Dias de los Muertos and Holiday Show Reception

40West Arts and the Lakewood Arts Gallery know how to throw a party!  From Aztec dancers to Tarot readings, mask-making and moody music, First Friday at the Gallery was a treat last night!  A spooky sky over CasaBonita set the scene as Dias de los Muertos was celebrated along with the opening for our annual Holiday show.

 
 Fun and useful hand-crafted items filled the Acorn Gallery, giving shoppers lots of choices for gift giving this year. From unusual decorative Christmas trees, to fabric decorated cards, knitted woolen goods and elegant aprons -- there's an option for all. Stop in through December to check off your holiday shopping list.


Neil Petersen provided the musical entertainment last night, setting the scene with his hooded black robe.
 
 Adults and children enjoyed crafting masks,
 
and Madame Annette predicted the future with Tarot readings.

 
A special touch was an altar where visitors could remember their past artist ancestors.
 
And of course there were lots of refreshments to sustain gallery-hoppers in their art crawl of the many galleries in the 40 West Arts District. 

Fun for First Friday

It was hard to determine the best thing about last night's First Friday at the Gallery -- was it the amazing miniatures show? Or was the engaging music from Sugar Factory, Rolina Carter's educational jewelry demo or just the beautiful evening bringing out visitors gallery hopping?  Either way, the Lakewood Arts Gallery's First Friday at the Gallery was a fun event.  Here's some photos from last night's art walk.

Miniatures Exhibit at LAC

The Mountainside Art Guild’s Miniatures  exhibit at the Lakewood Arts Gallery is now on display. Exquisite oils, acrylics, watercolors and other media are rendered in such detail on tiny surfaces, some not much bigger than a couple of square inches. You’ll have to see them to believe it! Here’s just a few of the award winners. Join the Mountainside Art Guild And the LAC for a reception this Friday.
 
Also on display is artwork from the Art & Soul program with a special tribute to mentor Myron Eckberg who passed away in June.

A Trio of Celebrations

 
There was a lot to celebrate at last night's festivities at the Lakewood Arts Gallery.  Lots of folks took advantage of the nice weather to stroll around the galleries for the First Friday Art Walk.  What they found at the Lakewood Arts Gallery was a lot of people celebrating 30 years of existence for the Lakewood Arts Council.  And there was a choice of cakes, cookies, tarts and lots of savory items with which to indulge.
 
 Kristi and Viv 
 
The pop of champagne corks could be heard over the pleasant duet of Americana Recycled and toasts to the continued success of the gallery were proposed.

 Lynnette sings with Americana Recycled
 
The installation of a new show in the Acorn Gallery is always another reason to celebrate and this one was no exception.
 
 Some of the work in the Charlie and the Girls exhibit

 
 It was nice to see the beautiful work of past founding member, Kathy Berls.
 
 The Charlie and the Girls exhibit has been an annual tradition since 2012. 
 
 Gail and her watercolor                                     
 above, Barb, Barb, Rick and Deb




Some of the participants have changed and the original idea of painting to chosen themes has disappeared, but one thing is a constant, and that would be Charlie!  It's an interesting show, with lots of different media and themes, so if you missed it, stop on by the gallery and have a look.

 New gallery manager, Tania Kaaz, and Charlie Casper

New faces are always welcome to the Gallery's co-op members, and tonight's reception was a chance to meet our new Gallery Manager, Tania Kaaz.  She has great ideas for the promotion of the gallery and is an accomplished photographer herself.  Using alternative developing methods she can create unusual effects in her finished product and even writes a magazine devoted to these techniques.  She will be a very interesting and dedicated member of our team!

Kristie demos her acrylic pouring

Kristie Kerr has developed quite a following for her acrylic pour classes, and judging by the number of bystanders intrigued with her demonstration, she will continue to fill her classes held at the gallery.  Check the website for class schedules and to register.  Her paintings and gift items are extremely popular -- great for gifts!  There is a nice selection of bird feeders, jewelry and other assorted 3D work available.  The gallery is open Wednesday - Sunday 11-5.  Come on in and see what's new!

