Watch a painting come to life

by Stephanie Benedict

You’ve heard us speak on this blog (well, you’ve read on this blog…) about how much the High Hand artists love to share.  We have art demonstrations in the gallery every third Sunday afternoon, and for all kinds of special events.  Well, one of High Hand Gallery’s newest artists, Linda Merchant, has gone one step further:  she’s made a video of her paintings that you can watch.

Linda creates richly detailed paintings of wildlife, flowers, and people. Her miniatures are exquisite gems, full of detail and subtlety.  And her wildlife paintings?  Well, when I look at them, I am always awed to be in the company of someone who can make such beautiful and lifelike work.  And she seems to be such a nice person, too!

Here’s one of Linda’s videos, a super high-speed recording of over two hours worth of painting in about seven and a half minutes.

If you’d like to learn some of the techniquest Linda uses, she’ll be teaching classes at High Hand this year.  You can check out Linda’s schedule here.  (And check back to this site–we’ll be posting the schedules for more classes soon.)

Calling All Bra-Makers!

For the fourth year in a row, High Hand Gallery will host the Artful Bra Show, a benefit for the American Cancer Society.  This year’s show, which includes silent and live auctions, will be May 19, 2012, 5:00–8:00 p.m., in the Fruit Shed.

The Artful Bra Show is one of the gallery’s biggest events of the year.  Last year, we had over 60 bras entered, and raised over $6000!

This year once again we are soliciting artful bras from all who want to make one.  (Including you!) Metal bras, fabric bras, painted bras, sculpted bras, bras to wear and bras to use as candleholders.  You get the idea.  So start planning, start welding, start throwing.

Here are examples of entries last year:

Hang In There by Kat Oliver

Beach Lover by D Horne

Amazon Daughter by Charlotte Cooper

Here are the details:

Anyone can submit a bra.

There are no size restrictions.

The entry fee is $10. Make checks out to the American Cancer Society. Pay at the gallery when you submit your bra.

Bras are due at the gallery May 10 and 11, 10:00–4:00.

The Artful Bra Show will be May 19, 2012, at High Hand. The silent auction starts at 5:00, and the live auction begins at 7:00.

Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door.

Update:  corrected some erroneous information.

High Hand Gallery begins its fourth year

Well, the High Hand Gallery has been repainted and a new show is up.  Thanks to Kat Oliver and the Crew for moving artwork, filling holes, repainting, doing minor repairs, and then hanging the new show.  When we all started this gallery, in late 2008 (can you believe that!), none of us realized just how much work it can be to operate a gallery.  It’s not just the artwork–though of course that’s the purpose and foundation–it’s about making sure there are cleaning supplies and paper bags and tissue paper.  It’s about making sure the holes from hanging all that artwork are patched on a regular basis, and the walls are repainted. It’s about making sure that someone is at the gallery to staff it every day. It’s about organizing receptions and posting to this blog to let you, our friends and followers, know what’s going on.

And so we’ve made it through three years.  Thanks to our collectors, the gallery is making it, even in these tough times.  For that, we are grateful.

And now we’re going to change things up a bit.  We have lots of exciting things in store for this year. We hope you’ll look forward to it as much as we do.

First, of course, is “Journeys,” our new all-member show.  Journeys of the heart and the mind, in metal and paint and clay.  Journeys to exotic places, where exotic animals roam.  To places right next door.

Linda Merchant's paintings of animals are some of the newest additions to High Hand Gallery.

And then we’re mixing things up this year.  It’s winter operating hours now, so we’re closing at 4:00.  And instead of Third Saturday receptions, we will have Artful Sundays:  third Sunday of the month, a reception to meet the artists and see the new works.  The wineries in the fruit shed will be open, so you can enjoy tasting some Placer County wines. Our first Artful Sunday is January 15, with the reception 2:00 to 3:30ish. (And with this too-mild winter and the new heater and enclosed walls, the gallery is much warmer than it was last year!)

