YACHTSMEN: Sy Kleiman of Saratoga raced his boat Swiftsure II to a fourth place in the Big Boat series at St. Francis Yacht Club recently, racing in the Americap II Class A category. After the first day he was in third place. This may not sound like a stunning achievement, but bear in mind there were 109 boats.
And those boats held 1,000 competitors. It was a seven-race series sponsored by Rolex. Trophies and, to no surprise, watches were awarded the prize winners.
Bill Turpin of Los Gatos won second overall in the four-day event. In day one of the series his yacht, Alta Vita, won a first and a second and tied for first overall in points. His boat is in the Transpac 52 class, and this is the first time the Transpacs have raced as a one-design class.
INNOVATIVE PROCEDURE: Community Hospital of Los Gatos is one of only 50 facilities around the country performing an innovative procedure called Deep Brain Stimulation to treat Parkinson's Disease patients. Performed by Dr. Russell Andrews for the past several months, the treatment has been shown to eliminate or lessen the symptoms of the disease.
Two devices, similar to cardiac pacemakers, are surgically implanted to deliver electrical stimulation to precisely targeted areas on each side of the brain. Continuous stimulation of these areas blocks the signals that cause the shaking characteristic of the disease.
Andrews recently treated a 67-year-old Los Gatan who has had Parkinson's for 15 years. The patient had double vision, constant tremors and fell down often, all conditions related to the disease.
Since undergoing the stimulation operation, his tremors have ceased; he no longer falls down, nor does he have double vision. His Parkinson's medication has been cut in half, and he is eating and sleeping well again. There is no known cure for Parkinson's, but this procedure gives promise of alleviating or lightening its distresses.
WOMEN ARTISTS: Sean Stuart recently presented a lecture titled "Women Artists from Ancient Greece to the 17th Century" at the Los Gatos History Club. Stuart offers a similar course at West Valley College. In earlier years Stuart was a partner/teacher in Paul Curtis' Academy of Dance.
According to Stuart, it's difficult to find pre-17th-century work with a woman's signature. In Italy in Roman times art was painted on walls and very few examples survive, and potters did not sign their work—another drawback.
Though women have historically not attained the same level of recognition as male artists, through the ages a few exceptions occurred: Sofonisba Anguissola and Artemesia Gentileschi in the Renaissance, and Judith Leyster, a 17th-century Dutch painter.
After Louis XIV established a royal art academy, some women were accepted. However, model classes were different for women: Diapers were even placed on a bull in the name of modesty.
OPEN STUDIO: Saratoga artist Dawn Hart-Kocsis will take part in Peninsula Open Studios Nov. 9 and 10 and Nov. 16 and 17 at her new studio, located at Cannery Park, 401 E. Taylor, San Jose. She'll be giving mixed-media and jewelry workshops in that studio weekends after Thanksgiving.
Her work is in a one-woman show at Animal Art Gallery in Menlo Park through October. And she'll participate in the Visual Aid auction benefit for SOMArts gallery Nov. 16 in San Francisco. The event benefits artists with life-threatening diseases.
Hart-Kocsis sold her jewelry for seven years at the San Jose Museum of Art. To learn more about the jewelry workshop, email Dawnhartk@yahoo.com. This artist feels she's on a roll, blessed to be alive because of two near-fatal accidents with her horse.
EXHIBIT: The West Valley College art gallery is currently featuring several works by Saratogan Nacera Guerin.
The Bride, constructed of clay, carved wood and paint, is a condemnation of arranged marriages. Feeling in Pieces captures the sensation of a person fragmented.
"My challenge was to paint a body on four squares so that, in the end, it still looked like a body," says the artist. View this painting from front, left and right. My Africa, Your San Francisco is a representation of the artist's feelings after a trip to Algeria 10 years ago. The memories are still vivid.
Guerin recently sold two paintings to Saratogans—Music to Cathy and Tony Walia and a portrait to Sherryl and Demir Pergee.
WRAP UP: The Saratoga Elementary School's gift wrap sale netted $66,000 for the Saratoga Education Foundation (SEF). Melodie Pack, the SEF gift wrap coordinator, lauded chairs Tracy Nobles and Martha Miroyan of Saratoga Elementary; Sherry Scott and Debbie Hanks at Foothill; and Sunita Shah at Argonaut. Both Foothill and Saratoga had 100 percent participation.
AT HAKONE: Three events at Hakone are coming up. "Mingei Folk Art" is on Nov. 2, 2:30-5 p.m. The cost is $7. On Nov. 9, artist Hiroko Ohno's paintings of Yosemite will be on exhibit from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Call 408.741.4994 to RSVP. On Nov. 13, an Okinawa dance performance and Shamisen concert will be held 1-2:30 p.m.
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By Mary Ann Cook