 Josh, a Self Portrait |
Click to view the September and October gallery exhibit Joshua Meador and selected artists of California's Film Industry |
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 At his Disney "day job" |
 On his own time with his ever present sketch pad |
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You've seen Joshua Meador's work before, in all the Disney classics in which he was privileged to participate. Josh began at Disney in the midst of the Great Depression soon after he had graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago. He became Disney's director of special effects, and was part of the special effects team which won an Oscar for Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. read more ... | ||
Paintings available through our gallery |
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 "Warming in the Sun" Meador family collection |
 "Rainy Day" (Bodega, CA) |
 Newport Harbor Oregon Meador family collection |
 The Last Symphony Meador family collection, done in honor of Salvador Dali's visit to Disney in 1947 |
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 Strolling in the Park Meador family collection |
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 Sandpipers |
 Estuary Seabirds |
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Joshua Meador Paintings in the family collection |
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 "Cloud Patterns" Disney Collection unavailable for sale |
 "Mood Indigo" Disney Collection courtesy of the Meador family |
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 "Caspar Point" (N of Mendocino) courtesy of the Meador family |
 "Sheep Ranch" Mendocino courtesy of the Meador family unavailable for sale |
 "Colts" courtesy of the Meador family |
 "Pow Wow" Disney Collection courtesy of the Meador family |
 "Andreas Canyon" Palm Springs, Disney Collection courtesy of the Meador family |
 "Far Beyond" Disney Collection courtesy of the Meador family |
 "Backlight" courtesy of the Meador family unavailable for sale |
 "Sea of Sand" courtesy of the Meador family |
 "The Golden Day" courtesy of the Meador family |
 Josh painting at Garrapata State Beach south of Carmel |
During his time away from the studio, Josh would pack up the family station wagon, and together with his wife Libby and son Philip, pulled a teardrop trailer throughout California, painting as they went. Joshua's favorite painting tool was the palette knife. His son Philip smiles as he recalls his father kept some brushes around just to sign his work. Toward the end of his career, he remained under contract with Disney while he maintained studios and galleries in Carmel Highlands and later in Caspar just north of Mendocino. |
 Josh beginning his painting in the film Four Artists Paint One Tree |
Joshua can be seen explaining his painting technique on film. Josh participated in a short feature created for Walt Disney's television show in 1958 and it is entitled "Four Artists Paint One Tree." Walt Disney introduces and narrates as the four artists, Eyvind Earle, Marc Davis, Walt Paragoy and Joshua Meador paint a California live oak tree using four different artistic styles. Joshua is a native of Columbus, Mississippi. He was honored in Columbus in October 2009 as one of the town's favorite sons, along with fellow Columbus native, playwright Tennessee Williams. October 16 was declared as "Joshua Meador" day in the state of Mississippi by Governor Haley Barbour. |
Josh is but one of the many skilled and talented painters attracted to California by the film industry. Fortunately for California, theses artists have left an artistic legacy well beyond their work in film. Beginning in 1936, he participated in a long list of Disney productions. He was most proud of the water effects in Cinderella, Bambi, and the fire and bubbling mud scenes in the "Rite of Spring" in Fantasia. He also was part of a team winning a special effects Oscar for Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Josh's wife Libby Meador reports that Josh loved working for Disney. But for Josh, Disney was his day job, painting was his passion. Today he is known primarily for his striking landscapes. When the work week at |
 The artists and their paintings for "Four Artists Paint One Tree," from left, Joshua Meador, Marc Davis, Eyvind Earle, and Walt Paragoy |
Disney was done, weekends were often spent with the family station wagon pulling a teardrop trailer, and off the family would go. Josh's son Philip reports that he and Libby would go off on long walks while Josh would take the family dog off somewhere and paint. Besides companionship, the dog protected Josh's concentration from startling interruptions from occasional passers by, and protected Josh's paintings from some surprising errors.
His favored painting tool was the palette knife. He first sketched in his subject in the broadest sense with a brush and thinner on stretched fine-linen canvas. Then would switch to the palette knife to complete the painting. Later, in his La Crescenta studio, he would finalize and sign his work. Josh and Libby lived in La Crescenta, California, and were good friends of other nearby painters, among them some from the previous generation, Conrad and Mary Buff and Stephen Seymour Thomas. Later in Josh's career, he did some notable commision pieces, one for Walt Disney's Smoke Tree Ranch near Palm Springs, one for Vandenburg Air Force Base at the beginning of the space race, a painting for President Lyndon Johnson when he was in office, and just prior to his death, he was commissioned to go aboard an aircraft carrier and paint returning Apollo astronauts. Josh and Libby were high school sweethearts in Columbus, Mississippi. Both were quite bright. Josh received a nomination to attend the Naval Academy at Annapolis, but turned it down. He wanted to follow his passion and paint. After visiting New York and Pittsburg trying to find the right art school for him, he arrived at the Chicago Art Institute in 1931, the same year Josh and Libby were married. He studied illustration, painting, portraits, and etching. After graduation in 1935, Josh and Libby came to California where Josh applied and went to work for Walt Disney. Four years later, Philip was born, Josh continued working for Disney until 1960, making an agreement with Walt Disney that Josh would return from his studio for special projects. Back to top of the page. |
Click here for a PDF file of the Joshua Meador Catalogue "The California Vision of Joshua Meador" Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery November 24 - 26, 2006 |
