Gold Country Artists Gallery

January Delights!

2012-01-04T06:28:00.000-08:00

Panzano Market by Rod Williams

Featured Artists

January and a whole new year to play with! We are starting the year with very talented Featured Artists: Rod Williams and Carlotta Tormey.

Featured Artist: Rod Williams

Rod has always been interested in art, even from an early age. He took art classes in high school and upon graduation, he spent a year at the American Academy of Art in St. Louis, Mo., majoring in illustration. He started his career as an art buyer for the advertising department at Sears, Roebuck and Co., then left Sears to work as a graphic designer for a design firm that specialized in designing retail store environments. He later became the Design Director for that firm, then was hired by a firm that manufactured store fixtures as their Design Director. In that capacity, he was involved in the design of store configuration, store decor and fixture design.

When Rod retired, he and his wife came to California to be close to their grandchildren. He then became serious about working as an artist and works in most media always trying to portray a snippet of everyday life. Being fortunate enough to travel out of the country, cityscapes and people situations have become some of his favorite subjects. The image at the top of this blog is Rod's Panzano Market.

You can see more of Rod's work on his Gold Country Artists Gallery web page and at www.fineartstudioonline.com/rodwilliams. Contact Rod at Gold Country Artists Gallery or call 530-350-7361.

Featured Artist: Carlotta Tormey

A Faire Morning by Carlotta Tormey

Born into a family of both fine and commercial artists, Carlotta has held positions as an illustrator, conceptual designer and art director. She spent several years as a staff illustrator at an advertising design firm in San Francisco winning several awards and mentions for her illustration. This was a great opportunity for growth as it afforded her a chance to work with a variety of clients, challenges, art styles and media. During this time she was also a guest teacher at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. In 1992, she embarked on her freelance career working with a compendium of clients all over the United States from wineries to publishing houses.

Carlotta is moved by a person's face, costume or employment of the individual. She finds beauty and romance in a rusted truck, old building or character. She loves capturing a moment in time that tells a story and she enjoys doing portraits and period pieces.

When she is not dreaming something up, she generally works from photographs. She lets the subject determine how realistic she wants to get, often varying from what she has sketched—she just let's the painting happen. Her favorite medium is watercolor and pencil, though she often employs other material as well. She sometimes mixes styles within a painting.

For more information and views of her work, see her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page or visit her website at www.carlottatormey.com. She also accepts commissions for portraits or any illustration needs by phone at 530-622-1451.

Third Saturday ArtWalk

On January 21, 5pm to 9pm, Gold Country Artists Gallery will be open for Placerville's Third Saturday ArtWalk. Come and meet the Featured Artists, listen to some great music by local musicians Jenny Rutherford and Alan Fuller and have a munchie or two. We also have lots of great art from other local artists for you to enjoy. Hope to see you there!

Starting Out the New Year

Our artists are some of the best in the area and we look forward to helping you select your art in this, our 20th year in business! Come by (we're open 11-5 every day) to see great art and meet the artists who are always the ones working at the Gallery.

We are a Cooperative Gallery whose 40 members all work at their art and help run the Gallery.

See more about our Gallery at goldcountryartistsgallery.com and follow us on our Facebook page.

Welcome to 2012!!

December: Large & Small Wonders

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Many artists from Gold Country Artists Gallery created works of art on 6" x 6" pieces of wood for our 2011 Small Wonders Show that is on display at the Gallery through December, 2011. These inexpensive works of art (paintings, photography, 3D works) make great holiday gifts and all are for sale. It's a great way, too, to begin or continue collecting the art of your favorite artist at GCA!

In addition, we have a Holiday Boutique with unique art created especially for you for the holiday season. Check it out!

Our holiday hours are 11am-5pm every day and 11am-8pm on Thursdays and Fridays in December

Festival of Lights

If you didn't make it to this year's Festival of Lights on Main Street on the Friday evening after Thanksgiving, you missed one of the great happenings of the year downtown! The lights on the huge tree near the courthouse were lit and the businesses (including GCA) were all decorated and wonderfully lit for the holidays.

Also, Davey "Doc" Wiser was giving free stagecoach rides that evening around the block near the Bell Tower in his Wiser Christmas Express stagecoach. He will be also be giving rides on the two weekends before Christmas.

If you have never ridden in a stagecoach, this is a golden opportunity!

Christmas Parade

On Sunday, December 4, the annual Christmas Parade took place on Historic Main Street in downtown Placerville. It was a gloriously beautiful day and there were lots of great floats and entertainment in the parade.

One group that is always great is the combined group of local high school marching bands. It's probably one of the largest marching bands you will ever see playing! And, they were great to boot!

There were also a couple local dance studios that danced all the way and they were great too!

And of course, Santa and Mrs. Claus ended the parade. It was a great day!

December Downtown

There are lots of activities planned during the Holiday season downtown.

12 Days of Christmas Gift Basket Giveaway (see below)
Stagecoach Rides
Visits with Santa
Special happenings at different merchants, such as Gold Country's Small Wonders show

We hope you will come downtown to do your shopping for those special folks on your holiday list. There is so much to see and many great merchants to help you with your gift needs.

The weather is brisk, the lights at night are beautiful (including the decorated and lit Christmas trees along Highway 50, the Bell Tower and all the light poles downtown) and you have a great community of merchants from which to choose your holiday gifts.

12 Days of Christmas Gift Basket Giveaway

This year you have an opportunity to enter a drawing for one of 12 gift baskets containing merchandise from over 40 merchants downtown. All you have to do is spend $15 or more at a participating merchant and you can get an entry ticket from that merchant right then to fill out and enter the drawing.

Shop at several merchants, spend $15 or more at each merchant and get an entry ticket from each merchant for more chances to win. The tickets will be given out at each participating merchant from November 25 through December 16 with winners chosen on December 17.

If you come by Gold Country Artists Gallery, you can see two of the Gift Baskets in our windows (one of them is shown in the picture here).

In addition, there is one Grand Prize—a Benton Studios print of a Placerville Main Street scene.

Third Saturday

The Third Saturday ArtWalk is on December 17 from 5pm-9pm. Gold Country will have snacks, live music and, of course, our Small Wonders show, Holiday Boutique and many other fine pieces of art for you to select from during that evening.

We hope to see you there!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

Into November

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November is here and with it comes the wonderful event at the end of the month that is the Festival of Lights. During that evening (Friday, November 25—the Friday evening after Thanksgiving), the lights on the huge Christmas near the courthouse will be turned on, as well as the lights on the wonderful decorated Christmas trees along highway 50. We hope you come to Main Street and enjoy the festivities!

Featured Artists

Our Featured Artists for November are Valerie Bye and Lorrene Davis.

Valerie Bye

Valerie believes that "Life can be beautiful"—that there is beauty all around us: in nature, in people and their cultures, in music and love. She prefers to create paintings that are cheerful and uplifting. When she paints, the combination of color and the unpredictable nature of watercolor puts 'a song in my heart' and she hopes that the viewer will also experience that feeling.

Valerie's main medium is watercolor and she has received numerous awards in juried shows and she is a signature member of the Society of Western Artists (SWA).

The image here is of Valerie's watercolor, Syncopated Roses. You can see many more of Valerie's works on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Lorrene Baum-Davis

Lorrene is drawn to working with metals and clays because of their malleability and their permanence. The clays—Art Clay Silver and polymer—enable her to produce organic forms with great textures and colors. In addition, adding fused glass enables her to bring startling colors into the meld.

With the clays as her art medium, she is able to have the work flow organically as well as geometrically. Both media allow her to create one-of-a-kind pieces of wearable art.

Shown here is a photo of some of Lorrene's most recent work, her rings. See more of Lorrene's work on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Merchant's Open House

Along with the Festival of Lights on November 25, there is a Merchant's Open House on that evening and the following evening, November 26, from 5pm-8pm. Main Street merchants (including Gold Country Artists Gallery) will have some seasonal goodies for you to munch on and our great artists will have many great items for you to consider as holiday gifts.

In addition, Davey "Doc" Wiser will be giving free stagecoach rides on Main Street on Friday evening, 11/25, from 4:30pm-6:30pm and during the day on Saturday, November 26, from noon to 4pm.

Many more holiday events are planned for Historic Main Street during the holiday season and you can read all about them on the Placerville Downtown Association website.

Gold Country Artists Gallery on Facebook

Keep up with what's going on with Gold Country by going to our Facebook page at Facebook.com/goldcountryartistsgallery. We hope you will "Like" us!

Happy Thanksgiving!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

October and Art & Wine

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The month of October on Historic Main Street is beautiful! The days are beautiful and very much fall, the evenings are getting crisp, and Apple Hill is in full operation! It's a great time to visit Placerville and a great time to visit Gold Country Artists Gallery.

Featured Artists

We have two Featured Artists this month: Karen Hunziker and Katy Peet.

Karen Hunziker

Karen's work is always colorful and interesting. She uses color wonderfully and the detail in her drawings is incredible. You can see that for yourself in the picture at the top of this blog. That one is called American River Near Whitehall and depicts an area of the American River between Placerville and South Lake Tahoe.

Karen's subjects range from local scenes to Russian folk art. She works in mixed media consisting of ink, pastel and watercolor pens.

You can see more of Karen's work on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Katy Peet

Katy has been working on gourds since 1996 and she loves the curved, circular, and wood-like surface of the gourd for creating a design. She finds it exciting to work on a surface that circles back on itself and can be painted, cut, carved or wood-burned. In her work on gourds, she uses some combination of pyrography, carving, stone inlay, dyes, acrylic paint, beads, weaving or basket coiling.

In 2007, Katy began experimenting in clay, working with slabs of different clays. She cuts and carves tiles of her own design. She also creates slab masks, pots and wall sculptures. She makes jewelry with very small gourds or abalone on occasion; and recently discovered the fun of felting art-bowls with wool and embellishing them with shells or beads.

One of her pieces, the Rhino Mini Gourd Necklace is shown here. You can see more of Katy's work on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Art & Wine On Main Street

On Saturday, October 15, the Art & Wine Festival will be on Main Street from 6pm-9pm. During this event, you can purchase a ticket to taste wine from over 30 local wineries, or just come down to Historic Main Street to enjoy the festivities. There will be art demonstrations, great music and a silent auction of our famous banners from the 2011 Banners on Parade.

See more information about the Art & Wine Festival on the Placerville Downtown Association's Art & Wine Festival page.

During this same evening, Gold Country Artists Gallery will have some demonstrations in the Gallery, some light munchies, and live music. You can also come that evening and meet the Featured Artists, Karen Hunziker and Katy Peet.

We will also be announcing the winners of our People's Choice Awards.

Hope to see you downtown in October!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

Great September on Main Street

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There is so much going on in Historic Placerville during the month of September. The photo above shows Historic Main Street during the Craft Faire that was in August.

During September, Gold Country Artists Gallery is Featuring two artists we are excited to share information about them!

Featured Artists

The two Featured Artists for September are Judy Hamner and Peggy Petrali.

Judy Hamner

Long-time GCA member Judy Hamner is a native Californian whose oil and pastel work focus on the history, beauty and emotion of the land and animals. From the Pacific coast line through the rich Sacramento Valley to the High Sierra and the Tahoe Basin, Judy's collection conveys the richness and magnificence of California.

One of her works, Maui Royalty, is shown here. You can see more of Judy's work on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Peggy Petrali

New member Peggy Petrali was born and raised in Sacramento and lived in the surrounding area while raising her family. She now lives in Placerville and is an award-winning artist who enjoys working in the challenging medium of watercolor using bold, rich colors to create her interpretation of realism in her paintings.

Peggy's inspiration is found in capturing the light and shadows that fall onto the subjects that she paints.

Her work Fall Foursome is shown here and you can see more of her work on her GCA web page.

Events Downtown In September

September is filled with events here is a list of what's going on downtown this month:

Kacie's Ride for Hope is on Saturday, September 10, from 8am to 11am: if you are a motorcycle enthusiast, you'll love this event! It is a great yearly event that is a fundraiser for The Center for Violence-Free Relationships.
Oktoberfest is a new event downtown that will be on September 17 from 3pm to 8pm and actually is on the day that is "officially" the start of the Oktoberfest season around the world. There will be lots of great happenings associated with the event and it promises to be great fun!
The Hangtown Car Show is on Thursday evening, September 22, from 5 pm to 8pm and it promises to be a great show for those of you who love old cars. If you love old cars, plan on coming to this one!
The 23rd Annual Antique Street Faire will be on Sunday, September 25, from 8am to 3pm on Historic Main Street. If you are an antique-lover, you'll love this show!

