I started in Los Alamos at the house of Mackenzie Duncan.

Mac with one of her “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” inspired series.

Still thinking about purchasing this portrait from “Once Upon a Time in the West.”

I then went to Karen Gearhart-Jensen’s studio, and saw her prints and photo collages and Kam Jacoby’s historical photo composites. Both very different and great to see and learn about.

Kam completely knew the history of the woman in the historic photo based on entries of her in the Lompoc public records. Interesting to get acquainted with someone long passed!

C. Wood’s studio was in a beautiful rustic setting, also in Los Alamos. She had many pictures of farm animals in bold inviting colors.

Anna Jud Hallauer’s home and studio was far off the beaten track, but well worth the trip, both for the art, the artist’s explanations of her work and process, and the beautiful views of her and her husband’s vineyards. Her husband is also an artist and had a collection of clay figurative sculptures.

Most of Anna’s work is made with the dollar, like this pillar.

Anna also shows her work in her native country, Germany.

Seyburn Zorthian’s painting and calligraphy art studio can be found right next to the family tasting room for Buttonwood Winery, where her art is on display. Definitely worth a visit!

Patricia Hedrick’s charcoal pastel work was mistaken for photography by a few visitors while I was touring her Solvang studio. From figure studies to water abstractions, they were lovely and showed her incredible blending skills at work!

The artist’s pallet!

Patricia with artist Sonya Fairbanks, who also does exquisite work in charcoal pastels.

The second day, I started off at the home of colored pencil and water color artist Teresa McNeil Maclean.  From mountain-scapes to trains disappearing into the horizon, her distinct style holds the viewer with its colors and forms.

Being a fervent lover of clay, I made sure to make the trek out to the lovely home of Donna and Wesley Anderegg in Lompoc. I can hardly describe what a delight it was to see the enormous collective body of work this artist couple had created! Donna’s functional flatware showcased her ability to draw through delicate carvings and her eye for design in both the glazing and composition of her many vases, cups, and other vessels. Wesley’s sense of humor and observation of human idiosyncrasies were evident in his many ingenious clay figures and sculptures.

Donna Anderegg amongst her pottery.

Delicately carved motifs on vessels.

One of Wesley Anderegg’s figuritive pieces.

A whole wall of Wesley’s hilarious and imaginative busts. On the floor, “The Victom,” a satirical piece of a figure with three knives in it’s back, in a cage led by a two-headed dog…? Completely over the top! Loved it.

Bird brain and two other figures. Detail from the wall-case of figures.

Global Warming and other pieces by Wesley.

Rebecca Gomez in Los Olivos had large landscape paintings and some abstracts of trees that captured the area quite well. Her husband had some neat photography up, as in the photo below.

Allen Koehn with some of his photography.

Lovely landscape and floral paintings abounded in the studio of Christine McCowan.

Rise Delmar Ochsner had many large scale brilliant paintings of equines, dogs, landscapes, and portraits in her charming, well-lit studio in Santa Ynez.

Mike Magrill, a wood artist, was kind enough to explain some of the processes of making wooden bowls and composite vases. It was interesting for me to learn how the methods of making vessels in wood and clay bear some commonalities.

Gene Inglis-Ward, multi-media artist and teacher, had a wide variety of art in many different mediums and genres. (She also had an awesome collection of pottery, which I enjoyed hearing about! Thanks, Gene!)

William Cates photography captured the beauty of the Santa Ynez Valley and of his previous home, Virginia, with landscapes, animals, nudes, and much more. I wish I could have explored more, but had to race to another engagement afterward. Next year!

Gwen Cates paintings of Santa Barbara County and of her previous home, Virginia, were at least as lovely as the landscapes they portrayed!

UPDATE:

It’s January 23rd, and I’ve just managed to get the new photos together for this post. Let the tour continue!

Rick Hubbard and some of his paintings, in his and Judi Stauffer’s lovely home.

Judi Stauffer by two examples of her digital photographic art exploring the Inka concept of the three worlds or planes of existence.

Rick’s Breakthrough series: humorous, meaningful, and relational.

Another clever example of how Judi portrays the three worlds as conceived in the Inka tradition.

Hot off the press: a new cardboard piece hanging in the studio.

Mike Brady in his wood sculpture studio, brimming with plein air sculptures that are just too precious to really leave out in the elements!

More of Mike’s whimsical works that reference the craft arts of the South and are mostly kinetic, designed to move in the wind.

Renee Kelleher in her charming studio, reminiscent of the south of France.

Paintings of interiors, rural landscapes, and domestic animals carried my visual interest across all of the walls of Renee’s studio.

[Any artists that I did not see, but would like to be included, please email me. I'd be more than happy to update this post and have fun seeing your studio!]