June 18th Art Hop

You are invited to The Art Stand Gallery for Art Hop!

Thursday, June 18^th, 2009

5:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.

Featured artists are Jeri Burzin and Chieko Delgado.

Jeri’s desire to bring back memories of a Caribbean sailing trip sparked her interest in photography and she began to enlarge and display images she liked. Photography workshops have inspired her to learn about the camera and to see and photograph what is special about “ordinary” things.

Chieko is from Japan. She began to paint while attending college. Coming to the United States in 1999, she took up watercolor. She enjoys painting florals and landscapes in a realistic style.

Exhibition Dates: June 18 – July 11, 2009

Reception: ArtHop Thursday, June 18 from 5-8 P.M.

Gallery Hours: Thursday thru Monday 11:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.

Location: Highway 180 and Frankwood Avenue in Minkler, CA,

14 miles east of Clovis Avenue, along the Blossom Trail.

Blossom Trail Article by Jeri Burzin featured in the Visalia Delta Times on February 11, 2009

(Click here to go straight to the actual article in the Visalia Times Delta that is copied here in today's post)

"Take the Blossom Trail to see Central Valley's best sights, artists"

BY JERI BURZIN • FOR CHOICES (IN THE VISALIA TIMES DELTA) • FEBRUARY 11, 2009

The annual Blossom Trail comes alive each February when motorists and hikers can come upon displays of blossoming peach, nectarine, plum, orange and almond trees. Almond, orange, and plum trees boast white petals, apricot trees delight us with pink petals, and peach and nectarine trees are aglow with pink to red petals.

The trail runs through some of the most productive agricultural land in the world, and includes the towns of Sanger, Reedley, Orange Cove, Selma, Kingsburg and Fowler. There is much to see and do on the 67-mile Blossom Trail:

Sanger once boasted "the longest flume in the world"
Reedley has a Mennonite quilting center
Old town Clovis features Old West architecture
Selma is known as the raisin capital of the world
Orange Cove is one of the most fragrant cities
Kingsburg is unique with its Swedish look and architecture.

There are wineries, antique shops and fruit stands to visit, and all the towns offer shopping opportunities in their downtown areas.

Last week, the trail officially opened in Orange Cove. On March 7, the festivities will begin with the Kings River Blossom Bike Ride, Annual Blossom Days Festival, the 11th Annual Blossom Trail Run and a reception at the Art Stand Gallery.

The Art Stand, once a historic fruit stand and now an artists' coop gallery with 14 local artists, is in the middle of the Trail, on Highway 180 and Frankwood Avenue near Sanger.

The local artists include:

Sally Delap-John from Sanger, one of the co-founders of the gallery. She works in watercolor, emphasizes the contrast of light versus dark, and punctuates with vibrant color. See www.doorartgallery.com for examples.

Suzie Stach is a pastel artist nationally known for her "fire art," depicting scenes of firefighters in action. See fire-art.com for examples.

Kathleen Mattox specializes in watercolor and mixed media paintings and describes her work as "wet, wild, witty and whimsical." See mixedmedia.kathleenmattox.blogspot.com for examples.

Elaine Towne Lane's wonderful ceramic pieces appear to be influenced by the more than 20 years she spent in Southeast Asia, Africa and Central America.

Kay Gaston works with fused dichroic glass which she says is full of surprises: "It's like quilting a patchwork but with glass. See www.plainNfancybykay for examples.

Deanna Bristow is a watercolor artist who has twice won the Blossom Trail Poster Contest.

Finally, you can see my photographs — scenes from "ordinary" life in Tulare and Fresno counties, Sequoia National Park, Yosemite, the Central Coast, the Southwest and more. See www.yessy. com/jeriburzin for examples.

The Blossom Trail is now open.

INFORMATION
Come meet the artists and enjoy refreshments at the Art Stand Gallery Open House from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m, March 7. For more information, go to theartstandgallery.blogspot.com. To learn more about the Blossom Trail go to www.gofresnocounty.com.

Jeri Burzin, Photographer

Today, Chieko, Elaine, Tiwi, myself, and my husband convened at The Art Stand Gallery to set up the space for our winter classes which begin this weekend. If you haven't taken a class at the gallery, you really should try it. Classes are small and well-planned and presented, with a lot of personal attention and interaction between students and teachers--they are also a LOT of fun! It's not too late to sign up and you can find details below in an earlier post. 

The first class, to be held on Saturday,  January 10th, is a photography class taught by Jeri Burzin. Jeri lives in Visalia and is one of the newer members of The Art Stand Gallery. She takes wonderful photographs of different areas of California, focusing particularly on Yosemite and the mountain areas, ocean scenes (often with birds and animals), and local area scenes. Natives of Visalia area will certainly appreciate her personal views of the area, as will Sanger and Reedley natives love her Blossom Trail photographs. In addition to photographs of California, on her website you will view wonderful panoramas of Italian vistas and the American southwest. Please go explore what she has available online and at The Art Stand Gallery in Minkler and the Wooden Indian Gallery in Visalia.

On her website, she tells about her past and current artistic accomplishments, and explains how valuable a communication tool photography has been in her work as an educational therapist with children.

In this weekend's class, "Photography: The Basics and Beyond", Jeri will focus on the basics of light, composition and the camera. It is open to beginners and anyone else who wants to learn more about taking a "good" picture consistently, using either film or a digital camera. Hands on activities will be provided and we hope you can join us for an enjoyable, productive Saturday!