The Lafayette Chamber's Business Person of the Year selection committee chose Tom Stack as the 2023 Lafayette Business Person of the Year for his decades of service to our community. Congratulations Tom! A dinner will be held in his honor on Friday, February 3 at the Lafayette Park Hotel & Spa.

The evening will also include the State of City Address by City of Lafayette Mayor Carl Anduri and the introduction of the Lafayette Chamber’s 2023 Board of Directors. 

Learn more at https://lafayettechamber.org/bpoy.

📷 Photo of Tom Stack and wife Kiki by Craig Isaacs, BlueGoo Photography

Lafayette Chamber presents “Getting your Business 2023 Ready” hosted by Pillar Cowork.

1/24 “Pay Yourself First: How a business owner can build their retirement savings.” - Presented by Eric Flett, CEO of Concentric Wealth Management

1/31 “Get Ahead of the Pack - Digital and Video Marketing in 2023” – Presented by Alan Koenigsberg, President of Agile Digital Marketing and Stephanie Shaterian, Owner of fLO Content

2/7 “The Must-Know New Laws of 2023– how they affect you and your business” – Presented by Anthony Hyjer, Business Performance Advisor at Insperity

2/14 “Staying Complaint in a Digital World – Keeping Your Website Accessible to Avoid ADA Lawsuits” – Presented by Craig Wacks, Head of Sales at AudioEye *Zoom Only* *Presentation titles subject to change.

Topics will be posted shortly, please note dates: 4/11, 4/18, 4/25, 5/2.

Please be sure to REGISTER for each event as there is limited "in person" availability. A Zoom option will be provided and a link sent prior to the scheduled date, please choose your option during the registration process. 

Please note: Registration is necessary for each scheduled date.

Deadline to submit nominations is Friday, February 10, 2023 at noon. 

📷 Janet Thomas, 2022 Co-Citizen of the Year with Don Tatzin, 2019 Citizen of the Year

A Friend of the Chamber membership provides a way for community members to support the efforts of the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce. We are 75 years strong and our mission continues “To promote and maintain a healthy business climate and to preserve and enhance the quality of life in Lafayette.” 

All aspects that make up a community are important to us: schools, residents, churches and synagogues, community organizations, activities, and the city government. Chamber members work with representatives of all these groups for the betterment of our community. A lifetime Friend of the Chamber membership is $150 per family. Learn more here>>

Did you miss our end of year recap email blast? Read it here!

Have an event to share with our community? Add it to our Community Calendar!

JANUARY COMING ATTRACTION from Mountain Shadow Film Society

SYNOPSIS: How should society deal with controversial works of art? Do the intentions of the artist matter? Or the impact on viewers? “TOWN DESTROYER” explores how to look at art and history at a time of polarized national debate over the power of images, racism, trauma, and what should be taught in schools. A dispute erupts at a San Francisco high school over Depression-era murals about the life of George Washington: slave owner, military leader, land speculator, President, and a man Native leaders called “Town Destroyer” after he ordered their villages destroyed during the Revolutionary War. The 13 murals at George Washington High School were painted in 1936 by leftwing artist Victor Arnautoff, a student of Diego Rivera. Non-rated - Documentary - 55 min. - TRAILER

MONTHLY FILMS ARE FREE FOR MEMBERS. IF YOU ARE NOT YET A MEMBER, CHECK OUT MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION HERE. 

Start your New Year with a concert by the Award Winning Gold Coast Chamber Players performing music by Faure, Shostakovich, and Louise Farrenc. Connections in Time. Come in out of the rain this Saturday, January 14, 2023, at 7:30 pm at the Don Tatzin Community Hall in the Lafayette Library, 3491 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette. The concert features the Horszowski Trio and violist Pamela Freund-Striplen. After 23 years in Lafayette, this season will be GCCP’s last. Don’t miss the final three concerts! For tickets and details please visit www.gccpmusic.com.

