A peek at the creative process

<p>Mo Ryan walked from one of her paintings to the next, explaining how she came to paint a tow truck and how another piece was inspired by the great surf break at San Clemente.</p><p>"I've been talking nonstop," she said Sunday.</p><p>Ryan was one of 108 Sonoma County artists who took a break from creating to exhibit her work and share her inspiration and method with studio visitors.</p><p>Ryan is a Santa Rosa artist showing her work at a space on Coleman Valley Road, and on Sunday sold an oil painting for $1,200.</p><p>The 14th annual Art at the Source open studio drew hundreds of people from California and beyond to studios scattered across west county. The event sponsored by the Sebastopol Center for the Arts continues this Saturday and Sunday.</p><p>By opening their studios, artists are offering a free, inside look at their creative processes.</p><p>"They can come out and see what it's like to be an artist," said Rebecca Love of Occidental who shared exhibit space with Ryan on Sunday. "And we tell the stories behind the art."</p><p>Love, who creates life masks, said every piece of art has a story. She recently returned from Kenya, where she helped impoverished women learn skills to sustain art businesses. That experience is now embedded in her sculptures.</p><p>"You can see how Africa has crept into my work," she said. "There are so many stories in each mask."</p><p>Attendance has been dropping in recent years, said Margaret Bolt, a Sebastopol artist who has participated for the past 10 years.</p><p>Over the weekend, about 300 people visited her exhibit space off Mill Station Road, which she's sharing with her husband Geoffrey Bolt and painter Janet Charnofsky. But she said the turnout was the lowest she remembers.</p><p>The troubled economy is the likely culprit for the lower attendance, Bolt said.</p><p>"We had more buyers last year," she said. "And people are buying less expensive stuff now."</p><p>Lower attendance could mean tough times for artists. Many consider this a kickoff to their business year.</p><p>"We definitely build our business through this event," Love said. "We get commissions and meet people who will return later in the year."</p><p>But the atmosphere Sunday was hardly down beat.</p><p>"The energy is just flowing," Ryan said. "It's awesome."</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Nathan Halverson at 521-5494 or nathan.halverson@</p><p>pressdemocrat.com.</p><p>ART</p><p>AT THE SOURCE</p><p>What: 108 artists show off their work at studios across west county</p><p>When: Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.</p><p>More info:</p><p>The Web site</p><p>artatthesource.org has maps and info about the artists.</p>