Edward Hopper House on Cape Cod

We also recently had the opportunity to visit Cape Cod and spend a day at the summer home of famed American artist Edward Hopper (1882-1967).  We were the guests of some of our wonderful Celebration collectors who own this simple and serene property nestled on the dunes above the East side of Cape Cod overlooking the ocean.   The signature of this house is it’s 14 x 7  foot window (shown above) that offers awe-inspiring views of the dunes and the Atlantic Ocean that wraps around Cape Cod.  This amazing experience was shared with two of our artists, father and son – Kirk and James Randle.  We were joined by a photographer from American Art Collector.  This story will be feautured in the January 2010 issue of the American Art Collector magazine.  And, new works of art by Kirk Randle and James Randle from this experience will be revealed at the 2010 Celebration of Fine Art.

Again, we are counting the days until we will celebrate 20 years of bringing art lovers and artists together under our big white tent!  See you soon!

Susan and Jake

Debbie Edgers Sturges in Africa

Warning!  This post may make you envious!  Or, perhaps, it will inspire you to travel to these exciting destinations yourself.  And, we hope it will encourage you to travel to Scottsdale for the 2010 Celebration of Fine Art to see the new works of art inspired by these images!

Debbie Edgers Sturges and her husband, Brian, fulfilled a life long dream to travel to Africa this summer.  They joined 6 other SAA (Society of Animal Artists) for 10 days at the “Serian Camp” in the Masai Mara.  They headed out every day with their guide, Daniel to see animals in their natural habitat.  Debbie took over 7,000 photographs!

Debbie Edgers Sturges photographs elephants in Africa.

Brian, an avid bird watcher, counted 175 new species of birds and they saw all of the “Big 5″ – lions, leopards, rhinos, cape buffaloes and elephants!  Be sure to visit Debbie’s studio at the 2010 Celebration of Fine Art to see the newest paintings inspired by this trip!

Debbie Edgers Sturges photographs rhinos in Africa

And, now, on to Asia!  Rosa Leung Trombitas and her husband, Steve, traveled to Asia this summer for creative inspiration as well as stock up on art supplies unique to Chinese painting.

Rosa Leung Trombitas selects new paint brushes in while China

While in Asia, they also enjoyed the sights and culinary delights of China as well as Singapore over a three-week stay in various places in these countries.  She also had an occasion to visit with her old master of Chinese painting, under whom she studied, who is now more than eighty years old.  Having  been inspired during her trip, she’s now back in her studio in high gear, creating pieces for the 2010 Celebration of Fine Art!

Rosa Lleung Trombitas enjoying her trip to Asia

And, finally (for this post) – Italy! Liana Sofia Tumino traveled once again to the place where her family is from in Italy!  This is a constant source of inspiration for Liana and her fresco art work and this trip was no exception!  She enjoyed time with family members, the fresh foods and home made breads and an abundance of beauty all around!  She put together this video called “My Italy” to share her memories.  You will be sure to see many new pieces of art work inspired by this trip at the 2010 Celebration of Fine Art!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owelisH-CVI

We can’t wait to see you for our 2010 show! This post and the stories of these three artist is just a small sampling of the travels, experiences and inspiration that go in to all of the works of art that you will enjoy when you visit us January 16 through March 28, 2010! In the meantime, be sure to follow us on FaceBook and Twitter by clicking on the links to the right of your screen!

One of the first things on our agenda for the week was a lovely Art & Garden Party at the home of one of our wonderful collectors. This is a very special event that she hosts every other year to honor the artists from whom she has purchased. We were honored to be invited to share in this special day. There were several artists from the Celebration of Fine Art who were also there – Kyle Ashley and Martha & Del Pettigrew. Both the home and the garden were filled with art and information on favorite artists. The meandering paths of the hillside garden were sprinkled with beautiful works of art placed with great thought and purpose. Artists and other guests enjoyed walking about and discovering new pieces around each bend.

The Hillside Garden

Kyle Ashley with his work of art

Martha & Del Pettigrew with Jake

It is wonderful to see people who have such a passion for art and the artists who create it. The sparkle in the eye as the collector talked about some favorite art pieces was a true testament to what a positive impact art can have in our lives. Thank you for sharing your home and garden with us!