Good Time, Good Cause! Sustainable Contra Costa is excited for their first ever benefit concert, a fun, high-powered evening with the Jim Ocean Band and many other friends. January 14 at Lafayette's Creekside Commons. Featuring:

Plan to bring an item for the sustainability-in-action “Bring a gift, take a gift” table – a fun way to upcycle a like-new, no-longer-needed household item or that unwanted holiday gift. (Sorry, Mom!) REGISTER HERE 

Lamorinda Arts Council, California Writers Club and Lamorinda Arts Alliance Ekphrasis Exhibit Deadline to Participate January 31

Three art organizations, Lamorinda Arts Council, California Writers Club Mt. Diablo Branch and Lamorinda Arts Alliance have collaborated to present an unusual exhibit in the Art Gallery at the Orinda Library entitled “Ekphrasis.” Ekphrasis is a Greek word meaning writing that describes art; the curators say art can also describe writing. Authors write about visual artwork and visual artists create artwork about writings by authors. Related artwork and writings are paired for display in the art Gallery at the Orinda Library. Questions? View the Jan. 4 slide show to learn what it’s all about at https://lamorindaarts.org/ekphrasis; scroll down to Workshop #5, “PowerPoint Slides.” Email curator Bill Carmel at [email protected] or go to www.lamorindaarts.org/ekphrasis for more information. 

Lamorinda Arts Council invites you to view hand carved spirit bird houses by Doug Crooks and paintings by Lois Reynolds Mead, Teresa Onoda and Linda Sutton through Jan. 28 in the Art Gallery at the Orinda Library. View their artwork online at www.lamorindaarts.org/current-exhibits/.

Doug Crooks of Hercules has been working with wood for over 50 years and just keeps getting better at it. He won first prize in the California State Fair. The hand-carved spirit birdhouses he is exhibiting are both practical and unique. An active member of the Diablo Woodworkers, he attends meetings and classes at the Pleasant Hill Education Wood Shop. Crooks invites anyone interested in learning more about woodworking to visit www.diablowoodworkers.com/ to see what this organization offers.

Orindan Lois Reynolds Mead, Lamorinda Arts Council Secretary, is showing a variety of acrylic works in this show. If you are near the front of the CVS building on Moraga Way in Orinda, look for Mead’s 20” x 50” multicolored Artify Orinda painting, Secret Garden. Can you find three butterflies, two birds and five animals? Teresa Onoda’s landscape paintings, several in large format, capture the shimmering beauty that surrounds the East Bay through all seasons. She works out of her studio in Moraga. Linda Sutton of Martinez worked in transparent watercolors long enough to learn how to apply much of her knowledge to oil painting. Her dad was an optical engineer, so she studied light and splitting it up with a beam splitter. Look for this quality of transparency in her oil paintings including a leopard, giraffe and red wolf.

This free exhibit runs Jan. 2 through 28. Visit the gallery at 26 Orinda Way during normal library hours – Mon. – Thu. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Fri. – Sat., 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.; closed Sunday. Close dates are Jan. 1, 2 and 16. Call 925-254-2184 for more information or visit http://ccclib.org/.

The Lamorinda Arts Council presents a virtual only gallery of original gouache paintings by featured artist and author Elaine Drew in the Art Gallery at Wilder from Jan. 7 through Feb. 3.

Elaine Drew's love affair with the Middle Ages began when she worked at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. She enjoyed wandering the galleries looking at the luminescent color and gold of Medieval painting. "After I married, I lived in England for four years, surrounded by history. Our small village was within walking distance of Winchester, the royal seat of the early English kingdom of Wessex. Learn more at https://elainedrew.com/

Meet a bevy of colorful characters in Drew’s historical fiction graphic novel, “A Knight’s Bad Day.” Knight Egbert, the main character, wishes to join the court of King Beorhtric. First, he must prove himself. You’ll meet a Seer who advises him not to proceed, warriors he must best, a beautiful lady and her ladies-in-waiting, visit a haunted forest and enter an enchanted castle. Her humorous graphic novel is set in Wessex, England, in the year 800, Drew’s favorite time period. Drew anticipates publishing “A Knight’s Bad Day” later this year via Amazon. To view these images visit http://www.lamorindaarts.org/online-galleries.

