Napa Valley Open Studios 2011 – II

My thanks to everyone who came by for a visit during this year's Napa Valley Open Studios! You made it a wonderful success.

Standing surrounded by my paintings • photo by LeeAnn Ho

After all our preparations, the two weekends of Napa Valley Open Studios flew by like a whirlwind! My actual studio is waaay out in the country, where not too many folks would be likely to venture, so I was more than pleased when glass artist Ed Breed invited me to join him at his glass studio in St. Helena.

The main "gallery," as I finally got it arranged by the last weekend

Ed worked hard to create a beautiful, as well as workable, space. I was able to set up just outside, in front of his studio, and to show work all along the driveway to it.

The main "gallery," with visitors!

We had somewhere between 100 to 200 visitors a day. Ed gave glassblowing demonstrations throughout each day, except for a bit on the first Sunday, when the temperature neared 100° outside (and reached 115° in his studio).

Looking back from the main "gallery" area, down the driveway

I was too busy talking with people to give a demonstration, but I did bring an easel (on the left of the photo above) with a work in progress, so I could explain my painting process to anyone who had questions about it.

Drawings, and drawings with acrylic wash, at the entrance to our Open Studio

I particularly appreciated a couple of opportunities to slip in and watch Ed's demonstrations (glassblowing is a fascinating process, and he is particularly good at explaining it).

In the front rack, my original pen-and-ink sketches and block prints. To the left,  greeting cards from  my relief-print-and-stencil paintings.

Since it's an open studio, not a regular show, I love getting to bring lots of different kinds of my work to share. This time, I brought pen-and-ink sketches and block prints, as well as cards I'd made (on the second weekend) of relief-print-and-stencil paintings. I brought graphite drawings with acrylic wash, and graphite drawings, of still lifes, too. I know people come expecting very colorful landscapes, but I like to surprise them with some of the rest of what I do.... (This year I left the collage paintings and the costumed model paintings back in my barn studio.)

A table with matted reproductions of my dragonfly paintings, original drawings with acrylic wash, and a portfolio

It's amazing how much there is to share! Figuring out how to fit things into the space is always interesting. I kept refining and changing it a little as I put things out each new day.

The literature table

What makes it all worthwhile is getting to share my work with my guests. Maybe they're friends, or acquaintances, or students, or collectors, or people who've been following my work, or fellow artists. But at least as often they just stopped by because they've seen the signs, or they found me in the catalog for the first time, or they're really here for the glassblowing and to see Ed, and I get to introduce my work to them for the first time. Chatting, sharing the wonder and passion of artmaking, of creativity, of the creative process and all the stuff we make, is the fun of holding an open studio.

Guests looking at my work

And sometimes people come back to follow my progress, each year or every other year, and we can talk about where I'm going with my work (or what is it with all the old work!). I like seeing what people respond to.

A guest looking at some of my matted reproductions (I print them myself)

County Supervisor Diane Dillon even stopped by between meetings, and graciously talked shop with a friend of mine about a local issue in between looking at paintings and watching Ed blow glass.

With County Supervisor Diane Dillon

My special thanks to all the people who took home a piece of my artwork with them, and to the good folks who helped me hang paintings on the last Sunday (after the rain finally stopped fifteen minutes before we were supposed to open). I appreciate you!

Holding "Hillside Vineyard (Tilted Heart)," my catalog image for this year's open studio  •  photo by Gunter

Napa Valley Open Studios 2011

Napa Valley Open Studios 2011 catalog cover  •  fluted glass bowl  by Ed Breed

It's that time! I've been counting down for months now, but it's hard to believe that Napa Valley Open Studios begins this Saturday.

Map to Studio # 9, 1734 Scott Street, St. Helena

You can find me in St. Helena this year, at Ed Breed's glass studio, at 1734 Scott Street. Ed is this year's catalog cover artist, and he'll be giving glassblowing demonstrations during the weekend, too. (You know, last year I shared space with Yvonne Henry, last year's catalog cover artist – lucky me!)

