Valley Artists Highlight Local Venues through Paintings and Photographs

Northridge resident Shel Mosk gave up his dream of being a trained, commercial photographer for 20 years to raise his family.

But now, Mosk’s back in the game.

The 1978 Brooks Institute of Santa Barbara graduate was among 15 artists from the San Fernando Valley who participated in an open house and community art exhibition in Chatsworth on Monday, sponsored by Mitchell Englander, a Los Angeles City Councilman.

Englander, who represents the 12^th District which includes Chatsworth, Northridge and Porter Ranch, was also celebrating his first anniversary as an elected official.

About 150 fine art paintings and photographs of the local area were temporarily tacked onto office walls, some by Englander himself. They will remain there for six months and are up for sale, with all of the profits going to the artists.

They range from photographs of food trucks in Granada Hills to an acrylic painting of the Chatsworth Nature Preserve to buildings on the campus of California State University at Northridge and Shel Mosk's “Supermoon” over Northridge on May 5.

Mosk was able to capture the “Supermoon” from Reseda Boulevard in Porter Ranch between Braemore and Beaufait Avenues.

“The ‘Supermoon,’ or perigee moon is the largest moon when it’s closest to the Earth,” Mosk said. “I used several exposures for the bright and dark areas of the image.”

His “Supermoon,” magnified during a full moon when the Earth’s nearest celestial neighbor appear roughly 20 percent brighter and 15 percent larger, is a giclee, or inkjet print on canvas.

"The inspiration for the picture was to see what you can capture in an interesting way, so others can enjoy the event," Mosk added.

On the other hand, Carla Bollinger, a Chatsworth resident and board member of Santa Susan Mountain Park Association, uses acrylics on a canvas and a board, to paint “Turquoise Morning, Chatsworth Lake” and “California Gold.”

“I painted (Morning Glow) from my dining room window. I’m (concerned about) the vanishing landscape,” Bollinger said, adding the two pictures were painted “plein air” and not from a photo. “I try to capture emotion, the light and shadows (in my paintings).”

Bollinger turned to painting 20 years as a stress relief from her busy publishing and travel writing career.

“I took a sumi-e (Chinese brush) art class to relax. A friend gave me her throw away canvases and acrylics,” she said. "My first painting was a giant calla lily from a photo at Descanso Gardens.”

Bollinger also said she took a “spiritual journey” to artist Georgia O’Keefe’s New Mexico digs where she painted an adobe house, but change it from pink to terra cotta.

“I was off and running,” she added.

Photographer Alex Bellanger of Granada Hills began his photographic journey as a child when he grabbed a family camera and started to snap pictures as a hobby.

Bellanger started with 126 mm film, graduated to 35 mm in high school and switched to digital when he needed to buy a new camera.

“The switch from film to digital was easy for me,” Bellanger said. “I used a Cannon 20D and 70, a wide-angle and a telephoto lens– on this aerial shot of the food trucks (in Granada Hills along Chatsworth Street).”

Bellanger said he dabbles in things and places versus portraits of people.

But now Bellanger is into food trucks that park on Chatsworth Street every Friday night.

He rented a helicopter to take aerial shots of the Granada Hills food trucks after being inspired by Jessica Ambatz, an air-to-air photographer and instrument-rated pilot based in Santa Monica.

“I like the colors, designs of the trucks. Some have unique advertising,” he said.  “The people who own or run them are quite personable. You are not only getting a meal out of them, but also a good conversation. They have transformed the area on a Friday night.”

Councilman Englander mingled among the artists and open house guests.

Since he has been in office this past year, he said his top three accomplishments were focusing on fixing the city’s fire department, bringing a performance-based budget system to Los Angeles and taking the first steps to eliminate the gross-receipts tax.