After a few days of fun with family, we headed up to wine country. While in the wine country, we had plans to spend some time with a couple of our artist friends – Bradford Brenner and Ken & Debbie Newman! Of course, there was to be some wine tasting as well!

The first day we stopped in the Napa Valley. We enjoyed the charming town of St Helena and lunch with a long time friend of the Celebration, Jo Ann Robinson, owner Flying Carpets – a store filled with beautiful oriental rugs. Be sure to check it out if you get to St Helena! Afterward we discovered some rich Napa Valley history when we visited area wineries including Charles Krug (the first winery in Napa), Frank Family Vineyards and Rombauer. We did some tasting and enjoyed meeting some interesting people along the way. Oh, and a few great “winery dogs” including Moose at Rombauer!

Napa Valley Views

We traveled on to Sonoma and settled in at a lovely place, just off the main square . The square was bustling with activity of a Tuesday night Farmers Market. We couldn’t help ourselves; we had to go look at all of the amazing fresh, organic produce and enjoy the energy. Live music played, families were having picnics and enjoying friends and Chefs from around the valley were selecting fresh produce from the vendors. It was a perfect evening!

The next day brought a great adventure and some of the highlights of the trip. We made plans to meet Ken and Debbie Newman at the Imagery Winery for a picnic lunch and then a tour of their unique and wonderful art collection (more on that later). Before meeting up with them, though, we had plans to tour the Benziger Family Winery.

Benziger Family Vineyards

We’d been here before and were intrigued by their biodynamic approach to wine making. The tour, led by tour guide Anthony (who was just great), included several stops around the vineyard including the famous Parthenon, a demonstration of the biodynamic process and the caves filled with barrels of wine. The amazing tour ended with a tasting of some very special reserve wines available only at the winery Signaterra Chardonnay and Oonapais Sonoma Mountain Red. These wines were excellent! While finishing up our tasting, we mentioned that our next stop was their sister winery – Imagery. It just happened that Joe Benziger who is the Wine Maker for Imagery was right there, so we had the pleasure of meeting him and talking about Imagery’s unique approach of blending Art and Wine.

Since art is one of our favorite things and we kind of like wine too, we were eager to see how the Benziger clan put the two together. Every one of the different wines from the Imagery Estate Winery is graced with a label that is a work of art. Almost 200 of the original works of art are on display in the tasting room/gallery at Imagery Estates. A unique feature of all of the work is that it has to have the image of the Benziger Parthenon, which we had seen earlier in the day, somehow worked into the art. The art label collection is definitely something to see! We all agreed that the creativity of artists never ceases to amaze us! The wines here are really great too. We enjoyed a lovely picnic lunch with sandwiches from the Village Market in Glen Ellen – you must go here if you are in the area! The food is delicious. We also enjoyed hearing the latest news from Ken and Debbie. The creative energy of our artists is contagious. We are all looking forward to our 20th Anniversay Celebration of Fine Art in 2010. All in all, it was a perfect afternoon of friends, food, art and wine in the beautiful Sonoma Valley – it doesn’t get much better!

The next day bought another pleasant outing with our friend and artist, Bradford Brenner. We drove up to the town of Sebastopol, CA where Brad resides with his lovely wife and daughter.

The Brenner Family

Brad introduced us to Sebastopol and the nearby town of Healdsburg. We strolled the square and enjoyed some art galleries and shops. The town has a contemporary vibe mixed with historic charm as well. As we drove back to Sebastopol, we could not get over the beauty of the rolling hills, the blooming flowers and the abundance fresh produce. There is something very special about this part of California! Brad also took us for one last wine tasting experience at Merry Edwards . The Pinot Noir at this wonderful boutique winery is out of this world. We were also delighted to meet some friends of Brad and Marina – always a great compliment when friends want to share you with friends! Our day ended with a delicious meal at Underwoods with Brad, Marina and Izzy! Thanks, guys, for sharing your slice of heaven with us.

We enjoyed each precious moment of this lovely trip. The friends, the family, the freshness of the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, the art work on display in galleries, homes, wineries and even along the streets. We came back energized and ready to carry on with our plans for 2010.

We are committed to bringing you the best collection of art ever as we celebrate our 20 years of bringing art lovers and artists together. Here’s to many more!

