ART / SNEAK PEEK : N.Y. STATE OF MIND FOR VALLEY ART FIND.

Alex Ross never had any formal training as a painter. But he had something equally crucial to making art: memories.

Although Ross, 78, has lived in North Hollywood for 42 years, his imagination never abandoned his native New York City. His paintings hum with the nostalgic sights and sounds of his youth - teeming brownstones, big bands bopping at the Savoy in Harlem, and hellish summer days blessedly relieved by an open fire hydrant.

Suggesting an urbanized, male Grandma Moses, Ross paints in the lively palette and whimsical lines of the style known as ``naif,'' a term he doesn't mind one bit. There's a long, honorable line of pseudo-primitive ``Sunday'' painters, reaching back to French pseudo-primitivist Henri Rousseau, Ross points out. He'll be the first to admit he's still mastering his craft.

``I don't know about perspective,'' he says with a laugh. ``I do the best I can.''

His best, apparently, is just fine with the Los Angeles Municipal Gallery, the San Bernardino County Museum and the Halle St. Pierre Musee d'Art Naif in Paris, all of which have shown his work. Now add to the list the Brand Skylight Gallery of the Brand Library in Glendale, site of a Ross exhibition running through Oct. 29.

Not all of Ross' paintings are idealized reimaginings of his Bronx boyhood. Some draw on his painful remembrances of growing up in orphanages and foster homes. Another depicts earthquake survivors floating with innocent calm above a row of ruined buildings.

Ross also revisits scenes from World War II, where he served in Europe with the U.S. Army 173rd Medical Division. Two years ago, his brilliantly colored rendering of the Omaha Beach landing almost made the cover of Time magazine's special D-Day 50th anniversary issue (it got bumped at the last minute by a portrait of Ike).

Ross took the rejection philosophically.

``For me, it was an honor just to have it considered,'' he says.

The Brand Library is located at 1601 W. Mountain St. Hours are 1 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays, and 1 to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Admission is free. For information, call [phone].

Counting their blessings: Thanksgiving comes early this year for the Skirball Cultural Center, the Jewish arts and cultural edifice perched on 15 acres off the San Diego Freeway.

Marking its first year in business, the Skirball is throwing itself a party of sorts, and inviting practically every artist in L.A. to join in. Some 50 Southern California artists, working in every conceivable medium, have been asked to contribute to the exhibition ``Blessings and Beginnings,'' which opened Oct. 3 and will remain through Feb. 2.

So what's behind the theme? According to the museum, the artists have been asked ``to reflect in their work their own understanding of the meaning of the Hebrew blessing or some related blessing or experience which may be a part of their heritage.''

We don't know of anyone without some reason to feel blessed, and that probably goes for Kim Abeles, Sam Erenberg, Kathy Jacobi, Karen Koblitz, Ruth Weisberg and the other participating artists.

An affiliate of Hebrew Union College, the center opened to the public in April and has been offering a strenuous program of visual art shows, concerts, lectures, film and video screenings, readings, symposia and ... whew!

Its hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays; noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. For information and admission charges, call [phone].

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Photo: North Hollywood painter Alex Ross' ``Battle of the B ig Bands at the Savoy'' is inspired by his visits to the Harlem ballroom: ``The Savoy had three bandstands and could hold 4,000 dancers,'' he says.