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SIERRA ART TRAILS RETURNS FOR 6^TH OPEN STUDIOS TOUR

A Charlotte Hoffman Painting


A David Hoffman Photograph

Sierra Art Trails welcomes visitors to its sixth annual open studios tour.

Artists and artisans will open their studios or show their work at various locations around Eastern Mariposa and Madera counties for this two day event on October 11 & 12 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Plan your Art Trails weekend by attending the Preview Exhibit featuring representative works by all Sierra Art Trails artists.  The Preview Exhibit is open to the public from September 13th through October 14^th at Stellar Gallery in Oakhurst.  

Your catalog is your ticket for two to Sierra Art Trails and provides details about the artists and their locations, as well as detailed maps to get to their show sites.  Catalogs are available for purchase from the Mariposa Co. Visitors Bureau, Mariposa Arts Council, Mariposa Coffee Company, Odella’s Antiques and Shockley Designs Un-Ltd.

This year’s event features 20 artists from the Mariposa, El Portal and Cathey’s Valley area:  Rick & Jetty Uebner, Susan Bolen, Penny Otwell, Rikki Alley, Becky Caraco, Charles Phillips, Helen Willoughby-Peck, Connie Collins, Breanna Collins, Doris Mathison, Fran Shell, Ralph Mendershausen, Ann Mendershausen, Vicki Thomas, Charlotte Hoffman, David Hoffman, Larry Potter, Yvonne Beattie, Susan Hasty and Althea Stevens.

Two artists returning this year are Charlotte and David Hoffman.  David Hoffman is a photographer, Charlotte Hoffman a painter.  David has been taking photographs since he was a child.  He has always been drawn to the natural world, not necessarily to grand scenes but “usually to quiet, more intimate scenes that are often bypassed without notice,” he wrote.  “I would like to think my photographs may encourage the viewer to take a closer look at the world around them....to notice the rich imagery in our surroundings that so often slips by unnoticed and unappreciated”.

Charlotte was an art major in college but didn’t seriously pursue her art until the late 1990's when her two daughters were older.  She works in dry pastels.  “If laid down on archival support and properly cared for, a pastel will outlast oils or watercolors.  Most people don’t know this about pastels.” she explained.  Most of her work is primarily landscape but she also enjoys painting flowers.

To purchase a catalog or to learn more about Sierra Art Trails, its events, or its scholarship and sponsorship programs contact sierraarttrails.org or call 559 658-8844.