Willow Pond Welcomes Artist Barbara Churchley

Willow Pond Bed & Breakfast is proud to welcome Colorado artist, Barbara Churchley as a displaying artist at the inn! Barbara is best known for her pastel and oils of Colorado scenery. We are very excited to show her work at the inn and we know our guests will enjoy viewing and purchasing her work during their visit. We have several original oil and pastel paintings as well as prints and cards available for purchase.

From Barbara's website:
"Barbara Churchley's paintings reflect her personal connection with the western landscape she lives in.  Her  oil paintings are interpretive and impressionistic. Her passion for painting and the outdoors has taken her to the summit of all 53 ranked 14,000' peaks in Colorado and a few other unranked ones for fun. She has explored the landscape "up close and personal" through multiple marathons, hikes, and backpack trips.  She is a Signature Member of International Plein Air Painters, Plein Air Artists of both Colorado and New Mexico, Contemporary Fine Artists International, and an Associate Member of Oil Painters of America, American Impressionist Society, and Women Artists of the West."

Please visit Barbara Churchley's website  or read about her current news on her blog http://www.barbarachurchleyfineart.blogspot.com/  and please consider making a purchase during your visit and support local artists!

Art at the Pond

Art at Willow Pond:
Willow Pond features local artist work at the inn. One of the terrific things about being an innkeeper is all the wonderful and creative people you get to meet.

Peg Oswald, pastels and ceramics

Vera Mulder, Batik
http://www.artyme.org/

Piera Kllanxjha, crystal glaze ceramics, printmaker and photographer
www.artistsregister.com/artists/CO199

http://www.newartcollectors.com/

Dave Lester, photography
http://www.willowpondphoto.com/

Betsy McLoughlin, watercolors

Dawn Sudmeier- Fused glass jewelry

Pat Feinberg- Ceramics

Caroline McDaniel- Mixed Media

Grand Junction Art Community:

The art community is so busy here, sometimes it's hard to schedule an art even because there's so much competition!

Grand Junction recently won a National Arts Council Award for it's support of the arts.

There is a walking tour downtown called "Art on the Corner" that features over one hundred sculptures by Colorado artists.

Grand Junction is also home to The Art Center http://www.gjartcenter.org/

1803 N. 7th Street Grand Junction, CO 81501 970-243-7337

The Art Center features local artists, exhibits, permanent collections, gift shop, summer art camp, year round classes, art fairs and a "collection of nearly 300 historic and contemporary works representing a thorough visual documentary of the art and artists of Western Colorado. Historic Native American artifacts comprise a significant portion of the collection, including numerous exceptional Navajo weavings..."

Planet Earth and the 4 Directions Gallery

524 Colorado Avenue Grand Junction, CO, 81501 970.256.9630

This is a funky vintage clothing, antique store and Art Gallery. Local art, traveling exhibits and seasonal community events are hosted by this very cool gallery.

The Blue Pig Gallery in Palisade http://www.thebluepiggallery.com/

This is a working gallery/coop featuring over 30 local artists. A number of the Willow Pond Artists are featured at the Blue Pig.

There are also a number of galleries downtown on Main St. and many artists are feature at the Thursday Night Farmer's Market on Main St in Downtown Grand Junction:

Working Artists Gallery

520 Main St 970-256-9952

Local seasonal art shows include Palisade Peach Blossom Art Show in April, Art and Jazz Festival in May, Spring Open Studio Tours. See the events page of the Grand Junction Visitor's Center website for details: http://www.visitgrandjunction.com/ .

Support the arts and consider making a purchase during your visit!

Willow Pond Bed & Breakfast Holiday Open House

The Willow Pond Bed & Breakfast
Holiday Open House!

Sunday, December 7th, 2008
1-5pm

Come enjoy a little holiday cheer, cookies & beverages and
featuring light hor d'oeurves by DMT Catering!

Do some shopping in our gift shop, featuring the works of our local artists and musicians.

Take a tour of the inn for your upcoming wedding, event,
or your family's next visit to Grand Junction.

Last but not least...

Enter to win a free night's stay at Willow Pond!

Well behaved children 7+ welcome!

Fall into Art Show

Fall into Art Show
Featuring the artwork of Thad Tuin and Piera Kllanxjha
October 18th
11AM-6PM
Willow Pond Bed & Breakfast will host an art show featuring the work of Thad Tuin and Piera Kllanxjha.
Join the artists for a day to explore and enjoy Thad's unique sculpture and Piera's Crystalline glazed porcelain vases, sculpture and monotypes, in the rich and comforting surround at Willow Pond. There will be refreshments, fine art, and the artists will be demonstrating creating art and answering questions regarding their work and the creative process.