See more about all of these events on the Placerville Downtown Association web site.

All in all, September will be an exciting month on Historic Main Street in downtown Placerville, California. At Gold Country Artists Gallery, we'd love to see you!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

Starting Our 20th Year

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We are beginning our 20th year in business as a cooperative art gallery! We thought it would be good to do something we have never done before, so this month we are starting our People's Choice Awards.

During August and September, come into Gold Country Artists Gallery and get a ballot. Go around the Gallery and look at all of our wonderful artists and vote for your favorites. We will tally the results in early October and present the awards in the Gallery during the Art & Wine Festival on October 15. Come by and vote for your favorite artists!

Featured Artists

Our Featured Artists for August are Joyce Burr and Dianna Schwierzke.

Joyce Burr

Joyce Burr's fused glass work is colorful and unique. She makes fused glass pieces for the jewelry, home and garden.

The fusing of glass pieces is an exacting process where the glass is carefully heated to 1300-1600 degrees (depending on the desired effect), then cooled using a specific time table appropriate for the type and thickness of the glass.

Joyce's work is whimsical and you will enjoy perusing her pieces at the Gallery! You can also see Joyce's work on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Dianna Schwierzke

Dianna grew up having fun creating and observing the light and color of nature and being tutored by her grandmother to paint.

Dianna enjoys watercolors, oils and casein. In addition, she has recently begun painting on metal with inks and enjoys the way the pigment moves on the slick surface, the vivid colors and the resulting luminescence.

She loves all mediums and paints mostly every day. Come and see her latest creations at the Gallery. See more of Dianna's work on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Gold Country Now On Facebook

You can now follow us on Facebook. Check out our page at facebook.com/goldcountryartistsgallery and click our "Like" button!

Banners on Parade Donations & Order Forms

Gold Country Artists Gallery is one of the sponsors of this year's Banners on Parade. This is the fifth year for Banners on Parade, which is a community art project with the overall title of Placerville Art on Parade. The banners are hanging on the light poles lining Historic Main Street in downtown Placerville.

This project is mostly self-supporting (with the help of a few sponsors such as Gold Country) and we would like to see this project expanded. To do that, we need your help. You can help in a couple ways. Go to the Placerville Downtown Association website's Banners on Parade donations page and donate money and download the order form from that page to order 2011 Banners on Parade items (through August of 2011) such as posters, notecards, etc.

Any amount you can give will help the effort!

Come into Gold Country, pick up one of the 2011 Banners on Parade walking tour brochures and see for yourself what a great community art project this really is!

PAA Mother Lode Art Exhibition

We have many members of the Gallery who are also members of the Placerville Arts Association (PAA). Every August, PAA hosts the Mother Lode Art Exhibition, a show that accepts entries from all over the country.

This year's 45th Annual Mother Lode Art Exhibition will be shown at the Placerville Shakespeare Club from August 14-August 28. If you are an art-lover, make sure you see this great show!

Go to the PAA website for more information.

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

July and Independence!

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This image was taken at Gold Country Artists Gallery during one of the many great "Happenings" this year on Historic Main Street in Placerville, the recent Bell Tower Brewfest.

It's now the wonderful month of July when we celebrate our independence! We at Gold Country Artists Gallery will be helping that celebration by passing the mark of 19 years as an independent, cooperative art gallery this month!

GCA Celebrates 19 Years!

In July of 1992, a small group of artists in Placerville opened Gold Country Artists Gallery on Historic Main Street in downtown Placerville, California. That act ushered in a gallery business that would turn out to be the oldest continuously operating art gallery in the history of El Dorado County!

Still going strong and going into our 20th year in business is something that we are really proud of. We have a group of over 40 artists who sell their work in our cooperative gallery and help to make the gallery work.

We all participate in the running of the Gallery by working shifts at the Gallery, becoming a member of the Board of Trustees, working on a committee or helping in some other way. It takes a lot of effort to run a business like this and we have a great group of people involved with the Gallery.

Over 250 artists have been members of the Gallery over the span of the last 19 years. If you would like to see the entire list, come to the Gallery on the third Saturday of the month (July 16) to see the Gold Country Artists Gallery Hall of Fame, showing a list of all the artists who are and have been members of Gold Country Artists Gallery over the years.

Featured Artist for July: Soroush

One of our Featured Artists this month is A. S. Mostafanejad, known by all of us as Soroush. You will recognize his photographic work immediately by the very bright colors and extreme clarity. Soroush uses a technique called HDR (High Dynamic Range) imaging.

Anyone who is a photographic aficionado and has been in Gold Country Artists Gallery will remember his work. All of his work is gallery-wrapped canvas and really stands out.

If you happen to be in the Gallery when Soroush is there (like he will be on the evening of July 16—Third Saturday), he will be glad to explain his technique to you.

His Ollalie Creek photograph is shown here. To see more of his work, see his Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Featured Artist for July: Jean Stiles

Jean Stiles creates her wonderful paintings using pastels and watercolors. She is a very versatile and award-winning painter who explores light and shadow of California landscapes. Jean also paints a variety of flower and animal life.

Her style is somewhere between impressionistic and realistic and is always influenced by the nature that surrounds us all.

Jean enjoys plein aire painting the most, but also paints from photos taken during her extensive travels.

Her work Stars and Stripes is shown here. See more of Jean's work on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page. Come and meet Jean and look at her work on July 16 (Third Saturday).

People's Choice Awards Coming

Starting on August 1 and going through September 30, Gold Country Artists Gallery will be eliciting your vote for your favorite artists and their works at the Gallery. We will have ballots at the Gallery and when you come in, you will be able to get a ballot, walk around the Gallery and vote for your favorite artist.

Votes will be tallied in early October and winners announced in October. This will be our "First Annual People's Choice Awards and we want YOU to participate! Stay tuned!

We hope to see you at our 19th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, July 16 at Gold Country Artists Gallery!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

June and Lots of Things to Do

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June is always a fun month on Historic Main Street in downtown Placerville!

On June 11, the Wagon Train and Rib Cook-Off will be happening on Main Street
On June 18th, it will be the Third Saturday ArtWalk
On June 25th, it will be the Bell Tower Brewfest

From an artistic viewpoint, the biggest thing that happens on Main Street is the Art on Parade (aka Banners on Parade) hanging of the 2011 banners. The three winning banners are shown above (the middle banner is one created by former Gold Country Artists member, Toni Wooley). To see all the banners, go to the Placerville Downtown Association's website.

Our very own Carlotta Tormey received an Honorable Mention for her banner (see below).

We have two featured artists for June who will have their work prominently displayed at the Gallery during June: Sue Chapman and Blanche Kawahara.

Featured Artist: Sue Chapman

Sue Chapman has been working as a professional artist since 1989 and earned her BFA in Art Education from the University of Illinois.

Her work has been accepted in several juried shows and she has won many awards for her work.

A common element to her painting, regardless of style or medium, is the drama she creates by sharp contrast in values.

View more of Sue's works on the Gold Country Artists Gallery website.

Featured Artist: Blanche Kawahara

Blanche worked as an artist for Lockheed in the Bay Area until moving to Placerville in 1987.

Blanche paints almost any subject in oils and pastels. She loves to find local scenes for plein air style painting when the weather permits. She also works in her studio from set-ups or photos she has taken. She has also won many awards.

Blanche also works in wire wrapped jewelry using stones she has cut and polished and brilliant dichroic glass. She also does dyed silks and fused glass in her studio.

View more of Blanche's works on the Gold Country Artists Gallery website.

GCA Member's Banner

GCA member Carlotta Tormey's banner, Placerville's Bounty (shown at left), won an Honorable Mention during the judging of this year's banners for the Banners on Parade community art project.

Carlotta's banner is displayed on Main Street currently on the light pole in front of Main Street Music, which is located at the corner of Center Street and Main Street.

Congratulations to Carlotta for a beautiful banner!

Come Visit Us in June!

Whether you come to town to visit Gold Country Artists Gallery during Third Saturday or during any one of the other events during the month, make sure you check out the Gallery! We have several new artists and our Featured Artists this month are displaying some wonderful items!

Hope to see you at the Gallery!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

May Days at Gold Country

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Man, the weather has turned warm quick and we are all anxious for that warm weather to stick around for awhile! May on Main Street has all kinds of good things going for it. The flowers will be going up on the light poles on Main Street and we are all looking forward to that!

Featured Artists

Our Featured Artists for May are Karen Caswell and Bruce Gruenzel.

Karen Caswell

Karen's love for nature, color and composition assist her in creating stunning original Atlantic Salmon Fly patters unlike any other. She then frames them for hanging in your home.

The brilliant colors, textures and eclectic array of materials make each piece a collectible. Feathers from bird species all over the world are sought out and layered to create a dramatic and eye-catching work of art.

Bruce Gruenzel

Bruce's ocean paintings reflect his great love of the power and majesty of the sea. His wonderful oil paintings are a treasure and you will be as moved by his subjects as if you were watching the scene develop right in front of you.

The ocean and sky colors will make you feel as if you had, at least, seen that very subject matter yourself when you visited the ocean.

Hangtown Car Show

On Sunday, May 15, Main Street will be closed for the Hangtown Car Show. Over 200 classic cars from 1972 and before will be lined up for you to walk around and admire them.

Come and see some great cars and enjoy wandering around through the shops and restaurants on Main Street.

For more information, see the Placerville Downtown Association website.

Third Saturday

The Third Saturday event on Historic Main Street will be happening on Saturday, May 21, from 5 pm to 9 pm.

At Gold Country Artists Gallery, meet the Featured Artists during that evening, sample some delectable munchies, and listen to some great light jazz by Caroll Tuttle and Friends.

Hope to see you on Main Street in May!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

April & Blue Skies

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April is finally here after a snowy, rainy cold February and March! If you pay attention to the many wonderful events in downtown Placerville on Historic Main Street, you know that the Girl's Night Out event that was scheduled for February 25 was cancelled due to the weather. It will be happening this month on April 15.

Featured Artists

Our two great Featured Artists for April offer two very different kinds of art. Gerald Hogan is showing his wonderful oils and pastels at Gold Country during the month of April. In addition, Susan Preissner has her beautiful glasswork, including jewelry.

Gerald Hogan

Jerry has lived in El Dorado County since 1971 and made the transition from amateur to professional artist in 2009. Jerry is a member of the Placerville Artist's Association, the El Dorado Arts Council and the Sierra Pastel Society.

Jerry describes himself as a "representational" artist and has practiced his craft over fifty six years. He says he most of all "appreciates the complements and positive responses for his work over the many decades doing art".

See more of Jerry's art at his GCA web page.

Susan Preissner

There is a palpable energy in each of Susan's pieces. She says it comes from the state of love,joy, peace and passion in which she creates. Each piece projects unmistakable truth and rare delicacy; the colors are those of elation and sophistication; the style is faultlessly elegant, yet subtly powerful.

In designing and creating her jewelry and other glass pieces, Susie uses methods which are highly technical and which require great skill, control and patience. Trusting her inner guide, the resulting images are often unexpectedly superb. The process both arouses and nourishes her artistic soul.

See more of Susie's glass work at her GCA web page.

Girl's Night Out

Girl's Night Out is one of the many events during the year on Placerville's Historic Main Street that is sponsored by the Placerville Downtown Association. This event focuses on activities that appeal to women. Merchants will be open late and there will be many activities.

Girl's Night Out will be on Friday, April 15, 6-9pm on Main Street. See more information on the Placerville Downtown Association website.

Come by Gold Country Artists Gallery for demonstrations, refreshments and an opportunity to see some wonderful art by our artists.

April Third Saturday

On Saturday April 16, 5-9pm, the Third Saturday ArtWalk will be happening in downtown Placerville on Historic Main Street. Shops and galleries will be open and Gold Country will be serving refreshments, having live music and showcasing our Featured Artists, Gerald Hogan and Susan Preissner.

Give your soul a treat, come by Gold Country Artists Gallery on either (or both!) Girl's Night Out and Third Saturday.

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

March in Rhythm & Blooms Country

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The month of March brings the Rhythm & Blooms Fundraiser to Placerville. This is the only major fundraiser of the year to raise funds for the beautiful flowers on downtown Placerville's Historic Main Street that hang on the light poles during the summer months. See below how you can help!

