Angela Ridgway's lovely Artful Bra 2012 creation is made of welded metal.

Create a bra-themed work of art using any medium, or be creative and decorate a real bra. Bra entries may be wearable, or can be any artistic representation (and not wearable). You can dedicate your bra to someone special, or include a story with your entry.

Entry forms for the Artful Bra IV Show are here.  The entry fee is $10. Artful Bra IV 2012 Entry Form

And if you are a vendor interested in participating the evening of the show, tables are $20/space.  Here is our vendor form. Artful Bra 2012 Vendor Form

The Artful Bra IV  Show will be Saturday, May 19th,  5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The silent auction starts immediately. The live auction will start at 7:00. Tickets are $20 in advance, and $25 at the door.

Our judge for the evening will again be Tina Macuha of Channel 31. Judge Tina will select 10 bras for the live auction. The auctioneer this year will again be Dan Macon, owner of the Flying Mule Farm in Auburn.

And if you are working on a bra–tell us about it!  Leave a comment here, or on our Facebook page.

Even more events at High Hand

On March 3, High Hand Nursery is hosting Wings and Wine, a benefit for Gold Country Wildlife Rescue.  Tickets are $15 in advance, and $25 at the door–and they’re going fast.

And, of course, the classes:  decorative mirror-making and silk painting on Saturday, and drop-in printmaking classes Sunday.

The second Artful Sunday of the year happens this Sunday at High Hand Gallery. A reception for the all-member show, Journeys, which continues through the end of February. We’ll have demonstrations you can watch, and the artists will be there to talk about their work and answer any questions you may have. The wineries of 3Vigne will be open for wine tasting in the fruit shed, and Mandarin Valley Candles will offer candle-making. The gallery features works of 30 Sacramento- and Placer-area artists. The Artful Sunday reception will be from 2:00 to 3:30ish.

Which brings me to the red food.

In honor of Valentine’s Day recently passed, the artists decided to offer red treats for the reception. While I’m not entirely sure what’s on the menu, it might include…strawberries, pink cupcakes, red velvet cake, maraschino cherries, red apples—who knows? Join us at the gallery and find out. Steak tartare, anyone?

Turned Wood by Lauren Lane. Photo by Maria Soto.

And don’t forget! Artful Bra is coming May 19. We’re looking for all sorts of bras created by all sorts of artists. Bras are due at the gallery May 10 and 11. Entry fee is $10.

Update:  I nearly forgot. We will have the Jazz N Samba Duo performing for Artful Sunday on February 19th. The duo is Steve Homan and Francesca Homan.  Steve, who teaches at several local colleges in the Sacramento area, has recorded with many other well-known jazz musicians. Francesca, vocalist, specializes in Brazilian Bossa Nova and jazz standards.  Now this really will be a special afternoon.

Decorative Mirror by Kermit McCourt at High Hand Gallery. Photo by Maria Soto.

Remember those New Year’s resolutions you made not so long ago? Lose weight, exercise more, try something new? Well, High Hand Gallery can help you with that last one. This year, our artists are offering classes in all sorts of different art-making media. They range from Unni Stevens’ drop-in print-making classes we posted about last week to Linda Merchant’s classes on painting realism in oils. In between, there’s glass or metal jewelry-making with Kat Oliver, fibre-arts cards with Debra Hosler, and silk painting with Ann Ragland-Bowns. You may have seen Ann demonstrating her silk painting at the gallery.

And coming up next week, one of our newest members, Kermit McCourt, will be teaching a class on Decorative Mirror Making. These classes are very limited in size, so you’ll get lots of personal attention. And best of all, you’ll get to take home your own hand-crafted mirror. How’s that for trying something new?

Check out our Classes page for a complete list. We’ll keep that page updated as new classes are added, so check back frequently!

We’ll be offering more classes this year at High Hand.  The first is a drop-in printmaking class taught by Unni Stevens. It starts today!  Sunday, February 5, at 12:00.  This print making class is open for anyone who would like to make a hand printed picture on rice-paper or greeting cards.

Unni Stevens teaches printmaking at High Hand Gallery on Sundays from 12:00 to 2:30. Drop-ins welcome!

Unni will guide you through the process of designing, carving and printing your own art work.  Choose between Linoleum printing plates or Scratch Foam plates (they’re easier–no carving is required).  The prints will use water-based ink in many colors and watercolor paints for additional decorations or borders.

Classes will continue on Sundays, from 12 to 2 pm (class ends at 2:30). Children under 10 are welcome if accompanied by an adult. The cost for each class is $25; all materials are included.

For more information about Unni Stevens, or to sign up for future classes, check out or Classes page.

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.)

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:

Here are the details:

Anyone can submit a bra.

There are no size restrictions.

The entry fee is $10. 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.

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.

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!

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.

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.