Flourish

Gettin Crafty Up in the Valley

If you have your ear to the ground (metaphorically of course) you've heard the rumble of the Bay Area urban craft movement coming our way. As one who religiously frequents Maker Faire, Bazaar Bizarre, and Renegade Craft Fair, I am loving the fact that the Napa Valley has had nonstop craft events all month. 

It started off with the White Barn Winter Fair on November 19th to benefit the Arts Council of Napa Valley. Nimbus Arts followed with their "Hands on Fire" ceramic show and sale. Last weekend I stopped at the "Holiday Shopping Extravaganza" and saw good friends Valerie Raven, Nina Zaslove, and Nancy Shapiro. Napa Valley College has a Pottery Sale and Open Studio Thursday from 11:00am-8:00pm and "Santa's Helpers" returns to the Napa Expo the 11th & 12th.

So I couldn't help throwing my hat in the ring when potter Nikki Ballere invited us to be at the Artisan Trunk Show in St. Helena on Dec 17 & 18. I'll be showing off my latest sewn creations at a booth with my boyfriend Robb McDonough who owns Barn Simple Press. Other fantastically creative artists in the show include: Christopher Jones-Marino, William Callnan III, Mercedes Baker, Daithi, Melissa Garden Streblow, Melissa Baker, Slader Brown, Nikki Ballere, Sonia Lub, Layla Musselwhite, Jenna Wells, Lynae Marie Skookumchuck and Thief of Hearts.

We kick it off Friday with a fun party from 6:00-9:00pm and continue Saturday from 10:00-5:00. Come check out the beautiful space upstairs at the Odd Fellows Building in St. Helena at 1352 Main Street. I guarantee you will find a wonderful work of art or jewelry or letterpress or pottery that you cannot live without.

Viva la Craft!

 

Makers Mark

This is an incredible time for artists and art lovers in the Napa Valley. As part of the Napa Valley Arts 2010, local painters, photographers, musician, actors, poets, singers, sculptors, and makers of all sorts are showing off and looking great. (all photos by Robb McDonough)

Organized by the Arts Council of Napa Valley, the celebration is chock full of over 100 cultural events at arts organizations, venues, galleries, wineries and schools up and down the valley. If you have ever bemoaned the fact that there isn’t enough to do in Napa, I invite you to pick up a NV Arts catalog or visit their website NVarts.org to check out the smorgasbord now through November 14.

The partying started off with a huge feel-good event at Mumm Napa. The Arts Council lined up photographers Suzanne Becker Bronk, Dona Kopol Bonick, Kristine Cummins, and Chick Harrity to take portraits of over 60 inspirational "makers". The photos captured everyone from Eleanor Coppola to Jakey Lee, showing just how diverse and brilliant our artist population is.

The great thing about the event was the overwhelming feeling of camaraderie and support. Sometimes as an artist, it feels like you are working in a void. But that night, you felt a powerful sense of togetherness. Many of the people who have been active in the arts scene for years, got to meet the up and coming generation of makers. I was absolutely honored to be recognized in the company of all these talented, dedicated, luminaries.

Special thanks to the staff at the ACNV for organizing this massive “wedding” of artists. Now that we are on our honeymoon, I hope everyone can look around proudly at what you have helped us achieve. Hurray!

Check out these Makers blog posts too:

Inspire Your Life-Style

Napavore

Media-ANT

Needle in a Hay Barn

Finding cool contemporary art exhibitions in Napa used to be like looking for a needle in a haystack. But a few recent events have opened up new venues in the local scene. Artist Gordon Huether has moved his exhibition space to downtown Napa, freeing up his Hay Barn studio gallery on Monticello Road to rotating show by guests curators.

The expert vision of Chandra Cerrito (owner of Chandra Cerrito Contemporary in Oakland) has transformed the Hay Barn into a super hip space for new art. The five artists in her show Stratigraphic play with elements of pop, op, and abstract art, to create work that not only catches your eye, it traps it.

The vibrant paintings of Omar Chacón, who was born in Bogotá, refer to the rich colors and patterns of Latin American textiles. Brian Caraway (photo) pairs his rhythmic canvases with titles that throw you off balance i.e. "take my advice don't come any closer". And David Allan Peters, carves into layers and layers of acrylic paint, taking the painting in reverse, flipping your sense of 2D and 3D.

An added bonus was the sighting of the "Imperial America" a work in progress by artist Lewis deSoto that was recently written about in the NY Times.  His customized 1956 Chrysler Imperial was parked out front sans the pending roof rack for a 10.5-foot scale model of a CC-56 Redstone ballistic missile.

