Project Description

Tucked among some of Torrance’s busiest streets, the Madrona Marsh Preserve and nearby nature center provide respite for waterfowl and city dwellers alike. The 43-acre urban oasis is a natural habitat to native plants and animals, and serves as a rest stop for migrating birds like the foraging egrets depicted here. One of the area’s last freshwater marshes with vernal pools fed by seasonal rainfall and runoff, the preserve provides a glimpse of Los Angeles’s historical landscape.

Artist Statement

“In my painting, three migrating egrets find food and rest beneath a cascading tree within the Madrona Marsh Preserve. [These] moments are taken from a meditative stroll, where strokes and shapes of vibrant color, translate into the forms and sounds of nature.”

About the Artist

RANDALL VON BLOOMBERG (b. Miami, FL) is a Los Angeles-based painter whose luminous, layered canvases are inspired by the often-unexpected plant life thriving in his urban surroundings. He holds a Master of Fine Arts from New York Academy of Art and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute. His work has been exhibited throughout the Los Angeles region and in New York and Florida. A longtime professor of art, Von Bloomberg has taught at El Camino College, Santa Monica College and Pasadena City College, to name a few. Among a number of other accolades, Von Bloomberg was selected as 2019 artist-in-residence at the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants in Sun Valley, California.