Ed is also creating a mini-pumpkin patch, made with his glass pumpkins. And I'm bringing sketches and block prints in addition to painting. I considered giving relief printing demonstrations, but I don't think I'll have time! I will, though, have a painting in process, and I'll be glad to explain how my painting process works. We'll be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, Saturday and Sunday, September 17 - 18 and 24 - 25. Will we see you there? I hope so!

Pepper sketches for Napa Valley Open Studios

Bell pepper  •  © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

So, of course, I've got sketches of peppers, too. Here are some sketches of bell peppers I'm pulling out of the sketchbooks for Open Studios.... (By the way, the copyright sign, year, and my name I've added digitally to the images for the web – my signature and the title at the bottom of the page are actually on the drawing.)

Bell pepper  •  © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Aren't peppers lovely?

Bell pepper  •  © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

They're deceptively simple, but if you look closely you'll see within each pepper are curves and planes, concavities and shallows, in a compact architecture.

Bell pepper  •  © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

The next time you hold a bell pepper in your hand, I hope you'll pause just a moment to appreciate the beauty of its form.

Pear sketches for Napa Valley Open Studios

Pear sketch  •  © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Since I seem to be in a little–original mode with the block prints, I thought I'd get out some of my little sketches for Open Studios, too.

Pear sketch  •  © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

I love to draw pears, apples, and peppers – and to use them for painting demonstrations for my classes, too. I think it's because they're so figurative... they take me right back to my figure drawing roots. If you want to learn how to draw people, start with a pear.

Pear sketch  •  © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

You don't believe me? Look at these little sweeties – they have hips, they have attitude, they have saucy little stems....

Pear sketch  •  © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

These pears came from my friend Heidi's tree. They were little, and sweet. And they had such personality!

Songbird block prints for Napa Valley Open Studios

Songbird block print  •  © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Since I'm bringing out my dragonfly block prints for Open Studios, I thought I'd bring a few of my songbird prints, too.

Songbird block print  •  © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

These were my first experiments with printing on special patterned papers. Some of these have two or three printings, and I was mixing the ink colors as I printed, so the ink colors were constantly changing.

Songbird block print  •  © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

These papers were slightly textured, a texture that was enhanced by the block printing process – not something you would find when you use mulberry or other more traditional block printing papers. Like the dragonfly block prints, they are 4.5" x 6.5" in size. These are three of seven I'll bring out to share.

Dragonfly block prints for Napa Valley Open Studios

Dragonfly block print  •  ©2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Last year I experimented with printing soft blocks on special papers, mixing different colors of inks as I went along. Most of these actually have three layers of color, with two printings, and the third layer of color between the printings an iridescent or metallic color.

Dragonfly block print  •  ©2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

I thought I'd bring them out for Napa Valley Open Studios. There's quite a variety in the papers, in color and pattern, and each one is completely different from the others, even though I was using the same block.

Dragonfly block print  •  ©2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

I printed these in one of the printmaking sessions a group of us plan every few months or so, depending on our schedules. The others originally took the Soft Block Printing workshop a few years ago; then we did a two-day workshop last year, with multiple color printing. Since then, we gather for wonderful all-day printing sessions, setting up inking stations, comparing prints, and chatting around another table as we carve our blocks.

Dragonfly block print  •  ©2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

I'll have twenty-two different dragonfly prints at Open Studios – these are four of them.

Preparing for Napa Valley Open Studios 2011

The Napa Valley Open Studios 2011 catalog cover, featuring the glasswork of Ed Breed • © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

The summer is flying by, and now I'm in countdown mode for Napa Valley Open Studios, only a little more than four weeks away. There is so much still to do!

This year, I'll be in St. Helena, at Ed Breed's studio on 1734 Scott Street (Studio #9). Ed, a wonderful glassblower and all-around great guy (he is this year's featured catalog cover artist, and was also the volunteer director of Open Studios in 2007) will be doing glass demonstrations each weekend, and I'll be right next to the studio with my paintings.

Hillside Vineyard (Tilted Heart) is my catalog image for Open Studios this year • © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

One of those paintings, my catalog image (above), was also chosen for the online slide show at the Napa Valley Open Studios 2011 website. You can download a catalog from the website, if you like, or find out there where you can get your own catalog. You can also find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NapaValleyOpenStudios - I'm one of the folks working behind the scenes to bring you all the newsy posts. In fact, you can find a wonderful photo essay of Ed's glassblowing process, showing how he creates his wonderful, delicately tendriled glass pumpkins.

