Linda and Grace is an exhibition that includes contemporary oil painter Linda Sorensen and famous Sebastopol watercolorist Grace Allison Griffith 1885 - 1955. Both celebrate Sonoma County landscapes in styles uniquely their own. Grace spent her youger and older years slightly north alongside her family's "Griffith Woods," and Grace and several of her family members are interred in Gilliam Cemetary on Sullivan Rd at Dyer Rd, overlooking Graton and Atelier One. Linda Sorensen has her artist studio at Atelier One in Graton. Having so many wonderful artist studio neighbors makes for a stimulating Atelier One atmosphere, and Graton itself has long been an artist colony.

Atelier One is a brick-tile building in Graton and is an old apple warehouse which has been seismically retrofitted and divided principally into individual artist studios. Originally, Atelier One's building was home to O.A. Hallberg & Sons Apple Products in Graton. The Hallberg facilities were the core, if you will, of the Sonoma County Apple industry. Today, it is wonderful to have this historic building retrofitted and repurposed as a home to Sonoma County artists.

This year, the Graton Annual Open Studios Sale at Atelier One has at least twelve participating artists. Between 11am and 5pm, Saturday and Sunday, November 18 and 19, the public can come and feel part of this wonderful artistic community, visit with the artists in their working environs - including across-the-corner Studio 9000 collective - and even acquire a treasure to take home.

This year's Atelier event, Linda Sorensen is sharing her studio space with the works of a famous painter of Sebastopol's past, Grace Allison Griffith, 1885 - 1955.

Grace was a well-known watercolorist throughout California and even had an international reputation in what was then the Kingdom of Hawaii (in 1910-1911) and in both England and Scotland (during the first half of the 1920's). In Hawaii, the local Honolulu press dubbed her "the Wizard of Watercolor." In England, she was invited to become a member of the Royal Watercolor Society.

Grace grew up on the Griffith fruit ranch on Laguna Road not far from Graton. Her father was fruit rancher Nathaniel Griffith who brought the Gravenstein Apple to Sebastopol. It is kind of fitting that Grace's paintings are available for viewing in Atelier One. In her lifetime, she may well have visited Atelier One's building back in the day when the scent of apples filled the building.

As a young artist Grace did horticultural drawings for her father's close friend, Luther Burbank. She studied art with Bohemian Club member Lorenzo Latimer. As an established artist in California, she sold her paintings through prestigious galleries, such as Gumps in San Francisco, the Clairmont Hotel Galleries in Berkeley, and the Kanst Gallery in Los Angeles. (And of course Rosenberg's Department Store in Santa Rosa; it is not surprising when Sonoma County families have her paintings.)

Jon Blanchette's (1908-1987) painting of a large house in Mendocino has long been one of my favorite paintings in Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery's collection. It reminds me of the architectural paintings of New England by Edward Hopper, clean-cut pleasantly colored houses with angled architectural features enhanced by effective use of shadow.

Recently, my wife Linda came across a current image of the same house, which allowed us to identify the subject of the painting. Yes, this house still stands today and is home to Mendocino's Kelley House Museum. The house was built in 1861 by one of the founders of the town of Mendocino, William Kelley.

Central Coast painter Jon Blanchette loved Mendocino. He painted the house sometime between the years 1965 and 1975 (before it was restored starting in 1975), during a decade-long stretch when he held annual summertime painting workshops in Mendocino.

Today, The Kelley House Museum is dedicated to telling the story of Mendocino's history, maintaining the 162 year old house with period furnishings, some owned by the Kelley family. They have a bookstore including many publications of Mendocino history as well as a monthly newsletter. They consider it part of their mission to continue building and maintaining an extensive archive of Mendocino's history, publications, photos and art work.

In Jon Blanchette's painting Mendocino House are two distinctive elements, one behind and one in front of the house. Behind the house is a looming water tower, and in front of the house is a thriving Monterey cypress tree. Neither the water tower nor the tree survive today. As of this writing, we do not know when or why the watertower was removed, but we continue to try to find out.

But the cypress tree has an interesting story. Twenty years ago, on October 15, 2003, the dying old Cypress tree on the Kelley House front lawn was felled. At that time, it was estimated to be 100 to 125 feet tall, and was considered to be the third largest cypress tree on the Mendocino Coast. The tree was known as "Daisy's Tree." Daisy was William Kelley's daughter, born in 1859, and she is believed to have helped her father plant the tree when she was a child.

In the summer of 2003, the Mendocino County Planning Department delived some bad new. The cypress tree in front of the Kelley House Museum was diseased and had become a risky liability. By this time, the old tree had grown quite large, and was loved by the community. Suggestions that the tree had to go caused empassioned efforts to save the tre An arborist was called in to consult, and the report was not good. He objectively pointed out dead limbs at the top and scarred marks around the base indicating underlying issues with the roots. Due to the extent of disease, the Mendocino Historical Review Board reluctantly listened to the arborist and approved removal of the tree for public safety.

