Fifth Annual Rio Nido Art and Crafts Festival
Russian River Artists will display their art work and crafts again at the Fifth Annual Rio Nido Art and Crafts festival on Sunday, August 17 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM in the Rio Nido Homeowners Park.Some of the participating artists include: Matt Bedford—fused glass, Beverly Bird--painting, Patty Bird-- pastel paintings, Suzanne Farnocchia—crafts, Robert Feld--jewelry, Edward Garcia--photography, Shannon Hartlip-- crafts, Mike Hoover--Encaustic works, JackiGail Jackson-Bird-- photography, Patty Karcie-- painting, Rebecca Lichau-- glass works, Shane Lunt,--painting, Patty Roland-James and Robert James-- books, Shirley Spencer--jewelry, John Underwood--painting, Robert Valdez—photography, Stacy Waring,-- handpainted crafts, Maryanne Weimer-- photography, Don Wilson—woodcrafts.
While the art and crafts festival is taking place, the Rio Nido Homeowners Association will be serving breakfast in the park from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM.
The art festival is free, the
Homeowners Pancake Breakfast is $6.00, children pay $3.00.For more information email: aquila@aquilaink.com, or bvdrio@sonic.net or call 869-8284.
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The Painting Sisters of Rio Nido
by Patricia Roland-James

Beverly and Patty Bird love to paint gorgeous Sonoma county landscapes. While both work directly from the scene, Beverly also uses photographs, she says, so she can recall what inspired her. Patty enjoys painting the scenery that she once drove through while she worked as a rural carrier for the Guerneville Post Office.
Beverly enjoys working in acrylics and oils. She loves acrylics because “they are versatile and allow for a lot of spontaneity.” Since she uses glazing in her work, acrylics dry quickly. She uses oil for alla prima work and her figurative painting. She describes her work as “realistic, leaning toward impressionistic,” and her focus is “capturing color created by the light.”
Patty enjoys working with pastels. She says they “suit both the rapidly changing conditions of outdoor painting and my spontaneous nature. The dry pure pigment can be layered thickly and stroked softly, almost simultaneously. The vibrancy of the pigment reflects the sparkle of the air and the nuances of the changing seasons.”

Art has been a significant part of their lives since childhood. Their parents, particularly their mother, encouraged them to draw and paint. Beverly says she was supported early on in her art work by compliments from teachers and other students. In junior high she thought she wanted to be a fashion designer (she made her own clothes) and in high school she continued to study art and she received a prize for a painting at the LA County Fair. She graduated from CSU Long Beach with a BA in Art, thinking that she’d become an art teacher, but instead she went to work as a county social worker and ended her public service career as a staffer for the State Legislature.
Patty can’t remember when she didn’t love art. She painted horses from a very early age. She won a library contest in jr. high for three dimensional illustrations. She studied art in high school. She didn’t major in art like Beverly but with her math and science background, she attended the University of California at Davis to become a veterinarian. She didn’t finish her degree but instead went to work for the post office and continued to paint.

Besides getting her art degree, Beverly has taken classes at Santa Rosa Jr. College, participated in various workshops including Frank Gannon, Kathryn Cerasoli, and Tesia Blackburn. Her paintings have been exhibited at Art at the Source, Cloverdale Art Center, Sonoma County Fair, the Rio Nido Annual Art festival, the Finley Center, and the Sebastopol Center for the Arts Life Drawing Show.

Patty has also taken art classes at Santa Rosa Jr. College. She attended Golden West and Orange Coast Colleges in Southern California and participated in workshops with artists Frank Gannon, Camille Przewodek and Marsha Connell. She is currently a member and bookkeeper for the Gallery Art Collective in Monte Rio. She has had exhibitions at River Images, the Mermaid Festival in Monte Rio, the Russian River Food and Wine Fest, 4 years of the Rio Nido Art and Crafts Festival, SCA Shows in Sebastopol, including En Plein Air. The Café Bazaar and West America Bank in Guerneville have also exhibited her work.
Both artists will be displaying and selling their beautiful art at the Fifth Annual Rio Nido Art and Crafts Festival on Sunday, August 17th, from 10 AM to 3 PM in the Rio Nido Homeowners Park. Admission is free. At the same time and place the Homeowners will be serving a delicious pancake breakfast from 9 AM to 12 PM. The cost for the breakfast is $6.00 for adults, $3.00 for children.Labels: ART of Sonoma County
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