A roundup of West County art galleries to surprise, amaze

Over the last few years Guerneville, always the cultural heart of the Russian River region, has morphed into a premier local destination for creativity and unique art.

Most of the galleries in the downtown area are artist-owned, which often gives visitors an opportunity to meet and talk with the actual creators of the work. It also allows artists carte blanche to create whatever they’re moved to and to display it however they wish.

Along with painters there are sculptors, ceramicists, collagists, fabric artists, photographers, stained-glass artists, jewelers and much more.

The First Friday Art Walks each month have become a family-friendly ritual where shops stay open late, buskers fill the streets and galleries with music, and people happily cruise Guerneville schmoozing with old friends, making new ones and enjoying a glass of wine and an abundance of snacks. They’re family-friendly, unscripted and guaranteed to surprise and amaze.

Following is a partial list of galleries in Guerneville whose main focus is art and a few of the other shops whose interiors feature ever-changing displays of local art.

There are other galleries and businesses, such as WestAmerica Bank, Community First and Panache Eyewear, that have art on display, along with street artists whose crafts deserve recognition.

One of the more eclectic is the Blue Door Gallery, owned and operated by Douglas DeVivo and Mary Livingston. Doug’s collages are multi-layered and riveting and Mary re-uses denim and other fabrics to reconstitute jackets, and hangs things like giant jellyfish in the window. Also showing at the Blue Door are the works of Petaluma ceramacist Jess Stimson. Mary and Douglas have working studios connected to the gallery and visitors are sometimes welcome to view art projects in progress. On the first Friday of each month, people breeze through the room in back to work on projects (i.e. Mr. Potato Head with real Russets, mansions of wooden ice cream sticks) around a huge table individually or collaboratively while shoulder to shoulder.

16359 Main St., 865-9258, dvolife@hotmail.com

Next door is the Russian River Art Gallery, dating back to 2008 and currently a collective of 13 artists including Penny Knapp, Barb Emerson, Patty Bird, Sandra Maresca, and Debbie Van Dyke. Newly renovated in April 2015, it features a dozen dark walls covered with fabric art, photos, water colors, pastels and acrylics. The new lighting effectively illuminates sculptures, constructions and more. The windows facing Main Street have their displays changed regularly and the gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day except Tuesday. The artists meet monthly and artists share hospitality duties during the week.

16357 Main St., 869-9099, info@therussianriverartgallery.com

The unobtrusive and tiny Studio Blomster generally features one artist, and sometimes only one work of art at a time. It’s in a parking lot on Armstrong Woods Road and shared by other businesses, and although David Blomster has a degree in art from L. A.’s Otis College of Art and Design, he has yet to display his own work. His father was an automotive designer, he explains, and creativity runs in the family. Much of what’s exhibited is large-format and one show featured a part of the human anatomy that filled up the gallery all by itself. Despite the small space, Blomster, who also owns the Hi-Five Korean eatery on Main Street, plans to have a group show in the near future.

14045-D Armstrong Woods Road, db@studioblomster.com

The Center for Sacred Studies on Church Street is a “place of peace and unity,” says Valerie Hausman, where art, artifacts, paintings, carvings and sculptures are displayed along with items for sale such as herbs and oils, feathers, crystals and wide-ranging native art. Display shelves are well-stocked with pieces crafted by the Lakota and Winnetka along with works by (mostly) indigenous people from India and Mesoamerica. Here too are jewelry, bones, inspirational CDs and what Hausman calls assorted “non-representational drips and drizzles.” There are comfy places to sit, and if you feel like a Reiki session or would like to discuss the Tao, you will likely be accommodated.

13550 Church St., 604-7362, centerforsacredstudies.org/guerneville-center/

Mark Lifvendahl art studio and showroom boldly presents bright profusions of floral displays reminiscent of 19th century French artwork as well as whimsical dogs, roosters and other creatures. Born in Illinois and schooled there as well as in Florida, Lifvendahl, with roots in Guerneville, has traveled by boat to Polynesia and other tropical climes, and although having no formal art training, he says he began splashing paint and expressing joy and sadness. Mark, who suggests artists try a naive approach, says inspiration drives passion. He divided his “dog art” into good dogs and bad dogs and soon decided they were all good dogs which became his totem.

16214 Main St., 527-2171, lifvendahl.net

If people are curious enough to walk up a short flight of stairs, they’ll find the Cooprider Studios shared by Karen Cooprider and Cindy Hawkins. Open since October “whenever the sign outside says we’re open” (usually Friday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.), visitors will find wood inlays employing veneers and silk screen work by Cooprider and photos on aluminum and wood by Hawkins.

16216 Main St. Suite C, 604-7411, Cooprider gallery

Karen Ryer and Pat Sergeant maintain the Withywindle sculpture gallery, graced with marble figures, Jerrold Ballaine bronzes and works you might expect to find in Florence or Paris. “I always loved stone” says St. Louis native Ryer, who began sculpting soapstone in 1999. Their fascination grew to where they visited Cararra, the Italian “birthplace” of the stones that Ryer had been shaping.

