Group photo and banner image courtesy of Michael van Auken
This year Open Studios will take place, May 3 and 4 from 10:00 – 5:00 pm.
Listed below are many of this year’s participating artists, artisans and generous sponsors.
1075 Jackson St.
Glass, sculpture
arthurstern.com
940 Tyler St., #1
Handcrafted Jewelry
isadoradesignsnapa.com
One of a kind handcrafted jewelry using mixed media materials: natural stones, gemstones, copper and mixed metals, crystals. Earrings, necklaces, anklets, bracelets. Custom designs upon request.
932 Grant Street
Photography
avantiphotography.com
Richard Bartlebaugh
990 Grant Street, Iron Horse Home Furnishings
Ceramic, Mixed media photography
In my work you will find photographic images in a variety of materials, such as plaster, dirt and broken glass. Issues that arise from this are the oppositional relationship within each piece of the subject of the photographic images, of transparent and opaque materials, of two-dimensional photographs with sculpture, and of space an emptiness. My ideas are often based on teachings from the Bible — both Old and New testaments. I interject my interpretations of these teachings and most importantly my spiritual self. I feel my work is a fusion of all objects an feelings.
Darla Benton
940 Tyler, #25
Authentic Native American Art and Jewelry
I work in Native American Arts including dream catchers, bead work, and story telling.
1066 Jackson Street
Sculpture, Steampunk
facebook.com/victorian.elements
938 Tyler, #201
Painting, mixed media
paulaboas.com
My abstract paintings are rooted in architectural and natural landscapes and their respective geometric and organic forms. The works evolve as I reveal, obscure and re-expose layers of paint, Script, graphite, and paper to create subtle yet complex surfaces. I start with an idea or color sense, but then improvisation takes over and the paintings move in mew and sometimes unexpected directions. The forms that emerge are clarified and reduced until balance and quietude are achieved.
940 Tyler, #25
Painting
susanjbonebakker.com
940 Tyler, #11
Painting, sculpture
kbrink.com
Catherine Buchanan / Arthur Deak
117 East D Street
Painting, acrylic on canvas paintings from 16×20″ to 60×72″
thebuddhaproject100.com
Arthur Deak and Catherine Buchanan’s collaborative paintings showcase a range of styles using iconic image of Buddha. The goal of the project is one hundred works in various mediums that embody peace and serenity. Twelve paintings will be on display for the first time as part of Arts Benicia’s Open Studios. Arthur and Catherine have been painting together since June 2013 and work on the canvases at the same time, embracing a tenet of Zen to set ego aside and allow intuition free reign.
Parking area in front of 995 Jackson Street
Painting, mixed media
facebook.com/downtownBenicia and mernie.com
Mernie will be exhibiting “Impressions of Art History” behind Arts Benicia Gallery in the Arsenal this year while demonstrating watercolor techniques. Mernie will be teaching an advanced acrylic painting workshop at Arts Benicia in June.
1066 Jackson Street
Jewelry, mixed media
malvoyeenterprises.com
The organic sensibility of Jeremy’s work owes to his childhood nar the Southern New Jersey shore where he was fascinated by oceanic creatures, insects, fossils, and other treasures. The result is a harmonious combination of discovery and invention that distinguishes his art. The unisex jewelry collection features bronze, sterling silver, and some carved hardwood pieces.
991 Jackson St., I an I Studio
Ceramic, painting
byrumclayworks.com and lesoverlock.com
We will be exhibiting ceramics/sculptures and painting. “We make art as a reflection of our joy of the world.”
973 Lincoln St.
Drawing, Painting
jc.crevado.com and paintisthickerthanwater.com (blog)
My work is intended to draw a smile across children’s faces. I’m inspired by the great illustrators of the past and the present who’ve brought stories to life through their distinctive styles of visual storytelling. Childhood is expressed in my playground of imagery, through a smorgasbord of characters, dinosaurs, animals and a committed use of color. It’s an expression of childhood that adults value as much as children, rooted in imagination, play, and doing the impossible.
971 Jackson St.
Textiles, Steampunkfashion
cindergardensteampunk.com
I use Obtainium (used objects) like Upcycled house linens, used clothing and found objects to make Steampumk clothing, footwear, hats, goggles and jewelry. My style is vintage, quirky and functional with an industrial edge.