Thanks to Gordon and Chandra and all the artists in Stratigraphic for an incredible discovery. The exhibition is up through September 24 and the Hay Barn is open to needle hunters Monday-Friday 9am to 4pm. More photos in the Hay Barn album.

A tilt on tomatoes

Last night I was joined by a cadre of bloggers at Gott's Roadside for a twilight tour of their self-sustaining garden in St. Helena. We were celebrating "Tomato Week" as part of SummerFest 2010 at AWaytoGarden.com. Being an aspiring lenshound, I jumped at the chance to take some artsy photos of Executive Chef, Rick Robinson's abundant crop of corn, tomatoes, peppers, melons, and herbs. Garden Manager, Christopher Landercasper proudly toured us through the rows of green before we sat down to a feast of tomato dishes including classic Gazpacho, Panzanella, Southern Scalloped Tomatoes, and my favorite...Tomato and Mayo Sandwiches (on Wonder Bread)--thus proving myself once again the least gourmet of the group.

But I was there for the pics not the recipes. So I decided to try something new with my digital shots. I took them to tiltshiftmaker.com and automatically, the spot focus changed and the perspective softened. Suddenly the photos looked magical and reflected the equally enchanted warm night we were having (for a change in the Napa Valley). So if you are looking for a fun way to alter your photos, or offer a slightly warped version of your experience out in a tomato field, try "tilt shift". And remember, "The man that cannot visualize a horse galloping on a tomato is an idiot”--Andre Breton

 

Craft Nation Comin at Ya!

Howlin' DJ Wolfman Jack said, "I started out as an opportunistic renegade. By now, I've lasted long enough to become sort of an Original Respectable Renegade."

I found this quote relevant to the speedy rate that new "underground" ideas become accepted into culture these days. Last Sunday, I went to the Renegade Craft Fair at Fort Mason, SF with Robb of Barn Simple Press to check out the scene, especially the letterpress scene. Last year when I told people I would be attending, the looked at me with a crinkled nose and asked "what are renegade crafts?". This year when I mentioned it, people replied "Oh yeah, I wanted to go to that!"

Maybe its just good marketing or word of mouth, but it seems like the indie craft world is becoming a major player in the art world and contemporary culture in general. This of course makes me happy (flashing back to my childhood days of making lint dolls and sewing buttons on my Keds). I am not a professional crafter, but I eagerly consume all of the clever inventions of my fellow quirky artists.

I especially appreciated some of the punny cards and tees at the fair this year. Like the recycled library cards that said "I've been checking you out all day." by the folks at Power & Light Press. Or the blunt but optimistic "I'm Fat, Let's Party"

There is reason for optimism. The crowd at the craft fair was huge and enthusiastic. People were buying as well as networking (using cool new apps as well as old fashioned business cards). So rest easy Wolfman...your fellow renegades are quickly becoming respected entrepreneurs while remaining part of the avant-garde.

(see Renegade photo album on the right)

One More Reason

I couldn’t tell if I was going back in time or forward when I looked around at the 1915 Mission Revival Hacienda filled with art and hipsters at Scribe Winery last weekend. The light was near twilight, the garden in full bloom, the dilapidated house crawling with photographers in ecstasy.

The whole thing was rigged up by an organization called 18 Reasons whose mission is to engage the community through food and art. They lead field trips to site-specific installations of artwork, coordinate homemade baby food swaps, and curate exhibitions around “slow food” ideas, and much much more.

On July 31st 18 Reasons curated an artistic and culinary take-over of Scribe Winery's 100 year-old Hacienda, an empty building once home to bootleggers and turkey farmers. For one night only, artists, chefs, and performers transformed and inhabited its high-ceilinged rooms and tiny hidden closets with a ramen noodle bar, a Bayou musical performance, an ethereal outdoor dining room, and so on.  

Scribe founder Andrew Mariani seemed right at home with 200 guests pitching tents in the field watched over by a row of skinny palm trees. Andrew is a “modern winemaker” who believes that his duty is to “let the vineyard express itself and to assist in its natural progression.” After stopping to talk to us in the roughly constructed “Outdoor Dining Room” created by The Perish Trust he diligently lit the luminarias leading back to the party which continued the next day with a sunrise breakfast.  

Artists and chefs included: Sasha Wizansky, Sam White, Dori Latman, Jessica Niello, Louesa Roebuck, Olivia Rogers, Mark Gravel, Morgan Maki, Linh Phu, Asiya Wadud, Susan Kim, Andrew Pimlott, Jerome Waag, Siew-Chinn Chinn, Lulu McClellan, Chris Kronner, Michelle Blade, Asiya Wadud, Kathleen Henderson, Cal Peternell, Cheyenne Pallo, Perish Trust, Sylvan Brackett, etc.

