Picturing Places and Spaces

Cloud Castles is a fitting title for this large painting with a massive bank of blueish-gray clouds and a puffy cumulus cloud rising above them. Light breaks through the thinner clouds on the right creating a dramatic scene over a body of water barely visible because of the low horizon line. The water has a purple-blue color on the left but turns white on the right as it reflects light. In the foreground, choppy waves with frothy peaks break against the rocks. The falling rain on the far left and the moving clouds and waves create a sense of immediacy. Bradbury's brushstrokes are descriptive yet readily apparent. Painterly dabs of white suggest the froth of the foreground waves.

Bennett Bradbury was born in Wrentham, Massachusetts. At age fifteen, he studied art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which also allowed him to study the museum's painting collection. In 1931 he joined the United States Navy and was afforded the opportunity to carefully observe bodies of water under a variety of conditions. After being discharged, Bradbury moved to Laguna Beach and took a position in the art department at Disney Studios. He lived in California most of his life with the exception of eight years in Oahu, Hawaii. Between 1955 and 1960, Bradbury painted at his studio at Carmel-by-the-Sea. He was a member of the Laguna Beach Art Association and taught workshops at the Laguna Beach School of Art and Design. Bradbury is recognized as a regional artist who specialized in painting seascapes based on the places he lived.