This weekend in Martinez you can meet local artists, see their art, demonstrations, and explore the creative spirit right here in Martinez through open studios. I love being able to see the art and the artist together. See where they live, what they look at each day, and wonder where they find inspiration to create their work. Here’s a link to the Martinez Open Studios site for more information. Check out the map, and pick a studio you want to visit and go! It's all self-guided.
Creativity is a fascinating subject to me. Where does it come from? How do you welcome it in? How does it nourish you? Here’s a chance to find out more. When I lived in Marin I’d always visit a few artists for Open Studios. One woman made jewelry and I had to drive up a steep hill in Fairfax to get to her house. It was a place I would have never visited if not for the open studio. Looking out on the hillside above her, I wondered if she ever walked there or stared up into the stars... Another artist I visited was Kathleen Lipinski. She makes beautiful prints of the Marin hills, as if nothing had ever touched them. I wonder what those hills would have been like to walk through before there were cars, houses, planes... Her paintings inspired me and still make me daydream about a place I love.
The Martinez Open Studios have something I’ve never seen before: demonstrations. You can go to a home of a painter and see her paint. You can go to Chang Young Cho’s studio and make raku pottery. Maybe watching Harlan Strickland make concrete forms for a 40 foot long retaining wall is more your style... Go to Martinez Open Studios site for a map of all the open studios, demonstration times and more.
I was thinking that visiting open studios would be a great Mother’s Day gift too. You can spend the whole day right here in Martinez. Pick up some great sandwiches at Luigi’s Deli, walk down to Ferry Point Picnic area and enjoy lunch with mom. Top that off with a short drive through town to visit local artists, see them making their art and try it for yourself, find out what inspires them, what they love about their work... What a memorable day that would be. To me creativity is astonishing and I’m looking forward to being in awe of these talented, local artists and being humbled to visit them where their creative spritis soar. It’s remarkable that this little town has so much to offer in terms of the arts. Martinez has a lot of creative spirt and you'll find it this weekend through Martinez Open Studios.