Susan & Jake

We recently took a drive from Scottsdale, AZ to Atlanta, GA. An old fashioned road trip. It reinforced our belief that we live in a vast, beautiful and multi cultural country. I think you get that more in a road trip than just flying from point to point. Yes, gas was costly, but if you have the time it is no more costly than flying today. In addition to being able to explore and enjoy there are no hassles with long lines, no weight limit for the bags and you get your choice of food, beverage and sleeping places!

  We spent our first night in Van Horn, Texas. Not the best choice but we were in a sand storm and found places to stay in this funkey little town. While driving through town this “gallery” was spotted. I just had to take a photo. No, we didn’t go in, couldn’t get in the door because of the washing machine, television, chairs, etc. etc.

Our next major stop was Fort Worth, TX. What a wonderful city and great museums. We visited the Kimbell Art Museum, Modern Art Museum of Ft. Worth, Amon Carter Museum, Sid Richardson Museum,  The largest collections of original western art is held in these museums, which were all begun by private individuals who set up foundations to display and support their collections. Russell and Remington rule here.

Outside the Modern Art Museumis a fabulous sculpture by Richard Serra that soars 67′10″ into the sky. It is called “Vortex” and is made of corten steel. The small red dot in this photo is me standing near one of the openings.

Fort worth has lots to see and a wonderful downtown to explore with many great restaurants. If you enjoy Western Art and the cowboy life style, this is the place.   They even have a cattle drive and fun eating places and saloons in the Stockyards area. We had lunch and some fun riding the saddles at the bar.

It takes two days to cross Texas! On the way back we stopped at a small town who name has been lost to my fading memory but it was only a skeleton now. Abandoned and worn with only a working Homeland Security office and a couple of restaurants. Here is what most of the town looked like.

 Once you are through Texas the landscape becomes walls of green along the freeway. Thick forests of hardwoods and pine. I have mentioned the beautiful wildflowers planted in the medians before, thanks to Lady Bird Johnson. I realized that in this part of the country her biggest challenge was to keep the highway departments from mowing and destroying them. Lots of beautiful wildflowers added to the banks of forest. We found spring in the south to be beautiful. The dogwood trees were in bloom. Once they quit blooming you wouldn’t notice them but in bloom they spring through the forests with white lacy blooms, to add their beauty.

It was a wonderful trip. Hit the road yourself and you will discover your own special places. Watch out for art its everywhere!

Tom & I left the 2008 Celebration in the capable hands of Susan & Jake and jetted off to Egypt in February for a trip I have always dreamed of doing.  Egypt is a country of contracts. Like most civilizations that have evolved over thousands of years you find religions and wars played the major drivers for each era of change. However, in Egypt much is unchanged.

The people of Egypt eek out a living only along the river Nile, which flows from South to North through endless miles of sand.  Thousands of years of history unfolded along this life giving river which runs the length of the country. We began our trip in Cairo, then flew to Aswan, then took boats and planes down the Nile back to Cairo, a 10+ day trip.  I won’t cover the whole trip because it would take pages and days. I will tell you about two amazing sights we visited.

The first is Abu Simbel. This is a monument to two things: One man’s ego and the dedication of modern archaeologists to save Egypt’s treasures. Ramses II cut two temples into the sandstone hills in Nubia, which was what we currently think of as far southern Egypt near the Sudan border. He built this temple to impress on the people of Nubia that he was THE ruler and they shouldn’t mess with him. He was also very proud of his wife Nefertari and built a temple to honor her next to his. I can’t stress to you how far out in the middle of nowhere this place is. When modern civilization decided to build a massive dam on the Nile and create Lake Nasser, an international team moved both temples miles away and created a safe location for them above the lake level. This was a feat comparable to the original building and creation of the temples. It is meant to inspire awe and it works. We were awestruck!

The next jaw dropping experience for us was in the tomb of a noble man. These tombs are scattered throughout the smaller valleys around the famous Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. This tomb was started and never finished, the workers simply walked away. It shows all the stages of art work from the first drawings to the final carvings. An amazing moment frozen in time of how the art work we so treasure was created.