Featured Artists for March

Our two featured artists for March are Don Jassowski and Sara Waugh.

Don Jassowski

Don's photographic prints reflect his interest in nature and its beauty, which he captures with both every-day and unique subjects. His goal is to display in his prints the look and feel of the original scene. Because of his film background, the resulting images are intended to reflect what would have been obtained by normal darkroom techniques.

Don's photograph, Lipstick Flower, is shown on the left.

You can see more of Don's work on his Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Sara Waugh

Sara has been drawing all of her life thanks to her Grandfather. Sara is currently attending The Art Institute of California in Sacramento, where she is earning her degree in Digital Filmmaking and Video Production. She hopes to pursue a career in story board artwork and creation.

Her drawings are always interesting and her current work reflects various objects that she renders in a very realistic fashion. One of Sara's drawings, Straw Hat, is shown on the left.

You can see more of Sara's work on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Third Saturday

On the third Saturday of March, March 19, Gold Country Artists Gallery will be participating in the ArtWalk in downtown Placerville. Our two wonderful Featured Artists (Don & Sara) will be at the Gallery to talk about and show you their work.

We will also have music by Caroll Tuttle & Friends and light refreshments.

We hope you can come to Gold Country Artists Gallery and help us celebrate the last day of winter!

Rhythm & Blooms Fundraiser

The third Saturday of the month is also the evening of the Rhythm & Blooms Fundraiser. If you would like to help, go here to find out information and buy tickets.

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

2011 Love is in the Air Show

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We have another rendition of our yearly show, Love is in the Air, going on throughout the month of February. Below is a sampling of a few of the pieces of art that are on display and for sale at the Gold Country Artists Gallery.

In the above samples:

Deborah Bridges has some of her wonderful sculptures with the theme of Love.
Sue Chapman has used mixed media to paint a wonderful, special box for someone special.
Karen Hunziker has created an original mixed media painting entitled Red Dawn.
Tina Prentiss has created an original watercolor especially for the show entitled Make Love, Not Bore.
Bill Robinson has created a work of photographic art entitled My Favorite Aunt for the show.
Pam Snyder has created a special, original Encaustic painting for the show entitled Blue Heart.

During the third Saturday evening of the month (February 19, 6-9pm), many of the artists will be at the Gallery to tell you all about their work.

Come by the Gallery anytime during the month of February to see these and many other fine pieces of art inspired by and created for Love is in the Air!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

January Twenty-Eleven!

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Hard to believe that a new year and a new decade is upon us already! At Gold Country Artists Gallery during the month of January, we are featuring two of our top artists: Lisa Bone and Rod Williams.

Lisa Bone

Lisa creates Raku and other saggar fired pottery that have a special beauty. She uses intricate carving and glazing techniques to achieve a unique and original look to all of her work.

Lisa was introduced to pottery in college, but only got back to it many years later and has developed her talent such that she is becoming a collected artist.

See more of Lisa's work on her Gold Country web page.

Rod Williams

Rod's wonderful pencil renderings, watercolor, gouache and mixed media paintings have won numerous awards throughout the last several years. Rod uses faces in his paintings to tell the story of people from all walks of life.

During his working years in advertising and design, he always dabbled in personal art. It has only been since he retired that he has brought his great visions to fruition.

See more of Rod's work on his Gold Country web page.

Third Saturday

On the Third Saturday of January (January 15, 5-9pm), we will be showcasing our two great Featured Artists at the Gallery. Come by and see their work and meet the artists. We will have live music at the Gallery and assorted goodies to munch on.

Come by the Gallery any time in January to see what's new!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

December Means Small Wonders

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Forty-three artists from Gold Country Artists Gallery painted paintings, mounted photographs, created charcoal drawings, mounted metal sculptures, wood, jewelry and decorated gourds on 6 in. x 6 in. pieces of Masonite. These individual pieces form the core of the 2010 Small Wonders Show and are on display at Gold Country Artists Gallery through December 2010. All pieces are for sale and range in price from $10 to $160.

Come into Gold Country Artists Gallery and see the show!

Festival of Lights

On the Friday evening after Thanksgiving, the annual Festival of Lights took place on downtown Placerville's Historic Main Street. During that evening, the lights on the huge tree by the courthouse were lit, as well as the lights on all the Christmas trees along Highway 50.

The incredible throng of people who came to town for that event were treated to a wonderful, festive event. Davey Wiser was giving free stagecoach rides, there were games for kids, and all the stores were open with special things happening throughout the town.

It was a wonderful evening at Gold Country Artists Gallery too!

Christmas Parade

The annual Christmas Parade is coming to town on Sunday, December 5, and it will surely be a huge, wonderful display of holiday merriment. Again, Davey will be there with his stagecoach (the photographic art piece depicted to the left is from last year), as well as many local organizations who will have their floats. And, of course, the high school marching bands will be there to "strut their stuff" and play some wonderful music.

If you haven't ever been to one of Placerville's Christmas Parades, you owe it to yourself to see it and enjoy this local holiday extravaganza!

Downtown in December

So much goes on downtown in December that it's almost hard to keep track of! There will be the aforementioned Christmas Parade on the 5th, free stagecoach rides on the weekends, visits with Santa on the Saturdays in December, Guy's Night Out on Friday evening, December 17, and Third Saturday on the evening of December 18. See more information about happenings in Placerville in December on the Placerville Downtown Association website.

If you live locally, please help support downtown by doing your shopping locally. Everyone downtown appreciates your business!

Guy's Night Out

This is a new event this year that is meant to help "the guys" with their Christmas shopping. Stores will be providing free gift wrapping and merchants are sponsoring a raffle for a great BBQ filled with "guy" things.

Third Saturday

Aside from our Small Wonders Show, our artists will have many great pieces of art displayed and for sale. We encourage you to give those on your holiday list an original piece of art and help support our Gallery members and our local, wonderful art community .

We all hope you have a safe and sane holiday season!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

GCA in November

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This past month ended on Main Street with an incredible Halloween event on Historic Main Street! It was a sea of people as the above photo shows and there were some wonderful, amazing costumes. If you've never been to "Trick or Treat on Main Street", plan on it for next year.

This Halloween event is put on every year by the local merchants and the Placerville Downtown Association.

Featured Artists

Our two featured artists for November are Deborah Bridges and Lorrene Davis.

Deborah Bridges

Deborah Bridges is an award-winning sculptor of stone, clay and bronze. Deborah's approach to her own art education was in the classical tradition of apprenticeship where she spent four years studying under the tutelage of several master sculptors who specialized in monumental scale bronze.

Deborah's current work is either images of the Buddha in a large scale fragmented form, or figurative and feminine, sometimes with wings, and always evocative.

See more of Deborah's work on her page on the Gold Country Artists Gallery website.

Lorrene Davis

Lorrene Davis was introduced to the arts by her mother and father and because of them, she has a great love of metals and clays. She graduated from the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts in San Francisco and she is a Master Instructor with Art Clay World.

Lorrene produces organic forms from Art Clay and Polymer that have great textures and colors. Her fused glass enables her to bring startling colors into the meld.

See more of Lorrene's work on her page on the Gold Country Artists Gallery website.

Gold Country is a Favorite Place!

In the past month, Gold Country Artists Gallery has been awarded two separate awards.

Favorite Art Gallery

The first award was from Style Magazine and we won their coveted "Favorite Art Gallery" award that is based on the votes that their readers cast this year. This is the 4th year in a row that Gold Country has won this award and we thank all the readers of Style Magazine for the honor.

Best Art Gallery

Every year, the local Mountain Democrat newspaper has their "Reader's Choice" awards where readers of the newspaper choose their favorite local businesses. Gold Country won this year for "Best Art Gallery" and we thank the readers of the Mountain Democrat for this honor!

Holidays are Coming

The Friday after Thanksgiving officially starts the holiday shopping season. Traditionally, for Placerville, the Festival of Lights will be happens on Historic Main Street on the Friday evening after Thanksgiving. All the stores (including Gold Country) will be decorated for the season and the huge Christmas tree near the courthouse will be lit, along with all the wonderful Christmas trees along Highway 50.

We hope you will come by during the month of November and peruse our wonderful art. Consider giving that special person in your life a one-of-a-kind piece of art as a holiday gift.

Happy Thanksgiving!

October: A Month for Art in Placerville

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The month of October in Placerville brings two new Featured Artists to Gold Country Artists Gallery and the Art & Wine Festival to Historic Main Street.

Featured Artists for October

The Featured Artists for October at Gold Country Artists Gallery are Blanche Kawahara and Bill Robinson.

Blanche Kawahara

Blanche Kawahara is an award-winning painter, jeweler and photographer who is one of the founding members of the Gallery. Her current favorite types of artwork to create are pastels. The work shown at left is a pastel entitled Before Town Center. Blanche has also had a long career as an art teacher and teaches about pastel and wire-wrapped jewelry.

Bill Robinson

Bill Robinson is a local photographer who likes to do different things to his photographs to make them distinctive. His work is traditional and with occasional forays into "Photographic Art". Those come when the mood strikes and when a particular photograph speaks to him and needs to go beyond a traditional photograph. The photographic art piece, Tower Bridge, Night, is one of those photographs that needed to be made differently.

Art & Wine Festival

The Art & Wine Festival will be held on Historic Main Street during the evening of the third Saturday of the month (October 16, 6-9 pm).

During this wonderful event, the banners from Banners on Parade will all be hanging on display in front of the area of Gold Country Artists Gallery (the photo at left shows banners from last year's Banners on Parade auction). The banners will be auctioned off via a silent auction during the evening with the winners of the pieces announced later that evening. If you have seen the banners, you know that they are just gorgeous and if you are interested in owning one, come by to put your bid in. All proceeds from the auction will be used to help fund next year's Banners on Parade event.

Also during the Art & Wine Festival, there will be live music, great wine (about 35 wineries will be in the businesses downtown), live demonstrations of creating art at Gold Country and other places on Main Street. If you are interested in purchasing tickets to participate in the wine tasting, contact the Placerville Downtown Association. If you would just like to come downtown for a great evening, you can do that too.

It is always an evening of great fun and we hope you can make it!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

September at Gold Country

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The picture above shows Gold Country Artists Gallery's location on Historic Main Street just two doors away from the Bell Tower in the middle of town (the Gallery is the building with the green awning).

It's September already at Gold Country Artists Gallery and we have a great start to the fall season with two great Featured Artists.

Sue Chapman

Sue is a talented and versatile painter of watercolors and acrylics depicting California landscapes in vivid color. She is delving into impressionistic styles with a surreal feeling to them. The Apple Hill Vineyard (at left) is appropriate for this time of year with Apple Hill season just beginning.

Her use of color is wonderful—come by and check out Sue's work! Also, you can see more of Sue's work on her web page at the Gold Country Artists Gallery website.

Bruce Gruenzel

Bruce is an outstanding oil painter whose realistic style is reminiscent of old Dutch and Russian masters. You can get an idea of the wonder of Bruce's work with his work at left, The Last Voyage.

Bruce is self-taught and his work has a liveliness and glow to it that is breathtaking to look at. He will have many of his works in the Gallery for your viewing pleasure and you can see more of Bruce's work on his web page at the Gold Country Artists Gallery website.

Fall in and Around Placerville

The leaves will begin turning this month, especially in the vineyards and apple orchards of the Apple Hill area. The colors and ambiance of the Apple Hill area is well known by many and it can be a great, fun day to drive to Apple Hill for lunch and a piece of pie and maybe a glass of wine. If you haven't tasted one of the delicious pies or other fresh apple products from Apple Hill or some of the wonderful wine from the local wineries, you in for a treat.

We recommend you come to Apple Hill, stay awhile and drop by Historic Main Street in downtown Placerville on your way home. Stop in to see the wonderful works of our Featured Artists and the many wonderful works of our other great artists.

Give your self and soul a treat by coming to Apple Hill and stopping by our wonderful Gallery. There are also many other fine shops on Historic Main Street in downtown Placerville. Come and spend the day!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

August Medley of Art & Fun

2010-08-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

The flowers are really 'a-bloomin' on Main Street! If you haven't been downtown to see the beautiful flowers that adorn our wonderful Historic Main Street, you owe yourself a treat!

