Paintings of Lower Topanga by artists Norton Wisdom and James Mathers, self-proclaimed “Druids of Topanga,” are on exhibit through May 31, at the Ernie Wolfe Gallery, 1655 Sawtelle Blvd. in West Los Angeles.
Both artists lived and painted in Lower Topanga for 30 years before the property reverted to the State Parks system and the residents had to move. Mathers still paints in the area, now being restored to a riparian oak forest, and some of his plein air works appear in the exhibit, “Wisdom, Mathers: Druids of Topanga,” features.
Topanga publisher Pablo Capra of Brass Tacks Press, surmises that “They’re called Druids because they’re both considered shamanistic guys and gurus for the L.A. art scene.”