Join us for a week of creativity and inspiration in Gualala and at The Sea Ranch in Sonoma County this July. Highlighted events include
- River of Joy an exhibition of Erin’s new work at the Gualala Arts Center,
- Awaken the Artist Within, a two-day workshop with Erin and Tom
- Community Paint Outs on the bluffs of The Sea Ranch with Erin and Tom
- and more…
Awaken the Artist Within – Creativity Workshop
Gualala Arts Center – Thursday/Friday, July 13 & 14 – 10 to 4
Hands-on Workshop presented by Erin Lee Gafill & Tom Birmingham
Gualala Arts Members $375 | Non-members $425
Find your inspiration through hands-on practice. During this jam-packed, 2-day workshop you will explore a variety of mediums and techniques to find entry into creative expression, and explore elements of design including line, proportion, texture, value, contrast, color and more. We’ll use a variety of mediums & tools to experience new paths.
Community Paint Outs –
Black Point Cove at the Sea Ranch Lodge – Tuesday, July 11
Inspired by Architecture at the Sea Ranch Lodge – Sunday, July 16
10 am – Starts with a demo, ends with show and tell $20 each | $35 for both
At 10:00 a.m., Erin Lee Gafill will begin the session with a fifteen minute demonstration of her approach to plein air landscape painting. Through keen observation and response Gafill employs a vigorous approach that fills her picture plane with the composition and color story of her final painting. Participants are encouraged and inspired to approach their canvas boldly and lay down the bones of their painting before their “inner critic” knows they’ve started.
After the demo participants will spend the morning creating their own plein air studies in response to the unique environment and light of The Sea Ranch coast. The morning will finish with a brown bag picnic and show and tell of the days work.
River of Joy – New Work by Erin Lee Gafill
Gualala Arts Center
July 7-23 (reception, July 14)
Erin Lee Gafill explores the interplay of Land, Sea, and Sky on the northern California coast in a series of abstracted landscape works, oil on canvas.
Gafill’s artistic journey is in a direct line from her great-great-grandmother, artist Jane Gallatin Powers, who grew up in Sacramento, just after the Gold Rush. Powers studied at the Mark Hopkins institute in San Francisco, and subsequently embarked on a life in the arts in Italy and France, where she abandoned California Impressionism for European Modernism. Gafill’s grand-parents, Bill and Lolly Fassett built Nepenthe Restaurant in Big Sur, where Erin was raised.
The influence of her creative ancestors, the rugged natural environment of Big Sur, where she lives, and the need for “making do” in her isolated community inspired her life in the arts. …Click for more info
Make and Mend
The Sea Ranch Lodge
Tuesday, July 11 – 4 pm
Bring your needlework and come together for a relaxing time visiting whilst knitting, crocheting, or hand-stitching by the fire. This free-form event is meant to gather our community around a shared interest in textile arts.
Wet Paint Reception
The Sea Ranch Lodge
Wednesday, July 12 – 4 pm
All week Erin and Tom will be out painting the coast around The Sea Ranch and Gualala. Come by The Lodge on Wednesday to see what they’ve come up with.
Meet the Artists! See the new work!