About William Kelley ... News of California's 49er goldrush inspired Canadian William Kelley and his younger brother James. Together, they left their native Prince Edward Island and headed for California. They traveled by sea via the isthmus of Panama. While there, they both contracted cholera. William survived, but his brother James died.

William continued to San Francisco. In a short period of time, he joined the crew of the Ontario, a sailing ship docked in Benicia. William signed on as the ship's carpenter. On a voyage up the coast, the ship sailed into Big River (what Mendocino was called back then) on July 19, 1852.

William liked the area and saw it as his opportunity to build a life. He became a local businessman, beginning all manner of businesses. He became involved in real estate, retaining the ownership of the land of many businesses and collecting rent. With hard work and time, he became wealthy and one of the founding fathers of the town of Mendocino.

Daisy Kelley grew up to become a notable citizen of Mendocino. Although she had a penchant for world travel, she spent most of her life living in Mendocino. As a child, she grew up in the Kelley house. During her teenaged years she lived with relatives in San Francisco, traveling in Europe and attending the Young Ladies Seminary in Benicia. She was bright and well educated, and spoke six languages including French and Spanish.

When she was 20 years old in 1879, she met and married Alexander MacCallum. After their wedding, the young couple lived with her parents in the Kelley House where her son Donald was born. In 1882, Daisey and Alexander moved across the street into what is now the MacCallum House Inn.

Briefly for a few years, the couple moved north to Glen Blair north of Fort Bragg where Alexander was Superintendent of a sawmill owned by Daisy's uncle, Captain Samuel Blair. The family next moved to San Francisco where Daisy at age 47 witnessed the 1906 Earthquake. She was a member of the Red Cross and helped distribute food and clothing and helped reunite families.

In 1908 when Daisy was 49 years old, her husband died. After his death, she returned to Mendocino to care for her mother Eliza and manage the family's business interests. After her mother died, Daisy again traveled in Europe. At age 64, she was in Egypt in 1923 where she attended the opening of King Tutankhamun’s tomb. When Daisy returned to Mendocino, she was well known for her philanthropic efforts, especially among children. She offered sewing classes at her home, and left her large personal library to the Mendocino Library. She remained involved in the Mendocino community and died there in 1953 at the age of 94.

Jon Blanchette, Rio Del Mar Beach, Aptos, CA 1968
Private collection

About Jon Blanchette ... From 1965 through 1975, artist Jon Blanchette was a summertime resident artist of Mendocino where he painted and held workshops.

The rest of the year, his home and artist studio were in Aptos, CA where he was well known for his paintings of the Central California Coast. Many of his paintings were of rural Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties.

Jon Blanchette was born in 1908 in Shepton Mallet, Sommerset in the South of England. He studied in Pennsylvania at the Pittsburgh Art Institute. In 1931, he painted sets for Fox Studios in Hollywood. During WW II he was employed by Lockheed and Douglas Aircraft Companies where he did production illustrations.

When he retired in 1948, he moved to Aptos where he pursued painting and teaching. He died in Santa Cruz in 1987 at the age of 79. To date, I've not yet found a photo or self portrait of Jon Blanchette, but hope to run across and post one soon.

Our gallery also has another Jon Blanchette painting done in Mendocino, this one showing in the distance Mendocino Presbyterian Church atop the bluffs above the Pacific. The church would have been about 100 years old when Blanchette painted it. Today, the Church is a California Historical Landmark, #714, and even has its own Wikipedia page. The church was built in 1867-68. Its construction with old growth redwood was shepherded in part by William Kelley. Daisy Kelley would have witnessed the construction as an 8-9 year old and would have been one of its earliest parishioners.

Maurice Lapp 1925-2014 grew up in Chicago and attended the Art Institute of Chicago. After teaching for a few years in Oakland, he settled in Santa Rosa where he continued his painting and taught at Santa Rosa Junior College. Maury was interested in urban architecture and cityscapes. For Maury, tall rectangular buildings became abstract forms which conveyed an array of moods. His palette and non-objective style helped spur the West Coast's Abstract Expressionist movement.

Micah Schwaberow 1948-2022 worked in woodblock prints. He trained at the studios of Toshi Yoshida for more than a year in the art of Japanese printmaking. He developed a style of his own, a style which avoids the typical key lines and flat areas so familar in Japanese prints.

Keven Brown of Corrick's writes ... "We consider ourselves so very fortunate to be able to offer extensive selections of these two Sonoma County artists, who had such an impact through their art, lives, and friendships. Maury and Micah were friends themselves, so it's fitting that their work be shown and offered together in this exhibit, running November 3rd - 28th."

Bentonville, AR
Crystal Bridges
Museum of American Art

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