By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

Benicia’s last Art Walk of 2013 was last weekend. But the city’s artists have been busy, and art lovers will have plenty of new work to appreciate this weekend.

Three Benicia galleries celebrate opening receptions for their latest exhibits Saturday.

Catherine Fasciato is this month’s featured artist at the Benicia Plein Air Gallery. Her show, titled “Water, Sky and Land,” focuses on six studio paintings that are based on her plein air work, smaller studio works and photos.

“I love to paint water, sky and land. I love painting the elements, so that is the theme of my show,” Fasciato said.

One painting, “The Red Baron,” is a distinctly Benicia scene; others depict scenes throughout California. While most of the paintings are based either on smaller studio works, previous plein air works or her own photography, one is a very unique collaboration.

“I entered a show about a year ago called Ekphrasis. I coordinated with a photographer. The photographer produces a photograph, and the artist does a painting to represent that photograph,” Fasciato said.

“Golden Light” is the result of her collaboration with local photographer Nancy Hernandez, which features a landscape of one of southern California’s deserts.

Just up the street, Gallery 621’s featured artist is Lee Wilder Snider; her show “Into Autumn” features nine of her newest paintings, including a triptych titled “Looking East, Rollye Wiskerson Trail.” The Rollye Wiskerson Trail is behind the Benicia Community Park, and connects to the Bay Area Ridge Trail.

“I met trail builder Rollye my first week in Benicia 10 years ago,” Wilder Snider said. “I run/walk the trail almost every day.”

Because she has done so much work painting large murals, she considers her latest paintings “small.”

It’s all relative. “I’ve done 80-feet-by-two-story murals,” she said. “I’ve done a lot of large stuff, but I’ve got some small ones in here.”

“What really fascinated me this time is a line of branches against the sky, and trying to go beyond the physical representation of the outdoors, or the image to the essence of it and the experience of it,” Wilder Snider said. “I’m still relying on the form of like say the tree, or the image, but trying to have that be secondary to the feeling someone gets.

“I’m still very image-oriented but I’m hoping to move away from that. It’s still a link for me because it is a way for people to enter the piece, but I want them to realize that it goes deeper than that.”

Wilder Snider calls this exhibit a family affair. Her husband Craig created the frames for the paintings, and her sister-in-law, Natalie Robb-Wilder, contributed a “guest painting.”

“It’s and abstract expressionist piece. She’s been a mentor for me. It’s called ‘Wake,’ and it’s of water. It’s all these dancing brush strokes that represent water.”

Robb-Wilder will join Wilder Snider for an artists’ talk on Nov. 2 at the Gallery from 3-4:30 p.m.

Finally, in the Arsenal, Arts Benicia’s “Evolution of Style” show opens today, featuring the work of 11 California artists.

Curated by Benicia artist Jerrold Turner, “Evolution of Style” explores the changing sensibilities and forces that have influenced essential points in the participating artists’ careers — factors that have had an impact on the creative process, such as teachers, other artists and life experiences.

The artists are Chester Arnold, Nikki Basch-Davis, Peter Brown, Linda Christianson, John Goodman, Dennis Hare, Ray Jackson, Connie Kirk, Judy Molyneux, William Rushton and Terry St. John.

Each of the artists has contributed work that represents a change of style, perception or direction, and written accompanying statements of their experiences.

If you go:

Catherine Fasciato’s opening reception for “Water, Sky and Land” will take place Saturday from 5-7 p.m. at Benicia Plein Air Gallery, 307 First St.

Lee Wilder Snider’s opening reception for “Into Autumn” will take place Saturday from 5-7 p.m. at Gallery 621, 621 First St.

Arts Benicia’s opening reception for “Evolution of Style” will take place Saturday from 7-9 p.m. at 991 Tyler St., Suite 114.