Acclaimed artists display works at Fallbrook gallery

FALLBROOK — Paintings of award-winning Fallbrook artist Jack Ragland may be viewed at the French Gallery, a five-room, park-like art gallery on South Mission Road, a mile south of Fallbrook’s central business area. According to artist Fredonia French Jacques, the gallery’s director, Ragland’s works have been given permanent showing space in the facility. Jacques’ works, with those of other guest artists, are also on display.

The gallery, with its large garden deck, commands a rare view of Fallbrook’s Ostrich Farm Creek with its giant trees and year-round waterfalls. “Visitors, while studying selections of traditional and contemporary art, are invited to relax with a cup of tea at one of the area’s beauty spots,” says Jacques.

Ragland, whose paintings are widely known for their colorful depictions of Mediterranean towns and rural scenes, is one of ten finalists in the Next Great American Artist Contest promoted nationwide by Kirkland’s Home 350 art stores.

In addition to displays in Fallbrook’s French Gallery and Palm Springs’ Desert Art Scource, Ragland’s art is on display in the Los Angeles County Museum, the Phoenix Museum, the Albertina Museum in Vienna, the Kunstmuseum in Basel and the Bibliotheque National in Paris. He describes his art style as “romantic and impressionistic.” Of the winning entry, “Il Castello Bella Collina,” he says, “I tried to capture the golden light of the Tuscan afternoon.” Fallbrook is home base for the artist who, while traveling the world, enjoys the unspoiled charm of the village.

The French Gallery is open Sunday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.