The daily Astorian., November 21, 2019, Page 11, Image 11

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people to get in some holiday shopping, she
said.
Cultivating personal interaction
Cathy Hamilton, who creates intri-
cate decorations using primarily seashells,
wood and other natural materials, will also
encourage visitors get a hands-on artistic
experience by making a seashell tree orna-
ment during the tour.
She recently joined the Peninsula Arts
Association and is new to the studios tour
this year. Since most of her sales are con-
ducted online through Etsy and she no lon-
ger shows her work at galleries, she appre-
ciates opportunities like this to connect with
clients face to face.
“Unless you’re looking online,” she said.
“I’m not really out there.”
Though her schedule doesn’t allow her
to attend as many markets and festivals as
she used too, she could never give them up
completely, partly because she enjoys that
customer interaction.
“It’s nice when they come up to your
booth and they just can’t take the smile off
their face,” she said.
Her work room is set up inside her
house, so for the tour she will open her
garage and give people more space to create
ornaments and browse her collections.
In addition to hosting demonstrations
and activities, many of the artists put up
decorations and offer snacks to create a fes-
tive atmosphere. Marsh said it’s especially
fun to watch the kids, who enjoy playing
in the clay while their parents browse and
shop.
A coastal connection
Instead of planning a demonstration,
watercolorist Eric Wiegardt, who is native
to the Pacific Northwest, will use the time
to show new work and speak with patrons.
Although his gallery is open year-round,
he is often away teaching throughout the
United States or Europe. During November
and December, however, he comes back to
the studio-gallery that he set up inside his
great-grandfather’s house along Bay Ave-
nue in Ocean Park in the early 1980s.
While his work has impacted both the
national and international art scene, it bears
traces of his coastal upbringing. In general,
his pieces tend toward impressionistic and
interpretive, capturing and communicating
his feelings toward a certain subject matter
rather than a realistic replication.
His paintings, including the recent Tide
Point series, capture his recollections and
feelings of being around the water.
“It does get under your skin,” he said. “It
certainly affects my subject matter.”
If You Go
Peninsula arts association’s 12th annual
Fall open studios Tour
Long beach Peninsula
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 29 to dec. 1
maps are available at the Long beach
Peninsula visitors bureau, the astoria-War-
renton Chamber, the ocean Park Chamber
and participating studios. They also can be
downloaded from beachartist.org.
ABOVE Jim Unwin holds a gnarled piece of
driftwood that he found at Waikiki Beach that
he plans to carve.
RIGHT Linda Marsh throws a bowl for
microwave mini cakes on the wheel at her
studio, Marsh Pottery and Succulents, in Long
Beach.
Photos by hailey hoffman/The astorian
Thursday, November 21, 2019 // 11