Thad Tuin is a featured artist in Grand Junction's "Art on the Corner" sculpture tour. Tuin lives in Grand Junction, Colorado where he has access to many fruit and hard woods. Thad strives to bring an honest expression through a variety of media in his sculptures using wood, metal and stone.

Piera Kllanxjha is a potter, printer and painter, and works locally as an art therapist. Her work has been featured in galleries throughout Colorado and the Southwest. Kllanxjha is most noted for her crystalline pottery and monoprints of horses.

This event is free and open to the public from 11am-6pm. Willow Pond B&B is located at 662 26 Rd in Grand Junction, 1/2 mile north of the Patterson and 1st St. intersection. 970-243-4958. Please visit our website, http://www.willowpondbnb.com/ for more information, map and directions.

Peg Oswald

From early childhood on, drawing has always been a love of mine. I was fortunate to have an excellent art teacher at the public school
I attended in upstate New York from whom I received art instruction from kindergarten through high school. Even though I had a career
as an elementary classroom teacher, I continued to take art classes to be able to give instruction to my pupils and always took
a sketch book with me on my travels.



It wasn’t until retirement that I discovered the joy of working in clay and the fun of creating paintings with pastels. I continue to take
pottery classes with Terry Shepherd at the Art Center in Grand Junction throwing on the potter’s wheel and hand building. I love the
whole process of creating a piece then adding slips, stains or glazes to achieve a certain look. Watching that piece come out of a firing
(whether from a gas, raku or salt kiln) is like Christmas morning. There is almost always a surprise. I find it quite addictive!

Working with pastels has allowed me to add wonderful color to my drawing. I love the brilliance of the colors and textures
you can achieve with them. Now a small box of pastels goes with me on my travels. Sara Oakley got me started on pastels and
now I am teaching a pastel class for beginners.

I have shown my art work at the Art Center, Crystal Café, Planet Earth Gallery and downtown where I have participated in Friday Art Hop
and the Thursday night Farmer’s market. I reside in Grand Junction , Colorado with my husband and 4 cats.-Peg

Greg Luff

For as long as I can remember I have been an artist. I have always been fascinate with light, color and shape. I am a senior at Palisade High School.
For the last seven years I have worked in clay and two years ago I began working in glass. This year I have combined the two,
creating mixed media pieces of functional art in addition to pendants, vortex and floral marbles, and beads.
In addition to glass, I use only naturally found gems, shells, pearls and silver findings in my jewelry pieces.

I have named my business Elements of Earth. It reflects my deep respect and appreciation for nature.
Our surrounding canyons, mesas, orchards, farmland and desert are the inspiration for much of my work.

It was not until I took a trip to Great Britian as a student ambassador for People to People that I became focused on glass as an artform.
The visit to Waterford Crystal Factory literally changed my life. I came back determined to learn and create in this medium.

After acquiring the proper equipment, I had about six months of experimentation on my own.
After school was out, I was able to attend classes at Glasscraft in Denver and the Eugene School of Glass in Oregon.
I was also fortunate to be accepted into Snow Farm in Massachusetts.
Snow Farm is part of the New England Arts and Crafts Program and run specifically for high school students.

I appreciate your interest in my art and hope you enjoy your purchases!

Vera Mulder

www.artyme.org

Having been an artist ever since I can remember, there is no need to reiterate the place art occupies in my life.
I remember drawing on whatever had a blank surface. I wanted to design clothes so I drew my own paper dolls and designed some “hum-dinger” outfits.
I only wish I still had some of these.
There were no art classes where I attended school, first through 12th grade. When teachers found out I could draw, Whamo!…
I was kept busy drawing this and that for bulletin boards. I don’t remember painting anything until my high school science teacher talked my parents into
buying a set of oil paints and brushes for me. Then she gave me a colored reprint of a landscape to copy onto a canvas board.
I soon figured out how to use the oils with linseed oil and turpentine. I matched the colors exactly without knowing the fundamentals of
color theory by mixing a tiny bit of this and of that, and comparing my mix to the color on the print.
College art class 101 was my first exposure to art classes of any kind. The big learning curve here was to learn that details don’t always belong in every work of art,
that there is simplicity of design and abstraction.
I attended college at a time I earned a K-12 teaching certificate with minors in art and music. Then I proceeded to amass enough hours in art, art history and
studio art to fulfill a doctorate. Of course, I never used those credits toward an art degree. Yet I have taught art for nearly four decades, writing curriculums,
starting the high school program at a high school, giving workshops locally and throughout the state, displaying my art in various shows and constantly
learning something new every day about some aspect of the arts. And, yes, I aced the art placement test required by State government for teachers a few years ago.
Therefore I have tried every genre, technique that I come in contact with. Because of my tendency to want to explore everything,
I have had a difficult time settling on only a few mediums. These include clay, especially hand building; batik, because this process slow me down and
requires planning; watercolor which is the hardest medium of all, leaving no room for mistakes and of course photography.
With the age of digital, Adobe and Paint Programs allow even more creativity.
In the years to come, I know there will be new things to learn and to try.
Inspiration can be found everywhere if you keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. Creativity is the key.



