ART BEAT

Pier Pair, Doug Ross.

Yes, I know, it's been more about words than pictures lately here at the ol' blog. But the 2014 edition of the venerable Open Studios Art Tour is in full swing

The main thing that's new about this year's event is the official Open Studios Art Tour Guide. This year, it's no longer in calendar format, and while that may be sad news for day planners, it's good news for artists and their fans.

With only four images per page, the featured work of every participating OS artist is bigger, brighter, and much easier to see.

Everything else about the Guide is the same as always, including the ridiculously reasonable $20 price tag, maps, and all the info you could ever possibly need to know about the artists.

The Queen, Peggy Snider.

I hope everyone got a chance to get out and visit some fine local artists in their natural habitat last weekend—despite the infernal heat (it melted the tape right off Art Boy's OS posters around the neighborhood!), and the Giants and 49ers games on TV.

We are grateful to all those intrepid souls who made it to our door last weekend, including those of you who bought original art, prints and cards. Thank you! We will also be open for Encore Weekend, October 18 and 19 (Aschbacher, #124 in your handy OS Guide), and let's hope for more salubrious weather by then!

In the meantime, here are some artists I'm looking forward to visiting this weekend!

Doug Ross: Clean, beautifully composed silkscreen prints in elegant colors. Marine life is his specialty, so if you love seals, sea lions, and otters as much as I do, don't miss him! (#157)

Peggy Snider: Her hand-built ceramic sculptures, large and small, are soulful, evocative, mystical, and rich with inner life. (#287)

Ronald Cook: Exquisitely hand-carved, one-of-a-kind musical instruments and pieces of furniture inspired by Early American and Early European designs.
(#269)

Beth Allison Gripenstraw: Beth doesn't just open her studio; she creates entire immersive environments featuring her playfully painted ceramic tableware, jewelry, watercolor paintings, and life-sized papier-mache animals. From an African safari to Paris in the 1920s, you never know where she's going to take you next. (#232)

(Although judging from this year's postcard, above, I suggest you bring your flippers!)

Anyway, have fun out there this weekend! And check back here tomorrow for an update...