This weekend, some of San Benito County’s finest artistic talent
will be on display for local art lovers to see in the annual Open
Studios Tour.
This weekend, some of San Benito County’s finest artistic talent will be on display for local art lovers to see in the annual Open Studios Tour.
From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, artists such as Larry Contraras, Pamela Holmquist and Briggs Latham will have their works on display for public viewing.
Contreras, a local painter who has been working on his craft for 15 years, said the difficult part for him was getting started.
“My frustration was that I don’t know how to draw very well, and I thought that in order to paint, you needed to know how to draw,” Larry Contreras said.
Contreras was watching a popular PBS television show about learning how to paint when his passion to paint was rekindled.
“So I said maybe just as a little hobby, but that wasn’t enough,” Contreras said. When he walked into a store and saw a flier for a painting class, he started taking classes and fell in love with expressing himself on canvas.
“Eventually I learned that you don’t need to know how to draw in order to paint,” Contreras said. “That was a big revelation for me. From then on, it was like a path had been opened.”
Similarly to Contreras, painter Pamela Holmquist, who paints in both oils and watercolor, came back to painting following a long layoff.
She first became interested in art in high school after taking an art class.
“My watercolors are still in that principal’s office,” Holmquist said.
Instead of pursuing her passion for art, Holmquist got an education, became a wife and mother and had a career as a nurse before coming back to painting. But she never lost the feeling that it gives her.
“My philosophy of art is that painting or enjoyng painting allows you to touch that part of humanity that is a little bit spiritual and truthful for both the artist and the people who veiw it,” she said.
Photographer Briggs Latham, a New York native, has had a passion for taking pictures since his college days and throughout his militay career.
“I had always done photography but I started getting back into it about a year ago,” Latham said.
Instead of film photography, the world of digital cameras caught his eye.
“I realized there is a lot of flexibility in it where there isn’t in film. it gives you the ability to look at things immediately and gives you good quality prints,” Latham said.
The digital medium opened up a new world of detailed nature photography for him.
“There is so much detail in just one flower when you look at it close up,” he said.
Here are the local artists participating in the Open Studios Tour:
Carole Belliveau
Oils, chalk and pastels
960 Quail Hollow Drive, Hollister
Steve Borelli
Landscape and scenic photography
722 San Benito St., Hollister
Deborah W. Brooks
Oils and acrylics
960 Quail Hollow Drive, Hollister
Larry Contreras
Original oil paintings
2865 Carey Way, Hollister
Pam Holmquist
Oils and watercolors
Country Rose, 722 San Benito St., Hollister
Briggs Latham
Photography
1000 Oak Creek Court, Hollister
Francene Markle
Watercolors
615-B San Benito St., Hollister
John W. Robrock
Conte crayon, pen and ink, charcoals, colored pencils
YMCA, 339 Fifth St., Hollister
Louise Roy
Watercolors and sculpture
YMCA, 339 Fifth St., Hollister
San Benito High School students
Charcoals, sculptures and ceramics
YMCA, 339 Fifth St., Hollister
Dale A. Yarmuth
Pen and ink with ink wash
501 Chardonnay Way, Hollister
Pat Zuniga
Oils, watercolors and collage
Progresso Tamale Parlor, 230 Third St., Hollister
Elayna Silva-Reyna
Oils, pastels, acrylics, bronze and sculpture
Reyna’s Gallery, 311 Third St., San Juan Bautista
Gayle Sleznick
Watercolor, mixed media, pencil and ink
808 Washington St., San Juan Bautista
Linda Bjornson
Stained glass
189 Carr Ave., Aromas
Susan Bradshaw
Polymer clay
650 Carr Ave., Aromas
Patti Datlof, Joyful Spirit Arts
Ceramic art and functional pottery
189 Carr Ave., Aromas
Letty DeLoatch
Textured acrylic paintings
331 Carpenteria Ave., Aromas
Celia E. Erion
Jewelry, fibre/textiles
650 Carr Ave., Aromas
Jovita G. Hilliker
Watercolor and colored pencils
189 Carr Ave., Aromas
Diedra Kmetovic
Glass beads and beaded jewelry
331 Carpenteria Ave., Aromas
Randy Peyser
Silk art hangings and wearable art
331 Carpenteria Ave., Aromas
Jane Rekedal
Pottery
1560 Cannon Road, Aromas
