Pioneer of elegies

from Mountain Democrat, Friday, July 29, 2022

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IN THE KNOW

July 29

Boeger Winery in Placerville hosts Enchanted Evenings with live music, food trucks and great wine, 5:30-8:30 p.m. The music lineup features: Not for Profi t (July 29). For more information visit boegerwinery.com/ events.

Musician Ed Wilson will perform at Citizen Vine in Folsom, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Grateful Bluegrass Boys

will perform at The Green Room Social Club, 251 Main St. in Placerville, at 7 p.m. For tickets visit tickets. clubgreenroom.com/e/ gratefulbluegrassboys/ tickets.

The El Dorado Hill Community Services

District hosts a stargazing event at Bass Lake Regional Park’s Sellwood Field, 9-11 p.m. Enjoy the peak of the Delta Aquarius meteor shower and a cup of hot cocoa.

July 30

Mirafl ores Winery, 2120 Four Springs Trail in the Pleasant Valley area, is serving its acclaimed Pairings Lunches on the Vineyard Terrace on Saturdays and Sundays with seatings from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. or 2-4 p.m. Pairings 2022 combines a chef’s creativity with the beautifully crafted Mirafl ores wines. Diners will be able to talk to the chef du jour about the wine and food experience. On July 30 & 31 chef Robb Venditti is preparing a Mediterranean Bounty. Call (530) 647-8505 or email info@mirafl oreswinery.com to make a reservation.

CASA El Dorado presents the Bright Futures Festival, 4-8:30 p.m. at Saureel Vineyards in Placerville. Ryder Thieves and MerryGold will perform at the fundraiser, which will also feature food trucks. For tickets and more information visit casaeldorado.org.

Mediterranean Vineyards

in Somerset hosts Medi Nights, 5-8 p.m. with the following shows scheduled: Whirl (July 30). Food trucks will be on site for each event. Purchase tickets at medivineyards.com. Luke and Kaylee will perform at Pine-O-Mine Ranch in Placerville, 5-8 p.m. Face in a Book at El Dorado Hills Town Center hosts author James L’Etoile, author of “Dead Drop,” a Nathan Parker detective novel, 5:30-7 p.m. Musician Ed Wilson will perform at the Smith Flat House, 6-8:30 p.m. Nipper Brothers will perform at The Green Room Social Club, 251 Main St. in Placerville, at 7 p.m. For tickets visit tickets. clubgreenroom.com/e/ nipperbrothers/tickets.

“Violet Sabrewing and Hibiscus” by Terrie Gray

Gold Country arti sts have exceptional talent and passion for their crafts

D. Lee Reyes Gold Country Artists Gallery

Gold Country Artists Gallery, an awardwinning gallery in Placerville, presents artwork by its newest artists — Inkist Kirk Neiberger, oil painter John Peck and photographer Terrie Gray.

Intriguing ink

Neiberger turned his boyhood dream of becoming a lawyer into reality, but after retiring from 37 years of litigation practice, he decided to more fully pursue another lifelong dream — that of creating art. He left his identity as a jurist to become the “Inkist,” a pseudonym he feels refl ects his love for creating original pen and ink, and sometimes watercolor illustrations.

The self-taught Neiberger started drawing as a young man and became intrigued with etchings. He explained that, although etchings are smaller in size, he found the amount of detail in these images to be remarkable. Unable to a ord the necessary supplies for etchings, however, he used materials at hand to replicate the technique, subsequently discovering that pen and ink approximated the “look and feel” of etching.

Through the years he took advantage of opportunities to travel, turning his travel adventures into photo safaris. Along the way, he snapped photographs of scenes that piqued his interest — the gnarled pattern on a tree trunk, a leaning fence, the complex wrinkles on an old man’s face, thereby creating a library of images from which he draws his inspiration.

He describes the process in his interpretation of a famous tree he discovered while traveling in the United Kingdom. “‘The Sentinel’ is my depiction of a majestic tree along a dirt path leading to the Penrhyn Castle in Wales,” Neiberger explained. “While taking the photo, I felt immense satisfaction with the way I envisioned it in my head for my drawing.”

While most of his drawings spring from his own photos, he sometimes fi nds inspiration from a photograph taken by someone else. He based his drawing “Back Roads” on a friend’s photo, the scene featuring a leafl ess old tree on a country road. With each precise touch of ink to paper, he invites the viewer to see more than just a broken old tree.

It is his home in Sutter Creek, in the Sierra foothills, that Neiberger mines the rich treasure he fi nds in the landscapes and scenes of this historical Gold Rush town. With his pen and ink, he sometimes highlights what he sees with a fl ash of color, as with the gold and orange he applied to the leaves on a tree standing by the old church in “A Slice of Sutter Creek.” In his “Shadows of the Fallon Hotel,” he uses the color of reddish bricks to bring greater interest to the scene.

Neiberger said although joining a gallery near his home in Sutter Creek was initially just for his own pleasure, his drawings were greeted with such astonishing response, it became something far beyond his expectations. “I got this cool idea,” the Inkist declared, “of a stranger connecting with, collecting and displaying my artwork. That is more than satisfying; it is a thrilling and fulfi lling dream come true, a legacy that will certainly outlive me and I fi nd that quite appealing.”

“Abe” by John Peck

Expressive paintings

Oil painter Peck always felt a passion for self-expression. Although he said that he was initially “terrifi ed by walking into a gallery,” Peck overcame his fear and applied as an artist in a local gallery. Public acceptance of his body of work — land, city and seascapes, human and animal portraits, still life scenes and some quirky takes on traditional themes — validated his self-confi dence in his skills as an artist.

The self-taught Peck explained that during his advancement of his sketching skills from a childhood hobby to mastery, his sketching became the structural essence of his art, a balance he described that exists between hyperrealism and impressionism. He is inspired by Impressionist artists such as John Singer Sargent and admires Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot and Edouard Manet, whom he memorialized in his

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