Other events to look forward to this year:

• High Hand Nursery will host Wings and Wine on March 3, a benefit for Gold Country Wildlife Rescue. Last year this was an amazing event.
• Artful Bra Show, May 19.  A benefit for the American Cancer Society.  Start thinking about the bra you’ll make this year!
• Art Fest 2012, June 23 and 24.  A juried show of High Hand artists and others demonstrating their work in the fruit sheds.
• Art Stock 2012, September and October.  This year the show will focus on large-format artworks.
• More artwork demonstrations.
• More art classes.  If you’re interested in a particular kind class, let us know.  Post a message here or to our Facebook page.

Look for more information on these events soon, including calls to artists for Artful Bra and Art Fest 2012.

And, finally, check this out:  Scott Paris, the owner of High Hand Nursery, has great plans for the complex.  The latest is solar panels.

Journey to a New Year

“Reflections,” the current show, will come down after this weekend.  Seems fitting, doesn’t it?  Though I don’t think anyone planned it this way:  at the end of the year we often “reflect” on what happened during the year, those “auld acquaintances,” and we make resolutions for the new year:  I resolve to exercise more!  I resolve to lose weight!  I resolve to be a better person!  So here at High Hand Gallery, we will end our “Reflections” at the end of the year, and “Journey” into a new one.

Journeys is an all-members show.  High Hand Gallery now exhibits the works of 30 local artists.  Our work–as readers of this blog know–ranges from traditional painting to abstract and mixed media images to three-dimensional sculpture to jewelry to textiles. We hope your journeys will bring you to Loomis, and that you will stop by and visit us.

The gallery will close at 3:00 on Saturday, so our members can ring in the new year with their families and friends.

Venice, by Maria Soto Bigelow

Update:  The gallery will be closed New Years Day, too.  Happy New Year to all!

The turning of the year

My favorite Christmas song is “The Bells of Norwich,” which goes like this:

Ring out! Bells of Norwich, and let the winter come and go/All shall be well again, I know.

And here we are in the deepest part of the year, the coldest part—down into the 20s F this morning; that’s cold for us!—we can take heart.  The days are starting to lengthen again. The economy might be starting to warm up, too, we hope.

And in this season of spending and bringing cheer to friends, family, colleagues, maybe now is the time to think about art. A last minute gift, maybe a treat for yourself—perhaps that big piece of art you saw weeks ago and can’t stop thinking about? And then there’s this:  at a time when we no longer repair things when they, we replace them, artwork lasts forever.  It can bring a smile like a ray of sunshine for years and years and years.

OK, enough of the shameless self-promotion. Here are some photos of the works of the High Hand artists. Enjoy.

Mother Earth, sculpture by Terri Goodman

Oak Mushrooms by Neal DeVore

Vignettes II by Nancy Langhorn

And a final note:  the current show, Reflections, comes down after New Year’s. We’ll have a new all-member show for the new year, called “Journeys.”  And the gallery will close at 3:00 on the next two Saturdays, December 24 and December 31.

Enjoy Yourself This Saturday

You’ve been searching and shopping and shopping and searching for everyone on your list.  Now it’s your turn.

This Saturday at High Hand Gallery we will once again have our Third Saturday reception–our last one, ever.  (Not to worry–we have new things in store for 2012.)  We invite you to spend the evening with us, mingling and munching and oohing and aahing as, once again, we’ll have some of our artists demonstrating their artwork for your viewing pleasure.

Here’s who you can find this Saturday:

• Paula Amerine will paint her wonderful oil pastels in the afternoon from 11 to 5;
• Ann Ragland Bowns will show off her lovely silk painting techniques in the afternoon; and
• Unni Stevens will paint like a whirlwind in oil in the evening.

Unni Stevens will be painting this Saturday evening, December 17, from 5 pm to 8 pm. Here, Vanilla Painting on Wood by Unni Stevens

But it doesn’t end here. The gallery, nursery, and fruit shed shops will be open until 8:00 on Saturday, December 17.

There is plenty to enjoy at High Hand this Saturday evening:

• New to High Hand … enjoy wine tasting at 3Vigne
• Check out wonderful fabric creations at The Tin Thimble
• Enjoy the scents of candles at Mandarin Valley Candles
• Stroll through the wonderland of lights in the High Hand Nursery
• Have a meal at High Hand Café

Oh, and if you really, really want to, you can shop for gifts.