946 D Tyler St.
Painting
hipchickdesingsca.com
Painting is a mirror for life. Art reflects all my thoughts, feelings, inspiration and challenges. I try to harness the moment and place it onto canvas, stealing that moment in time. Worn and used interests me, things with a story to tell. What is it saying?
Kay Hamre Collins
280 Semple Crossing
Watercolor
I love to paint on site. I can capture the colors and mood of the scene when painting right there on location. Later when painting in my studio, the wonderful memories and feelings return that made the subject special. When I travel I carry a backpack with an entire set-up to paint at a moments notice. To capture inspiration I always have a camera ready. Throughout the world, I find that art connects me with people of all nationalities and ages. Few can resist a peak at an artist at work. A conversation always begins.
991 Tyler St., #200
Painting
caroldaltonart.com
990 Grant Street, Iron Horse Home Furnishings
Painting, mixed media
absolutearts.com/portfolios/b/barbara
With early artistic training in dance and later study in the visual arts, I find that I want to fill my paintings with color and texture while exploring space and mood. Building on this foundation, I strive to express life and living, as well as form and essence. I embrace the opposites of fall and recovery, ebb an flow, and expansion and contraction. To achieve the rich, textured surface I work mostly in layers — both physical layers on the pieces and interior layers such as memory, emotion and hope, surrendering to the materials and the process, iteratively engaging with the painting until its completion.
991 Tyler St., #214
Painting, mixed media
markeanes.com
941 Grant St. Ste. C, BAIC Multimedia& IT Solutions
Sculpture
94510.org/ebersole.html
Christina Finnie
938 Tyler St., #203
Painting, mixed media
I work from nature and value the human trace.
Joe Garcia
3001 Bayshore Road, Suite 28B
Drawing, painting
I am a 26 year Benicia resident and excited about my first showing at Arts Benicia’s Open Studios. My work is primarily abstract and developed with the organic layering of color, texture and shapes. Inspired by old building materials, many of my pieces attempt to capture the essence of fragmented imagery. I am discovering my path as artist and eager to see evolution of my thoughts, ideas and self.
1070 Tyler St.
Music, wood
gordonspianoshop.com
Stephanie Gray
941 Jackson
Painting, mixed media
My current work is an embodiment of my life long ambition to paint. I remember always wanting to be an artist when I grew up. My work is purely emotional, almost like channeling. I rarely have an idea of what I am going to paint; I just play and let all of the things inside come out through my brush.
940 Tyler St. #11
Painting, printmaking
beaguttman.com
My work is about visual thought and not visual illustration. It is about feelings, observations and experiences that have influenced me over the years. I start my work with an idea, a concept. A color theme is selected and then I let paint speak to me.
Dijana Harding/Laurence Harding
938 Tyler St., #203
Painting, mixed media
dijanaharding.com
940 Tyler St., #1
Jewelry, Painting
etsy.com/shop/heartnouveaustudio
Heart Noveau is two sisters who grew up in the Bay Area and after years of globe trotting adventures are now having fun creating together in their light-filled studio in Benicia. Michele McMasters and Kris Mutlu are artisans of wearable art (jewelry and accessories) and forever seekers of a variety of creative experiences. Their studio hosts workshops for fellow creative joy-riders in intentional creativity through painting and other mixed media.
Terry Hughes / Janet Brock Hughes
991 Tyler St., #216
Terry Hughes: Painting
Janet Brock Hughes: Painting, Watercolor
terryhughesart.com
I enjoy painting water colors that reflect nature, using soft and vibrant color combinations. -Janet Brock Hughes.
I an I Studio: Chuck Potter and Diane Williams
991 Jackson St.
Painting, mixed media
ianistudio.com
The Spirit of Art: I believe in a creative source grater than myself, self-evident of the world in which my consciousness resides. For me painting is a delicate dance with this creative force and is the quest in which I discover my own spiritual being embedded in humanity and recorded in the art I make. — Chuck Potter. My paintings although “abstract” are based in nature. My current interest is the lotus flower as a symbol of transformation. — Diane Williams. I AN I Studio is a Jamaican word honoring the presence of a higher power (I) in a constant relationship with the earthly self… (therefore I an I).
991 Jackson St., I and I Studio
Painting, mixed media
artbyreneemarie.com
Renee Marie brings a life long passion to her mixed media and encaustic works, combining bold color and modern sensibility with romantic detailing.Using simple elements often of everyday domesticity; buttons, wire, stamps, fabric, photos, Renee Marie references a charming affection for bygone days. At the same time her adventurous use of color grounds her work solidly in the here and now.
