Longtime Redlands muralist featured artist in June

REDLANDS, Calif. — Larry Dierdorff has spent decades leaving his mark on Redlands, painting nearly 20 murals across downtown and local schools. Beginning June 13, visitors to the Redlands Art Association can see a different side of the longtime muralist's work as he showcases nearly 50 smaller paintings in a featured exhibition.

After a decade of nearly continuous mural commissions, Dierdorff said a recent lull in projects gave him time to prepare a show of his canvas work at the Redlands Art Association.

Moving to canvas work has been a neurological exercise, he said.

“When you paint a piece of art on canvas, it’s right here,” he said. Unlike a mural, where he has to step 30 yards away to see whether the composition is working, canvas painting demands close attention to detail. “It requires much more detail — it’s much more challenging.”

A fan of Norman Rockwell, Dierdorff gravitates towards realism.

“I always feel like I need to tug at your heart or I want you to see there’s a little bit of a story,” Dierdorff said.

Many times, his wife Gail helps improve his artwork. “She’s got a great eye. She’s very valuable to me. She’s my best critic.”

Recently, Dierdorff has been exploring visual distortions in his work, including reflections in water and images viewed through glass. Many of his classic car paintings focus on the warped reflections found in chrome and glossy paint. “There’s the reality and then the kind of beauty in the distortion,” he said.

“I grew up in Yakima Valley in Washington State,” he said. From his hometown, “there was a hard right turn, and a little old hardware store called Pumpkin Corner.” In a painting inspired by that store from his childhood, he added orange crates and oranges to fit with his current hometown, Redlands. Many of his motifs have oranges in them for that reason.

Sometimes Dierdorff is inspired by some of the great classics, like John Singer Sargent’s “Lady Agnew” which he did a version of and put an orange in her hand. “I’m just going to paint it because I love the image,” he said. He also painted a gunfight by artist Koerner. “There is all this tension,” he said.

Dierdorff created ceramics and stained glass for decades, but the murals are his biggest accomplishment.

“I’ve covered a lot of walls in this town,” he said.

Especially the ones he gets to paint for kids at their schools. He taught special education at Mariposa Elementary in the early 1980s after art was taken out of the curriculum.

“I thought I am going to paint those walls so at least the kids are exposed to art,” he said. His most recent murals are at the E-Academy and Judson & Brown.

The murals have had an impact for Christine Curry, fellow muralist in Redlands. “She told me when she was in third grade at McKinley, she was so impressed with [my] murals that she wanted to do that,” Dierdorff said. “She has some really nice skills.” He enjoys the diversity of the different muralists in Redlands.

Around the corner from the Redlands Art Association, one of Dierdorff’s newer murals features an image that changes with the holidays. The current picture is of his son holding his grandson for Father’s Day. “My son is a great father,” he said.

There is one mural he’s always wanted to paint of people of all races leaning against the wall, hanging out on State Street. “Engaging with the wall,” he said.

When asked about his status as a treasured Redlands muralist, Dierdorff said, “I think this town is full of treasures and I feel fortunate that I found a way to contribute.” Having a featured art show in downtown Redlands surrounded by his murals, he said, “I’m thrilled that some people want to have my paintings at their home.”

You can meet Dierdorff on Saturday, June 20 from 1-4 p.m. at the open house event.

His show runs from June 13 to July 10.

About the Redlands Art Association

Address: 215 E State St, Redlands CA 92373
RAA website: redlands-art.org
RAA social media:  facebook.com/RedlandsArtAssociation and @redlandsartassociation on Instagram.
Opening hours: Mon – Sat 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays closed.