BATIK
Batik is a technique dating back 2000 some years to the Island of Java where somehow natives discovered how to decorate cloth made of
plant fibers through a resist method. One uses some type of resist, which could have been tree sap back then, applies this to a surface and adds color over the area.
When all has dried, the resist is removed and presto, there remains a design in the color of the original surface.
One may repeat this step as often as he/she has different colors BUT the key is to go from light to dark, being sure all dries in-between steps.
Of course, at each step the artist paints resist over the newly applied and dry color before adding another. He/she must remember as well,
what happens when certain colors are placed over others, for example, blue over yellow will create greens.
This art form can be decorative, used on fibers or used on clay surfaces. It can be an art form creating portraits, scenes, action or other subject matter.
One’s imagination and creative spin are the only limits to this exciting art technique.

Betsy McLoughlin

Betsy McLoughlin, a Grand Junction resident, is primarily a self-taught artist who has been drawing and painting all her life.
Her artwork has often had to be deferred, though, due to her decades-long profession as a Spanish teacher
and her recent full-time job as a Spanish professor at Mesa State College. Nevertheless, Betsy has continued to sketch and paint as much as she can,
and since moving to Grand Junction in 1986 has sold her artwork and won various awards on the Western Slope.
Her painting had to be deferred in the early 1990's when she returned to college to obtain her doctorate in Spanish literature.
However, upon returning to Mesa State, she decorated her office with large watercolors that she painted of tropical beach scenes mounted in old window frames.
She continued creating these windows for others, featuring them in various shows and now a number of people in Grand Junction have some of Betsy's windows.



Since retirement, though, Betsy has been creating smaller watercolor paintings as well, practicing skills she was taught in workshops in California and Colorado.
Carrying a sketchbook with her wherever she goes, she is focusing now on landscapes and everyday scenes.
She has especially enjoyed painting fall and winter scenery and has also been creating a variety of "Christmas" paintings,
whether of snowmen, wintery sunsets, cats looking out of a window, or Southwestern adobe houses decorated with Christmas luminarias.
Betsy and her husband recently converted a basement room into her "art/project room," so she is now ready to spend much more time painting.
You can expect to see her artwork appearing before long in various places around town, including Willow Pond Bed & Breakfast.



betsymlc@aol.com

Piera Kllanxjha

www.artistsregister.com/artists/CO199
www.newartcollectors.com




Having spent the first four years of her life in Aspen, Colorado, when it was just another small mountain town,
Western Colorado has continuously drawn Piera back to her roots. As a young girl she was enthralled with the adventures in beauty,
exploring the Rocky Mountains on foot and on horseback. Piera has worked with clay since childhood:
along with drawing, it is the clearest way for her to express the particular joy she finds in Southwest nature.
The line of the cave drawings and the ancient Anasazi pottery, evokes a chorus of melodic forms.
Nature's dance, captured in Anasazi line, is expressed in Piera's pottery and painting.

Piera has spent time in France, Spain, England, Scotland, and Italy, has a B.A. in Fine Arts, an A.A. in Commercial Art,
and was an Art Director in Denver. She began perfecting her pottery designs in Santa Fe, New Mexico in the 1970's.
She discovered crystalline glazing in Abiquiu, N.M. in 1991. Although the exploding atoms can be seen in the crystal glazes as modern,
Piera sees them as most truly reflecting the magic of clay and heat that has always invested Southwest pottery with its strength and mystery.

Piera's Crystal Glaze Process



Crystal glazes are unique. The crystals in the glaze are formed by exploding
atoms in the glaze, that means that during the firing process, the glaze is
in the process of becoming a glass that is covering the pot of clay.

