Ramona artists working in all types of mediums — sculptures, watercolors, acrylics, ceramics, jewelry, fused glass, woodworking and even alcohol ink — will be featured in this year’s Ramona Artist Open Studios Tour.
The event, hosted by the Ramona Chamber of Commerce, will take place April 13-14 and will showcase 21 artists at 12 locations around Ramona.
Tickets are $15 for the self-guided tour which allows event-goers to go at their own pace and explore Ramona while they’re at it, said Karen Domnitz, vice president of the chamber and event coordinator.
“People can go see where some of the art is created and talk to the actual artists,” she said. “They can do six in one day and six in the other and go have lunch or go to a winery.”
Artist Michelle Rodriguez will be hosting three other artists’ work alongside her own at her new outside location this year at 2406 Luelf Court, Domnitz said. Ashley E. Norton will be performing there from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, she said.
Artist Mary Decker said she’ll be hosting her open studio tour at her place this year. This will be her second year participating after her neighbor and fellow artist Linda Kelly got her involved, she said.
Decker works with acrylic paint, and mainly paints animals and wildlife with “wild colors.”
“I have a buffalo I just finished,” she said. “I love doing lions, I have one with a lion and two sheep, basically the lamb and the lion. And I love doing horses.”
Decker said she’s excited for this year’s tour and being able to showcase some of her bigger paintings of wildlife.
Domnitz remembers her first year of visiting studios on the tour and not knowing if she would make it up artist Kitty Cantrell’s then unpaved driveway.
“But it was well worth it because she has some incredible sculpture work,” she said. “Her and Caroline Boydston do it together up there and Caroline has some of her own sculptures up there this year.”
Domnitz said she’s been able to see the event grow over the years she’s been involved in putting on the tour, and this year when she sent out the artist call in early December last year the artists couldn’t wait to get on board.
The proceeds from the ticket sales and 10 percent of the art sales from the weekend will go toward chamber scholarships.
“We love bringing that awareness up here, we have people come from Orange County up to this,” Domnitz said. “Being able to help the artist make a little money, it all works out really well.”
Tickets are available for purchase at www.ramonachamber.com/ramona-open-studios-tour/
A walking tour for heart health
A record number of walkers attended the Feb. 24 Love Your Heart Walk and Blood Pressure Testing event organized by the Ramona H.E.A.R.T. Mural Project, organizers said.
Board member Mindy Waldhauser was at Ramona Family Naturals to take blood pressure readings and record them for the Live Well group.
Elaine Lyttleton, president of Ramona H.E.A.R.T. Mural Project, led a tour of 13 Old Town murals and told the stories behind them. Soptimists International of Ramona provided water at the Grand Kenilworth Inn mural at the Ramona Food and Clothes Closet.
The walkers on a tour of the Ramona H.E.A.R.T Mural Project murals on Feb. 24. The tour was part of the Love Your Heart Walk and Blood Pressure Testing event.
(Tim Connelly )
This was the third year the Ramona nonprofit participated in the campaign for the county’s Live Well San Diego Vision.
“We had a goal to have 20 walkers, and we achieved it,” said Lisa Barnett, event chair and a Ramona H.EA.R.T. board member.
The board is discussing having additional tours throughout the year.
The event included opportunity drawings for two tickets to the Nov. 2 Ramona Art & Wine Festival, the main fundraiser for the mural project.
For more information about the mural project, go to ramonamurals.com or contact Elaine Lyttleton at 760-787-1102 or lyttleton@sv-mail.com.