Enjoy the Holidays!

And thanks for your ongoing support of High Hand Gallery and your local Loomis artist community!

Please note:  the gallery will close at 3:00 on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

And coming in 2012–Artful Sundays, art receptions the third Sunday afternoon of each month.

High Hand Gallery extended hours on Saturdays in December

Did you have a chance to see the Lighting of the Nursery last weekend?  What did you think?  High-Hand Nursery always does a wonderful holiday display. We’d offer you a link, but your humble blogger can’t figure out how to link to a Facebook post!

Meanwhile, at the gallery, we’ll be having several demonstrations of painting techniques the next couple of weekends.  This Saturday, painter Paula Amerine will demonstrate how she does her lovely acrylic-and-oil pastel images. And the gallery will be open late the next two Saturdays, until 8:00. We hope to see you there!

Paula Amerine will be demonstrating her painting techniques Saturday, December 10.

Update:  Paula Amerine will be at the gallery doing demonstrations on Saturday, December 10, from 10 AM to 2 PM.  Unni Stevens will be demonstrating her oil painting techniques on Sunday, December 11, from 12 noon to 4 PM.

Paula Amerine Grapefruit Label. Ask Paula about the book she recently illustrated!

Join us at High Hand Gallery this Friday

Lots of things happening at High Hand this weekend.  First, on Friday night the nursery lights up with holiday lights, in the annual holiday light display.  I love holiday lights, and the nursery goes all out, with lights wrapping the trees, draping the buildings–it’s beautiful.  More information on the High-Hand Nursery website.

Also this weekend, is the official grand opening of 3Vigne, wine tasting in the fruit sheds offered by three Placer County artisanal wineries.  Bands, wine, art, holiday lights–a wonderful kickoff to the holiday season.

The gallery will be open late Friday for the holiday lighting.  We hope to see you there.

Join us for Small Business Saturday

The holiday shopping season is upon us!  Black Friday was pretty crazy yesterday–did you wait in line at midnight to find the perfect gift for someone?  Or are you one of those people who stays away from the malls on Black Friday because you can’t stand the crowds?

Well, whichever you are, High-Hand Nursery and Gallery and can be a delightful change.  The nursery itself is a locally owned business, as are all of the shops in the fruit shed.  And the Gallery is owned and operated by the 30 local entrepreneurs who are the artists as well.

We hope you will join us today for Small Business Saturday here in Loomis: the perfect time to find the perfect gift for someone special or (and your humble blogger confesses to doing this far too often) that work of art you’ve long been wanting for yourself.

Enjoy the season, the beautiful fall we’re having in Northern California, and the artwork.  We hope to see you at High Hand Gallery soon.

Artwork at High Hand Gallery by Lauren Lane, Steve Harrington, and others

 

High Hand Gallery: Reflections on a New Show

It’s amazing how quickly these Third Saturdays roll around–every month, it seems! And now that we’re into wintery weather here in Northern California, and the days are short, it’s a great time for a cuppa, good friends, and a new art exhibit. If you haven’t been to High Hand lately–the gallery or the nursery–you’ll be surprised at the changes. We have new walls enclosing the gallery, which both offer more space to hang art and keep the gallery warmer in these colder months.  (Though you may still want to make sure you have your coat with you when you come…) At the Nursery, there’s now wine tasting on weekend afternoons, and Mandarin Valley Candles is opening a new storefront. The  Autumn Arts Studio Tour Preview Show continues in the fruit shed. The gallery’s new show is called “Reflections.”  It’s a group show, featuring all of the High Hand artists.

Thanks to Maria Soto Bigelow for some great photos of our new show.  We hope to see you there, either tonight or in the next few weeks: the show closes New Year’s weekend.

Reflections at High Hand Gallery. Artwork by Cindy Rubado, Steve Wilson, and others

Artwork by Unni Stevens, Angela Ridgway, Ann Ragland, Patricia Sokowlowski, and Sue Anne Foster