Colorado's Best Awards

The Lakewood Arts Gallery's Colorado's Best Exhibit brought out truly some of Colorado's best!  Represented artists were in attendance along with friends, family and First Friday Artwalkers out visiting the galleries along the 40West corridor.  They found laughter, lots of munchies, acoustic guitar by Charles Closen, an acrylic demo by Joel Wittliff and of course a beautiful and diverse selection of art to peruse.

Juror Jan Archuleta was in attendance and so enthusiastic and animated while handing out awards.  She gave very helpful information as to why she chose each piece.  Checks were received by grinning recipients and hopefully they spent them on gallery purchases!  Just another fun evening at the Lakewood Arts Gallery!

Juror Jan Archuleta hands out awards.                     

Artist Joel Wittlif demos Frida in acrylic.


Artist John Evans with his First Place award for his charcoal portrait, "Mata".  Here are the juror's comments as to why she chose his piece for first place, "The minute I saw this detailed drawing I wanted to look closer. I noticed that the full range of values were expertly used to capture the glow of the face, the delicate hands and soft texture of the clothing.  The values of greys in the background has a balance of unique shapes and nice lines.  I also like the glow of light grey behind and reflected on the woman's dark hat.  The face is wonderfully rendered!"


Artist Donna Sorensen with her pastel, "Afternoon Garden Party" which garnered a Second Place award. The juror said, "This small painting is exquisite.  It has strong design and use of light and shadow.  The bits of color are perfectly placed, and the highlights of white give the painting contrast and drama.  The painting is so lovely."


Artist Carol Broere with her raku dish titled, "Which Way".  Jurors comments: "Although I do not know exactly how this piece was made, it is full of creative design and beautiful color.  I appreciate the wavy edge of the dish and the surprising shapes and texture on the back.  Very impressive!"
 

Artist Karen Mahnken with her colored pencil piece, "Great Horned Owl".  Jan said of Karen's piece, "Not only is this colored pencil painting well drawn, the confident strokes of the feathers feel soft and alive.  The owl's golden eye holds the viewer's attention as though it is looking at you.  Very nice!"


Congratulations to all the award winners and artists in the Colorado's Best Show!  I should also mention that wandering into the 40West Gallery for their Transitions glass show, I discovered one of the LAC's member's with another award -- Congratulations to Leslie Bitgood for her piece, "Passages".


And just a silly tip for next time -- be sure to wear your white shirt if you want an award!

Paco-vicunas Highlight of the LAC Garden Tour

 
Who needs flowers when you've got these funny fuzzy creatures to ogle?  Garden #4 on the Lakewood Arts Council's Annual Garden Tour featured an alpaca farm.  First of all, who knew there was an alpaca farm tucked back behind Hampden Ave near Foothills Golf Course?  Jean and Arthur Levene bought this 1859 homestead 25 years ago, built a "mail-order" house and other buildings on the property and have raised alpacas, llamas and vicunas for their fleece, which they sell to fiber artists and crafters. 
 
Jean obviously loves her animals, knowing many of the 150 camelids by name.  Some are more friendly than others, but if they let you pet them, you find how fine and soft their fur is, and can understand why it's in such demand for clothing and other goods. 
 
Tour guests were allowed to wander in the pens while Jean answered questions and provided info about the care and needs of these special animals. 
 
As the volunteer garden-sitter, I not only got to enjoy talking with the visitors, but also got to spend time with the paco-vicunas, or PV's as she calls them.
 
 Many guests said this was the highlight of the tour, but the other 6 locations also provided delight for the senses.

Three train gardens this year inspired wonder in young and old alike.  These are definitely a labor of love!  Surprises lurk at every bend: a chain gang here, dinosaurs there.  
 
An addition to last year's train garden (Garden #7 which was added later) was a hand-built city, buildings being named after family members. 
 
Even a funeral home had its place -- we all wondered who that might have been named after though! A garden with a labyrinth,

a chicken coop, a community garden flanked by public artworks (along the 40West Greenline)
 
and of course lots of gorgeous blooms under a beautiful blue sky made this year's annual Garden Tour a successful and delightful fundraiser for the Lakewood Arts Gallery.  Can't wait to see what they come up with for next year's tour!