Jeanette Carson, President of the Mendocino County Art Association, is busily preparing for the November Member Show in the front windows of the Corner Gallery. “Many artists who belong to MCAA have been working really hard to put out new art,” Jeanie says. “We have a whole group of enthusiastic new members who specialize in all kinds of different media… it’s truly an artist variety pack! They are all looking forward to having their art seen in a public venue for the first time.”

Jeanie announces with pride, “MCAA is the oldest art association in Mendocino County… we are now in our 72nd year, with close to 100 members. A good portion of those people aren’t active artists anymore, but they like to maintain their membership so they know what is going on in the local art community. As we transition to this wave of new membership I anticipate some new and exciting art. I know these new members are capable of doing really good things.”

One of the older and more colorful members still doing art is Jan Bylund, who is 96 years young. As a dedicated MCAA member, she comes to all of the organization’s Monday open studio sessions at the Grace Hudson Museum, where she paints in oil. Jan was a long-time student of Adele Pruitt and enters many of her pieces in the fair, where she frequently wins prizes. She is truly an old-timer here- her family used to own property in the middle of what is now Lake Mendocino.

When asked what keeps her going and motivated to do art, Jan looked mystified at the question. “There are a lot of things that are exciting because I’m still here,” she laughed. “There is a lot behind me and there is more ahead of me. You’ve got to keep trying new things!”

Dora Briley is another enthusiastic MCAA member who ended up in the group through a random encounter with a friend, who happened to be a MCAA member, after COVID. “I was feeling down and a little lost about what I was supposed to do be doing post
retirement,” Dora reminisced, “and the friend said ‘I know just the group for you.’ And here I am.”

Dora graduated from Mendo College with an AA in art many years ago, but, as she explained, “it all went on hold because I had children to raise. This group opened
up the possibility of doing art again after putting it aside for all those years.” In addition to having a piece in the front window, Dora will also hang more of her
work on the pony wall in the interior of the gallery.
 
Another recent retiree who sings the praises of MCAA is Bev Rae. “I worked with Dora Briley and Kathleen Gordon-Burke (both MCAA members) before I retired, and it was Kathleen who told me about MCAA. Now I come to the weekly open studio sessions to get help and support from my artist friends. It’s a nice comfortable place to go. Lots of people have come and gone, and they exposed me to a lot of different mediums and professional-level art. I’m going to enter a watercolor and ink piece in the show... that is my current favorite combination of media becauseI love the freedom
to scribble over the watercolor with my pen.”

Yet another medium brings joy to Valerie Peters. “Pastels are currently my main medium,” she says. “They are difficult to work with because you can’t mix colors, like you do with paint, without getting a smeary mess. Colors must be laid down side by side in order to preserve their wonderful luminosity… the process is like pointillism.”

Valerie is another retiree who has come back to art after many years of raising her children. Her studio at home is her kitchen table, so she really appreciates the weekly open studio time with her MCAA compatriots. “I use MCAA as my primary studio space,” she says. “Meeting at the museum takes me out of my kitchen and
removes me from all the distractions at home. Here there is nothing but happy conversations and camaraderie,  and I can concentrate on my work. I get a lot of support and suggestions if I ask for them. If I hadn’t been coming to the open studio I am sure I never would have shown any of my work- these other artists give me the confidence to go public.”

The first Friday opening of this MCAA show is on November 1 from 5-8pm. The show lasts through November 30th. Live music will be presented throughout the evening by Char Jacobs and Chris Gibson. The Corner Gallery is located at 201 S State Street in Ukiah.