Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery has two paintings we feel deserve to be displayed in a place of honor somewhere in Sonoma Valley.

One of these is Captain Vallejo's Casa, done on Sonoma Square in the early 1950's by Joshua Meador. It is of a rainy day crowd with umbrellas gathered in front of this historic building of the Vallejo family, just steps away from the Sonoma Mission on Sonoma Square.

Joshua Meador had a fascinating career. A graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago, he began at Disney Studios in the mid 1930's, rising quickly to become the studio's Director of Animation Effects, a position he held until his death in 1965.

Yet Joshua Meador thought of himself as a artist first. He often explained, "First and foremost, I'm a painter, Disney is my day job."

Captain Vallejo's Casa shows a gathering of people at what used to be General Vallejo's brother's home on a wintery rainy day. Today, the building is The Swiss Hotel with its Italian restaurant known for great pizza. The gathering in the painting shows guests huddled on the balcony and on the street below. It appears to be late fall or winter because of the reddish brown sparse leaves on the trees.

"The Captain" in the title refers to General Vallejo's youngest brother who ran the garrison at the Mission during the Bear Flag Revolt in 1846. Today, a bronze statue of General Vallejo is across the street. The bronze statue sits on a park bench, as if ready for passers-by to take his photo and pose for a selfie.

Joshua Meador visited Sonoma County often during the early 1950's, painting coastal and small town scenes throughout Sonoma County. In Hollywood, he was the Director of Animation Effects for Walt Disney Studios beginning there in the mid 1930's. Today he is considered a pioneering giant within the animation effects industry, and made major contributions to many of the Disney classics of that era. As a fine art painter, he was a graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago and he loved painting landscapes and seascapes, mostly along the California Coast. Most of his activity was in Sonoma, Monterey and Mendocino Counties. His work was critically praised and distinctive with an expressive impasto heavy palette knife technique all his own.