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DAYTON — So you're ready for spring and you'd love to get away from it all, but that simply isn't in the picture at the moment.

Well, thanks to the Dayton Art Institute and The Irvine Museum, what is in the picture is a soothing alternative: a visit back in time to California's lush and gorgeous landscapes in an era when they were still pristine. "All Things Bright & Beautiful," the new exhibit that recently opened at the DAI, is aptly named. The colorful collection of 60 turn-of-the century California Impressionist paintings is irresistible. Forty-four artists are represented.

"They are all happy paintings," says DAI director Jan Driesbach. "They are filled with sunshine." Comments in the visitors' book range from "breathtakingly beautiful" to "refreshing" and "inspiring."

Though most of us conjure up works by Monet and Renoir when we think of "impressionists," the French painters weren't alone in making use of the techniques and subject matter that came to represent the 19th century art movement. American art students also flocked to Paris and were influenced to paint outdoors using broken brush strokes and pastel tones.

Among the well-known artists featured in the current exhibit are William Wendt, Guy Rose, Dona Schuster, Granville Redmond and Alson Clark.

One of the national experts on California Impressionism is the DAI's own chief curator, Will South, who grew up in California and has written extensively on the subject. He says there are important differences between the California Impressionists and others.

"In these paintings, form does not dissolve as it does in the late paintings of Monet," he said. "The Americans who experienced Impressionism were almost immediately taken by its outdoor light and color, but they layered bright color and light over careful drawing."

That means it's easy to identify the mountains, the trees, the ocean, the desert. You may even recognize some specifics: Carmel, Laguna Beach, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Mission Bay.

"Americans valued skill and discipline in the replication of nature, and the California Impressionists, did too," South says. "So, their work is a compromise: the retention of the 'facts' of nature with the intense light derived from working out of doors and the high-keyed palette of direct observation."

The Irvine Museum is the only museum in California dedicated to the preservation and display of California Impressionism or Plein-Air Painting.

"Plein-air is French for outdoor," South says. "When a painting is done from start to finish out-of-doors, the painter must work very quickly because the light is changing, shadows lengthening, wind blowing, mosquitoes biting, all of that. This means that to capture a given scene, the outdoor painter summarizes shapes, leaves out small details (there's no time!) and usually works on a smaller, more manageable canvas or board."

James Irvine Swinden, vice president of The Irvine Museum, was in town for the opening of the new exhibit and says his museum's philosophy is to share work rather than keep it stored in a basement.