Friends remember the late Bea Guttman Artist Bea Guttman, an active member of Arts Benicia whose show, “Soul Vision,” was featured at Gallery 621 in June, passed away July 27 at age 81. The Walnut Creek resident had a studio in the Arsenal for 25 years. A celebration of Guttman’s life will take place Saturday […]
Film chronicling creation of public artwork released
Benician’s documentary depicts work on city-commissioned ‘Wind, Water, Land’ When a work of art is put on display, it is the finished piece that the viewer sees. What happens behind the scenes — the hours of planning, design and trial and error — usually remains an untold tale. Fortunately for Benicia art lovers, when it […]
Barrage of collage in new Arts Benicia show
Ninety-five artists are represented in Arts Benicia’s latest show, “Fragments: The Art of Collage and Assemblage,” which opened Thursday. An opening reception is Saturday. Many familiar names are on the list of participating artists — so many that curator Robert-Jean Ray said in an email that while he did not have an actual count, “I […]
Words, images collide, collaborate in new show
The collaboration of art and poetry is not a new concept to the art world, but it is one that, in Benicia at least, is usually met with enthusiasm. Streets and Straits in Poetry and Paint is the latest show to embrace the concept, combining 13 works by Benicia Plein Air Gallery painters with the […]
Work of new Plein Air member now on display
Samantha McNally joined Benicia Plein Air Gallery in late 2014. This month she became the gallery’s featured artist. An opening reception for McNally’s show, “Bay Area Color,” is Saturday. The exhibit, now on display, features about 13 watercolor depictions of Bay Area vistas, all painted “en plein air,” or in the open air.
After parade, artist to ‘box paint’
Friday night, when Benicia’s Torchlight Parade is over, an unusual form of patriotic entertainment will begin on First Street. Benicia artist Randy Bernard will put his own spin on the Independence Day holiday with a performance art exhibition at Gallerie Renee Marie, located near the top of First Street. Inspired by the documentary film “Cutie […]
Renowned glass artist memorialized
A retrospective of the works of celebrated Benicia glass artist Micheal Nourot will open Thursday in the vault of Nourot Glass Studio. Nourot, who passed away in May at 66, was known for a range of glass techniques, including cased glass, slumped glass, stained glass, enameled glass, murrini — colored patterns or images made in […]
Going to bat for charity
Benicia artists design San Francisco Giants-themed bats Painters usually create works of art on flat canvases or heavy paper stretched onto a frame. But two Benicia artists and a third from San Francisco were given an unusual task, to paint portraits of three Giants ball players onto the cylindrical “canvas” of Louisville Slugger baseball bats. […]
‘Olio in Oils’: The art of Susan Street
The word “olio” means variety or melange, says Benicia artist Susan Street. Her olio of oil paintings celebrating local scenes will be celebrated this month at Benicia Plein Air Gallery. Sixteen of Street’s paintings are on the gallery’s feature wall, a colorful variety of oils on canvas that represent the artist’s first work in many […]
Famed glassblower dies
Benician Micheal Nourot, known worldwide for his art, was 66 Micheal Nourot, founder of award-winning Nourot Glass Studio whose clients have included presidents and the pope, has died. He was 66. Citing health problems, including illnesses he contracted in connection with travels to South America, the blown glass artist retired in 2012, concluding a career […]