Cambria artists open studios to art lovers for 2 weekends
San Luis Obispo County artists will once again open their studios to visitors, providing a rare glimpse into their most intimate, creative spaces during the 18th annual Open Studios Art Tour.
Twenty-one Cambria artists are among more than 200 artists throughout the county that will showcase an array of media and styles — opening their studios to visitors two weekends in October. The program is sponsored by ARTS Obispo. This year, 44 new artists joined the tour. Many artists will also host live demonstrations and works in progress so that visitors experience the creative process first-hand.
The tour features several artists with studios on the North Coast, as well as others who’ve shown their work here.
Five artists with expertise in different disciplines will be sharing studio space at the home and gardens of Mary and William Barnhill in Cambria for the tour.
Mary Barnhill (www.barnhillsearthworks.com) served as volunteer area captain for the tour last year.
“When I approached Stephen Kellogg last year, a longtime Cambrian and a truly amazing watercolor artist, I was surprised to learn that he had no real studio per se,” she said. “How is it possible that such fine work could be produced, as he put it, ‘somewhere between the lawn mower and the cat litter box’? I invited him on the spot to join us at our studio, and he agreed.”
Kellogg (www.zoomaru.org/steve_kellogg) will be on hand again this year from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 8 and 9. In addition, Spencer Poulter (www.artshopcc.com/vendor/spencer-poulter) and Holly McCain (www.zoomaru.org/holly_mccain) will be at the Barnhills’ home and gardens (1060 Hartford St.) both weekends of the tour: Oct. 8, 9, 15 and 16.
Poulter, a 22-year-old Cuesta College student, participated in last year’s tour under the ARTS Obispo mentorship program, where she was paired with Deborah Kyle Hintergardt in Atascadero.
“When someone is drawn to one of my abstract paintings, it complements me more than if they like my realism,” Poulter said, “because they are taking something of their own out of it rather than just recognizing the skill.”
Artwork on display and for sale at the Barnhill home will include traditional, abstract and plein-air paintings; ceramic nature prints; Day of the Dead ceramic masks; jewelry; and hand-printed linoleum block prints.
“It’s a little wild, but it will definitely work,” Barnhill said, “and it’s a lot of fun for me and Bill to host these talented artists. Stephen will be in the back garden like last year, with Holly in the front. Both of them will be demonstrating their plein-air painting techniques. Spencer will set up her gallery at the top of the driveway and Bill and I will display on the deck and in the studio.”
Other locations in Cambria featuring multiple artists include 2190 Langton St. and 2024 Main St.
The tour also features artists from other areas of San Luis Obispo County who have exhibited their work on the North Coast.
For example, the art of Jennifer Stang Eickemeyer, 59, of Atascadero is featured at Cambria Glassworks and Harmony Glassworks.
A strong-minded, passionate sculptor with an innate desire to create in nonconventional ways, she has long turned to art as a pure form of expression. Sculpting is now her passion and primary focus — using shattered glass to create delicate, detailed animals.
The Atascadero resident, who once aspired to be a teacher but found the education system unimaginative and too conventional for her liking, instead turned her attention to landscapes and sculpts. She has never taken an art class, saying that she never wanted her vision and voice to be impeded.
“I come from a very naturally artistic family,” Eickemeyer said. “Emotion, sensation, (and) swirls of impetus to create run through me and drive me.”
She recalled walking the streets of her childhood neighborhood in West Los Angeles with a shoebox, collecting discarded items to later repurpose.
“I am inspired by potential and challenge,” she said. She continued to create, long into adulthood.
A few years ago, she decided to try something new. Working with broken glass and wood, she began to craft small, dazzling animals.
“This beginning to my shattered glass sculptures was a compilation of so many things I love: finding discarded items and reclaiming them in art; glass and its outrageous sparkling beauty; puzzles; little things; animals and nature; and humor,” she said. “And so, I humbly and happily began an art form … that defines and embodies me.”
Smaller sculptures take about a week to create. Larger pieces can take months. Eickemeyer painstakingly creates each piece in her studio — a nook in her garage.
“With my sculptures of animals, I actually feel like I am creating a new life, one that will add joy and beauty to the world,” she said. “This process is hugely inspirational to me.”
Examples of Eickemeyer’s work can be found at www.shatteredglasssculptures.com.
In addition to Cambria, artists are participating in the tour in Paso Robles, Templeton, Atascadero, Santa Maria, Morro Bay, Los Osos, San Luis Obispo, Avila Beach, Shell Beach, Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, Arroyo Grande, Oceano and Nipomo.
Catalogs for the tour are available in Cambria from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily at Amphora Gallery, 4070 Burton Drive, and at the Cambria Chamber of Commerce, 767 Main St. The chamber is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and from noon to 4 p.m. weekends. A printed catalog is also available online at www.artsobispo.org/open-studios/open-studios-art-tour. Go to “Documents & Links” at the right side of the screen and click the PDF catalog link.
Ann Marie Cornejo, special to The Cambrian, and Stephen H. Provost contributed to this story.
In Cambria
In addition to the artists exhibiting at the Barnhills’ home and gardens, the following artists are participating in Cambria:
▪ Michael Ackerman (www.AckermanArts.com), Sandra Lee (www.freedomartworks.com) and Heidi Vorwick, 2190 Langton St.
▪ Stephanie Arehart, 2400 Kerry Ave., www.zoomaru.org/stephanie_arehart_ceramics.
▪ Dancing Dog Clayworks, 2095 Pierce Ave., www.dancingdogclayworks.com.
▪ Earthsea Pottery, 1420 Richard Ave., www.earthseapottery.com.
▪ Victoria Greene, 2424 Burton Drive.
▪ Patricia Griffin, 880 Main St., www.patriciagriffinceramics.com.
▪ JunkGirl Jenny and JunkGirl Melissa (www.junkgirls.com); Judy Maynard (www.saikugallery.com) and Greg Simmons (www.gregsimmonsart.com), 2024 Main St.
▪ Shigeko Kojima, 1085 Hartford St., www.zoomaru.org/shigeko_kojima_watercolors.
▪ Suzette Morrow, 2095 Ogden Drive, www.suzet.com.
▪ Rosemary Pisciotta, 5171 Oakhurst Drive, www.zoomaru.org/rosemary_pisciotta.
▪ Jeanette Wolff, 516 Canterbury Lane, www.jeanettewolff.com.
This story was originally published October 5, 2016 at 8:14 AM with the headline "Cambria artists open studios to art lovers for 2 weekends."