Author Archive: Writers Workshop
Twyla Olsen | Featured artist at Manzanita Art Emporium
Manzanita Art Emporium - Artist Twyla Olsen
Twyla Olsen
Twyla Olsen is a local artist and is featured at the Manzanita Arts Emporium in Angles Camp, California. Olsen's style combines vivid colors and dramatic brushwork to evoke an intensity of expression in her work.
She describes her approach as "abstract expressionism" and her painting style depends more on rendering images in terms of color and tone rather than contour or lines. When speaking about her painting, Olsen said her creativity allows her to be surprised how the designs are created. Oftentimes when she gets in the "flow", she loves that sense of getting lost in her artwork. It may be a reflection of something going on in her she said.
Her favorite painting tools are big brushes and sharpened pieces of balsa wood that make amazing marks that add to her paintings. When asked when she knows she has finished painting, Olsen said that she is getting better at making that decision. She simply puts the canvas up where she can see it and then leaves it alone for a while. This puts a little distance between her and a new painting that allows her to see if it needs anything else.
Olsen said she finds great satisfaction working with acrylics because of their versatility and bold freshness of hues that match her abstract style and choice of subjects. She says her two favorite paintings are vivid examples of how she employs images from the physical work to embody her emotional response and she enjoys studying with local Sierra artists.
For more information, contact the Manzanita Arts Emporium.
RV Camping | Find the right location in the Sierra
Tuolumne County
Sugar Pine RV Park in Twain Harte, California
Traveling east on Hwy 108 you will find Sugar Pine RV Park It is nestled in the pine forests of California's Central Sierras. They are located only 15 minutes East of Sonora. The park has a rustic feel but includes all of the modern amenities. Stay and relax within they peaceful family oriented park. For more information call (209) 586-4631.
Truckee, California
Truckee River RV Park
Located just steps away from the beautiful Truckee River along Interstate 80 in Truckee, CA. Only 18 miles to Lake Tahoe and 20 to 25-minute drive to Squaw Valley Ski Resort, Northstar California Ski Resort, and all other Major Ski Resorts in and around Lake Tahoe. Surrounded by Sierra mountain peaks, rivers, and lakes, outdoor activities are abundant, including fishing, boating,
hiking, biking, Golfing, Skiing, Snowboarding, and whitewater rafting. With historic downtown Truckee only 6 miles away, the shopping and dining options are plentiful. The park is located in the beautiful Sierra mountain along the Truckee river in Truckee, California. For reservation call (530) 448-4650.
Walkin California | A video of Steve Weldon in Yosemite National Park
"Walkin California"
A YouTube Video about hiking in California
Steve Weldon has a new series "Walkin California". Steve has a background in entertainment that comes from his 30-years experience in radio. He has produced a new outdoor adventure series. When Steve is not filming videos, he runs five miles a day, goes camping, backpacking and likes to travel to Mexico. Weldon comes from Courpas Christy, Texas and now lives in Tuolumne County, California.
Here is a short preview of his new series about hiking in Yosemite National Park.
Holly Kavonic | Showing hyper realistic paintings at Pacific Crest Gallery
Holly Kovonic - Painter
Holly Kavonic was born in Johannesburg and spent her childhood living in South Africa. Now she resides in the Sierra Mountains of California with her husband.
"My goal is the Renaissance. She paints with a great deal of precision and detail. "I believe that a return to Realism suggests a return to the “unseen truths” such as transcendence, God, spirituality, beauty, natural law, justice, truth, virtue, order, and harmony which I believe Modernism has stripped away."
"For me, abstract reductions of human life and the curtailment of detail, tend to lack the richness of the meaning the human condition holds. I feel that most late modernism art pieces do not always have the power or conviction to move us deeply. Through highlighting, for example, social injustice or cultural strength and prowess, I seek to go beyond this and to find fuller meaning; to display the magnificence of beauty and life itself, by combining deliberative inspirational craftsmanship with a studious and meditative approach.
Holly's Goals
I hope to re-connect with the traditional realist painting practices from the 17th and 19th centuries and apply this rich heritage to a contemporary subject matter, even finding beauty in the grittiness, imperfection and sometimes even squalor of contemporary life throughout different social rankings, different cultures, and different countries. I believe subtle, almost sub-conscious beauty can pervade the most unlikely subject matter - something I see, or rather feel in the weathered statue of an old man, a beauty and nobility in the human spirit that surpasses understanding and defies simple explanation. It is that beauty that I seek to record on canvas.” I aim to create the art that hooks into something deep in our nature”.
For more information on attending this event, please contact Pacific Crest Gallery in the Heavenly Village at 530-541-2325.
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Jamestown, California | A step back in time.
Jamestown
Jamestown today is a historic step back in time. Located on the main street are a mixture of landmark buildings from different eras. Some of the old wooden buildings date back to the Gold rusty days.
There are gift shops and antique and collectible stores, with many items made locally. Also located in town are several historic hotels and a variety of restaurants. The Jamestown menus include Mexican, Greek, Chinese, and classic American dishes. There are pizza, steak, seafood, sandwiches, burgers, ice cream, and espresso coffee shops.
Stone buildings have iron shuttles that were designed to withstand the fires that were common at that time. Look around and you will see wooden buildings in the Victorian-style area that date back to the beginning of the 29th century. In the small Victorian-era park, there is the Jamestown Branch Jail which dates back to 1898 and was recently restored. Photo Credit: Charles Eitelgeorge.
Visit Railtown 1897 State Historic Park, California State Parks. Celebrate the return to service for the historic steam locomotives. For more information about Railtown 1897, all (209) 984-3953.
Jamestown Hotel
The hotel remains an excellent reminder of the glory and elegance
of the by-gone Gold Rush ear.
For Direct Reservations
209-984-3902
18153 Main Street,
Jamestown, California
Ramblin Rose | Sierra Repertory Theatre
Ramblin' Rose — March 31-April 10
She'll be coming 'round the mountain later this month! Ramblin' Rose celebrates the greatest female icons and songwriters of American country music—from the backwoods of Virginia to the rhinestone stages of the Opry, you'll hear the classics of Dolly Parton, the Carter Family, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, and more! Get ready to clap your hands, stomp your feet, and sing along to the greatest country songs of all time! This concert plays in The Annex at the East Sonora Theater, March 31 through April 10. For ticket information, contact Sierra Repertory Theatre direct.
Coming Attraction
Steel Magnolias — April 14-May 15
The play you already know you'll love is setting up shop at the East Sonora Theatre. Now, every day's a good hair day at Sierra Rep! Previews begin on April 14, opening on April 16.