Local artwork up for sale at Mountain Guild event
By Shari Kaplan
For its sixth annual Art & Wine Show, the Mountain Art Guild is showing off some new artists, new entertainment and a new venue.
It all happens June 8 and 9 at Radonich Ranch, the property of a longtime Los Gatos family located off Summit Road in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Booths from the approximately 50 members will sell items as diverse as jewelry, paintings, photography, baskets, garden mosaics, art glass, ceramics, candles, etched stones and (fake) animal heads.
The guild was the brainchild of creative souls in the mountain community who got together at the former Highland Trading Post. Led by Lorri Scott, Irene Seales and Chris Self, the group gave itself a name in 1996. Its first show was in June 1997 at Maison du Lac, the park-like mountain estate of Patti and Bill Hughes. Subsequent shows took place at the Loma Prieta Community Center until 2002.
Los Gatan Phil Lange has belonged to the guild since day one. He's been involved in metalwork since his high school days, when he earned an A+ in shop class and became the teacher's assistant the next semester.
"The fact that it's permanent is something I like about metalwork," he says. Currently he's fashioning metal gates as well as mobile-like fish whose fins catch the wind, making them "swim" in a back-and-forth motion.
Mountain resident Carol Green, another longtime guild member, crafts wreaths in all styles and sizes using dried grasses and flowers, many of which she grows on her own property or gets from her mountain neighbors. Comlementing her wreath's colors are pieces of gems such as amethysts and agates.
"Wreaths started out as a way for me to relax. At first I only did them for weddings or people I knew," says Green, who just retired after 30 years with the Fremont Unified School District.
As in the past, the show coincides with the Santa Cruz Mountains Vintners' Festival. Local wines will be available for tasting and sale.
All artists are donating a portion of their sales to scholarships and art programs in the mountain school districts. Parking and admission are free. For more information, call 408.353.4257 or 408.353.6088, or visit www.mountainartguild.org.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