(As usual, more photos in the photo album to the right.)

 

 

Vive la Friends!

And now it is time to sing the praises of my incredibly smart chic artist friend Nancy Willis. Not just because I recently won the “guest of honor” prize at her recent Fete Francois 2010 (fist pump), but because she has been an inspiration to many in her passion, style, and talent. Nancy has been a force in the Napa Valley since her early days on the board of the Arts Council. She deserves the yellow jersey (Tour de France reference) for her dedication to local arts through doing Open Studios, teaching at NVC and Nimbash, and cheering on her creative pals.

 

She is also the only artist I know to work in lipstick—directly from the tube. I’ve witnessed Nancy complete two lipstick pieces. Once in the Danger exhibition at Off the Preserve! (di Rosa’s former downtown gallery space) and again at the Nest for our Decorum show. She can achieve incredible detail and tonality with this ultimately feminine, extremely malleable medium.

 

Nancy has always been interested in the ideas of perception, visibility and intimacy. Her recent series of chandeliers stand as metaphors for female beauty: illuminating and mesmerizing with a core of strength. She has recreated their transparent shapes in paintings, monotypes, and solarplates and hangs chandeliers generously around her garden for photogenic dinner parties.

 

Such was the setting at the soiree last Sunday with a group of artists who look forward every year to Nancy’s annual feast in celebration of her successful Path of an Artist tour to France. We all pitch in with wines and French cheese and break out the berets. But it is the incredible table setting and hostessing that wow me every time. (see photos in the Fete Francois album to the right)

I just wanted to raise a glass to Nancy Willis the artist, traveler, teacher, chef, and dear friend. Her joie de vivre is a masterpiece. Merci Nancoise.

There’s nothing quite like a handwritten note.

Love this Design Sponge post on Handwriting and Flourish Art:

La Bella Terra

Uno momento. I'd like to pause a moment to recognize a somewhat hidden talent in our midst. Artist Amy Gallaher, who has been living and working in Napa for the past 10 years, draws little attention to her unique gifts. I have known her practically all of this time, I am still ever surprised by her abilities and drive to perfect them. Last weekend at the Youth in Arts: Italian Street Painting Festival in San Rafael, I was once again awed by her skill and endurance.

Amy was one of the featured artists at the Festival, which is a high honor considering that the Youth in Arts festival is renowned as one of the finest street painting festivals in the world. This is her fourth year creating a masterpiece in chalk while over 60,000 people look on in amazement. Starting on Thursday evening, Amy was on her hands and knees for three days in the scorching sun to complete her section of a piece called The Four Elements. Her trompe l'oeil flood of color representing water was almost refreshing enough to cool off the crowd. The elements earth, air, and fire were beautifully portrayed by featured artists Sharyn Namnath, David “Two Hawk” Glazier, and Mark Cummings.

 
Amy embraced this unsusual art form as she does everything in life. She picked up street painting as though it was in her blood. And in fact, some of her pieces have been based on super realist paintings by her father John Stewart. Amy says, "I love the scale of street painting, and I'm more comfortable painting a 12-foot square on the ground than I am painting a 12-inch painting to hang on the wall. People ask if I am sad when my paintings are washed away. I answer that the fleeting nature of street painting is probably what I love best about it."

Luckily there were tons of photographers capturing the temporary works of art and the experience must have touched many in a variety of ways. All of this effort went to a great cause, Youth in Arts, a nonprofit arts education program in Marin County that offers students training in the visual and performing arts. As the back of the volunteer t-shirts stated: "I believe that every child needs the arts."

Kudos to the hundreds of volunteers, performers, artists and advocates that make this event a huge success. And congrats Amy on a dream achieved! (More photos in the Chalk Fest album to the right.)

Napa Blog Wave

Allow me to introduce you to a lovely group of ladies who are part of a growing contingent of bloggers in the Napa Valley. I encourage you to check out all of the informative and fun blogs hosted by my amazing friends starting with Indra Fortney of Style & Shoot. Become an un-snob at AficioNapa written by epic dreamer and food writer Brooke Cheshier; visit Napavore for a ton of great restaurant musings by Rachelle Newbold; and look up Literary Legacies to follow Julie Dalrymple on her journey with great writers. Plus get amazing seasonal recipes on Diane Padoven's Napa Farmhouse 1885 blog: share inspiration with Julia Allen at Folia Design; and celebrate the crafty life with Katherine Jalaty at Making Chicken Salad. With so many creative blogs, you can do your Summer Reading online!