The 6th Annual Wrightwood ArtTour and Silent Auction will be held Saturday, September 15, 2007, 10 am to 5 pm. The ArtTour is a self-guided tour featuring accomplished artists from the local area exhibiting artwork for sale at studios and other locations throughout Wrightwood. This year’s juried event is comprised of a wide range of styles from traditional to contemporary. Media will include oil, acrylic, pastel, and watercolor paintings; fine woodworking, basketry, jewelry, metal sculpture, collage, and more.

The Silent Auction will be held at a selected location on the same day at the Wrightwood Library, 6011 Pine. The auction includes a donated piece from each participating artist. Proceeds from the auction are donated to local community organizations.

Since 2003, the ArtTour artists have awarded a $500 scholarship to a local high school senior who intends to pursue the study of art. The scholarship recipient for 2006 will be featured along with other promising Serrano High School art students at a special exhibit on the day of the event. Other recipients of Silent Auction funds have included Wrightwood Friends of the Library, Wrightwood Historical Society, Wrightwood Fire Safe Council, and the Wrightwood/Pinon Hills Firefighters Association.

Tickets for the event are $5; this includes a guidebook with information about each exhibiting artist and a map to exhibit locations. Tickets will be available at the beginning of August at locations throughout Wrightwood.

For more information, contact event coordinator Susan Crew at (760) 249-6956.

DJ Hermansen:  “Living in the San Gabriel Mountains, I enjoy gathering and experimenting with fibers from the desert floor to the mountain tops. Basketry is a way of life...peaceful, tranquil, with the warmth of mother nature to touch your soul”. DJ has a degree in fine art from Cal State University, Fullerton. Her exhibit includes handmade baskets, gourds, wreaths, jewelry, and paintings. Look for the large canvases with brilliant color that portray an emotional response rather than a realistic representation.

Allen Duperron: Making recognizable forms from formless material is Allen DuPerron’s idea of a great time. Bringing his 30 years of industry experience melting and shaping steel to the art world, Allen creates unique sculptures that range from whimsical to almost lifelike, using a combination of readily available materials and found objects. Allen’s work has been exhibited throughout southern California and is found extensively in private collections. Some exhibit locations include Gallery Soho, Pomona; Desert Iron Gallery and Gallery 62, Twentynine Palms; Tradewinds, Big Bear Lake; and Victor Valley Museum, Apple Valley.

Deborah McAfee:  “I have a wall in my studio. I take that wall as an empty canvas. I write on the wall. I contemplate my writings. When I am ready, I turn the writings into visual pieces. I start with the text. Then I add the visual images. I adhere fabric pieces to canvas with acrylic. They take on a life of their own. It is no longer fabric. It is not paint. I use preprinted pieces; created in a factory with no thought of being beyond the visual or beyond the functional. I add things, paint and photos. And then these ordinary and sometimes very ugly pieces take on a beauty and sweetness they were not destined to be. Deborah received a BFA in Film and Photography from California College of Arts and Crafts. She lives in Pinon Hills and loves the peacefulness, working in her garage with the wind blowing, the warm air and dark skies at night.

Lisa Shatts: Lisa obtained a Bachelors of Arts Degree with a major in Studio Art, from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Continuing her education in the arts, Lisa has created stained glass art pieces, needlepoint art, and continues to expand and improve her jewelry design techniques. Her rich designs of fantastic gemstones, coral, and pearls are simple and direct. Lisa hand selects all her gemstones, pearls, and beads to create unique works of art.

Francesca Ouimette: Francesca Ouimette is a versatile artist and teacher. Each changing season brings a new and exciting approach to her paintings. Francesca works in a variety of media. She enjoys creating in oil, watercolor, pastel, and collage. She also paints on porcelain and silk. “Working in different media keeps me fresh and spontaneous. My inspiration is nature itself.” This versatile artist’s paintings hang in the American Embassy office in Brussels, Belgium and in private collections throughout the United States and Canada.

 

Chet Noll: Chet Noll captures and recreates the symmetry, graceful lines, and color found in nature’s own creations. He believes that there is no better artist than Mother Nature herself but challenges himself with the task of turning wood into delicate art in motion. Capturing the freedom and fragility of these living treasures of beauty and grace is Chet’s aspiration. Intricate techniques of wood inlay and marquetry are used to re-create these creatures that float freely in the air currents and light above their fine cherry wood bases.Recently his work was included in the Multi Media Mini Show at San Bernardino County Museum, an annual juried exhibition. Chet’s artwork is currently on display in several art museums in Southern California.

Young Artists: Wrightwood, Phelan, and Pinon Hills are home to many talented young artists who have created an outstanding exhibition of art works in a variety of media including drawing, painting, collage, ceramics, sculpture, and printmaking. The originality and vitality of their work is refreshing and inspiring. Many works are offered for sale at nominal prices with all proceeds benefiting the Serrano High School Visual Art Scholarship Fund.