How this occurs has a few different factors. One is the chemical
composition of the glaze ( i.e. glass). Another is the temperature that the
firing is at the various times of the process, allowing this chemical reaction to occur.

For all pottery is usually covered with a glaze then fired, so it is with crystals, but certain details are varied.
The pot has to be placed on top of a catcher basin to absorb the run-off of the glaze in firing.
These details involve the make up of the glaze (that becomes glass), what chemicals go into the glaze,
the rate the temperature rises, and finally the holding temperature (that creates the exploding atoms in the glass).
And, as important, is the cooling rate.

Crystalline Glazes are a wonderful combination of art & science, where one
never can plan or guess the actual result. This adds to the mystery of art and life!

September News from the Pond

Happy September!
Here is the latest "News from the Pond":
You can now check real time availability and book directly online on our website!!!
__________________________________
Innkeeper's Same Day Sizzling Summer Special
June 21st-Sept 21st, 2008
Call Willow Pond between 10AM and 6PM the same day you want to stay and get any available room for $99!Special is for last minute, same day reservations only.
Offer only good for one night's stay.Offer only good for reservations made directly
through Willow Pond.Must mention special at time of booking.
May not be combined with any other offers.Other restrictions may apply.

To view our other specials visit:
www.willowpondbnb.com/Willow_Pond_Specials.htm

Other current specials:

Tea Party packages,
Mountain Dulcimer Lesson packages,
Wine Lovers Special,
Green Getaway
Gourmet's Delight (Cooking package)
___________________________________________

Willow Pond's Summer House Concert Series
Friday, October 10, 2008
7pmCullen Purser, singer/songwriter donation requested, limited seating.




The Grand Valley's own Cullen Purser, will perform an intimate concert of original material. Cullen's lyrics and melodies will charm and captivate you with their emotional tenderness and intellect.Cullen is a local luthier and runs guitar making workshops out of his workshop in Fruita.Read the Free Press article about Cullen's guitar workshop:
Cullen Purser/Free PressCullen is also a member of a terrific acoustic bluegrass band, The Late Great String Band.You can hear some of their songs, recorded live in the Willow Pond Garden room on their myspace page:Late Great String BandFor more information on upcoming concerts, check out the Music page at http://www.willowpondbnb.com/.
__________________________________________________
Willow Pond welcomes
Efrat Dalton as an "Artist Inn Residence"!

Efrat blends vintage and Victorian era images with her Bohemian style, creating beautiful silver jewelry, ornaments, cards and more...
Come see her wares in the Willow Pond gift shop!Lots of beautiful gifts for the holidays!This Spring, at Willow Pond, Efrat will be presenting a "make your own cookbook" class, where you'll create a beautiful cookbook with an artsy cover and vintage recipes ! You may visit her website at:
http://www.edesignsboutique.com/
______________________________
September happenings around town:
Wine Fest is coming! We still have rooms available for Winefest Sunday...
But you don't have to go to WineFest to enjoy the local flavors, the wineries are open year round and many offer tours. Also, many area restaurants feature local wines, so if you aren't able to get a room Wine Fest weekend, book another day in September and enjoy all that the Grand Valley has to offer! The farmstands are open until the end of the month...
See our blog for Dining and Wine Tour ideas!
Willow Pond Restaurant Suggestions
Willow Pond Winery Tour Info
9/3/08 Senior Games
9/6/08: Rock Jam
9/20-21: Wine Fest
9/26/08 Blue Angels Air Show
Car Show
Fruita Fall Festival
9/27/08 Greek Festival
9/28/08 Color Sunday
Special Events:

www.willowpondbnb.com/Willow_Pond_Special_Events.htm

We are now booking for 2008 Holiday Parties and 2009 weddings, for best dates, book now!

Coming soon...Cooking Classes and Art Classes!

Well, that's the news for now!!

September Events

Information courtesy the Grand Junction Visitor's Center http://www.visitgrandjunction.com/

Rock Jam Music Festival
September 05, 2008 to September 06, 2008Noon - 11:30 pm
http://www.visitgrandjunction.com/url_tracking.php?List_ID=175&url=www.countryjam.com

Colorado Professional Rodeo Assoc. State Finals
http://www.coloradoprorodeo.com/

Don Meyers Alumni & Friends Arts Exhibit and Auction
September 12, 2008 The Mesa State College Art Department presents an exhibition and auction of artwork by the alumni and friends of Don Meyers to benefit Art Department student scholarships. http://www.visitgrandjunction.com/url_tracking.php?List_ID=396&url=www.mesastate.edu/alum

