Special guest artist - Spike Mills

Goomee Planter  (California Redwood, 16x10")

Acclaimed artist Spike Mills is visiting from Canada - and we're so delighted to feature some of his work here at the aRt Cottage during the month of May!

Spike carves and paints unique sculptures and masks from fallen trees and reclaimed wood.

Chupcan Queen  (White Cedar, 34x10")

Mt. Diablo Goomee  (California Redwood, 48x14")

Growing up in Wawa, Ontario, Spike spent much of his boyhood outdoors, exploring the woods, climbing the hills and scavenging the beaches of nearby Lake Superior.

Spike saw faces everywhere...shimmering on the lake, lurking in the woods, etched onto the rocks. The images "freaked me out," says Spike, because he knew they existed only in his mind. His parents dismissed their son's visions as fanciful daydreams, but the faces were very real to Spike, and seemed to emanate from a parallel world that both frightened him and beckoned to him. He wondered if he could unite with the faces...and now that boyhood curiosity has morphed into an obsessive life's calling. "I knew then that I could manifest what I was seeing and bring these faces to life," he says. "I'm still at it."  

Click here to read Spike's full bio.

Mark Jezierny and his students return

Mark Jezierny has been passionate about art since childhood and in 1990, he received an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. He has been teaching in the Bay Area for many years. We're delighted to have Mark and his students, past and present, back for another show in May. 

Lafayette Reservoir

"Mark's paintings of Northern California landscapes, buildings and industrial scenes are done with both brush and/or palette knife. He creates an impressionistic style with an approach that is unconventional. yet boldly realistic. He uses color to convey mood, atmosphere and perspective with an energy that depicts the overall spirit of the subject matter. Texture and shading are effectively used to emphasize the form, density and richness of natural and man made objects."  - Walter Mast

Old Borges Ranch Barn