The de Young Museum presents 181 priceless ancient Egyptian treasures in their exhibit at the Herbst Exhibition Galleries in San Francisco. The Houston Chronicle says, “Feels like stepping into a Hollywood movie set. The lighting, music, desert-like quietude, the rows of replica columns – we’re off to ancient Egypt.” Renowned George and Judy Marcus Distinguished Curator Renée Dreyfus in charge of ancient art at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and others curated this world-class exhibition. It runs through February 12 and includes a virtual reality experience. See www.famsf.org/exhibitions/ramses-great-and-gold-pharaohs for details.

Join those who love art, literature, music and everything in between at The Coop, 32 Lafayette Circle, Lafayette, from 3-5 p.m. Time for some conversation about your creative journey in 2023 with friends of the Lamorinda Arts Council. Look for our knockoff Picassoesque poster of Dora Maar (Picasso’s muse & model) – that’s us! No host bar. Just show up. Questions? Email [email protected].  

The de Young Museum presents 181 priceless ancient Egyptian treasures in their exhibit at the Herbst Exhibition Galleries in San Francisco. The Houston Chronicle says, “Feels like stepping into a Hollywood movie set. The lighting, music, desert-like quietude, the rows of replica columns – we’re off to ancient Egypt.” Renowned George and Judy Marcus Distinguished Curator Renée Dreyfus in charge of ancient art at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and others curated this world-class exhibition. It runs through February 12 and includes a virtual reality experience. See www.famsf.org/exhibitions/ramses-great-and-gold-pharaohs for details.

The Lamorinda Arts Council (LAC) invites the public to stop by to view the wildly creative artwork on display during February as part of the 16th Annual K-8 Arts Ambassadors (AA) exhibit in the Art Gallery at the Orinda Library, 26 Orinda Way. View Moraga student art Feb. 4 to 16 and Orinda student art Feb 16 to Mar 3. Meet Orinda student artists, their families and teachers at a reception and presentation of AA ribbons on Tuesday, February 28 from 4:30 - 6 p.m.

This exhibit runs Feb. 4 through Mar. 4 during normal Library hours in the Art Gallery at the Orinda Library at 26 Orinda Way. Hours are Mon. – Thur., 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., Fri. – Sat., 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., closed Sun. Close date is Mon. Feb. 20. Call 925.254.2184 for more information about the Library or visit www.ccclib.org. Email the curators with questions at [email protected].

The Lamorinda Arts Council presents a virtual only gallery of original gouache paintings by featured artist and author Elaine Drew in the Art Gallery at Wilder from Feb. 7 through Mar. 3.

Elaine Drew's love affair with the Middle Ages began when she worked at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. She enjoyed wandering the galleries looking at the luminescent color and gold of Medieval painting. "After I married I lived in England for four years, surrounded by history. Our small village was within walking distance of Winchester, the royal seat of the early English kingdom of Wessex. Learn more at https://elainedrew.com.

Meet a bevy of colorful characters in Drew’s historical fiction graphic novel, “A Knight’s Bad Day.” Knight Egbert, the main character, wishes to join the court of King Beorhtric. First, he must prove himself. You’ll meet a Seer who advises him not to proceed, warriors he must best, a beautiful lady and her ladies-in-waiting, visit a haunted forest and enter an enchanted castle. Her humorous graphic novel is set in Wessex, England, in the year 800, Drew’s favorite time period. Drew anticipates publishing “A Knight’s Bad Day” later this year via Amazon. To view these images visit http://www.lamorindaarts.org/online-galleries.

20^th High School Visual Arts Competition Submission Deadline: February 17

The Lamorinda Arts Council reminds high school students in the Acalanes High School District to enter submissions by February 17 at midnight. The HSVAC exhibit runs from March 5 through 31 in the Art Gallery at the Orinda Library. Art in four categories – 2D, 3D, photography and the Lamorinda Arts Alliance sponsored Digital Art category – is accepted into this juried show. The Artists and Awards reception and ceremony is March 16 from 7 – 8:30 p.m. For more information visit https://lamorindaarts.org/vac/, email [email protected] or call 925.359.9940.