We were astonished at the destruction of art work that was done by succeeding pharaohs, invading armies and new religions. Each seemed to want to destroy the images of those that came before and put their images in place of the others. Yet, nature protected many of the most ancient monuments by simply burying them in the vast sands of the desert to be discovered generations later after the ruler or war had passed. We were also surprised that places like the Temple of Karnak which was added to and remodeled endlessly for hundreds of years. Every pillar is carved with succeeding pharaoh’s cartouche and even christian symbols. Carved statues of Pharaohs, animals and obelisks covering many eons of rulers and art work are scattered throughout the acre plus site.

   We recommend you take this trip, but don’t recommend that you do it on your own. The language and cultural barriers and the difficult transportation and unstable neighbors make this a trip you want to do with a group. We chose Lindblad Expeditions. This tour was very well done and our guides (we had 2 for a group of 40) were out of this world. Our guide, Minal, spoke English, French and read Hieroglyphics! She gave us all sorts of in-sites into the people, the country, the history, the art and the politics of today. She truly made the trip!

Everyone asked if we felt safe. The answer is yes. Egypt wants its tourists to feel protected and has invested heavly in Tourism Police which are everywhere (not just on camels) and even rode on the busses and boats with us. We never felt unsafe. If you have always dreamed of visiting the pyramids , just do it.

Tom & Ann Morrow, world travelers.

On Saturday Susan and two of Jake’s sisters, Kathleen and Nancy, attended the Laumeier Sculpture Park’s Annual Art Fair.

This is a great art exhibit and Fair featuring 160 juried artists. I found a few things that I couldn’t leave without! The combination of talent and the beautiful setting of Laumeier Sculpture Park make for a great day! The Park sits on 105 acres of lush green grounds and meandering pathways and features over 100 pieces of contemporary sculpture placed throughout the park. You should definitely put this on your list of things to do next time you visit St Louis. With or without a special show, it is worth the time to stop and see the magnificent collection. www.laumeier.org

Sunday brought rain and wind, but lots of fun with family as we celebrated Mother’s Day at Jake’s brother Rich’s house in the suburb of St Charles, MO. Like all family gatherings, the food was fantastic. Rich prepared a variety of smoked meats – turkey, brisket and brats – yum! The rest of the family brought lots of side dishes and deserts. You never leave hungry from a Potje gathering!

Monday the sun was shining and the temperature rose to 70 degrees. We headed out with Jake’s mom and dad to the world-renowned Missouri Botanical Garden. Founded in 1859, this is the oldest botanical garden in the country and holds a spot on the National Historic Landmark list. The garden sits on 79 acres of beautiful gardens including a peaceful Japanese Garden- the largest traditional Japanese Garden in North America , Victorian District and a Climatron Dome that houses a tropical rain forest. In addition, you’ll find a wonderful opportunities for family fun including a maze of shrubs and a Frontier Town. The collection of flowers is amazing. We enjoyed the blooms of hundreds of Iris plants and I can only imagine what the rose garden and daylily garden will look like when the blooms start to open. Currently, you can also enjoy the sculptures of Niki de Saint Phalle (1930 – 2002).

Her pieces will be on exhibit throughout the Garden now through October 31, 2008. There are many other pieces of sculpture that are part of the Garden’s permanent collection, including some fabulous Chihuly pieces.

The Missouri Botanical Garden is a “must-see” if you find your self traveling through St Louis. www.mobot.org.

Until next time! Susan

Vermillion is a college town, the home of University of South Dakota. My daughter in law is going to law school there. While it is a small community it is well worth your time to abandoned the major through fare and take the bypass down Main Street. We thoroughly enjoyed a visit to the National Music Museum www.usd.edu/smm . As with all our trips we also visited galleries and found some wonderful local artists work at the Coffee Shop Gallery. They host local artists showings and have several glass artists who are outstanding, yes, we own some new drinking glasses that are fabulous. The town is filled with artists of many talents from Music and Drama to Art and Crafts. Really, the place will surprise you. A beautiful small town in the heartland filled with beautiful landscape and great friendly folks.

