This is a documentary film from 2008 about a true artist, the American painter Jim McVicker, who lives and works in the wild and woolly landscape of California’s “Lost Coast:” The Pacific coast of Humboldt County, just south of the Oregon border. A largely roadless, sparsely populated zone of giant trees and salty little towns.
The film is an exploration of Jim McVicker’s world, and a tribute to his work. We follow the painter as he works in the places he loves: The meadows, forests, harbors, the little weatherbeaten towns, and the ragged sea-cliffs of Humboldt County. The scenery is entrancing, and watching this painter as he drinks it in, and then translates it into his own artistic language, is a joy. The film then goes further, and strives for a deeper understanding of the bond between this remarkable artist and his astonishing native ground.
Jim McVicker: A Way of Seeing, is a beautiful and touching film about a way of life, and a realm of beauty, that have not yet vanished from the world.