Napa Valley Open Studios 2011

Napa Valley Open Studios 2011  •  cover art by glass artist Ed Breed

The next two weekends, Napa Valley Open Studios artists (including me) open up their studios to visitors, sharing their work, talking about their processes, answering questions, and sometimes giving demonstrations. It's a wonderful time to learn about different artists and how they work.

You can download a catalog online at www.napavalleyopenstudios.org, and you can find out what demonstrations you might see here.

Jocelyn Audette painting on location (in the middle of a lake)

Here's a photo gallery of artists at work (our workplaces often look a little different than most people's!), at NVOS Photo Gallery, including my favorite of Jocelyn Audette painting in the middle of a lake.

If you come – between 11 and 5 on September 17-18 and 24-25 – I hope you'll drop by and visit me at Studio #9 in St. Helena. I'll be at Ed Breed's studio. Ed, this year's cover artist, will be giving glass blowing demonstrations during the day, too. You can find us at 1734 Scott Street in St. Helena – and you can download a map here. I hope I'll see you!

New class session begins this week

View of some of Karen Lynn Ingalls's paintings

at the Calistoga Art Center, during Napa Valley Open Studios

Our second four–week fall Acrylic Painting class session begins this week, with classes on Wednesday, September 29th, from 1 to 4 p.m., and on Friday, October 1st, from 1 to 4 p.m.

If you're new to the class, you can find out more, and enroll, and download a materials list, at http://www.calistogaartcenter.org/adultmatureteenclasses.html. I look forward to seeing you!

If you'd like to see something of what you might have missed during Open Studios, if you weren't able to stop by, you can see these posts at my painting blog, Karen Lynn Ingalls: Line, Color, Paint, Joy:

Napa Valley Open Studios 2010 - first weekend

The magic of light

Napa Valley Open Studios 2010 - second weekend

Save the dates for Napa Valley Open Studios!

Napa Valley Open Studios offers a great opportunity to meet Napa Valley artists, visit their studios, see what they're working on, and talk with them about their creative processes. (Disclaimer: I am an Open Studios artist, so I'm pretty biased about how great it is!) Now it is only two weeks away....

When I go on Open Studios tours, wherever they are, I like to sit down with the catalog – or look online – and just look at the images, to decide who I want to see. I then see how much time I have (one day? more than one day? One day each on different weekends?), and map out where I want to go.

Napa Valley Open Studios runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on September 18 - 19 and 25 - 26. You can find more information, including maps and a downloadable catalog, online at www.napavalleyopenstudios.org, or at Facebook at www.facebook.com/napavalleyopenstudios.

This year, you can find me at the Calistoga Art Center, which is also where I teach art. I'll be sharing the space with Yvonne Henry, this year's Open Studios catalog cover artist. You can visit us both, and see what the Calistoga Art Center is up to, in the same visit. We are Studio #4, at 1336 Lincoln Avenue, in Calistoga.

You can see what I've been painting at www.karenlynningalls.com, and find Yvonne's work at www.whimsyworks.net.

Good old memories at the NVOS Opening...

At the Napa Valley Open Studios opening last night, at Mumm Napa's Fine Art Gallery, I discovered that my painting was hung next to that of Earl Thollander (http://www.nvopenstudios.com/artists/68/). His painting, Winter Grapevine, is a wonderful example of his work.

For any who might not know, Earl Thollander was a master of drawing and watercolor. He compiled his drawings and sketches of rural California into wonderful (and very popular) books, long in print, beginning with Back Roads of California, and then Barns of California. His work influenced me and many others, and he was much beloved by those who knew him. Unfortunately, he died in 2001. His family is opening his studio to the public this year - my only regret is that I won't be able to go then. But Open Studios artist and master of pen and ink Nick Cann (www.nickcann.com), Peg Cann, and I will visit after Open Studios is over - something I am very much looking forward to.

I never met Earl Thollander, but I first heard about him from my grandmother. His parents and my grandparents were friends - all Swedes from Cloverdale. After my grandparents moved to Santa Rosa, when Earl would drive his parents down to Santa Rosa, he would bring them over to visit. I always heard about these visits; this was how my grandmother introduced me to his artwork. She and my grandfather gave me an autographed copy of Bug Haiku, which he illustrated. His wonderful, free, expressive use of line enchanted and influenced me. I have always had the utmost respect for his work, and was sorry I never met him.

So to see my painting hanging by his at the opening on Friday touched me more than I can say. I could feel my grandparents looking down at me and smiling....

Open Studios Reception Friday at Mumm's

This year's opening reception for Napa Valley Open Studios will be held Friday, August 28th, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Mumm Napa Fine Art Gallery. Tickets are $15, which go to support the good works of Arts Council Napa Valley. Mumm's is at 8445 Silverado Trail, Rutherford, California.

I saw the work artists were dropping off yesterday for the show - it will be a good show! We are lucky to have James Orlando curating it again this year. I have heard that honorary co-chairs Eleanor Coppola and Kathryn Hall have been working hard to make this year even better for everyone.

You can view the website at www.nvopenstudios.com. The Arts Council's website is at www.artscouncilnapavalley.org (and there's that photo of me, too!).