Lenora Valainis now coordinates the group, though she eschews the title “leader.” Like many ArtVentures participants, Valainis is also an active member of the Los Altos Art Club, for which she organizes demonstrations.
“Before I came, I didn’t know what end of the brush to paint with,” Valainis said modestly of her initial visit to ArtVentures.
Starting out as a beginner, she has attended the group for approximately eight years and works in a variety of media. Some of her pieces incorporate natural materials like bark.
Valainis also maintains the group’s blog, which features participants’ current work.
Barker, current vice president of the Los Altos Art Club, said ArtVentures encourages artists to devote time each week to creating.
“You actually do it if you come here,” she said.
While she works mostly in watercolor, Barker said other participants employ a variety of media, including acrylic, pastel, mixed media – “whatever you can bring in.” Virtually the only medium not welcome is oils, Barker said, due to the fumes from brush cleaners. Mosaics might not be a fit, either, because of the materials involved.
Doreen Cohen, a participant since 2012, said the meetings are “a place to learn new techniques,” with occasional demonstrations by members.
Cohen works in a variety of media, including fabric art – “I like to call it painting with fabric,” she said.
Her fabric depiction of the Los Altos Heritage Orchard won an honorable mention in last year’s “Paint the Town” exhibition and is now on long-term display at city hall.
She is currently working on needlepoint Christmas stockings for her grandchildren, with the kids’ chosen subject matter. Having finished one featuring a Madeline doll, she is ready to begin stockings with owl and elephant themes.
Cohen created a compilation of ArtVentures and Los Altos Art Club members’ stories along with photos of some of their work. Print copies are stored in the archives of the Art Club and the Los Altos History Museum.
Germaine Decker offered her “Chili Peppers” watercolor at the critique. Working mostly in watercolor, she also enjoys the acrylic pouring technique.
Participant Tania Vecchiet, who joined the group several months ago, was at work on an acrylic painting of mushrooms.
Kazuyo Kada took an adult-education watercolor class upon her retirement in 2003. She has been an off-and-on member of ArtVentures since its inception, taking time out to care for grandchildren. At the Jan. 2 meeting, Kada displayed a watercolor dragonfly painting in the critique and worked on hand-folded, painted chopstick sleeves.
ArtVentures meets 9:30 a.m. to noon Wednesdays at the Senior Center at Hillview Community Center, Room 12, 97 Hillview Ave. Meetings are free for Los Altos Senior Program members, $3 for nonmembers. When construction on the new community center begins, the group will temporarily relocate to Grant Park. For more information, call 947-2797 or visit losaltosca.gov/recreation/page/senior-program. To see some of the group’s work, visit caartventurers.blogspot.com.
The Los Altos Art Club, which meets the second Monday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Social Hall at Hillview, is open to all ages. For more information, visit losaltosartclub.org.