CO Quarter Horse Fall Spectacular
September 13, 2008 8 am - 6 pmFree to the public.
Come join us for a fun horse show for the entire family to enjoy. Admission and Parking are free. Show times may vary
Mesa County Fairgrounds - Covered Arena

17th Annual Colorado Mountain Winefest. Book Hotel room now.
September 18, 2008 to September 21, 2008

Thousands of wine lovers make the annual pilgrimage to Palisade to sample a growing array of Colorado wines and participate in a variety of events. Hands-on workshops * Wine and food pairing events * Dueling chefs * Grape stomps * Winery tours * Winemaker competitions * Chocolate tasting * Winemaker dinners * Golfing * Bicycle tour of the vineyards * Shopping at artisan booths * Jazz concerts.
Riverbend Parkhttp://www.visitgrandjunction.com/url_tracking.php?List_ID=183&url=www.coloradowinefest.com

Colorado Pork & Hops BBQ Challenge
September 18, 2008 to September 20, 2008Sept. 19 4-10 pm, Sept. 20 11 am - 6 pm
Buy barbeque from award-winning cooking teams. Enjoy your favorite micro brews from around the region and listen to some of your favorite local bands!
Lincoln Park1340 Gunnison, CO

Apple Jubilee/Two Rivers Chautauqua
September 19, 2008 to September 20, 2008
More information to follow.
Cross Orchards Historic Site3073 F Road ( Patterson), CO 970-242-0971 ext 206

15th Annual Tour of the Vineyards - Bicycle Tour
September 19, 2008 to September 20, 2008
25 mile bike tour of the west slope vineyards held in conjunction with the 17th Annual Colorado Mountain Winefest. http://www.visitgrandjunction.com/url_tracking.php?List_ID=187&url=www.emgcolorado.com/race_tourvine.html

GVKA - AKC Dog Show
September 20, 2008 to September 21, 20087 amFree
GVKA - AKC Dog Show at Mesa County Fairgounds Community Building.
2785 Hwy 50, CO (970)255-7100

Goin' Chopin - Got the List?
September 23, 2008 7:30 pm$18-27, Seniors $16-25
Janina Fialkowska, piano Hovhannes – And God Created; WhalesLiszt – Les Preludes; Chopin – Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor
Grand Junction High School Auditorium1400 N. 5th Street, CO (970) 243-6787

Blue Angels Air Show - Busy weekend. Make hotel reservations now.
September 26, 2008 to September 28, 20089 am - 5 pm$15-$30
http://www.visitgrandjunction.com/url_tracking.php?List_ID=182&url=www.gjairshow.com/index.html

Downtown Car Show
September 26, 2008 to September 28, 2008
More information to follow!
Downtown Grand Junction970-245-9697

Fruita Fall Festival
September 26, 2008 to September 28, 2008Shuttle Pickup at Dinosaur Journey: Fri 4 -9:30 pm; Sat 8am-9:30 pmFree
The festival is a free community event where nearly 170 vendors sell their arts, crafts and foods to a crowd of 30,000-plus over the 3-day event. http://www.fruitafallfestival.com/

Greek Festival
September 27, 2008

Grand Junction Downtown Farmer's Market

If you are lucky enough to get into town on a Thursday, check out the local Farmer's Market.

This market offers a wide variety of interesting things, of course there are the produce stands, which will be bursting with fruits and veggies in the next few weeks. This last market featured cherries, tomatoes, herbs, leeks, onions, peas, beets and homemade goodies. Soon it will be bursting with apricots and peaches! A number of the restaurants had booths, including Pablo's Pizza and Main St. Bagels.

There is fresh popped kettle corn and the highlight, Navajo Tacos at the vending truck.

If you've never had a Navajo Taco, you just HAVE TO try one!!!
Enstrom's Candies has an ice cream truck, you can buy it buy the pint.

Then there are the artisans, plein aire artists, live music, entertainment, including rock music and tribal bellydancing. Usually there is a community drum circle at the Market.

We made our stop at the Canyon Spirit Soap booth, had to pick up the soap for your room!

You can stop at the Massage Store booth and get a massage, oohh yeah!

For the kids- cotton candy, a balloon artist, a guy doing fancy yoyo tricks, face painting and a booth sponsored by the Art Center where they can make a piece of art to take home.

There are community booths as well, Western Equality, various church groups, the Colorado National Monument to name a few...

So head on down to the Farmer's Market, don't forget to bring a hat and sunscreen, it's hot out there!