Featured Artists

We have, as always, two of our wonderful artists featured at the Gallery during August: Bud Bradley and Jeremy Duncan.

Bud Bradley

Bud Bradley has been taking photographs since the age of 8 and has refined his technique to a fine art. His photographs of landscapes, the Sierra foothills and Europe (especially Italy) are beautiful to behold.

Bud sometimes experiments with his digital photography but is a traditionalist at heart and loves the film world too. We are glad to have him as one of the premiere photographers in Gold Country Artists Gallery.

Come see his photograph, Approaching Storm, shown above.

Jeremy Duncan

After a leave of absence from Gold Country Artists Gallery for a few months, Jeremy Duncan is back with a lot of new work, and those of you who are Jeremy Duncan fans know how fast his work sells!

Jeremy's oil paintings (the one above is Crashing Sunset) draw a lot of attention because of his style and use of color. He has developed a style all his own, but with traditional elements nicely intertwined with his own additions.

Come by the Gallery and help welcome Jeremy back!

Placerville ArtWalk

The third Saturday of every month is a great time to come by the Gallery and see the Featured Artist's work and meet them. We will also have goodies to munch on and live music. Give your soul a treat and come by the Gallery on Saturday, August 21, 5-9 pm.

Gold Country Artists Gallery also donates 10% of sales for the entire day of each third Saturday to The Center for Violence-Free Relationships. Come by and purchase something for yourself or as a gift and help us support this great organization.

Girl's Night Out

On Saturday evening, August 28, Girl's Night Out will be happening on Historic Main Street in downtown Placerville from 6-9pm. There will be goodies to eat, demonstrations at various businesses (including Gold Country Artists Gallery), a great band at the Bell Tower and a Scavenger Hunt.

Don't miss this fun event!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

July at Gold Country

2010-07-07T06:30:00.000-07:00

It's July in Placerville and it's summer on Historic Main Street. Gold Country Artists Gallery is right in the middle of it and we have two of our great members as Featured Artists this month.

Judy Hamner

Judy Hamner is a native Californian and her works focus on the history, beauty and emotion of the land. From the pacific Coastline, through the rich Sacramento Valley to the High Sierras and the Tahoe Basin, Judy's collection conveys the richness and magnificence of California.

Soroush

Soroush is a digital photographer who likes to ask "what was it that made me take a second look?". He recreates that unique feature in each photograph. His main interests are unusually and captivating color and composition. His subjects run the gamut from northern California to southwest England.

Celebrating 18 Years

Gold Country Artists Gallery will be celebrating 18 years as a cooperative gallery on Historic Main Street in Placerville during Placerville ArtWalk on Saturday, July 17. Come by and help us celebrate!

June Delights in Placerville

2010-06-12T06:10:00.001-07:00

Being on Main Street in Placerville in June will be great fun! Gold Country Artists Gallery, which is very near the center of town (two doors away from the Bell Tower at 379 Main Street) will be right in the middle of all that fun!

The Banners on Parade are now hanging in downtown Placerville. Come see this year's wonderful collection of brightly-colored banners! The image on the left is this years #1 winner, Placerville Wagon Train Days, by Toni Wooley (former member of Gold Country Artists Gallery).

While you're at it, check out the flower-baskets too—they're all over downtown.

Featured Artists

Our Featured Artists for June are Karen Hunziker and Annette Schachner.

Karen Hunziker

Karen works with ink, pastel and watercolor pens to create very brightly colored, intricate and detailed drawings. Although she is best known for her Russian inspired works and her fantasy drawings, her new series this month will include patriotic American themes to celebrate Memorial Day, Flag Day and July 4.

Karen's work, Liberty, is shown here.

On many occasions, Karen is at the gallery demonstrating her mixed media methods.

Annette Schachner

Annette creates beautiful silver jewelry. She has worked in many different art mediums and has taught as well. She is a classically trained artist who began her career as an art teacher, but her urge to create led her out of the classroom and back into the studio.

Annette's Eye of the Dragon is shown here.

Annette's work reflects her love of the exotic, incorporating elements of both Eastern and Meso-American iconography and images from the natural world.

Events on Historic Main Street in June

There is lots going on downtown in June! On June 12, Wagon Train comes through Historic Main Street in the early afternoon (with celebrations beforehand on Broadway and later in the day on Placerville Drive).

On June 19, Placerville ArtWalk will happen on Historic Main Street from 5pm-9pm. Come and stroll Main Street, have some great food, and hear some great music at the Gallery (with Caroll Tuttle & Friends) and at the Bell Tower.

The Bell Tower Brewfest will be Saturday evening, June 26, from 6-9 pm on Historic Main Street. If you are a beer aficionado, buy a ticket to taste beers from over 35 breweries that will be in businesses (including Gold Country Artists Gallery) on Main Street. For more information, see the Placerville Downtown Association website.

Hope to see you during the Placerville ArtWalk and during many of the other events this month!

May's Mayhem

2010-05-13T18:34:00.000-07:00

We're excited to have two of our great artists featured this month: Karen Caswell and Crista Dixon.

Karen Caswell

If you haven't seen Karen's work or Karen work, you are in for a treat! Her beautiful framed fishing flies are just gorgeous! And no, that wasn't a misprint or a hiccup in the first sentence about "...Karen's work or Karen work...".

Not only is Karen one of the Featured Artists this month, but she will also be demonstrating at the Placerville ArtWalk event in downtown Placerville on Saturday, May 15th, at the Gallery. See more of Karen's beautiful work at her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Crista Dixon

And now for something completely different, we'd like you to come by the Gallery and see Crista Dixon's beautiful jewelry!

Crista uses vintage and natural materials to create one-of-a-kind art pieces in the form of beautiful bracelets, necklaces and other fine pieces of jewelry. You will not see anything else like it anywhere in Placerville!

Come by during Placerville ArtWalk and see her wonderful work and you can also see her work on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Placerville ArtWalk

The third Saturday in May begins the Placerville ArtWalk season that will go through September. Each month has a different theme and in keeping with the car show, which is the next day (Sunday, May 16th), the theme is "Beatnik Bebop". Hope you can make it! For more information, see the Placerville Downtown Association web page.

As always, we would love to have you come by Gold Country Artists Gallery and see the wonderful works of all of our artists. You will be impressed, amazed and astounded at all of our great works of art!

April at GCA

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Here we are already in April! With the weather turning nicer (we hope!) and the days getting longer, all of us at Gold Country Artists Gallery are anxious for Spring to really get here and stay here! The weather has been teasing us long enough!

Featured Artists for April

We have two Featured Artists for April: Chris Navratil and Dianna Schwierzke.

Chris Navratil

Chris's pottery is influenced by memories of earlier travels in several Asian countries, by the colors of nature's beauty and by an incredibly blessed life.

Each piece of Chris's pottery is unique, individually created, wheel-thrown and made of either stoneware clay or porcelain. All of her pottery is bisque-fired, glazed and fired again. Each piece is unique and beautiful, and Chris's spoon rests (shown at left) and rice bowls are particularly popular.

See more of work on the Gold Country Artists Gallery website.

Dianna Schwierzke

Dianna's watercolors are all unique and very colorful.

Living in the middle of the Sierra Foothill Wine Country offers Dianna a constant and changing source of inspiration.

Dianna's real love of color and light are reflected in all of her paintings. Her Azalea painting on the left is but one example.

See more of work on the Gold Country Artists Gallery website.

1000 Poems on Main Street

If you like poetry, you will love this third Saturday's Placerville ArtWalk. How would you like to see/hear 1000 Poems on Main Street?

This is an event on Placerville's Historic Main Street during the evening of April's third Saturday sponsored by the El Dorado Art Council where there will actually be 1000 poems on Main Street. You will be able to view poems and hear poems and just enjoy poetry. And did you know that April is National Poetry Month?

In addition to all the poems on Main Street on Saturday evening, April 17, we will be featuring our two Featured Artists, having great snacks and having great live jazz music by Caroll Tuttle and Friends. Come by and say Hi!

Apple Blossom Festival

If you are inclined to spend the weekend enjoying Placerville and its environs, think about spending third Saturday evening downtown and than Sunday at the Apple Blossom Festival in Apple Hill.

The Apple Blossom Festival is on April 17th-18th, 2010 at participating ranches in Apple Hill. For more information, go to www.applehill.com.

Shop Local on Placerville's Historic Main Street

If you haven't been downtown in awhile, you don't know what you are missing! We have lots of wonderful shops downtown and very knowledgeable people who can help you fulfill your shopping needs. Check it out!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

March Happenings at GCA

2010-03-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

And yet another month of this "new" year has come to the fore. We have lots of new items in the Gallery this month and two wonderful Featured Artists who are anxious to share their work with you.

Lisa Bone

Lisa is one of our two Featured Artists for March and if you haven't seen Lisa's work in Gold Country Artists Gallery, you are really missing a treat!

Lisa has learned different techniques from local pottery classes, books, online resources, workshops and talking with other people who also specialize in ceramics. She loves to try new techniques, but is especially drawn to Raku and the various types of Raku firing.

Her work is colorful and majestic and lends itself to any decor. See Lisa's work in the Gallery and also on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Susan Preissner

Susan is mostly self-taught in the art of fused glass. She has evolved from creating fused-glass jewelry to making fused glass glassware.

Susan was introduced to the medium of fused glass by an old friend. After one class and much experimentation, she found great joy and satisfaction in the process of selecting colors, shapes and patterns in creating her one-of-a-kind pieces.

Come in to Gold Country Artists Gallery and see the different types of Susan's work. You can also view many of her pieces on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Gold Country Artists Gallery Mission

Our mission is to display and sell our member's artwork. We have over 45 members whose work is on display and available for purchase from 11 am to 5 pm, seven days a week. We encourage you to come by and view not only the ceramics and fused glass of our current Featured Artists, but also the paintings, photography, woodwork, jewelry and many other types of fine art by our other fine artists.

See more information about all of our artists and examples of their work at www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com.

Help Us Help The Center

2010-02-17T06:51:00.000-08:00

This coming Third Saturday, as in all of our Third Saturdays this year, we are helping one of our local organizations, The Center for Violence-Free Relationships, by donating 10% of all our sales for the entire day of Third Saturday to The Center.

We hope that you can come by the Gallery any time during the day and evening of 3rd Saturday (we will be open from 11am to 9 pm) and purchase something from one of our artists. We will donate 10% of all sales for the entire day to The Center. Please come by and help us help The Center!

Back of the Ahwahnee

Gold Country Artists Gallery member Sue Chapman will have one of her wonderful Yosemite works in a show at Yosemite. Yosemite Renaissance XXV, An exhibition of contemporary art of Yosemite and the Sierra, will be on display at the Yosemite Museum Gallery in Yosemite National Park from Saturday, February 27 through Sunday, May 2, 2010. After that, the show will go on tour.

See more information about the show at their website.

Girl's Night Out Coming February 26

The next Girl's Night Out in downtown Placerville will be on Friday, February 26 from 6-9 pm. This is a great chance for the "girls" to wander around Main Street and just have some fun. There will be a scavenger hunt (and Gold Country Artists Gallery will be participating in that), food and drink, entertainment, a fashion show and various demonstrations going on all over downtown.

See more information about Girl's Night Out and other events downtown at placervilledowntown.com.

Give Your Soul a Treat

All of us at Gold Country Artists Gallery are unabashed lovers of fine art. We invite you to come and spend a few minutes in our relaxing Gallery admiring the wonderful local works of art and meeting our artists. Then, buy a piece of our fine art for yourself or one of your loved ones. Take a breath; give your soul a treat—treat yourself to some fine art at Gold Country Artists Gallery.

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

Love is in the Air!!

2010-02-07T12:42:00.000-08:00

Love is in the Air again at Gold Country Artists Gallery! This is our third annual Love is in the Air show at the Gallery and we invite you to come and see us.

Come by for cookies during Valentine's week and see our beautiful window and the new art from our many fine artists.

Gallery Donates to The Center

As you may know, Gold Country Artists Gallery is in a partnership with The Center For Violence Free Relationships this year.

It started in November of 2009 when Gold Country Artists Gallery set aside 10% of sales from all of November's Third Saturday and continued that on December's Third Saturday. At the Gallery's monthly member's meeting in January, GCA's President, Bill Robinson, presented Matt Huckabay (Executive Director of The Center) with a check for $176 as our first donation.

