Preview show opens April 10, tour April 24-25
The annual San Benito County Open Studios Tour may take some art
enthusiasts on roads less traveled
– at least on the Aromas leg of the tour. On April 24 and 25,
more than 20 artists will show off the places where their work is
created in Hollister, San Juan Bautista and Aromas.
Preview show opens April 10, tour April 24-25
The annual San Benito County Open Studios Tour may take some art enthusiasts on roads less traveled – at least on the Aromas leg of the tour. On April 24 and 25, more than 20 artists will show off the places where their work is created in Hollister, San Juan Bautista and Aromas.
Jane Rekedal, who is helping organize the event, will be opening up her studio off Cannon Road, in Aromas. Cannon Road turns off Hwy. 101, just as drivers enter the Eucalyptus grove and winds its way along to Anzar Road, with Rekedal’s home and studio in between. Rekedal’s studio is small, with room for shelves to store her work and a pottery wheel that looks out on green hills where cows graze. The room has a slight layer of clay dust around it, especially when Rekedal is preparing for a show for the tour.
Rekedal has been opening her studio to the public at least once a year since 1975, and has long been involved in the Open Studios Tour.
“I had a teacher who said the best way to sell your work is to have people come to your studio,” Rekedal said. “It was unheard of at the time to invite people to come [to the studios.]”
Her interest in art started long before she knew she could make a living of it.
“When I was a kid, my mother had a friend who was a potter,” she said. “It was unusual. Minnesota (where Rekedal grew up) is not very artsy.”
Her mother had two pots from the artist in the house and Rekedal said she always found herself drawn to them.
“I didn’t have art until I was in college,” she said. “I got my first opportunity to make pots. I became an art major and it was very freeing to know you could get a degree in that.”
After graduation, Rekedal moved to California, where her husband whom she’d already met was working as an artist. Four years after she arrived, a position opened up to teach ceramics at Gavilan College. Rekedal took the job and has been teaching part time at the community college ever since.
Through the years, her work has evolved. Though she has always worked with ceramics, she said the combination of clay type, glazes, firing temperatures and shape allow for limitless outcomes. Lately, she said she has been especially influenced by her garden. She explained that her garden items don’t just include pots to be used as planters, but items that have the influence of the garden on them. Recent pieces include images of hummingbirds and flowers.
“Being an artist teaches you to look,” she said. “You start noticing stuff.”
She has also been doing more sculpture, such as a statue of a horse.
“It’s really fun to do something more sculptural,” she said.
Some of her ideas even come from special orders, such as a friend who hired her to make a sea otter from clay. She even once created plates and dishes for a gift registry so that a friend’s son and daughter-in-law could receive one-of-a-kind dinnerware as wedding gifts.
In the coming weeks, Rekedal will be busy with last-minute planning for the Open Studios Tour as well as preparation for the Art Exposed in Downtown Hollister exhibit, which opens April 10 at the Blak Sage Gallery. The opening will include work by 12 Open Studios tour artists, as well as the Charming Chairs and a Quilt Exhibit.
Rekedal said the event, which runs from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the downtown Hollister gallery, will include People’s Choice awards. One will be given for the favorite chair, quilt and artwork.
“It worked really well,” said Rekedal, of last year’s combined event. “It’s a pretty big gallery. It was pretty full. Visually, it was a feast.”
Gayle Sleznick, a painter from San Juan, will be hanging the show.
“Group events help build public interest,” Rekedal said.
This year’s opening will feature the works of art, food from area restaurants and local wine. Maps for the April 24 and 25 Open Studios tour will be available at the opening, as well as online at www.sanbenitoarts.org. The tour allows visitors to talk to the artists, see demonstrations of artists at work and to purchase artwork. The mediums range from painting, photography, sculpting, jewelry and glasswork.
“Open Studios really excels at getting the public to come,” Rekedal said. “Especially for new people, it clues them in.”
But through the years, Rekedal has started to see some visitors on a regular basis.
“They come twice a year and talk about what their kids are doing,” she said. “It’s not like a party, but like an open house. It’s great to catch up.”
Rekedal reflected on some of the ways art can be useful.
“People need to live in environments that are a little more human – use handmade objects,” she said. “When people use a pot or cup, they have favorites.”
Upcoming events:
Art Exposed in Downtown Hollister
Charming Chairs & Quilt Exhibit, SBC Open Studios Tour Preview
The Blak Sage Gallery at 727 San Benito Street will be featuring chairs decorated by local artists and businesses as well as quilts from local artisans. The exhibit opens on April 10, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and will feature live music, wine and appetizers.
The chairs will be moved to local downtown businesses from April 12-22, where residents can bid on the chairs. Final bidding takes place at Blak Sage Gallery on April 24 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. All proceeds will be given to the Downtown Endowment Fund
San Benito County Open Studios Tour
April 24 and 25, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission is free
Maps to the studios of 20 artisans can be downloaded at www.sanbenitoarts.org or picked up at the “Art Exposed in Downtown Hollister” exhibit April 10.
The tour is sponsored by the Hollister Art League, the Aromas Hills Artisans, the California Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, the San Benito County Arts Council and Postal Graphics.
Participating Artists:
Aromas
189 Carr Ave.: Tanya Anistratenko, beaded jewelry; Linda Bjornson, stained glass and Katherine Stutz-Taylor, etchings and prints
18503 Candace Lane: Gayle McArthur, crystal and glass jewelry and Steve Snyder, photography
603 Carpenteria Road: Gail Mutoza, fine silver and metal designs
331 Carpenteria Road, Aromas: Diedra Kmetovic, glass jewelry and Betty Dean, oil and acrylic painting
1560 Cannon Road: Jane Rekedal. pottery
Hollister
610 San Benito St.: Carole Belliveau, mixed media and fine arts prints
2794 Valley View Road: Louise Roy, acrylic, watercolor, ceramics and sculpture
1198 Sally St.: Kent Child, sculpture and ceramics and Kathleen Sheridan, oil and acrylic painting
230 Third St.: Pat Zuniga, painting and Rachel Zuniga-Garcia, black ink and pencil drawings
471 Haydon St.: Francene Markle, painting and Barbara Scott, watercolor painting
2191 Buena Vista Road: Georgia Pack, abstract painting
501 Chardonnay Way: Dale Yarmuth, watercolor with pen and ink
San Juan Bautista
808 Washington St.: Gayle Sleznick, watercolor and drawings
