a performer in his garb.
One of Fortunati’s featured paintings is the landscape A California Morning, with gem-green trees bathed by warm early light, while Weaver’s Leave the Light On depicts a settler returning after a long day.
While the style and subject matter differs among all the artists, their works share the same spirit of adventure. Vistas, Varmints and Vagabonds remains on view at the Santa Paula Art Museum through November 7.
Vistas, Varmints and Vagabonds: The PAC6 Paints the Wild West
Through November 7
Santa Paula Museum of Art
117 N. 10th Street, Santa Paula, CA 93060, (805) 525-5554
www.santapaulaartmuseum.org
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