Gold Country Artists Gallery will continue to do this throughout 2010. We hope you will come by on Third Saturday to help us support a great organization by buying a piece of art for yourself or as a gift for someone special.

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

A New Year!

2010-01-10T15:55:00.000-08:00

As with many of you, we cannot believe it is a new year either—and 2010 at that! Gold Country Artists Gallery has a lot of great things planned for this sparkling new year.

Featured Artists for January

Our Featured artists for the month of January are Don Jassowski and Bill Robinson.

Don Jassowski

Death Valley Dune by Don Jassowski

Irish Beach Rock by Don Jassowski

Don Jassowski’s photographic prints reflect his interest in nature and its beauty, which he captures with both every-day and unique subjects. His goal is to display in his prints the look and feel of the original scene.

Bill Robinson

Cat's Eye by Bill Robinson

Aspen Trees & Sky by Bill Robinson

Bill Robinson works with digital images to create photographic art images that span from traditional-looking photographs to images that look a bit like paintings.

Third Saturday

On the Third Saturday of January, Gold Country Artists Gallery will be highlighting these two talented artists. There will be food and music to go along with the wonderful art of our two Featured Artists, as well as all of the other artists in our Gallery.

Give yourself a treat and come into Gold Country Artists Gallery on Third Saturday!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

Small Wonders Miniatures Show

2009-12-13T17:00:00.000-08:00

Our third annual Small Wonders miniatures show is happening at Gold Country Artists Gallery through the month of December. Our miniatures show is always a fun time that members and customers alike look forward to.

Shown here are samples of the miniature works of several of our artists

We hope you can come by the Gold Country Artists Gallery this month and see these wonderful miniatures, as well as all the others!

Represented here are Lisa Bone, Sue Chapman, Laurie Hicklin, Katy Peet, Judith Perry, Bill Robinson and Dianna Schwierzke.

We look forward to seeing you at the Gallery!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

Featured Artists for November

2009-11-15T06:06:00.000-08:00

Gold Country Artists Gallery is proud to present Joyce Burr and Judith Perry as our Featured Artists for November. Their special reception will be on Third Saturday, November 21, from 6pm-9pm at the Gallery.

In addition, the Gallery is beginning a new quest on the entire day of this coming Third Saturday to help our community by partnering with the Center for Violence-Free Relationships. More details are described below.

Joyce Burr

Colorful glass pieces are what Joyce loves to create! Her works are always very colorful and useful at the same time. Joyce takes various pieces of glass and fuses them together to make her wonderful creations.

Joyce has many smaller pieces (such as this Cross Pendant I) that are very nicely priced—just right for a holiday gift. Her work spans from jewelry to home decorations.

If you are interested in finding out more about the glass-fusing process and seeing more of Joyce's work, check out Joyce's Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Judith Perry

Judy is an award-winning pastel artist whose paintings use color in wonderful ways. She has many paintings that she has done of California scenes (such as this one, Canyon Sunrise) that capture the light and spirit of the place.

She comes from a very artistic family and her paintings do indeed bring California's beauty to life on the canvas.

Judy is always entering various local shows and more often than not, she walks away with an award.

Give yourself a treat and come see Judy's work at the Gallery. You can also see more of her work on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Help Support Our Community

We are partnering with the Center for Violence-Free Relationships on this coming Third Saturday to help with their effort to build healthy relationships, families and communities. Gold Country Artists Gallery will be donating 10% of all sales for the entire day to the Center.

Please come by the Gallery and purchase a piece of our wonderful art and help support our community.

Third Saturday

Come by the Gallery on Third Saturday (November 21) and meet our two featured artists, sample some lite fare, taste some wine from Gold Hill Vineyards, listen to live music (Caroll Tuttle & friends) and help support our community.

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

Member Happenings

2009-10-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

Several artists have events coming up and have been involved in various things:

One of our photographers, Soroush, is a featured artist at the Artistic Edge in Sacramento; also, he is one of a group of people opening a new gallery, The Artists Collaborative in Old Sacramento
Karen Caswell is teaching a free fly-tying class on October 31 at the Off The Hook Fly Shop on Broadway in Placerville.
Crista Dixon and Chris Navratil will be in the Crocker Museum's Holiday Arts & Crafts Festival on Thanksgiving weekend, November 27, 28 & 29
Judy Perry received 2nd, 3rd and Honorable Mention awards at the Sierra Pastel Society's membership show in October
Tress Pearce will be at the Monterey Cowboy Poetry Festival Arts & Crafts show on December 11, 12 & 13 in Monterey, California

SPOOKY!!!

Trick or Treat on Main Street is coming this Saturday, October 31 from 4-6 pm on Main Street. If you have never experienced this event, you will be amazed at the thousands of people dressed up in great costumes! See more info on the PDA web site.

Stay safe this Halloween!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

Colors of October

2009-10-12T05:37:00.000-07:00

Fall is here and the wondrous month of October is beginning to display its color in the foothills around Placerville. At Gold Country Artists Gallery, we have wonderful artwork to complement the beautiful fall colors.

Featured Artists for October

Heidi Wilson

When you speak of color, Heidi's work shows it off wonderfully. She has been painting for over 40 years and is one of the founding members of Gold Country Artists Gallery. Her work runs the gamut from scenes of her travels to local scenes, animals, people, and floral.

Heidi's growing up in Europe and many travels made her someone who appreciates the beauty of place and can express it in her paintings. Her painting, Moorea Mood, is shown here.

Her watercolor and acrylic paintings are beautiful and would look good in any home or business.

See more of Heidi's work on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Ginny Wolff

Ginny is a long-time member of Gold Country Artists Gallery whose pottery has a great local following. The picture shows her Pit-Fired Pair.

Her hand-thrown Raku pottery has freehand designs including birds, four-legged creatures, fish and flowers.

Many of Ginny's pieces will be on display and for sale at Gold Country during the month of October and into the holiday season.

You can see more of Ginny's work on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Art & Wine Festival

This Saturday evening, October 17 from 6pm – 9pm, Historic Main Street will be host to the annual Art & Wine Festival. There will be 39 wineries in many of the businesses for tasting wines (tickets are available at the Placerville Downtown Association website).

Many downtown businesses will be open that evening and there will be art demonstrations (including at Gold Country Artists Gallery) and great music downtown.

In addition, it is the evening that the banners from this year's Art on Parade (2009 Banners on Parade) will be auctioned off during the "Silent Auction" on Main Street. You will have a chance to actually buy one of the beautiful banners that has hung on Main Street over this past summer. All the proceeds from the auction go to help fund Art on Parade in the future.

The banner shown here is Gold Country Artists Gallery member Dianna Schwierzke's banner, Harvest Moon.

Colors

Last, but not least, Fall around Placerville is beginning to show its true colors! With Apple Hill going on, the wineries' vines in full color, and the beautiful trees in the area also in full color, October is coming to its full glory quickly.

Come to Placerville and enjoy the day on Saturday: ride an authentic stagecoach, visit Apple Hill and shop in some of the most unique shops anywhere in the Motherlode. Come meet the artists at Gold Country Artists Gallery and stick around for the Art & Wine Festival on Saturday night.

Come and have some fun!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

Busy September

2009-09-15T05:57:00.000-07:00

September is a busy month in these parts! Not only does Gold Country Artists Gallery have two featured artists, but also September's Placerville ArtWalk is coming this weekend and the Studio Tour is coming this weekend too!

Featured Artists for September

Joyce Bahnsen

Joyce is truly a multifaceted artist, working her magic with paintings in watercolor, painted wearable art, painted furniture, and teaching. One of her painted scarves was worn during a fashion show for Girl's Night Out on Historic Main Street in downtown Placerville recently. Joyce's recent watercolors of the mountains give you the feeling of being there.

Soroush

Soroush creates wonderful photographs that are very sharp and colorful. The item that first draws your eye is the colors. Then as you look deeper into one of his photographs, you see some amazing detail. Many of his works are photographs done on canvas and are magnificent.

Placerville ArtWalk

During Placerville ArtWalk this Saturday night (September 19, 5pm-9pm) Gold Country Artists Gallery will be showcasing the work of Joyce Bahnsen and Soroush. We will have some goodies and some wine for you when you stop by and we will be participating in the food drive downtown for The Upper Room—see the article in the Sacramento Bee.

There will be music downtown at the Bell Tower provided by "Ant Bee" and lots of the businesses on Historic Main Street in downtown will be open for you to come by and peruse their wares and have some great food in one of the several great restaurants on Main Street.

The photo at the top of this post shows a view of inside Gold Country Artists Gallery during one of this summer's Placerville ArtWalks. There's a new video showing some of the happenings during the Placerville ArtWalks this summer and you can see it here. Also, if you are out and about earlier in the day, catch a free ride on Davey Wiser's stagecoach on Main Street near the Bell Tower from 12pm-4pm.

PAA Studio Tour

Also this weekend, the 2009 Studio Tour will be happening in western El Dorado County. The 2009 Studio Tour, sponsored by the Placerville Art Association, is an opportunity for you to visit artists in their studios and talk with them about their art and inspiration. 19 artists from Gold Country Artists Gallery (including Pam Snyder, whose work Salmon Falls Bridge is shown here) will be participating in the Studio Tour, so after you go on the Studio Tour, drop by Gold Country Artists Gallery to see not only more of their work but also the work of many other fine artists in our gallery.

Also, drop by Gold Country Artists Gallery to pick up one of the Studio Tour map-books. The cost for the book is $6 and it will be your ticket to a wonderful free event that will enable you to see some of El Dorado County's best art.

For more information about what is going on around the area see these websites too:

Also, don't forget that Apple Hill has started for the fall season! See more information at their website, applehill.com.

Whatever you decide to do, you can have a wonderful time in El Dorado County!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

GCA Member Happenings

2009-09-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of activities that Gold Country Artists Gallery members are always involved in and here are some of the most recent great things that some of our members are doing.

PAA Mother Lode Show

We had four members who had entries accepted in the Placerville Art Association's recent Mother Lode Art Exhibition that concluded on August 30: Jimmie Grann, Bruce Gruenzel, Judith Perry and Rod Williams. Rod's gouache-media piece, Three in the River (shown above), won Best in Show. Congrats to the Rod and all the members whose entries were accepted into the show. If you didn't see the show, it was great!

KVIE Art Auction

As we do every year, Gold Country Artists Gallery had five entries in our local Public Television's (KVIE) fundraising Art Auction that were donated by members. Members who donated work to the auction this year were Lorrene Davis, Jack Nissen, Judith Perry, Annette Schachner and Dianna Schwierzke.

Judith Perry's View of the Valley-Yosemite won a second place in the Drawing and Pastels category. Above is a photo of Judy and her piece at the KVIE Art Auction Preview Gala. Congrats to Judy and thanks to all members who donated work on behalf of the Gallery!

California State Fair

Cecelia Clark had one of her wonderful photographs accepted for display at the California State Fair. The photograph, Qaisareyeh Bazaar, Isfahan, is one of the many photographs taken by Cecelia during her many travels. Congratulations to Cecelia!

And a Few More

Lorrene Davis won Honorable Mention in the "You Rock" contest in the category of Rings & Things. Also, Lorrene was a presenter and teacher at the Metal Clay World Conference in Chicago recently.

Judy Hamner won a first place at the Amador County Fair for her watercolor, Still Life, and a second place for one of her pastels. Judy is also teaching children's art at Gold Oak School this year and at her home (in addition, she is teaching Adult Art classes at her home).

Girl's Night Out

Girl's Night Out is coming to Historic Main Street again on Saturday night, September 12, 6-9 pm. Come by the Gallery for snacks and beverages and to see some of our wonderful artists demonstrating their talents.

Also, just come downtown to enjoy the festive atmosphere and partake of the many activities in the businesses downtown. To see more information about Girl's Night Out and all the events downtown, see the Placerville Downtown Association website.

Hope to see you soon!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

Summer at Gold Country

2009-08-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

There are many events on Main Street in Historic Placerville in the summertime. Not only is Placerville's Art on Parade showing throughout the summer downtown (the 2009 Banners on Parade), but also there have been various great events every month, including Placerville ArtWalk.

The above photo shows the first floor of Gold Country Artists Gallery during one of this summer's Placerville ArtWalk Third Saturday events: people having a good time looking at art and meeting on a warm summer night.

