LAKEPORT — Walls filled with color, paintings of local artists, shelves of miniatures, an artwork gourd at the Main Street Gallery is a place where one could fall into the scenes depicted for January’s theme “Winter Anywhere.” That’s what people do on the first Friday of every month when they gather for the Gallery’s First Friday Fling, along with listening to the music of Lake County musicians, drink wine from local vineyards and eat finger food provided by the Gallery’s volunteers.
“I love First Friday Fling, it gives everybody something to look forward to. It’s a great place to network,” said Eugenie Steinman, KPFZ talk show host of Poetry and Prose. “If I see someone who I want to have on my program, we can have a conversation about it. I can talk to the people from the Arts Council and see what they’re up to. It’s just a great venue. The music is great, it’s a good time for everybody while looking at beautiful art presented by our own community artists. I just love it.”
Much of the conversation was over the eats table in the ‘Linda Carpenter Gallery Gift Shop.’ People who have been coming to the Fling for years, and some newcomers as well, chatted while enjoying wine from Smiling Dog Ranch. Sage Neri, from Cobb Mountain, was a first-timer. She walked around showing her favorite paintings. “There’s a lot of talent here,” Neri said as she pointed out ‘California Gold’ by artist Gail Salituri. “This is absolutely breath taking.”
Executive Director of the Lake County Arts Council [LCAC], Barbara Clark, said, “The purpose of the Fling is so we can show off the new artists who are debuting for the month. Every month they come and hang [their work] and this is the event where we say ‘Hello here’s the new artists, here’s their work.’ We also get to show off our local musicians and a local winery and just enjoy everything that Lake County has to offer in one little get-together.” Clark, a talented actor, was in Oklahoma! that just recently broke box-office records at the Soper Reese Theatre.
Marie Schrader was mesmerized by Carmon Brittain’s acrylic ‘Exciting Sailing.’ An accomplished sailor herself, it reminded Schrader of her childhood, sailing in Minnesota, the Land of 10,000 Lakes. When asked if it was her first time at the Fling, she said, “Oh no, I come every first Friday. This kind of visual art is an expression of humanity and I like to see how people around our county express that. I think it’s really important for us to take note of that. It’s an important part of who we are as a county.” Schrader was also the music director for Oklahoma! and is a music teacher at Brooks Elementary School in the Windsor School District.
Paintings done by the tall, lanky Carmon Brittain, were some of the crowds’ favorites. When asked about the sailboat painting “Exciting Sailing,” Brittain said that she and her husband owned 36 different kind of sailboats. “From 9 feet to 44 feet. This is the kind of seas I was sailing in,” she said pointing to the angry waters of the painting. “I used to teach sailing to women whose husbands were yelling at them while crewing and they couldn’t learn from their husbands so I said,’I’ll teach you how to sail,’ and I did.” Painter, washboard musician, treasurer of LACA, sailing instructor, jewelry maker and who knows what else Brittain has accomplished.
David Anderson, a first timer at the Fling, took Brittain aside and pointed to her painting of a snow scene with a horse-drawn sleigh entitled “Winter Memories.” It reminded him of the Robert Frost poem ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’. Anderson looked the poem up on his smartphone and recited it to Brittain. She was touched by the comparison.
People began dancing to the music by K & J; clear-as-a-bell Karen and deep-voiced John Zimmerman from Clearlake Oaks. Karen Zimmerman said, after she finished a Bonnie Raitt song, that when they first started playing together in 2013, they only knew five songs. “Now we know 500.” John Paulson, a writer from Lower Lake said of the duo, “They sure put on a good show!”
Stan King from Clearlake was taken with the paper mache miniature of Ruth Arietta titled ‘The Quiet Place’. Bob Carpenter, President of LCAC, liked the oil painting “Informants” by Margaret Iwanik, which also garnered a lot of attention from the crowd of approximately 50 people milling around. Some in the crowd included Richard Schmidt, Poet Laureate of Lake County, Diana Liebe watercolor artist, Les Miller of the Tribal Advisory Council for the Lakeport Historic Courthouse Museum and John W. Johnson who works for the museum, Joanne Santandrea, one of the 2018 Women of the Year declared by Congressman John Garamendi — all enjoying the evening of art, music and wine. As Steinman said, “It’s a great place to network.”
First Friday Fling is held at the Main Street Gallery, 325 Main Street, Lakeport; 5:30 – 7:30 P.M. on the first Friday of each month.
