The Journal’s annual 99-word Flash Fiction Contest reminds us how we live moment to moment, not always in big stories or epics, but in little scenes and memories — funny, terrifying, haunting or everything at once. Steadfast judges joining me on the emotional roller coaster this year include: JoAnn Bauer, retired children’s librarian; David Holper, […]
Alan Sanborn
Posted inArts + Scene
Our Town
The plein-air paintings in the All Things Arcata exhibition hold up a mirror to the city of Arcata, and the city looks good in this light. There can’t have been many occasions on which the streetscapes of a town of 18,000 have been so lovingly, meticulously documented. In plein-air (“open-air”) painting, popularized by the Impressionists’ […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Peeking Inside North Coast Open Studios
It’s the 20th anniversary of North Coast Open Studios and Monica Topping, the event’s hardworking organizer, is in a hurry. NCOS has 17 first-time participants this year, she says, as well as an impressive roster of “charter artists” — those who have exhibited since the inaugural North Coast Open Studios event two decades ago. “We […]