By the Sea, Out of Mind at Sullivan Goss in Santa Barbara

Making my way in to see Nicole Strasburg’s new Sullivan Goss exhibition Surfacing, diverse enticements were there to behold in this spatially generous, three-gallery-deep art space. This summer’s triple play of shows includes Holli Harmon’s intriguingly multifaceted To Feast on Clouds and the seasonal group show spritzer dubbed Summer Fling in the large middle space, including colorful, eye-buzzing works by Penelope Gottlieb, Robert Townsend, and one of Hank Pitcher’s fetching surfboard “portraits.”

By association, Strasburg’s conceptually elastic variations on seascape paintings should also qualify as summery fare. And yet these seaside scenarios, taken individually and as a variegated and integrated ensemble, can take on introspective and artistically adventurous sub-turns, far from the realm of idle beachgoer’s escapism.

It has been fascinating to observe veteran outdoors/plein air/seascape painter Strasburg’s growth and gradual evolution over the years. Whereas many landscape and seascape artists might settle into a cozy — and sometimes lucrative — groove, Strasburg seems the more restlessly questioning sort, finding new expressive avenues without ever leaving the foundation of her nature-oriented iconography.