Even chilly peek-a-boo fog couldn’t hold down the audience in Los Osos for the first Saturday of SLO County Arts’ Open Studios Art Tour on October 12.
Of all towns participating in the tour this year, Los Osos had by far the largest concentration of open studios. I was able to visit a few of them.
Baywood Drift Studio (#62 in the program) had beautiful driftwood sculptures by Jan Brink. Jan also hosted well-known painter Carol Paulsen and her daughter, Emilia, who created clever ceramic shadowboxes to store your trinkets in.
Abby Ahlgrim of Surf Gems (#68 in the program) upcycles resin waste from surfboard manufacturing into handmade jewelry. My overdeveloped left brain can barely understand how an artist can look at trash and see something beautiful and useful in it. This location was filled with young artists displaying handmade ceramic mugs, tie dyed tank tops, scarves, knit hats and other clothing items.
Liz Moore (#60 in the program) is a talented watercolor artist. Besides full-sized paintings, you can purchase her art reproduced on tote bags and t-shirts. Liz hosts sip and paint sessions at the Savory Palette in Morro Bay. She promises me even my left brain can handle her instruction on simple painting techniques. A painting lesson with wine—what could go wrong?
Three artists, Michael Costa (#46), Karin Gray (#52), and the late Ron Roundy (#66) were grouped together in one location at the Roundy residence on 7th Street. Ron’s wife Erma had his beautiful ties on display. Michael’s travel photography should be published in National Geographic.
Marea Art Studio at 1316 2nd Street had an interesting collection of artists, offering everything from lacquered, painted tables and TV trays (eat in front of the football games in style!), sea glass and driftwood hangings, jewelry, cork art, and clever wall hangings made from pinecone scales.
The San Luis Obispo County Open Studios Art Tour, which took place October 12-13 and 19-20 in 2024, is a program of the SLO County Arts Council. It takes place each year over two weekends in October, which is National Arts and Humanities Month, and is free to the public. Fine artists and crafters open their studios to showcase their art and share their processes. Visitors create their own self-guided tours using a catalog. More than 150 artists and crafters across SLO County participated in the 2024 tour.