Saratoga News

Artwork from open studios participant: "Outer Planet," an acrylic on canvas by Maryln Mori of Saratoga

Artists open studios to public

Show provides view of how artists live and work

By Carolyn Leal

If you've ever wanted to peer into the paint-splattered studio of a working artist, here's your chance. Eleven Saratoga artists will open their homes and studios to the public April 27 and 28 as part of the annual Artists Open Studios of Santa Clara County.

Often, the visual talent of the artist is reflected in the studio and home, giving visitors a sense of how the arts influence architecture and design. Many of the artists will have their work for sale.

Saratoga artists who will open their studios are: Ruth Condit, Starr Davis, Nancy Franklin, Bet Hover, Edith Kallman, Hugo Lecaros, Judith Marshall, Maryln Mori, Luanne Nieman, Kavita Singh and Betty Youngberg.

The artists work in different media and have different styles.

Hugo Lecaros, who is well-known in his native Peru and South America, "paints from his heart," using watercolors and oils to convey the spirit of the Peruvian people and the beauty of the Andes. He has exhibited in San Francisco, New York and Lima, Peru. Locally, his work is shown at Iguana Galleries in Los Gatos; his studio is at 20350 Zorka Ave.

Designer Kavita Singh, 13475 Holiday Drive, works in silk, painting the fabric with dyes to create colorful art-to-wear and silk wall hangings.

Maryln Mori specializes in painting fruits and vegetables, but her works are different from the customary still life. Her paintings are magnified close-ups, such as the skin of a pineapple, which becomes an abstract form. Her studio is at 12678 Miller Ave.

Ruth Condit does "every kind of art." She used to teach at Montalvo and had a studio on Big Basin Way for 15 years. Now, she paints from her home studio, 18500 Montpere Way, in acrylic, oil, watercolor and mixed media. Her paintings are impressionistic and she says she uses "lots of good color."

Starr Davis, 20681 Leonard Road, is a potter, a sculptor and a watercolor artist. She shows her work in galleries in Palo Alto, Los Gatos and Saratoga.

Edith Kallman is a painter and a printmaker of contemporary art. She does acrylic paintings on canvas, pen and ink drawings, mixed media and monotypes and etchings in series. She is represented by the Museum West Gallery in San Francisco.

She will explain to visitors how monotypes are created at 20900 Sarahills Drive.

Judith Marshall paints in mixed media on paper, canvas and silk. She also does monotypes. "My work tends to range from abstract to representational," she says. She has a new monoprint series, "Urban Daydreams," and a new series of puppets and masks that will be on display at 20100 Hill Ave.

Betty Youngberg paints in oil, acrylic, watercolor and mixed media, in the style of Abstract Expressionism. "My painting relates more to the painting done in the '60s," she says. She's been painting for more than 30 years. "It's time to clean out the attic, garage and studio," she says. "I'll have more than the usual amount of paintings--some 50--on view." Her studio is at 20846 Hillmoor Drive.

Bet Hover paints watercolors and acrylics any subject, both realistic and abstract. "I guess you could say I'm an eclectic artist," Hover says. Her grandson Philip Hover-Smoot, 11, will be playing the piano while Hover shows her work in her home studio, 15301 Peach Hill Road.

Nancy Franklin, 13209 Padera Court, works in stained porcelain, adding color to the porcelain. She creates baskets, using homegrown Saratoga birch to weave the handles, makes wall sconces, and creates dinnerware sets and other functional items.

Luanne Nieman is directing an ongoing art program at Hakone Gardens. She does watercolor and mixed media and has been working as an artist since she was in high school. She will be showing her work in next-door neighbor Nancy Franklin's studio.

Open Studios is for Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Cupertino, Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos, Campbell and San Jose artists. Tour hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

It was initiated in 1985 by a small group of artists working at the Citadel on Martha Street in San Jose. The idea was for art lovers to visit artists' studios, to speak with them informally and to purchase their artwork directly.

The range of artwork includes handmade books, calligraphy, ceramics, collage, digital imaging, fiber, glass, jewelry, mixed media, painting, drawings, photography, printmaking and sculpture of various kinds.

Free tour maps are available for this self-guided tour at The Mitre Box, the Saratoga Book Market, next to the Blue Rock Shoot cafe and the International Coffee Exchange in Saratoga. Catalogs with photographs of artists' works will be sold at The Mitre Box for $10. For information, call Maryln Mori at 257-6391.