Join those who love art, literature, music and everything in between at The Coop, 32 Lafayette Circle, Lafayette, from 3-5 p.m. Time for some conversation about your creative journey with friends of the Lamorinda Arts Council. Look for our knockoff Picassoesque poster of Dora Maar (Picasso’s muse & model) – that’s us! No host bar. Just show up. Questions? Email [email protected].

The Moraga Art Gallery announces its initial exhibit of 2023, opening on January 18th. Entitled "Light and Fire," it features the work of two celebrated member artists from Lafayette: Lucy Beck, an award-winning photographer who uses light to capture the astonishing color, beauty and structure of small, everyday flowers, and ceramicist Donna Arganbright, hailed for her functional bowls, mugs, trays, pitchers and plates, as well as "attitude figures," i.e., vases disguised as posturing humans, hands on hips, and clothed in fresh, bright-hued glazes.

The public is cordially invited to a free reception on Saturday, February 4th from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. Come to view the art, meet the artists, mingle with other art lovers, enjoy a glass of wine and light snacks accompanied by live music befitting the gallery's gracious ambiance. The gallery, in the Rheem Shopping Center at 432 Center Street, Moraga, is open Wednesday to Sunday from noon to 5:00 pm. For more information visit http://www.moragaartgallery.com or call 925-376-5407.

The City of Lafayette Public Art Committee is very excited to kick off the year with the opening of “Movement,” an exhibit of paintings inspired by the Avant Garde movement in Kyiv by local Ukrainian-Canadian artist Yana Verba, at the Town Hall Theatre Gallery in Lafayette. The exhibition runs January 18 to March 6.

The public is invited to an opening reception on Sunday, January 29, from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, located at 3535 School Street in Lafayette. The artist will present an artist talk and a new site-specific chalk installation referencing the massacre at the Donetsk Regional Academic Drama Theater in Mariupol beginning at 11:30 a.m. Refreshments will be provided by the Public Art Committee and the Town Hall Theatre will host a cash bar. The event is free and open to the public. 

Click Here to read more about artist Yana Verba.

A complementary exhibit in the Public Art Display Case at the library offers a window into the diversity of Ukrainian culture. The materials feature books about Ukrainian artists and Soviet porcelain figures.

Come Experience Music Therapy with Crystal Singing Bowls in the Great Room at the Ruth Bancroft Garden. The acoustics of the Great Room allow for a more immersive, meditative experience. Guests will have the opportunity to walk the Garden after the Sound Bath for 10 minutes.

This event takes place after open Garden hours. We’d recommend arriving early to grab your spot and set up your yoga mat! https://www.ruthbancroftgarden.org/event/meditative-sound-bath-at-the-garden-3/

International Film Showcase's January selection is The premiere of My Sailor, My Love a coproduction from Finland and Ireland. Klaus Haro (The Fencer, Elina) directed this touching film.

The film will open at the Orinda Theatre on 1/20/23 for at least one week and at the Jarvis Conservatory, Napa on 1/21/23. The film is in English with English subtitles as well.

Trailer: https://youtu.be/k_ICG_OZ6Qk

Synopsis: Howard, a retired sea captain, refuses any help from his daughter Grace. When she hires Annie as domestic help for him, Howard unexpectedly falls in love. He gives all his affection to Annie and her family, but rejects his own daughter. My Sailor, My Love is a story about a guilt-affected daughter-father relationship. But it's also a love story between two elderly people, proving that a new beginning is never too late.

Please contact me if you want a screener for review. Further information is available on our web site at www.internationalshowcase.org.

