Behind the scenes

“There should be a third weekend for Open Studios just for Oroville, Paradise and Gridley,” artist BB Smith told me last Sunday afternoon while I was checking out her refreshing paintings at Café Flo.

She’s right. With 79 stops on the Open Studios Art Tour—19 of them outside of Chico—it was impossible to hit up even half of them during the first weekend. I had to be content with 12 Chico stops, which I visited after perusing the sample offerings from each participating artist at the tour’s well-attended Reception & Preview at Chico Art Center.

I planned my route for the weekend methodically, using the well-laid-out and numbered map in my tour guide.

The first stop of what ended up being a thoroughly multisensory-satisfying weekend was the house/ studio of Caitlin Schwerin (pronounced Shereen) on Flying V Street, near Wal-Mart. The sensuous smell wafting through the house from a burning plum-scented candle combined with the hip sounds of late Brit singer-songwriter Nick Drake coming from the stereo made for a perfect backdrop by which to view Schwerin’s captivating shiny paintings of quirky little birds and trees, and abstracts representing emotional states and fleeting thoughts.

World-class painter Chunhong Chang’s Hemlock Street studio was my next stop. The experience of moving through Chang’s home and backyard studio was pleasing in every way, from the calm inspired by the white interior walls where her intricate East-West still-life paintings hung, to the food offered to guests (grapes, apples), which matched the content of some of her work. The bathroom was equally beautiful, with walls boldly painted with red peonies and containing a Chinese urn filled with swimming goldfish.

Next, Chikoko, the five-woman sewing collective on Chestnut Street—absolutely adorable, wacky and creative clothing and accessories. Four of the women used to be in a Canadian circus together. Four of them are also moms. Seamstress Genevieve Dietz’s sons Neptune and Django were on site and a cute part of the playful ambiance. Look for Chikoko’s performance art/fashion show, “Creature,” at the Chico Women’s Club Oct. 27.

I visited James Snidle Fine Arts on East Fourth Street next to look at the expertly done paintings of Paradise icon Lois Cohen and to watch fellow Lois, Lois Perkins, at work in the gallery’s rear garden making watercolors of chickens. I chatted for a while with the witty, vivacious Perkins before heading over to the Northgraves Avenue clay studio of Chris Cantello, at Perkins’ suggestion.

I stayed at Cantello’s place a good long while, gazing at his exquisite pottery and talking with him at length about his 30-year romance with pottery-making. His classically shaped pieces with Pueblo Indian-style carbonized horsehair finish are absolutely breathtaking.

My final Saturday stop: The art garden of Jana and Dave Lawton over on Nord Avenue. I have long wanted to wander around that beautiful garden, filled with Dave Lawton’s eye-catching metal sculpture, and I finally had the chance. I also saw a handful of sweet little watercolored cards from Jana, whose pottery and sculpture are also charming.

Day two: Encaustic painter Cynthia Schildhauer’s home in north Chico. It was a lovely, subdued mood in her house due to the relaxing influence of muted reds, blues, yellows of her innovative paintings. The subtle smell of the wax used in her work also added to the calm atmosphere.

Kiln-fused glass artists Claudia Schwartz and David D. Shimamoto were next. Their Ceanothus Avenue studio sparkled with their beautiful glass pieces. Everything they do is notable—check out Shimamoto’s precious gecko plates and glass pendants backed with butterfly wings.

Tatiana Allen, the young painter, collage artist and photographer out in California Park, gets my vote for “Best Newcomer.” Allen’s whimsical pieces, like her collage, “Life in the Big Apple,” of kids living inside a giant apple, are fantastically creative. Her work will be on display at Moxie’s through November.

Kay Wooldridge’s metal and ceramic studio (and garden) on East Second Avenue was wonderful. Her clever, pretty “Yard Stix” giant copper and painted ceramic birdfeeder flowers for under $50, are an inexpensive and practical way to purchase art. BB Smith was next—I love her stuff. She has a knack for making an ordinary Dayton silo or a simple palm tree appear very alluring and mysterious through her use of color and lots of black, and her idiosyncratic “scratchy” style of applying paint or other media. (Tip: See Smith’s work at Flo’s Sat., Oct. 14. The cafe itself will be closed on Sunday, but Smith’s work will still be on display.)

Last but by no means least, I toured the utterly amazing and wildly decorated house and workspace of pointillist Norm Dillinger on Orient Street, soon to be featured on HGTV.

It’s a must-see.