Placerville ArtWalk at Gold Country

Placerville ArtWalk will be happening on Main Street in Placerville on Saturday, August 15, from 5 pm to 9 pm. Our two featured artists during the month of August are two of our photographer members, Bob Sherwood and Bud Bradley.

Bob Sherwood

Bob Sherwood's concept of photography is to try and capture a moment in time in the most beautiful way possible. The beauty is there everywhere we look. The trick is to get it captured just as it looks in real life. Bob has traveled to 3 continents and more than 19 countries for photographic opportunities.

He has a wonderful collection of work and shows several of his many pieces at Gold Country Artists Gallery. Come by the Gallery and chat with Bob about photography.

This work is his photograph entitled Yosemite Falls Reflection. See more of Bob's photography on his Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Bud Bradley

Bud is a returning member to the Gallery and is anxious to show his latest work to the public. He's been a photographer most of his life and continues to grow as a photographer.

After moving to the Sierra Foothills and getting involved with the art community, Bud expanded his vistas and started telling stories with portraiture and physical surroundings. Travels throughout Europe, especially Italy, provided him with an unlimited canvas on which to ply his trade.

Come by the Gallery to meet Bud and see his great photographs, including the one shown here: Sunlight Dining, Cinque Terra. You can enjoy more of Bud's great photo artistry on his Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Come by Gold Country Artists Gallery to meet our two Featured Artists and meet many of our other artists during the August Placerville ArtWalk.

We want you to come downtown, stop by Gold Country Artists Gallery, and experience Placerville ArtWalk!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

Seventeen and Counting!

2009-07-13T10:10:00.000-07:00

Gold Country Artists Gallery is 17 years old—just a teenager! We would love to have you help us celebrate our anniversary on Saturday evening, July 18, 2009 from 5 pm to 9 pm at the Gallery during Placerville ArtWalk!

Way back in 1992, several artists in Placerville got together to form a new cooperative art gallery in Placerville. The original location was where the PLA store is now. After 4 years there, the Gallery moved to our current location at 379 Main Street. There were about 20 artists originally and now we have close to 50!

Placerville ArtWalk

The Placerville ArtWalk (formerly known as Third Saturday) is on the 3rd Saturday of each month. Many businesses on Main Street are open during that evening and there are special happenings downtown, including wonderful music at the Bell Tower. This month, a blues band from Texas by the name of Diddley Squat Blues Band will be performing—and they are great!

Gold Country Artists Gallery will be celebrating our 17th anniversary with cake, live music (Carroll Tuttle & Friends), live demonstrations by Karen Caswell (Fly Tying), Chris Navratil (Pottery making), and Diane Mobley (making pine needle baskets). Gold Country Artists Gallery is one of the major sponsors of the Placerville ArtWalk. See more information at the Placerville Downtown Association website. We hope you can join us!

July Featured Artists

Our Featured Artists for July are Lisa Bone and Elaine Wallin.

Lisa Bone

Lisa Bone has been involved with ceramics and pottery for many years, but it became serious for her about 3 years ago when an art studio was built for her. She learned the Raku firing process while taking classes and loved it so much that it is her preferred firing technique. She enjoys Raku so much because of its unpredictable and beautiful results. Her style is varied. Some pieces are very elaborate and ornate, while others are very simple and earthy.

Her techniques include Traditional Raku, horse hair, saggars and naked Raku. She also gives lessons from her studio to share her knowledge and love of the art.

She lives locally in Shingle Springs with her husband and two sons. Her recent passion for horses has had quite an influence on her art.

Elaine Wallin

Elaine Wallin's oil paintings can be seen throughout the U.S. and abroad in private and commercial collections. She was featured artist on the cover of the MinuteMan Press™ calendar for the Millennium year 2000. The California State Capital exhibited 36 of her oils in a recent exhibition.

The broad appeal of her art stems from the warmth flowing from her work. Her colors are rich, warm and vibrant. Her impressionistic brush strokes weave abstract patterns throughout her work.

In her landscapes and seascapes, the viewer rarely feels lonely. Whether the painting shows figures enjoying themselves in flowering gardens or at the water's shores, the human presence is always felt.

As Elaine says, "I want my paintings to reflect my outlook on life—to share with the viewer a feeling of happiness and pleasure."

Come Help Us Celebrate!

Come help us celebrate our 17th anniversary and see the work of (and meet!) our two wonderful featured artists during the July Placerville ArtWalk on July 18.

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

June at Gold Country

2009-06-19T06:07:00.000-07:00

It's June at Gold Country Artists Gallery and we have some news!

New Artists

We have several new artists in the Gallery. Marylou Morton (acrylic impressionism), Bud Bradley (photography—that's one of Bud's pieces at the top of this post, Cinque Terra Late Afternoon) and Karen Caswell (artistic fishing flies—one is shown on the right).

We also have Bruce Gruenzel (oil paintings) and Rod Williams (drawings). To the left is Marylou Morton's Three Warm Doorways. Come by during Placerville ArtWalk and meet our new artists!

Placerville ArtWalk

This Saturday, June 20, Placerville ArtWalk will be happening in downtown Placerville starting at 5 pm. Gold Country Artists Gallery is one of the major sponsors of Placerville ArtWalk (which is spearheaded by the El Dorado Arts Council). There will be music at the Bell Tower (Sidetrack) and we will have music at the Gallery too (Carroll Tuttle & Chris Teter with their wonderful light jazz). Come see our new artists and our Featured Artists for June, Lorrene Davis and Dianna Schwierzke.

Featured Artists

Our Featured Artists for June are Lorrene Davis and Dianna Schwierzke. Lorrene's Polymer Metal Clay jewelry is wonderful and all are one-of-a-kind. Just to the left is a picture of her piece, Blue Ribbon.

Dianna creates beautiful watercolors showing our wonderful area in California, the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. To the right is a picture of her piece, Gold in Them Hills. Come to Gold Country Artists Gallery to meet the featured artists and talk with them about their art.

Banners on Parade 2009

The Banners on Parade 2009 is on display in downtown Placerville. This year, we have 34 banners adorning the light poles and the Bell Tower on Historic Main Street. You can also see photographs of all the banners by going to the Placerville Downtown Association website.

At the Gallery, we also have the walking tour brochures for Banners on Parade 2009. Come by to pick one up and take the tour.

Two of the banners were done by two of our artists, Joyce Bahnsen and Dianna Schwierzke. That's a photograph of Joyce's banner, La Belle Artiste, on the left; on the right is a photograph of Dianna's banner, Harvest Moon.

Come by and see us at Gold Country Artists Gallery!

May Happenings at Gold Country

2009-05-13T11:56:00.000-07:00

It's almost the middle of May and the weather downtown is warming up, especially in the evenings. We invite you to join us for some fun and frivolity on the third Saturday evenings of the month starting on May 16, for...

Placerville ArtWalk

Changing art shows... Late night shopping... Entertainment... Fine dining

Gold Country Artists Gallery is one of the major sponsors of the Placerville ArtWalk, along with the Placerville Downtown Association, City of Placerville, and the El Dorado Arts Council. In addition, ten other merchants downtown are helping to support Placerville ArtWalk. Come and be part of the rejuvenated "Third Saturday" event!

This Saturday, May 16, come to downtown Placerville to enjoy great food, great art, and great entertainment at the Bell Tower (by Code Blue). As you stroll Main Street from 5 pm to 9 pm, there will be other performers on the sidewalk and beautiful flower baskets (like in the picture above) hanging from the lamposts.

Featured Artists at Gold Country

During the month of May, we are featuring the works of Maxine Farris and Elizabeth Sloan. Come see their beautiful paintings at the Gallery and meet the artists.

Car Show on Sunday

On the Sunday after Placerville ArtWalk (May 17), there is a car show on Main Street in Historic Downtown Placerville. Come by and see some other kinds of "works of art"!

Come and See Your Downtown

Historic Downtown Placerville is a magical place. As summer comes, there will be new, beautiful artistic banners on the light poles, our flower baskets will be brimming with color, and there will be activities for the whole family.

And we at Gold Country Artists Gallery would love to see you!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

Variations on a View

2009-04-15T04:55:00.000-07:00

Randall Tillery's Painting: Grand View

During the month of April, we are having our Variations on a View show at Gold Country Artists Gallery. So, you might be asking: What the heck does that mean?

We asked a couple of our photographers in the gallery (Jack Nissen and Bob Sherwood) to give out one of their photographs to painters in the gallery. Those painters then painted their rendition of the photographs. There were, as you can imagine, many "takes" on the photographs. Each painter interpreted the photograph in his or her own way.

Here are the two photographs we used:

Big Silver Creek by Jack Nissen

Wyoming Fence by Bob Sherwood

At the beginning of this blog is Randall Tillery's version of Wyoming Fence (Randall calls his painting Grand View).

Below is Randall's rendition of the Big Silver Creek photograph:

Randall Tillery's Painting: Mountain Stream

Here are some more paintings of the photographs. These two paintings are by Thaleia Georgiades:

Thaleia Georgiades' Painting: Lazy Creek

Thaleia Georgiades' Painting: Wyoming Fence

These are just a couple of the artists in the Gallery who did renditions of the photographs. Stop by Gold Country Artists Gallery during the month of April to see all the versions of the paintings. Many are in the front window and several others are throughout the Gallery.

Placerville ArtWalk

Placerville ArtWalk (also known as Third Saturday) will be on Saturday, April 18, from 5-9 pm at Gold Country. We hope you come by!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

March Featured Artists

2009-03-06T07:51:00.000-08:00

Our Featured Artists for March are Valerie Bye and Bill Robinson.

Valerie Bye

Valerie's wonderful watercolors are unique in their incredible color vibrancy. Her work is instantly recognizable after you see it the first time.

Valerie believes there is beauty all around us: in nature, in people and their cultures, in music and love. When she paints, the combination of color and the unpredictable nature of watercolor puts a song in her heart and she hopes the viewer can hear the music too!

Below is Valerie's watercolor entitled Kabuki. See more of Valerie's work on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Bill Robinson

Bill has enjoyed photography for many years, especially since the advent of digital photography. Since taking a Photoshop class at a local college over 12 years ago, he has been practicing and perfecting his art with the use of the latest version of Photoshop and other programs that allow manipulation of digital images.

Bill creates both photographs and photographic art, that is, photographs that have been crafted to look like a painting. He is always experimenting and finding new ways to present his work at the Gallery.

Below is Bill's photograph entitled Lake Tahoe Shore View. See more of Bill's work on his Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Come See the GCA Window

Each month a couple of our artists are in charge of creating the look of our front window and this month they outdid themselves! Come see for yourself.

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

February Happenings

2009-02-19T09:40:00.000-08:00

This Saturday evening is Third Saturday in downtown Placerville. Gold Country Artists Gallery will be showing off our Love is in the Air works throughout the gallery.

Love is in the Air

And truly, during the month of February, Love IS in the Air! We've just had Valentine's Day and you could see all the candy, flowers and gifts in people's hands over the last couple of weeks. We have some wonderful, love-ly works in the gallery, including many wonderful love-themed cards and gift items.

Third Saturday

We'll have the wonderful Love is in the Air works throughout the gallery and some munchies and wine for you to taste. Also, we'll have Carroll Tuttle and Chris Teter playing light jazz in the Gallery that evening.

If you haven't experienced Carroll & Chris, come by and check it out. Here's a short video of them at Third Saturday in January playing one of their original pieces at the Gallery (that's Carroll on the left and Chris on the right).

Give Yourself a Break

With all that's going on in our economy right now, don't you think you deserve a little love? Come into the gallery and breathe it in, 'cause after all, Love is in the Air at Gold Country Artists Gallery!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

What's in the Air?

2009-02-06T06:59:00.000-08:00

Why, Love is in the Air, of course!

Special Show

Last year, we had a show in February that was so much fun we decided to do it again. That's how Love is in the Air came about. Many of our artists used that as a theme to create some work for the gallery; or, they are displaying work that they previously created that highlights that theme.

Sue Chapman

Sue Chapman did a collage of valentine hearts that, coincidentally enough, she calls her Valentine collage! Each heart is different and whimsical. Come see and enjoy Sue's Valentine Hearts!

Bill Robinson

Some time ago, Bill Robinson created his Roses are Red photograph. It was a photograph he took outside the Camino Flower Shop (on Broadway in Placerville—great shop!) of an arrangement of Roses. It was that wonderful rose-red that attracted him, with just a few other colors included.