New Voices Series: Nanay

Tickets/More Info/Content Advisories: https://www.townhalltheatre.com/nanay

Rock for SHELTER is almost here! Presented by SHELTER, Inc. Sat., Jan. 21 at the historic Empress Theatre in Vallejo. Doors open at 5pm; first band takes the stage at 6pm. Enjoy an evening of top music while raising funds for the homeless. Just $35 for five popular local bands playing a range of classic rock music influenced by folk, Americana, blues, funk and the Eagles! Food and beverages available for purchase. Don't miss headliner Dan Ashley, local news anchor/musician and group; Eagles tribute band Midnight Flyer; DW Edwards and Lighting up the Soul; Papa Joe and the New Deal; and Sweet Undertow. Visit: http://ow.ly/uhlq50Mo8BF

We're starting the year off strong with TWO Headliners performances and the kick-off to the new Newsmakers Lesher Speaker Series at the Lesher Center for the Arts!

01.22 Mike Marshall, Edgar Meyer, George Meyer, and Bryan Sutton

01.27 The Peking Acrobats® Featuring the Grand Shanghai Circus

01.31 Newsmakers presents The Second City

Learn more and purchase tickets at www.LesherArtsCenter.org

$50.00

Join The Ruth Bancroft Garden for Sip and Paint Night hosted by Super Paint Party. You will paint a design on a 16×20″ canvas made just for RBG! All Garden members can purchase up to 4 tickets total at Member price! Listen to some music, sip on adult beverages, and create a one-of-a-kind masterpiece! https://www.ruthbancroftgarden.org/event/sip-and-paint/

*Sign up for our emails-including our monthly newsletter-please visit www.peterpanfoundation.org or email [email protected].

Come see the work of a diverse group of nine women artists who have shared their artistic explorations, struggles, and successes for the past 23 years with the exhibit, “Nine Artists/Nine Viewpoints,” opening February 2, 2023, at the Lindsay Dirkx Brown Gallery! 

Participating artists are Susan Erickson, Judy Feins, Carla W. Gelbaum, Danguole Rita Kuolas, Jill Landau, Margaret Lucas-Hill, Judy Miller, Pat Prosek and Linda Yoshizawa. 

The exhibit “Nine Artists/Nine Viewpoints” is a snapshot of where they are now, as mature, but still growing, artists. 

The Lindsay Dirkx Brown Gallery is located in the San Ramon Community Center at 12501 Alcosta Blvd, San Ramon. It is open Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 5pm. Please contact the Center at 925-973-3200 for weekend hours.  The exhibit will be available for viewing throughout the month of February.

Join LPIE for a festive family night in celebration of all we have done together to enrich our schools over the last 40 years and the potential of what is to come!

Entry is complimentary; food and drinks available for purchase. RSVP HERE. Guests who register will automatically be entered into a drawing to receive a Valentine’s dinner for two! Must be present on February 10th to win.

The magic and artistry of the legendary ballet Swan Lake comes to Diablo Ballet audiences this February, featuring highlights from Act 1, White Swan and Black Swan Pas de Deux, variations, and coda featuring the entire company, accompanied by the legendary score by Tchaikovsky. Also included in the program is the thrilling Tarantella by George Balanchine and set to the Grande Tarantelle by Louis Moreau Gottschalk; a command performance of the glorious Sur Le Fil by Penny Saunders; and a new work, Existing in Parallel by company dancer and choreographer, Michael Wells and Derion Loman who was featured on “World of Dance”. Swan Lake Suite performs February 10 - 11 at the Lesher Center for the Arts. For tickets and information, visit diabloballet.org. 

On Wednesday, February 15, new exhibitions open at Saint Mary's College Museum of Art (SMCMoA). 

Jacob Lawrence: Three Series of Prints, a traveling exhibition, brings forward 31 graphic prints created by renowned American artist Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000). Grappling with historical struggles and cultural injustices, the exhibition highlights selected prints from the Hiroshima Series, the Genesis Series, and the Toussaint L’Ouverture Series created in the 1980s and 1990s. On view through May 14, 2023, and from the collections of Dr. & Mrs. Leon Banks and Alitash Kebede. The exhibition and museum tour were organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions of Los Angeles, CA.

The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission to exhibitions and programs are free. A public reception will be held on Thursday, February 16, from 4 to 8 p.m. More information can be found at www.stmarys-ca.edu/museum.   

