Sandi Whetzel's Art Featured in third Winery Trail Artisans Sale

Lady in Red 20x10 acrylic ©Sandi Whetzel

The third Winery Trail Artisans Sale will be held Nov 28-29, 2008, 10am-6 pm along the Umpqua Valley Wine Trail at the Melrose Grange on Melrose Road, Roseburg, OR. This is a juried event featuring mostly useable and wearable handcrafted creations by local artisans presented in boutique fashion. In addition to Sunstone goddesS jewelry, Alpaca knitwear, handwoven scarves and shawls, handmade soaps and lotions, upscale pottery, handwoven baskets, vintage obi handbags and more, Sandi Whetzel's art will be offered for sale. For further information please contact Sunstone GoddesS jewelry at www.sunstonebeadandarts@yahoo.com .

This event is held in conjunction with the Thanksgiving Open House at Umpqua Valley Wineries, Melrose Vineyards and Abacela Winery from 11 am - 5 pm November 28-30, 2008. For information contact: http://www.melrosevineyards.com/ , http://www.abacela.com/ and http://www.umpquavalleywineries.org/ . The boutique is conveniently located between Melrose Winery and Hillcrest Vineyard at the Melrose Grange, 3711 Melrose Road in Roseburg, Oregon.

I was so excited to be invited to participate in this holiday kickoff event. Three of my smaller paintings will be featured, Grape de Chine, a painting that resembles a stained glass rendition of a cluster of grapes, Lady in Red, an enchanting hosta painting and my newest creation, Sunstone Goddess, a metallic acrylic painting of a succulent with texture that resembles stone or metal. Since most of the items for sale are of a wearable or useable nature, I was so pleased to be invited to offer my jewelry for walls paintings. It promises to be an artful event featuring the work of multi-talented local artisans.

The WORLD, Coos Bay, OR: Art news columnist reviews Coos Art Museum CAM Biennial--323 reasons to vote for people's choice

Wine on the Vine III 24x20 ©Sandi Whetzel

I'm so delighted to report that my art at the Coos Art Museum, CAM Biennial, has received a very favorable review in the Friday, Oct. 31st edition of The World, Coos Bay, Oregon's local newspaper. From 323 art entries/reasons to vote for the People's Choice, Teri Albert, columnist for the newspaper described two of three of my works displayed at the CAM Biennial:

"Brilliant hues and a light touch with her subject bring Sandi Whetzel’s Wine on the Vine paintings to a place near the top of my list. She combines acrylic with a co-polymer pour to fashion transparent, glass-like textures on her paintings. The fiery palette of Wine on the Vine II fairly pops from the museum wall, while Wine on the Vine III sports a cascade of plump grapes, tumbling into a beautifully rendered goblet. No wonder that Whetzel’s work has been used to promote the wine industry of the Umpqua Valley. To this imaginative artist I say, cheers!"

And on top of that, one of my wine paintings, Wine on the Vine III, I think, is also pictured in the actual newspaper, I'm told. I'm getting my hands on that newspaper issue ASAP. I was mildly hopeful about winning the People's Choice Award before this, but now I'm really hopeful.

Teri started her review by piquing readers' interest in voting for their favorite art works to determine which lucky favorited artist will receive a SOLO EXHIBIT at the CAM in 2009. She also commented on the work of two other artists. You can read all of Teri's reviews of the CAM Biennial by clicking HERE.