Cydette Vikander: From California to Europe and Back

Cydette Vikander has been surrounded by art her entire life.

"I used to watch my mother paint all the time," she says. "My father would always give me art books that had wonderful paintings inside. We also lived on the beach in Santa Monica when I grew up. How could I not become an artist with such surroundings?"

Vikander worked on perfecting her painting skills, and by the time she turned 15, she started to take her craft more seriously.

"My neighbor held a small art gallery show one day and featured some of my art in his house," Vikander remembers. "Eventually, someone ended up loving one of my pieces, and he sold it for $75. That was one of the first pieces I ever sold. That's when I knew I had the talent."

When she turned 18, she decided to go on a trip. It wasn't a normal journey.

"I hitchhiked all the way from Santa Monica to the East Coast. Back in the 1970s, it was much safer to do so. I'd never even think of doing that today. But those adventures really inspired my career. I got to see a lot of the country and satisfy my desire to travel, for a time."

After her cross-country jaunt, Vikander's desire to see more of the world grew. Eventually she saved up $1,000 and bought a ticket to Belgium. At the time, it was only $250 for a roundtrip ticket to Europe.

"We had to fly from Los Angeles to Iceland, then finally to Belgium," she says. "From there, my friend and I got a Volkswagen van and cruised all around Europe. We went everywhere, from Paris to Milan and through a lot of cities on the continent. It was really a lot of fun, and I'll never forget it."

As time passed, Vikander realized she couldn't cruise around Europe forever and decided to come back home. Her choice? Laguna Beach. Her house is a 1910-ish cottage nestled up top a hillside that oversees the ocean.

"This place just screams Laguna Beach," Vikander says. "I'd never change anything about it. Look at the ocean over there, look at how open it is. There's nothing to change."

Vikander's art draws on everyday life in California, often adding travel-inspired touches to her paintings. One of these, titled "Cleanup," depicts the Volkswagen van she traveled in while in Europe. It also adds a California touch, with surfboards surrounding the van, and one of them leaning against it.

In her Surf Culture series, Vikander captures the sport's relationship with the city in vivid detail. One work, "Out of Water," shows a bare-chested man exiting the shore break he's just surfed. Touches of gold and sand-colored pastels shade the background, giving the viewer a sense of freshness and of how the water hits the shore and wets it. There's also a smile on the man's semi-obscured face. The message is clear, one worthy of a Chamber of Commerce advertising campaign: Laguna Beach is a great place to be.

"Sunset Paddle," while less action-oriented, shows how a day at the water winds down in Laguna. The sun is setting, surfers and paddleboarders lie out on their boards to enjoy the sun's warmth. It's a stark contrast from the rest of Vikander's work because it doesn't highlight her penchant for soft, soothing blue hues. Instead, there are light shades of red and orange, the kind we get to see almost daily during a Laguna dusk.

"I always use pastel as my medium," she says. "Drawing scenes of California, such as the beach, surfers and sunsets, never gets old. Plus, it's where I'm from."

Vikander also hosts a special creative getaway for locals, which she calls the Art Experience, where professionals, couples and anyone interested can learn about making art. It's in its fourth year. Each session is small, typically six or seven guests, so Vikander can give each person plenty of one-on-one instruction.

"I teach the clients how to paint, give them wine and offer hors 'doeurves," She says. "We usually paint at one of the cliffs here in Laguna Beach. It's a lot of fun."

To learn more about Vikander, visit her website at cydettestudio.com. To contact her directly, call 949-715-7946 or e-mail her at cydettevp@gmail.com. To learn more about the Art Experience, click up artexperiencenow.com.