Jim Lamb embraces the vitality and sensuality offered by impressionism’s direct transcription of outdoor light and color, as these phenomena were equally true. In "California Backroad", solid forms are layered with bright, briskly applied strokes derived from the artist's ongoing outdoor study. Not fully academic nor fully impressionistic, Lamb’s genius lay in his ability to synthesize aspects of both traditional and more contemporary modes of painting, and keep his focus on what he believed to be the role of the artist: to reveal the essential goodness of nature. The painting is signed “J. Lamb” lower left and is housed in a beautiful, hand-gilded gold frame.