Cecilia Clark

Cecilia Clark also has two special pieces at the Gallery for our show: Peacock Strut and Valentine 2009.

Many Others To See

Come by Gold Country Artists Gallery during the month of February to see many other Love is in the Air-themed works by many of our artists. Hope to see you at the Gallery!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

Third Saturday

2009-01-16T09:29:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to remind you that Third Saturday is tomorrow night, January 17. Come by the Gallery to see our featured artists, Annette Schachner and David Sterling.

Gallery Sale

While you are in the gallery, look for the yellow stickers on some of our member's work. We are having our annual January sale and those items with the yellow stickers are the sale items.

We will also have wine, food and live music.

Hope to see you there!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

January Featured Artists

2009-01-06T06:17:00.000-08:00

Our featured artists for January at Gold Country Artists Gallery are jeweler Annette Schachner and photographer David Sterling.

Annette Schachner

Annette's inspiration for her fine jewelry comes from everywhere. She is especially interested in the designs and patterns of nature and the world's cultures. Each of Annette's pieces are one-of-a-kind creations and to own one is to own a beautiful piece of wearable art. Shown at left is Annette's piece, Tranquil Dragon. See more of Annette's work on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

David Sterling

David's images reflect the beauty of California country and ocean scenes. After many years as a traditional photographer, he turned to digital photography and enjoys working on photographs using his computer. He carefully hones each photograph until it reflects his vision of the original scene. At right is David's work, On This Rock in Snow. See more of David's work on his Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Come to the Gallery

Annette and David are two of our 50 artists at Gold Country Artists Gallery. Come by the Gallery from 11 am – 5 pm any day of the week or on the Third Saturday (January 17) from 6 pm – 9 pm to see the work of Annette and David and meet them in person. On Third Saturday, there will be food and wine and a good time will be had by all!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

A Happening at Gold Country

2008-12-27T06:25:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, just before Christmas, we had some unexpected joy at the Gold Country Artists Gallery. It had to do with a young man and a young woman and a life-changing experience.

A Grand Scheme

On Monday a young man came into the Gallery and made a request: he wanted to propose to his girlfriend at the gallery in a very special way and asked if we could help him. Of course we said yes!

The Proposal

On Tuesday, two days before Christmas, he arranged an elaborate story for his girlfriend, saying that they were involved in a treasure hunt for a specific piece of art in a gallery in Placerville. He asked her to look for this piece of art. Meanwhile, he brought a painting of himself and his girlfriend to Gold Country Artists Gallery and we hung it in a space at the Gallery. Beneath the painting, he put a very special card.

She finally met him at the gallery and they walked around looking at the art for a bit. When they came in front of the space with the painting, she saw it and looked closely at the card beneath the painting, which was his proposal of marriage. Excited doesn't begin to cover her reaction! She said "Yes" and the rest will become their history.

It's Official

Here is the "official" picture of Rich and Michelle's engagement! Times in life like these are so very special and we were thrilled that they allowed those gallery members who were present that day to be witness to their future happy life together.

We at Gold Country Artists Gallery wish them the very best and thank them for allowing us the opportunity to share in their special moment!

Holiday Gift Ideas

2008-12-20T08:06:00.000-08:00

Third Saturday Night is tonight (Saturday, December 20, 6-9 pm) and Historic Main Street in downtown Placerville will be buzzing with activity.

Many Great Gifts

In addition to our "Small Wonders" miniatures show this month, many of our artists at Gold Country Artists Gallery have special items available as gifts for the holidays. Ornaments, scarves, beautiful jewelry, pottery, woodwork, photographs, paintings—all these and more are available at Gold Country Artists Gallery. Plus, we'll have hot apple cider and goodies for you to munch on and live music for you to enjoy.

Downtown is Wondrous

While you are downtown visiting Gold Country Artists Gallery, make sure you stroll historic Main Street and check out the many wonderful shops and restaurants that are downtown. We have so many unique shops downtown and you will be very pleased with the decorations and gift ideas. You can see lots of information about downtown at the redesigned Placerville Downtown Association website.

Shop Downtown

During these hard economic times, come downtown to shop and help our local businesses survive and thrive. If you take the time to look, you will be astounded at the variety of items that are available downtown.

Have a Happy Holiday season from all of us at Gold Country Artists Gallery!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

The Gallery at Christmas

2008-12-12T07:19:00.000-08:00

We love to decorate the gallery for the holidays and this year is no exception! When you come through the front doors, you see the scene shown on the left. We had a dedicated group of members who spent a lot of time getting the look of the gallery just right.

The gallery is a challenge to decorate with the many lights and beautiful art already gracing our walls, pedestals, and jewelry cases. We always try to come up with something different each year.

Here are a couple more pics showing the inside of the gallery and some of the decorations:

We also made up some hanging decorations that are throughout the gallery. Take a look at these two:

Come into the gallery and check out the wonderful Christmas decorations this year and enjoy the work of our wonderful artists at Gold Country Artists Gallery in downtown Placerville.

Small Wonders

2008-12-03T19:42:00.000-08:00

All through the month of December, Gold Country Artists Gallery will be featuring miniature works by many of our members. The miniature works are displayed throughout the gallery. The work above, entitled Here Comes the Sun, is a miniature photograph by Cecilia Clark.

A Gathering of Miniatures

To the left of the front door as you enter the gallery, we have hung a selection of miniatures created by various members of the gallery. Then, as you peruse members' work throughout the gallery, you will see more miniatures hanging on the left side of a member's space.

A Sampling of Miniature Works

You have already seen one miniature work at the top of this blog. Here are a few more.

The one to the right is entitled Yosemite Half Dome and it is by well-known local painter and long-time Gold Country Artists Gallery member Anne Gladwill.

This one on the left is a black and white photograph entitled The Moon from Stagecoach Alley and is by member Bill Robinson. It is one of a series of four miniatures showing downtown Placerville at night.

Finally, Dianna Schwierzke created several miniatures for the

show and this one below is entitled Pepper Party. Four of Dianna's miniatures are shown on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page.

Many other artists in the gallery have created miniatures for this

show and you can see all of them at Gold Country Artists Gallery through the month of December.

Wouldn't an original miniature work of art make a great Christmas gift? We hope you enjoy the show and we look forward to seeing you at the gallery!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

Thanksgiving & Festival of Lights

2008-11-27T06:35:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving... Over the river and through the woods and all that... Always a great time for family, friends and food, Thanksgiving is here and that means that the Festival of Lights is here too!

Festival of Lights

Each day after Thanksgiving, Placerville's Main Street closes to traffic about 5:30 pm so people can wander about downtown and enjoy the lights, holiday shopping, and munchies provided by the merchants. The big Christmas tree by the courthouse will be lit for the first time of the season that evening and there will be many activities on Main Street.

Stagecoach rides from 4 pm to 8 pm
Entertainment at the Bell Tower from 5 pm to 8 pm
Santa will be at River City Bank from 6:15 pm to 7:30 pm
The Holly Jolly Trolley will be shuttling visitors from outlying parking lots to downtown
Merchants will be open later and showing off their wonderful decorations

Gold Country Artists Gallery

Gold Country Artists Gallery looks wonderful with all the decorations for the season! Our theme colors this year are silver and blue, so we have our front window decorated with silver and blue ornaments, silver garland hanging between the beams inside the Gallery, and wonderful hand-made Christmas hangings throughout the Gallery.

During the holiday season, Gold Country Artists Gallery will be open on Friday and Saturday evenings until 8 pm and starting on December 11, Thursday evenings until 8 pm too.

Many of our artists will be on hand those evenings to personally show you their work and elaborate on how it came to be. Please ask them to tell you about their work (artists are mostly shy, but once you get them going they will tell you all about it!).

Holiday Happenings at Gold Country

Normally, we have a couple of featured artists each month at the Gallery. However, during the month of December, we will be having our Second Annual Miniatures Show at the gallery. Artists are producing work that is smaller than their regular works and displaying them both in their spaces and in the front area to the left of the front door as you come into the gallery. All of these works will be modestly-priced original works and available for purchase.

Have a Wonderful Holiday Season

We at Gold Country Artists Gallery would like to wish you all a happy holiday season and we hope that you will make downtown Placerville your shopping place for the holidays!

New Artist at Gold Country

2008-11-14T05:27:00.000-08:00

Cecilia Clark

One of our newest artists, Cecilia Clark, has some wonderful photography to view at Gold Country Artists Gallery.

Cecilia graduated from CSU Sacramento with a BA in Studio Arts and has studied under Jim Ginney, Roger Vail and many others.

Cecilia has traveled extensively and loves to experience different world cultures. Her main tool is medium-format film cameras that she uses to take wonderful black and white images of the various peoples and places she visits. She then digitizes her film images and works on them using her computer as her darkroom.

She prints her own archival images and has them framed using archival materials.

Cecilia has participated in many shows in the region and recently spent a year living in the Republic of Georgia.

Two of the many images by Cecilia Clark are shown here. You can see more of Cecilia's work on the Gold Country Artists Gallery website and on her own website.

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

November Featured Artists

2008-11-08T09:08:00.000-08:00

Gold Country Artists Gallery's Featured Artists this month are Judy Hamner and Blanche Kawahara.

Judy Hamner

Judy Hamner is best known for her pastel and oil paintings of Hope Valley, Pleasant Valley and Silver Lake and for her beautiful wild life and animal renderings. Judy's painting, "Turkey Party", is shown here.

Blanche Kawahara

Blanche Kawahara's award-winning pastels and oils , wire-wrapped jewelry and original hand-painted silk scarves will be featured during the month of November. For her jewelry, Blanche uses stones, shells, fossils and dichroic glass set with silver or gold-filled wire. Blanche is also well-known as an art teacher in the community. One of Blanche's pastel paintings, "Carson Creek" is shown at right.

These are two of the wonderful 50 artists that are currently showing their work at Gold Country Artists Gallery. Make sure you come by the gallery during any day from 11am - 5pm, on the evening of the third Saturday of the month (November 15, 6-9 pm) and during the "Festival of Lights" on November 28 (5pm-8pm) to see not only our Featured Artists, but rest of our very talented members.

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

Gold Country is Reader's Choice!

2008-10-27T09:12:00.001-07:00

Over this past month, Gold Country Artists Gallery has won a couple of awards.

Foothill Style magazine – Gold Country won Favorite Art Gallery in the Foothill Style Magazine 2008 Reader's Choice Awards (October 2008 issue of Foothill Style magazine)
Mountain Democrat – Gold Country won Best Art Gallery in the Mountain Democrat 2008 Reader's Choice (will be published in mid-November)

We were thrilled to think that the readership of two separate publications that voted, voted for Gold Country Artists Gallery!

We do have a wonderful gallery and a great group of 50 artists in the gallery. Come see a great selection of art and experience one of Placerville's oldest buildings. We would love to see you!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

A Big Saturday Night

2008-10-17T05:56:00.000-07:00

This is a big weekend at Gold Country Artists Gallery and in downtown Placerville.

We have our two wonderful featured artists for the month being highlighted during the Third Saturday evening event in Placerville and
the Art and Wine Festival is this Saturday night

Featured Artists

Stan Josselyn and Delores Meldrum are our featured artists this month. If you haven't seen their work, you are in for a treat! Stan does wonderful oil paintings (that's one of his works, The Sea Ranch 1, at the top of this post) and Delores paints delightful watercolors (California Canyon is shown here). These two fine artists are both featured during the month of October and will be specially highlighted during this Saturday night's events at the gallery.

Art and Wine Festival

Placerville's annual Art and Wine Festival is this Saturday night on Historic Main Street in downtown Placerville. There will be artists, 35 or so wineries serving wine and this year's banners will be auctioned off, along with a special framed poster of all the banners. If you want to taste the wine, you need to buy a ticket and you can get them online at the PDA's website or you can buy them downtown prior to the event (as long as the tickets last).

If you haven't seen the banners, Saturday night will be the time to see them. They will all (30 of them) be displayed on Main Street in front of Gold Country Artists Gallery for your perusal and for you to bid on. In addition, there is a Banners on Parade poster, signed by the poster-creator (Bill Robinson) and framed. Come see all the banners up close to see how gorgeous they really are!

Give yourself a break from all the bleak economic news of late and come and stroll downtown and enjoy a fine October evening on Historic Main Street in downtown Placerville!