933 Jackson St.
Jewelry, mixed media
mikekendall.com
I enjoy creating works that demand the viewer’s attention, through bold statements, contradiction, illusion or moving beyond the visual senses. I have a vivid imagination, a strong curiosity and no desire to limit myself to a focused exploration of the minimal. I enjoy the sometimes absurdity and duality that is human nature. My work tends to be very tight and finished with no loose ends trailing off, which is a bit of a contradiction to the way I conduct my daily affairs.
990 Grant Street, Iron Horse Home Furnishings
Carved Stone and Porceline Beaded Jewelry, Paintings in oil and acrylic pastels
bebelang.wix.com/bebelang
I have been an artist for 30 years. I enjoy the process of creating new designs and I have been selling my work in the Bay Area for years. I went to City College San Francisco, I received my Illustration and Design Degree. I went to Napa Valley College to study Ceramics. I studied with private professionals, Tom Reardon Jewelry for 3 years and Bill Bloom for ceramics for 2 years. Looking forward to experience the Art Community of Benicia again.
109 East F St
Blown Glass, Lamps
lindsayartglass.com
Fire, combined with natural elements, allows me to orchestrate the extraordinary art of glass making. My fascination with color, texture, and form, has kept me on a thirty plus year quest for excellence in design and craftsmanship.
925 Jackson St.
Painting, mixed media
mikekendall.com/sargamo.html
Kathy W. Manifold
940 Tyler St., #25
Fabric Art: Art and traditional quilts; painting in fabric and thread.
My background is in Theater Art with an emphasis in directing, writing, costume and set-design. I was a faculty member of The State University of New York. My current work is in fabric arts. I do fabric and thread paintings, art and traditional quilts, wall art, table-runners and home accessories. Many of my small quilts are designed to be representational of poems I have written.
940 Tyler St., #9A
Glass, jewelry
facebook.com/marcuscontemporaryglass
Mike Marcus was raised in the Benicia arts district and has been a glass jeweler for nearly 20 years. his work captures the essence of nature and spirit through elegant design. New works incorporate dichroic fused glass with handcrafted metalwork.
940 Tyler St., #1A
Painting, mixed media
elizabethmckinne.com
Chris Meade
991 Tyler St., #216
Painting, mixed media
991 Tyler St., #206
Painting, mixed media
studiomele.com
991 Tyler St., #216
Painting
millhollandart.com
Susan Mitchell
991 Tyler St., #208
Painting, mixed media
Light, movement and traditional moments of time and place are central to most of Susan’s work. She creates pieces that change as the viewer moves or as the light changes; difficult to achieve with 2-D imagery.
Krystyna Mleczko
990 Grant Street, Iron Horse Home Furnishings
Painting, mixed media
My work is inspired by the exploration of the mind and typical human elements, such as: love, loss, struggle, uncertainty, fragmentation and ambiguity. The resulting images comprise of articles shifting within a dense space.
Studio 22, 940 Tyler, Studio 22 Art and Jewelry Design
Fred: Painting, surf art, Acrylic on wood panel and canvas
Shel: Mixed Media, Photography, Infrared, black and white
statigr.am/tag/shantyartstudios
675 East H Street
Glass
nourot.com
990 Grant Street, Iron Horse Home Furnishings
Painting, mixed media
kathyoja.com
935 Jackson St.
Mixed media, sculptures
sharonpaynebolton.com
To create art is a privilege and I’m thankful to have that privilege. My mind is always creating even if I’m not using my hands. Some of my pieces are designed unconsciously while I’m asleep, some just show up one day. If my art has purpose a lot of the time it is hidden.
940 Tyler St. #9A
Oil Painting, printmaking
artsbenicia.org/anne-petty-oil-painting-prints-and-pastels/
I became a painter after joining Arts Benicia about 15 years ago. Initially my paintings were impressionistic still life. I have been influenced by Matisse, Bonnard, Cezanne. During a long period, I did plein air landscapes. More recently, I have moved from loosely painted still life to abstraction.
307 First Street
Fine Art Gallery
beniciapleinair.com
991 Tyler St. #220
Glass
robertquarrick.com
Barbara Rebhan
940 Tyler #10
Acrylic Painting
My greatest inspiration comes from the beauty and sensation of the beaches and coastal areas, especially the waves and sunsets. I love using acrylic colors, gels and grounds to create an abstract interaction of energy. Each layer of color and texture is an expression of my spirit and becomes an integral part of the final painting.