Ryer operated her own law offices in Guerneville and Sergeant had a position in food services and after they joined forces, they built a dwelling a thousand feet above Guerneville, a white dome some 43 feet in diameter with a second floor and three enormous triangular windows.

13550 Church St., 869-1021, info@karenryer.com

A flight of stairs above Russian River Escapes and down the hall from Cooprider is the Kuhr and Norris Studio and Gallery featuring the Plein Air paintings of Katharine Norris and the black-and-white film photography of Suzy Kuhr. Open weekends and by appointment, this little gallery has high-contrast photos where parallels, repetition, and intensity make them seem almost three-dimensional. One of Guerneville’s newer galleries, it’s usually open weekends or by appointment and occasionally features works by others such as Anita Ellis and jeweler Jan Salisbury.

16216 Main St., Suite B, Katherine at 486-1130, Suzy at 239-6134

A dazzling profusion of stained glass works hangs from the ceiling, by the windows and everywhere you look at Russian River Glass Images. Glass mistress/owner Rebecca Lichau says the gallery, at 24 years and counting, is the oldest in Guerneville. Her interest in glass stems from a next-door neighbor, whose noisy studio was next to her open window. It kept her awake but eventually her curiosity overcame her annoyance and while working on a degree in art therapy she began creating stained glass as a hobby and made it the subject of her thesis.

Her custom work generally takes between two and four weeks but during that time Rebecca works on more than one project.

“The design comes first,” she says and explains she works in styles commonly called Mission and Frank Lloyd Wright.

16369 Main St, 869-4105, russianriverglassimages.com

A true collector’s Nirvana, the Sonoma Nesting Co. is a treasure trove of art, sculpture, “home furnishings” and curiosities combines antiques, modern art, museum pieces, indigenous art from far-off continents and more, tastefully displayed and thoughtfully curated. Rave reviews flow in from casual and serious collectors the world over, and people rave about how knowledgeable and hospitable Dax Berg(who studied art at the University of Utah) and Christopher “Smitty” Smith are. The items are “genuine” and it’s difficult to leave once you walk in. Dog lovers, Dax and Smitty have also run adoption fairs and clinics for pooches, and their annual Halloween party is arguably the best in town.

16151 Main St., 869-3434, sonomanesting.com

The Lookup Gallery contained within the reborn Guerneville Bank Club recently featured images by Blake Little/Juan Antonio Siverio collectively. Called BEARS/OSOS, the images are renderings of a few of the ursine-like and hirsute visitors who celebrate Lazy Bears Week in Guerneville.

The newest exhibit being installed is called “Artists Are Like Water” and features Brooklyn artist Marie Lorenz and others. It describes the artists as “doubling, mirroring, absorbing, collecting, freezing and then disappearing, their approach sinks time into a dream.” Bob Pullum, who resurrected the Bank Club, may sometimes be found at the gallery sharing information and spreading good will. Visitors may also press a button and take a selfie with a wall-mounted camera. You may see it but you can’t keep it... and you may also see it online.

16290 Main St., 415-640-8882, lookupgallery.com

Coffee Bazaar on Armstrong Woods Road serves as a meeting place, a warm, dry sanctuary where people may bring their laptops, a place to enjoy pastries, coffee and lunch, and a gallery where artists are sure to get exposure to dozens of people seven days a week. Manager Amelia Skubic says art has been displayed on their walls for the last four and a half years and exhibits are rotated about every two months. A wide variety of styles and media are exhibited and much of what is displayed is purchased by visitors. Artists are selected “first come, first served” as opposed to having to compete for a chance to have their work displayed.

14045 Armstrong Woods Road, 869-9706 or 869-5888, coffeebazaar.com

Russian River Escapes, which also handles vacation rentals, has been displaying the “cartoonish” art of Pete Doolittle for the past three months. Owner Stacy Jardine says Doolittle’s work is considered eminently collectible and she sells about ten pieces every two weeks.

The unique work is done on recycled windows with wooden frames from older houses, and is painted in reverse (on the back of the side to be displayed). Doolittle’s works fill the interior and are often displayed outside the shop and in the windows as well.

Doolittle’s works have found home in the Sonoma Nesting Company and previously, in Livendahl’s gallery as well.

16212 Main St., 866-241-7929, RussianRiverEscapes.com

Emily Sanchez’s Higher Grounds sells coffee, provides a backyard where people may play music and connect with friends, read a newspaper and enjoy the art display on the walls. A small shop with a bohemian ambience, Higher Grounds provides a homey feel, rotates their show every month or two, and a few months ago hosted an art class where they furnished materials and served wine and munchies.

16350 Third St., 604-7412

Contact River Towns Correspondent Stephen D. Gross at sdgross@sonic.net.