Artist’s Statement:

Gina and I lived across the street from each other in OaklandCalifornia, and have been best friends since 1963. We both took Art classes in high school, although we were never in the same class at the same time. We went to different colleges but both studied Art. Gina ended up concentrating in costume design and I majored in painting and printmaking.

The dialogue for a collaboration of Gina’s quilts & photos and my paintings was triggered several years ago when she started sharing her photos of the vineyards where she works with me. I did two paintings, Grape Vines I & II, based on close-up photos of grapes & vines that Gina sent to me around 2003, which was the starting point for our collaboration.

I take photos every time I go home to visit, but since my trips were always in the summer, Gina's photos captured seasons I hadn’t experienced in several years. In summer, our landscapes are a lush green, while California hillsides are a golden brown contrasting with the deep forest green of Oak trees and the bright green of the vineyards.

I had the opportunity to visit Napa in late February 2008 – my first non-summer visit in 27 years. The contrast between the flatness of the Virginia Peninsula and the varied elevations of the California valleys and mountain ranges as well as the lush greens of our southern summers compared to the golden hills of California, have always made a big impression on me, but during this visit, I was also struck by the contrast in coloration between a California winter and a Virginia winter. When our winter landscapes are grey and soft browns, the California hillsides are bright green. The vines are bare, but the rows of vines alternate with rows of green grass, the hillsides are bright green and many of the fields are blanketed in Mustard flowers.

During my winter visit, Gina showed me more of her photographs and I was able to see her wine-country-themed quilts in real life, which was when we decided to seriously pursue our idea of a joint show based on a Wine Country theme. My daughter, Amy, took up pottery about 8 years ago so including her pottery in the collaboration was a natural extension of the original idea.

Three of my paintings are of the vineyards at the Williamsburg winery in the Fall, but most of our work is based on images of the NapaValley and SonomaCounty. Gina’s photos of the vineyards in December show the bright yellows and oranges of our Octobers, and are the basis for three of my pieces. The rest are based on photos I took on that 2008 visit and this past summer.

Karen Anderson Schwartz

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Karen is a watermedia artist living in Williamsburg , Virginia . Originally from California , she loves to travel and has painted many scenes from her trips to England , Ireland , Cuba and Guatemala as well as her visits to family in Tennessee , Texas , and California . She draws from studio models, sketches and photographs she’s taken.

Karen earned her B.A. in Fine Arts from San Diego State University with a concentration in painting and printmaking. Watercolor painting has been the focus of her work for the last several years, but recently added aqua-oils to her repertoire. She began studying watercolor with Jan Ledbetter in 1997, and has since studied with some of country's leading watercolorists and collage painters, including Alex Powers, Gerald Brommer, Polly Hammet, Jean Grasdorf, Linda Stevens-Moyers, Judi Betts, Doug Walton, Cheng Khee Chee, Skip Lawrence, Christopher Schink, and Phyllis Greenway.

Her work has been exhibited in shows at the Poquoson Public Library, This Century Art Gallery in Williamsburg, the Williamsburg Public Library, and at the Reves Center for International Studies at the College of William & Mary, as well as “Art on the Square” and at “An Occasion for the Arts” in Williamsburg. Karen is a signature artist member of the Virginia Watercolor Society and has exhibited in numerous VWS Annual Exhibitions. She has received awards for her work at This Century Art Gallery’s 2004 & 2008 Annual Members Shows, the VWS 2005 Annual Exhibition, An Occasion for the Arts-2005, and the Central Virginia Watercolor Guild-2007. She is a participating artist and board member of This Century Art Gallery in Williamsburg , and coordinates the Buddy Art Program through TCAG. In addition to painting and volunteer work, Karen works part time at the College of William & Mary.

To view more of Karen’s work, visit her website at www.karenschwartzart.com.