There is gold in these California hills! It’s not necessarily the kind the miners scrabbled for in the 1850’s, but it is gold nonetheless. It is a treasure trove created by an enclave of talented artists, tucked away in beautiful rural settings, quietly working at their chosen crafts. Fortunately for the rest of us, they kindly open their home studios twice a year so that we can watch them at work and can view their finished products, displayed right where they were created.
Butterfly, Electric Horseman and I took time yesterday afternoon to visit a few of our favorites from years past. And guess what? I took my camera! I have learned the hard way to always ask permission before photographing anyone or anything (I was chased out of more than one store in France by broom-wielding shopkeepers, was almost strangled by a waiter in New York City, and, had Electric Horseman not stepped in and saved me, would have been killed by protesters in Trafalgar Square).
A couple of artists live within a three miles of our house. Our first stop was at Nicholson’s Blown Glass. Note that I’m providing the link to each artist’s website so you can see for yourself their beautiful work. Their photographs actually do justice to their work, unlike mine. Rick and Janet Nicholson have been in business for 30 years and built their house about the same time we built ours, so we share a lot of the same war stories.
We had barely parked our car before I was using my camera to capture the beauty of the trees around their studio.
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Butterfly and I in the same photo!
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Welcome to the Nicholsons' studio!
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As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing more welcoming than a sweet old dog.
As soon as we entered their studio, Rick started to tell me about their latest encounter with a mountain lion. He said it took down a deer right outside their bedroom window one night. He said it was not a pleasant activity to watch or hear, but agreed when I pointed out that lions have to eat, too. It did, however, reinforce to Butterfly why we walk her up to her house at night with plenty of dogs along. It’s now dark when she is done putting in her time on the jigsaw puzzle and I can’t have her being somebody’s hors d’oeuvre!
When we returned to the parking area we found one of my favorite old vehicles.
I have a soft spot in my heart for old Volkswagens, probably because my first car was a 1962 bug. I’m thinking this one was late 50’s, or early 60’s.
Another ½ mile down the road brought us to my favorite artist (favorite because she can make something out nothing like nobody’s business). Give her a pile of metal junk and voilá – a sculpture appears that will amaze you. Jennifer Johnson also has a most wonderful studio.
I think I like it because it looks like my dad’s workshop.
When we arrived, we walked over to say hello to her and I happened to glance up at an oak tree next to the studio.
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What's that way up there?
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“Why is there a tractor seat hanging up there in the oak tree?” I asked her.
Jennifer laughed and said, “Oh, that’s where I would put my kids when they were bad.”
“You’re not serious!” I said.
“Yeah, I am,” she said. “At first I put the pulley up there to use it to lift sculptures into the back of my truck, but it turned out it wasn’t in the right place for that. So then I attached the tractor seat and it turned out to be a great ‘time out’ device for the little rascals.”
“Do you mind if I take pictures?” I asked. “I feel a blog coming on?”
“Generally I don’t allow pictures, but for you – go ahead!”
By now Electric Horseman was wandering among all of her sculptures, trying to guess which one was my favorite. I had been admiring it for many months, every time I drove by her place on my way back and forth to town.
The leap froggers! I love ‘em. They just tickle my funny bone. Butterfly asked if they were hard to make and Jennifer admitted that they were. The hardest part, she said, was to make them balance, much like The Swinger (which we bought from her many years ago).
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Love her skirt full of rocks!
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As we were getting ready to leave I spied one of her kitties.
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Doing things the hard way.
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It was making getting a drink of water look like a lot of hard work. Jennifer assured me there were several bowls of water on the porch and in the house. I guess the little bit of rain water that was at the bottom of this container tasted better!
On our way to the next stop, I couldn’t resist taking a picture of this clever mailbox decoration.
Does anyone know why bikes were made that way, with the giant front wheel? How did you get on it?
We enjoyed a nice visit with Sonja Hamilton who paints in beautiful watercolors. She also teaches. As I know a number of her students, and we share a (great) primary care physician, we had a lot to talk about. This is a very small community! I won’t tell you everything we discussed, I’ll just point out that you can’t get away with anything here without everyone and their uncle knowing about it.
Unfortunately, I left my camera in the car so you don’t get to see her adorable little studio and wonderful garden. A few years ago Butterfly shared hyacinth beans with her and she now has a fence covered with them. On her desk she had a little dish of beans for people to take to start some in their garden. Butterfly was pleased as punch to see that she had a convert on her hands.
Our next stop brought us to the studio of Diane Wood, who creates beauty out of glass. I have bought some of her jewelry in the past, both for myself and as gifts. This time I was intrigued by something new.
This little gem is actually a wall vase that holds water. It’s completely made from recycled materials. The butterflies and metal hanger are recycled copper. I got one for myself and one for Butterfly. She chose one in a turquoise color. It was decorated with butterflies, of course.
Next we wandered to the little hamlet of Ophir, where our first stop was at Ron Peat’s Studio 390.
We were greeted by this very friendly dog with an interesting name. Her parents live in San Francisco, where a lot of high-tech geeks think nothing of meeting a dog named Bernoulli. Electric Horseman loved the name, not seeing it as strange at all, but for the rest of you who might be scratching your head, here is where you can read about mathematician Daniel Bernoulli and his contributions to fluid dynamics. I just know you are dying to know! There will be a test at the end of this chapter.
Bernoulli was not the only critter in attendance. One crazed cat was racing around and it was very difficult to get a decent picture of her. She’s a half-grown Burmese kitten and thought that fluttering leaves, Butterfly’s skirt, and flying papers were all there for her entertainment.
Poco (short for Pocahontas) was quite a character. I captured her, but as you can see, she was not in the mood for a cuddle.
I finally put the death grip on her and pointed her at the camera.
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Poco thinking about disemboweling me.
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After that I let her leap to ground where she continued her mad dashes after anything that moved.
We had a nice visit with Ron while he showed us how he makes his clay boxes and then took us to an upper deck to see his paintings. I am fascinated by the patience these artists have, probably because patience is something I do not possess.
We now had just enough time to see one more artist, about half a mile away. Butterfly and I love visiting her because not only is she an artist, she’s a wonderful gardener! Rita Forman works with glass to make jewelry – earrings, necklaces, bracelets – many of which look good enough to eat!
We love that there are paths meandering every which way through her gardens. We’re not quite sure which we enjoy more; studying her gardens or admiring her artwork.
Butterfly immediately said, upon exiting the car, “Take a picture of the bamboo!”
She loves bamboo, but I have forbidden her to plant it at our place. I don’t need any more invasive plants, thank you very much. It took me years to get rid of the horses tail she dared to plant.
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Flower beds with some deer fencing
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There were chrysanthemums and asters aplenty.
There were several people inside Rita’s studio and she set about demonstrating to us how she makes some of the beads and other pieces she uses in her jewelry.
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Some of Rita's glass beads
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I'm glad she knows what she's doing.
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She's going to make one of those black/white twisty sticks!
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Here comes that black/white twisty stick!
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She showed us how she makes a spiral of glass using black and white rods she had created!.
She makes it look so easy!
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Here she works on a bead.
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I wouldn’t have the patience for this, but I would enjoy playing with fire.
Here is just one of many finished products. Can you imagine how much time, talent and patience go into creating just one of these?
The sun was setting as we left, but that didn’t stop Butterfly and I from exploring some more paths on our way back to our car.
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She can't stop admiring flowers.
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Color wherever we looked.
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Butterfly dwarfed by the bamboo.
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Butterfly and bamboo – a match made in heaven after an afternoon of fun.
