Two art pieces by San Pedro natives will eventually reside in Croatia.
Los Angeles Councilmember Tim McOsker and LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn announced on Monday, Jan. 8, two pieces of artwork that will soon be presented to Nathalie Rayes — to celebrate her recent confirmation as the U.S. ambassador to Croatia.
McOsker and Hahn handpicked the art themselves.
The pieces, which are intended as gifts for Croatia President Zoran Milanović, are by Stephen Mirich and Eve Pericich, both of whom are San Pedro natives of Croatian descent.
“What is so important to this town is the history of the Croatian American experience,” McOsker, whose 15th District includes the historic port town, said during the Monday presentation in the San Pedro Municipal Building on Beacon Street.
Mirich’s piece, which he created in 1997, shows two fishing boats, referencing San Pedro’s fishing fleets, with its once-booming tuna industry and mackerel. His impressionist style, much like Claude Monet’s, emphasizes the colors of still-life landscapes of the San Pedro ports.
Mirich said that he climbs the hills around San Pedros often to search for inspiration for his paintings.
“It’s a little bit like hunting, you know. I go down to the beach, I look around and I feel something feels right or so,” Mirich said. “Sometimes I have a certain idea, but usually when I go out to a location, that changes and I find other things to paint.”
Pericich, meanwhile, gifted “Palisades,” a canvas that depicts the cliffs of 37th and Barbara streets, across Paseo del Mar. The painting’s focal point is the Pacific Ocean, which many Croatian Dalmatians in San Pedro say remind them of the Adriatic Sea.
“This is a view that my father loved,” Pericich said. “It reminded him of home.”
Pericic spent a year in Croatia when she was 25 and, she said, she holds many fond memories of her father’s native country.
“This (painting) brings me back to that time and makes me feel…
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