Silicon Valley Open Studio took place on the first 3 weekends of May, when artists showcased their works in art studios or open spaces and talked to visiting art lovers and fellow artists. The locations for this first weekend were mostly in North or Mid-Peninsula. I visited 5 of them, including the Art Center at the historical Twin Pines Manor House in Belmont (built by an early principal in the Bank of America, George Center, as his residence and subsequently sold to a group of doctors for a psychiatric hospital. It was eventually purchased by the city), the Cubberley Community Center in Palo Alto (currently undergoing change of management which doesn't seem to be giving priority to long-time artists working there anymore so some of them are leaving while some are trying to re-apply to stay there), the Gallery House (at the back of a cafe. I think this arrangement benefits both parties by drawing in visitors) and some homes of artists with huge backyard (located in one of the most expensive real market in US. Who says artists are poor?)
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Ruth-Anne Siegel
Summer Day |
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| Charlene Landreau |
I found that oil or acrylic paintings still dominated the works displayed this weekend. And landscape is the most popular genre in this medium. Whether realistic or not was not important.
A few more notable landscape painters includes
Fawad Malik, who has a whole series of paintings in the Impressionism style (also includes some still-life),
Ann McMillan,
Marguerite Fletcher, who has held travel workshop at locations like Oaxaca (Mexico) and Hawaii.
I was surprised that photography was not featured as prominently as the scene I witnessed in SF (galleries and open studios) Still, there were no lack of good works. For example,
Celia V. Beatts sold photo developed on metal (using a unique method called
MetalPrints by Bay Photo Lab) with scenes ranging from a restaurant in Sonoma to a farm in the Midwest)
Joan Sparks specialized in wildlife photography, including hummingbirds, herons, eagles, bears, butterflies and so on. When asked for tips, she emphasized the importance of patience. She once waited for 3 hours to take a picture of a pair of waxwings but the result was stunning. It would also require the use of long lens and fast shutter speed. Photographer Dan McLean's works were more on the abstract than the realistic side. I was drawn by the lines and shapes on his picture of stairs at the Alcatraz focused more so than the actual structure. On the contrary, one could learn a lot about styles of architecture from different parts of the world by studying Frances Freyberg Blackburn's collection of photo from around the world. She also had a collection on flowers.
Less mainstream media/methods like collages also had their places. I talked to
Robin Schreiber about her collages, which were based on photo but ended up looking a lot different than the source. Her other methods include wood cut and line drawing.
Madeline Ettin showed her monotype pieces made by pressing the paper against a surface with ink or paint that forms the image.
More locations will be hosting open studios in South Peninsula and South Bay in the next 2 weekends. Can't wait for another tour!