I hope you'll come visit me at Ed's studio! Open Studios runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the last two weekends of September, September 17–18 and 24–25.

A last look at Open Studios

Still life wall – graphite drawings with acrylics • © 2009 Karen Lynn Ingalls

A last look at Open Studios.... These are some more of the still life drawings and paintings I brought in.

Last year, Arts Council Napa Valley asked me to put up an exhibition at the Napa Senior Center. For it, I decided to bring in some of the still life pieces I'd been doing – the graphite drawings with acrylics above. I then added a series of small, simple still life drawings. The show, Simple Pleasures, was only supposed to be up for a couple of months, but it wound up being there for nearly a year. I'm glad they enjoyed the show so much!

A Cup of Tea (left), and Apple (right) • © 2009 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Sometimes it's good to get back to basics. I discovered how I have evolved as an artist by doing them, too. My approach to art has always been through my drawing. Although I painted, it wasn't until about thirteen years ago that I really began to think of myself as a painter, and not only as a drawer. It was then that color began to make sense to me in new ways.

An arrangement of pears, with Yvonne Henry's wonderful and punny A Jury of Your Pears on the left, and my pear drawing, Bosc Pear, and small paintings on the right

I began this series of small drawings by drawing as I often do, with lovely loose, gestural lines, which are most evident in the first one of a baby squash. I discovered that each drawing after it began to be more and more about shape and value, rather than about line, which you can see most clearly in A Cup of Tea, Apple, and Bosc Pear (above). I realize that, while I once painted like a drawer, now I draw like a painter. They are different ways of seeing. It feels like a wonderful way to grow, as both a drawer and a painter.

Napa Valley Open Studios 2010 - second weekend

Entrance to the Calistoga Art Center,

where Yvonne Henry and I welcomed visitors for Open Studios

For the second weekend of Open Studios, I brought in over twenty portrait studies, to add to the paintings and drawings I showed on the first weekend.

Some of my portrait studies

Here you can see some of them. I painted these in my costumed model painting and drawing group in Carmel, between 1997 and 2000. Each of these was done from a 1 1/2 hour long pose. I switched to drawing for my last months in the group before moving back up north, drawing large graphite line drawings on paper. I may share those in my Open Studio next year.

Pencil drawings – two Baby Squashes and a Baby Pumpkin

Last year, the Arts Council asked me to present an exhibition at the Napa Senior Center. The seniors enjoyed it – and it wound up being there for nearly a year! I collected it in time for Open Studios. I called the show "Simple Pleasures." It included six still life pencil drawings, of which these are three, and four larger graphite drawings with acrylics, used in a watercolor manner, which I also brought to Open Studios.

This was the first year that Calistoga artists were listed at the beginning of the catalog, rather than at the end – and we had about twice as many visitors as in previous years (which seems to have been true for other Calistoga artists I've talked to so far). It was a pleasure to get to meet everyone, and to share our work with them!

The magic of light

Detail of Knights Valley Autumn, backlit

On Saturday, during Open Studios, Yvonne Henry suddenly caught my attention, and directed me to my painting, Knights Valley Autumn. It was about 3:30, and the light streaming through the window and door behind the painting lit up some of the colors and made them radiant, especially where the red lines showed, and in parts of the light-colored vineyards. Light is magic; it creates wonderful, fast-changing moments. As we watched, and the sun moved, the light moved to different parts of the painting, making them glow. It was like a special benediction on our weekend....

Napa Valley Open Studios 2010 - first weekend

Interior of the Calistoga Art Center, transformed for Open Studios, during a brief lull

This year for Open Studios, I'm sharing the space at the Calistoga Art Center, here in the Napa Valley, with my delightful friend, the wonderful photographer Yvonne Henry (who is also this year's catalog cover artist). It's a big space, once we have it all set up. Here are a few photographs... I'll post more later.