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

GCA Members in Pastels on High Exhibition

2008-10-13T14:32:00.000-07:00

The 2008 Pastels on High 7th International Exhibition, presented by the Sierra Pastel Society, is going on now through October 25. Three of our Gold Country Artists Gallery artists were accepted into the show. Their entries were 3 of the roughly 60 entries (chosen out of over 200) that made it into the show.

GCA Members in Pastels on High Show

Members of Gold Country Artists Gallery whose works were accepted for the show are:

Judith Perry: Jenny Lake/Grand Tetons
Thaleia Georgiades: Jolly (see the photo above) won one of the Merit Awards
Anne Gladwill: Woops #5 won one of the Thelma Davis Awards

Reception & Awards

The reception and awards presentation was held on Saturday evening, October 11. The entries were judged by Urania Christy Tarbet, who is the Founder and President of the International Association of Pastel Societies, among many other things.

Congratulations to Judy, Thaleia and Anne! See the show until October 25 at Hang It Up Gallery in El Dorado Hills. Also, you can see more of their work at Gold Country Artists Gallery.

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

GCA & KVIE

2008-09-30T06:21:00.000-07:00

Gold Country Artists & KVIE

The Gold Country Artists Gallery portion of the 2008 KVIE Art Auction was a success! All of the items donated from the Gallery sold and we were able to help a great public television station in Sacramento raise much-needed funds.

The members of GCA who donated works to the Auction on behalf of the Gallery were Lisa Bone, Neil Lykken, Robert Sherwood, Bill Robinson and Maxine Farris.

The On-Air Experience

GCA member Bill Robinson was the on-air spokesperson for the Gallery and according to Bill, it was his 15 minutes of fame that turned out to actually be 30 minutes! Never having done any television before, Bill was nervous but from all indications did well.

Auction of the GCA items was on Saturday evening, 9/27/08, from 6:30 pm to 7:00 pm. The staff and volunteers at KVIE public television were very helpful and understanding of folks who had never been on television. They prepared Bill during a training session at the station on 9/11/08 and during the hour or so before the event.

During the actual auction of the items, Bill introduced the gallery to viewers, introduced each item individually (see previous post on this blog), and worked with the KVIE Art Auction host to actually auction the items. The best news is that everything that the five members contributed to the Auction on behalf of GCA sold!

Other Members in KVIE Auction

Whenever there is a KVIE Art Auction (once a year in September), they only take 5 members to represent a gallery. If anyone else from a gallery wants to participate, they submit their piece on their own to be in the auction and it might be selected or it might not. There were 800 entries to the 2008 KVIE Art Auction of which 200 were chosen to be auctioned.

Other members of GCA whose work was accepted and auctioned off during the 2008 KVIE Art Auction were Sue Chapman, Judy Hamner and Randall Tillery. Congratulations to Sue, Judy & Randall!

Money Raised by GCA Items for KVIE

We don't yet have the final dollar amounts that the GCA items sold for during the on-air auction, but it was somewhere in the neighborhood of $3000! It was all for a great cause and we look forward to participating in 2009.

Gold Country & KVIE

2008-09-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

This coming weekend, 9/26-28, 2008, is the KVIE Art Auction 2008. This event supports KVIE public television in Sacramento, California.

Gold Country Artists Gallery has five members who have donated works that will be auctioned off to support KVIE.

Lisa Bone: ceramic container and lid
Neil Lykken: rocking chair
Robert Sherwood: color photograph
Bill Robinson: photographic art
Maxine Farris: chalk pastel

These works will be auctioned off from 6:30 pm to 7:00 pm on Saturday, September 27 during the live auction event.

Make sure you tune in and help us support our great public television station, KVIE!

Third Saturday in September

2008-09-16T07:54:00.000-07:00

This coming Saturday evening, September 20, 2008, is the Third Saturday event in downtown Placerville. If you haven't been in downtown Placerville on a Third Saturday evening, you will enjoy it! Many of the businesses and galleries are open from 6-9 pm.

Of course, Gold Country Artists Gallery will be open and we will be featuring two of our artists (see previous two postings in this blog): Lorrene Davis and Karen Hunziker. See more information about Lorrene at her website and Karen is also displaying her work at High Hill Ranch at Apple Hill throughout the fall.

In addition to our featured artists, we will be serving light snacks and will have wine from Gold Hill Vineyards and live music with Chris Teter.

We hope you can come!

Featured Artist: Karen Hunziker

2008-09-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

Our other featured artist during the month of September, Karen Hunziker, resides in Pollock Pines and shows her wonderfully colorful drawings at Gold Country Artists Gallery. Karen is originally from New York and studied art in southern California.

Many times when she is at the Gallery, she is working on a piece of her artwork and is glad to be able to talk about it.

Karen's latest series that she is working on is collages of various items. The two shown below are of items you might use in a woodshop and some very colorful wooden spoons. She also has collages of cameras, cats, and office desk items.

See more of Karen's work on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page. Also, come by the Gallery on the 3rd Saturday evening in September (9/20/2008) from 6 pm to 9 pm, meet Karen and see some of her work up close.

Please click on COMMENTS (below) to leave comments

Featured Artist: Lorrene Davis

2008-09-09T05:38:00.000-07:00

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

One of two Featured Artists during the month of September, Lorrene Davis resides in Placerville and has shown her work at Gold Country Artists Gallery for several years.

Lorrene was classically trained as a goldsmith at the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts in San Francisco, where she is now an instructor. Her current medium is polymer metal clay jewelry and several of her works are on display at Gold Country Artists Gallery.

In addition to her jewelry, Lorrene has written a book Setting Gemstones in Metal Clay, which is available from her website. She also teaches classes at various locations and has written several magazine articles and been featured in newspaper articles.

Each one of Lorrene's pieces is unique. Here's a sampling:

See more of Lorrene's work on her Gold Country Artists Gallery web page. Lorrene's work is very unique and we hope you can come and see her and her work on the 3rd Saturday evening in September (9/20/2008) from 6 pm to 9 pm at the Gallery.

Please click on COMMENTS (below) to leave any comments

September at Gold Country

2008-09-05T06:33:00.000-07:00

www.goldcountryartistsgallery.com

September is another big month for art at Gold Country Artists Gallery and in El Dorado County.

Our Featured Artists for September are Lorrene Davis and Karen Hunziker.

Lorrene Davis is a jewelry designer and artist who creates unique jewelry in art clay and polymer. Lorrene recently won an honorable mention prize from a national jewelry supplier for her metal clay work, Triangles, which is in the gallery. Lorrene has also written a book on Setting Gemstones in Metal Clay and has less than 100 left and she has developed a new tool for that medium.
Karen Hunziker is a mixed-media artist who specializes in very colorful pen & ink drawings. Karen's latest work focuses on some wonderul collages and Karen frequently can be seen creating her work at Gold Country Artists Gallery.

Third Saturday in September will be fun! In addition to our Featured Artists being at the gallery to talk with you about their work, we will have great wine from Gold Hill Vineyards, snacks and live music.

In El Dorado County during the last two weekends in September (September 20 & 21 and 27 & 28), the Placerville Arts Association is sponsoring their annual Studio Tour. Over half of our members will be participating and will be at several of the many locations throughout the county. In addition, the Studio Tour guides are available at Gold Country Artists Gallery ($6 each).

Come by the gallery and check us out!

Some "Inside" Info

2008-08-29T14:31:00.000-07:00

Kind of a play on words! Here's some recent inside shots of Gold Country Artists Gallery. The building is over 150 years old and has a wonderful feel to it.

We have 50 artists upstairs and downstairs. The artwork consists of paintings (oil, pastel, watercolor, acrylic), photography, mixed media, wood, jewelry, pottery, gourds and glass.

We change the work in the gallery once a month; all the artists move their work around in the gallery on the first Monday of each month and bring in some new work to display.

All of the pictures on this post show views of downstairs—I'll have views of the upstairs coming soon (and some videos too!).

Til next time...

GCA Artists in Art Shows & Art Competitions

2008-08-19T11:16:00.000-07:00

If you didn't come downtown for our Third Saturday/Girl's Night Out event this past Saturday (August 16), you missed a great evening!

We have over 50 artists in Gold Country Artists Gallery and many of them are currently displaying their work in art shows or participating in art competitions. There are at least two local shows going on right now: the 42nd Annual Mother Lode Art Exhibition and the El Dorado Hills Arts Association Membership show.

Gold Country Artists Gallery members who have their work displayed at the Mother Lode show include Joyce Bahnsen, Valerie Bye, Anne Gladwill, Marilyn Jassowski and Delores Meldrum. The show will be on display through August 24 at The Shakespeare Club in Placerville (2940 Bedford Avenue, Placerville, and the Artist's Awards Reception will be on 8/24 from 2-4 pm.

The El Dorado Hills Arts Association Membership show concludes today (8/19) and is taking place at the El Dorado Hills library. Three of our members are participating in that show: Sue Chapman, Elaine Wallin and Crista Dixon. Sue Chapman also has her miniatures of Yosemite Valley on display at the library through the month of August. One of Sue's Yosemite works is shown to the right.

In addition, Randall Tillery is participating in the Estes Park Plein Air Painting the Parks event in Estes Park, Colorado, during the month of August. We wish much luck to Randall!

We also have 25 artists who are getting ready for the annual Placerville Arts Association Studio Tour on the last two weekends in September (9/20, 21 & 9/27, 28). The Gallery is also selling the Studio Tour map books ($6). There will be more about the Studio Tour in one of our September blogs. Just wanted to whet your appetite!

And yes, the Girl's Night Out on downtown Placerville's Historic Main Street was a huge success! We had three artists demonstrating in the gallery: Joyce Bahnsen (who is also a Featured Artist during the month of August), Anne Gladwill and Karen Hunziker.

If you haven't been to Gold Country Artists Gallery lately, come and see our Featured Artists and all of our new artists! There is something at the gallery for everyone!

Third Saturday & Girl's Night Out

2008-08-14T10:41:00.000-07:00

This coming Saturday night, August 16, is the Third Saturday evening event on Placerville's Historic Main Street and it is also Girl's Night Out! Gold Country Artists Gallery will have artists demonstrating and will be featuring two of our artists: Joyce Bahnsen and Crista Dixon.

Joyce Bahnsen is a new watercolor and oil artist in the gallery and her paintings are highlighted throughout the month of August. Some of her creations are watercolor paintings of historic houses in Placerville. Joyce will be one of the artists demonstrating on Saturday evening at the gallery.

Crista Dixon is also new to the Gallery. Her fine jewelry is featured throughout the month of August. Crista will also be modelling and showing off some of her jewelry in the fashion show being held on Historic Main Street during the Girl's Night Out event.

Gold Country Artists Gallery will also have two other artists demonstrating during Saturday evening: Anne Gladwill and Karen Hunziker.

Come downtown and enjoy activities that appeal to women. Gold Country Artists Gallery will be open until 9 pm and many merchants will be open late for shopping, fashion shows, games, floral arranging, cooking demos, crafting demos, raffles, health and beauty demos, massage, restaurant specials, samplings of olive oil, wine, cheese, chocolate, and much more. Girl's Night Out is sponsored by Placerville Downtown Association. It should be great fun for everyone!

See you then!

A start for the next 16 years!

2008-08-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

We're beginning our 17th year as Placerville, California's longest-operating art gallery and what better way to start this "new" year out than by doing something new: the Gold Country Artists Gallery blog!

We'll be telling you about things going on around our great goldrush city that the Gallery is involved with and various shows and classes that our members are involved in, along with some articles about the art of our members.

We are a cooperative galley with a Board of Directors and a total membership of 50 artists. We have many types of artwork with wonderful artists and all of them work at our gallery during the month. We hope you come by the gallery at 379 Main Street in Placerville to peruse and purchase your next piece of art.

August, 2008, is a busy month both in town and at the Gallery.

The 12th Annual Craft Faire is happening on Main Street on Sunday, August 10th, 8am-3pm.

Girl's Night Out is happening during the evening (6-9pm) of the 3rd Saturday of the month (August 16). Gold Country Artists Gallery will be featuring the artwork of Joyce Bahnsen (watercolors and oil) and Crista Dixon (jewelry). Crista will also be modeling some of her jewelry at a fashion show downtown during the evening.

The 42nd Annual Motherlode National Art Exhibition will be going on August 10-24 at the Placerville Shakespeare Club. Many of our members will be displaying works at the show.

Hope to see you at the Gallery!

More soon...