• The Death of Art by Michele Stapley published by Greenwood Publishing.
  I like this one because, not only is it a good story, but, Michele has been an artist in the show and the mystery is set at the Celebration. If you want a copy of Michele’s book you can email us and we will see you get one.
• Faking It by Jennifer Crusie published by St. Martins Paperbacks. This is a romantic mystery about fakes and forgeries. Light “summer beach” read.
• Feint of Art by Hailey Lind published by Signet Mystery. Again forgeries are the plot with lots of twists and turns.
• Landscape of Lies by Peter Watson published by Headline Book Publishers, London. A British treasure hunt uses a painting from 1537 as the map. Convoluted plot with lots of surprises. I am always captured by the symbolism in old paintings, this has lots of that to figure out.
• Art’s Blood by Vicki Lane published by Dell Mystery. Set in the Ashville North Carolina area and filled with folk art and a wonderful story.

You may not find these at your local book store so here is a great store for all things mystery. The Poisoned Pen book store here in Scottsdale, AZ has developed a national reputation: http://www.poisonedpen.com.

Ann Morrow

Renting a villa in Tuscany was a wonderful experience.

I am not sure how to describe this trip. Perhaps two words will give you the basic idea: Yum! & Wow!

We traveled with two other couples and rented a villa in Tuscan about a 20 min. drive (during non rush hour times) outside Florence. The villa is called Poggio Pipi, http://www.poggioalpipi.com/ here is the web site of the villa. It was fantastic. We were surrounded by olive groves and vineyards. The couple who own the villa cooked us the most fabulous dinner. It took 3 hours and was unforgettable.

We used the villa as a jumping off place to visit Florence, Siena, Pisa, and small towns in between and around the area. We visited museums and historic sites. We ate gelato, pizza, pasta and other delicacies. We prowled local markets. We drank local wines produced right down the street and bought olive oil from the local press.

Then we drove to Verona for a short visit and on to Venice where we had to abandon our car. Venice is one of our new favorite places except for one thing, the crowds. The population of Venice is only 60,000 but they have over 2 million visitors a year. Even going off season, during the week and in the afternoon you could hardly make your way through St. Marks square. I can’t imagine what it would be like in August! Cruise ships are one of the biggest contributors to this horde of people, dropping as many as 2,000 to 4,000 people a day for tours and shopping. The locals seem to still be friendly but we are just loving that city to death. If all you want is a gondola ride please go to Las Vegas and spare Venice.

While you know about all the famous museums and all the lovely and historic art throughout this birthplace of the Renaissance there is one special church that you shouldn’t miss. It is called “Basilica San Giorgio Maggiore” and is on its own small island in Venice. Like all churches in Italy it is magnificent in design but this one happened to have Tintoretto family as parishioners and many of their monumental paintings are housed here. It is well worth the short Vaporetto ride.

Yes, Venice is a place we will probably visit again.

MOMA NY

Ann & Tom have packed lots of travel and art adventures into the summer and they aren’t finished yet. So far they have jetted off to Atlanta, New York, Washington, DC, Minneapolis, MN, Lake Okoboji, Iowa, and Vancouver, Canada. Yet to come is Newport Beach, CA and another trip to Italy that will include Florence and Venice. They have visited museums great and small, haunted galleries, talked with artists and enjoyed grandchildren.

Here are some comments from them:

“The remodeled and reopened Museum of Modern Art in New York is wonderful. Tom and I both enjoyed the Richard Serra piece in the courtyard. We missed the opening of the special exhibit by only a couple of days but if you are in New York you should see it. If you can’t get to New York you can visit on line at www.moma.org.

We also visited the Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art) in New York. This is perhaps my favorite museum. They have just remodeled and created new Greek and Roman Galleries, again a must see if you are in the area and if not visit on line at www.metmuseum.org . It brought back fond memories of our trip several years ago through the Greek islands and a visit to Delos and Athens. They also have a great exhibit of the Clark Brothers. Two interesting brothers who apparently didn’t get along well but both collected some spectacular art. Sterling Clark began the Clark Art Institute in upstate New York www.clarkart.edu . If you are going to visit the Berkshires this museum is at the northern end and a must see. In addition to their fabulous art collection they teach restoration and research.

While in New York we also went over to the Brooklyn Museum. www.brooklynmuseum.org This is a fine small museum with some interesting exhibits including one that showed not only art but furniture, literature etc. during the time of the founding of the museum. An interesting and unusual exhibit.

We found New York, hectic, crowded and refreshing. Old and new crammed together and gawked at by millions of tourists. It is a place that showcases our decadence, our history and our amazing ability to overcome and move on!