Yvonne's side of the space, with work from her "All Things Organic" series on the walls, and more work from it and from her other series in print racks and on tables

A mostly–late winter–early spring series, including sheep, vineyards, and mustard.

More of my work

The golden colored paintings, of late summer–to–autumn. I brought in Morning Celebration (resting on the floor), so visitors could see its progress, but it isn't yet finished.

We've taken down all but the wall work, so classes can get their classroom space back, but everything will go back up Friday night for this weekend, our last for the year. This weekend I will also bring at least twenty of my old costumed model studies, too, as Open Studio specials. Last weekend, I just ran out of time to make one more trip to the studio for them....

This year for Napa Valley Open Studios

This year for Napa Valley Open Studios, I will be at the Calistoga Art Center (where I teach) with Yvonne Henry. We are Studio #4 on the map (you can download it here), at 1336 Lincoln Avenue in Calistoga, California, on the second floor.

You can also visit Calistoga artists Jocelyn Audette, Ann Shelby Valentine, Jeff and Sally Manfredi at Calistoga Pottery, Charlie de Limur, and Betty Jo March, while you're in the neighborhood.

Although the first weekend has passed, you can still visit us on September 25 – 26, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. I hope you'll head this way, come visit, and let us share with you the beauty we see in the world.

Napa Valley Open Studios 2010 reception

Hillside Sunlight and Shadows • 16" x 20" (image size) • © 2009 Karen Lynn Ingalls

This year, our reception for Napa Valley Open Studios returns to St. Supery Winery, which has a lovely upstairs gallery area. They've painted the walls a deep, luscious brown, which sets off the artwork beautifully.

Hillside Sunlight and Shadows is the painting I'm showing in the exhibition. Although it is looking a bit dark on this post, in life it glows. It is a favorite of mine, painted a number of years ago, that always felt as though it needed a little bit more. Last year, before my exhibition at Arrowood Winery, I saw what it needed (finally!), and, at long last, finished the painting. I found this scene on a northern California ranch owned by friends of mine, whose family homesteaded it over a hundred years ago.

St. Supery is located at 8440 St. Helena Highway, in Rutherford, California. The reception, which includes wine tasting, runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 11th. There is a $5 fee for the reception and tasting. (Such a deal!) It will be a good show! I hope you can come.

5 reasons why I love being a part of Napa Valley Open Studios

Selection of Mixed Media and Still Life paintings by Karen Lynn Ingalls

1. I get to show EVERYTHING I want. So, if I want to show some mixed media work, or little still life pieces in addition to the landscape paintings people are expecting (see above), I can. I love it.



Three paintings by Karen Lynn Ingalls from 2009 Napa Valley Open Studios

2. I'm part of a larger community - Open Studios artists of the Napa Valley - some of whom are friends of mine, and many others whom I know. I love being able to send visitors on to see the work of other artists I know they will enjoy, and it's always great when someone comes in and tells me that another artist, who sent them, said hello.

3. Arts Council Napa Valley - www.artscouncilnapavalley.org - does an incredible job of supporting and promoting the artists. Each year the catalog and website get better and better (how do they manage that?), and the wonderful staff at the Arts Council - Michelle, Kathy, Kristina, and Kate, and Kristine the website guru - really pull out the stops to find new opportunities for us.



Three paintings by Karen Lynn Ingalls from 2009 Napa Valley Open Studios

4. I get to meet the most wonderful people! I love the opportunity to meet people who want to look at my artwork. And when they really, really love what I do - well, who doesn't appreciate that? It's fun to get to hear which paintings are people's favorites, and what draws them to my work. I enjoy answering questions about my process, or how I came to be doing what I do, or whatever else it is people are interested in. And when people come from a distance, specifically to see me - well, who wouldn't appreciate that?



Six small paintings by Karen Lynn Ingalls from 2009 Napa Valley Open Studios

5. I've been showing my work at Graeser Winery - www.graeserwinery.com - this year and last. Last year, they liked me enough to ask me to be their Artist in Residence, so I have work up year round, and do other things now and then (such as a series of photographs of the winery and the vines in each season). This year, the second Saturday of Open Studios was also the day of their Harvest Party. What a hoot! People were having a great time. I'm looking forward to next year.