991 Tyler #111
Sculpture
danridersculpture.com
933 Jackson St.
Painting, mixed media
anthonyriggs.com
My work is a visual exploration of opposing belief systems — west vs. east, science vs. nature, ancient vs. modern, etc. I combine images from different historical periods and ideological viewpoints borrowing from pop culture, religious iconography and propaganda to create new meaning and identity to old worn out images. By appropriating the aesthetics of classical composition and advertising propaganda — visual systems designed to seduce viewers with a particular point of view — my goal is to negate traditional narratives and objective meaning and create endless subjective interpretations.
Sharon Page Ritchie
940 Tyler St., #26A
Textiles
Sharon Page Ritchie hand-dyes and hand-paints silk scarves and other textile pieces.
933 Jackson St.
Jewelry, mixed media
ruxtondesigns.com
940 Tyler St., #9A
Painting, mixed media
sumasachart.com
1075 Jackson St.
Glass, watercolor
stephenschummglass.com
941 Grant St. Ste. C, BAIC Multimedia & IT Solutions
Painting
lyndasilva.com
I paint in acrylics on canvas using mediums to create an intrigue of visual imagery. The paintings are abstract expressions conveying feeling and mood. I sometimes use a hint of representation that merge layers in handling to encourage engagement. My colors are in strong harmony and a presence of mood, atmosphere are evident.
675 East H Street
Glass, wood
smyersglass.com
186 West H Street
Glass, Gourd
srussspitler.com
933 Jackson St.
Painting, mixed media
thomasericstanton.com/Thomas_Eric_Stanton/Welcome.html
Jim Stevenson
Benicia Yacht Club Marina
Painting
Although I have done some ceramics, years ago, for the last several years I have been painting, mostly in acrylic on canvas and hardboard. I have done a number of portraits but am now doing landscapes.
Studio 22 Art and Jewelry Design
940 Tyler St. #22
Painting, jewelry
facebook.com/Studio22ArtAndJewelry
Judith Sullivan
280 Semple Crossing
Multimedia Painter
Nature scenes, visionary and personal experiences are my muses. Typically, I work in an impressionist, colorist style. Creativity is food for my soul. I love being cocooned “in the zone” when inspirations are flowing through. There is no sense of time. I am totally absorbed in the process. Artwork made from this state is a meditation in action.
Cathi Till
940 Tyler St. #25
Textiles
991 Jackson St., I an I Studio
Painting
saatchiart.com/jeffreytover
640 East L St.
Plein Air painting
artsbenicia.org/jerrold-turner-plein-air-painting/
Jerrold Turner is one of the Bay Area’s prominent Plein Air painters and a founding member of the” Outsiders”, a group of plein air painters whose colorful, Fauvist style relates back to such groups as the Society of Six, the Fauves and other colorist schools.
990 Grant Street, Iron Horse Home Furnishings
Painting
g2vcreative.com
I paint with oils in the alla-prima method, relishing how paint mixes, feels, and looks as it is laid down. The process is driven by what love in method and what visually excites me — color harmonies, brushstrokes, transitions and blends of color. I paint places and things that have been a part of my life — that have my interest for visual and emotional reasons. An accomplished designer, his work has spanned communication design, 3-dimensional fibers, mixed media, model building and painting.
90 First Street, Benicia Main Street Office
Painting, drawing
artsbenicia.org/sabina-yates-painting
More information about this year’s Open Studios event can be found on the Benicia Artists Open Studios page. Additional information about the Mosaic Project that will also be on view in the Arts Benicia gallery can be found on the Mosaic Project 2014 page.
And a very special thanks to our generous sponsors; for their continued support for this event, and ongoing support for Arts Benicia.
BAIC Multimedia & IT Solutions
941 Grant Street, Suite C
baic.com
611 First Street
beniciamagazine.com
440 First Street
firststcafe.com
990 Grant Street
Tue-Sat 10-5, Sunday 11-5
ironhorsehomefurnishings.com
Ironhorse Home Furnishings is a family owned and operated business that offers an impressive variety of stylish home decor that is both high-end and affordable.
920 First Street
olsonrealtyinc.com
726 First Street
therelliktavern.com