Image credit: Jacob Lawrence, The Opener from Toussaint L’Ouverture Series, 1997 silkscreen print on Rising Two Ply Rag paper, 28 ½ x 33 ½ inches. Courtesy of the Collections of Dr. & Mrs. Leon Banks & Alitash Kebede.

The Diablo Symphony Orchestra continues its Jubilee (60th) Season on February 26 at 2:00 p.m. at the Lesher Center for the Arts with a program that features Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, Florence Price’s Dances in the Canebrakes, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F Minor. We’re excited to welcome Orinda native—and daughter of Bob Athayde, recently retired music director at Stanley Middle School in Lafayette—Juliana Athayde, violinist, back to the Bay Area for perform the concerto. Athayde is concertmaster of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and an associate professor of violin at the Eastman School of Music. A graduate of the Concertmaster Academy at the Cleveland Institute of Music, she was appointed concertmaster of the Rochester Philharmonic at age 24 and was a fellow at the Aspen Music Festival and School fellow for six years. She holds residencies at San Diego’s Mainly Mozart Festival and Idaho’s Sun Valley Music Festival, appears as soloist with orchestras throughout the country, and is in demand as a chamber musician.

Florence Price's Dances in the Canebrakes, being performed in honor of Black History Month, was originally composed for solo piano. After Price’s unexpected death in 1953, the suite was revised for orchestra by Black composer William Grant Still. Drawn from Black folk songs and dances of the 1920s and ’30s, the suite opens with a rag titled “Nimble Feet” in the style of Scott Joplin. The second movement, “Tropical Noon,” features a “slow drag” rhythm that supports a dreamy melody, reflecting a nostalgic dance. The third movement, “Silk Hat and Walking Cane,” combines theatrical dance with ballroom dancing in a “cakewalk” that captures the energy of a crowded Harlem ballroom.

The program will be conducted by music director and conductor Matilda Hofman as well as “conduct-the-orchestra” auction winners Kathryn Crandell and Bill Rudiak. Advance tickets are available through the DSO’s website (www.diablosymphony.org), at the Lesher Center for the Arts box office (1601 Civic Dr., WC) or by phone to 925-943-SHOW (7469). Tickets are $40 for adults and $10 for youth 13–17. Children 12 and under are free and a discount of $30 each is available for groups of 10 or more seniors ages 62 and up.

2023 is off to a terrific start for our much-loved Park Theater. Despite the wet and windy weather, spirits are VERY sunny and bright indeed as thanks to generous support form the greater community, The Park Theater Trust (TPTT) not only met the challenge of matching $350,000 for the Park Theater Renovation Capital Campaign, the all-volunteer nonprofit CRUSHED it, bringing in over $460,000 during the time period of August 1 and December 31, 2022. 

Fundraising is more than just a numbers game, it’s a participation game, and TPTT is especially thrilled to report that 752 individuals, businesses, and foundations have donated to the Park Theater effort since 2018, with 190 new donors just from November 15 to December 31, 2022 alone. The $3 million raised to purchase the historic Park Theater in December 2021 represented a huge showing of community support for this effort; these 2022 fundraising totals show that the desire to bring the Park back burns very bright indeed. Just think - if EVERY Lafayette resident and EVERY Lafayette business contributed to the Park’s Renovation Capital Campaign, TPTT's goal of reopening in 2024 would be well on its way.

There are many ways to give: one can donate directly, pledge throughout 2023, donate stock or money out of an IRA, or even donate a vehicle through Lamorinda Sunrise Rotary's Cars2ndChance program. Donations and pledges are cumulative toward fun Park Theater perks and meaningful recognition. EVERYONE can make a difference. For more information, please visit https://parktheatertrust.org

Summer Conservatory Camp at Cal Shakes

Students will develop and improve their performative skills by studying with Bay Area experts in such areas as Acting, Voice, Movement, Text Analysis and more, all while rehearsing one of Shakespeare’s most beloved plays for a performance on the Bruns stage!

*No camp on June 19th in observance of Juneteenth. Final performances will take place on the last day of each session. Limited financial aid is available. Please fill out this form if you’re interested.

Conservatory participants receive complimentary tickets to at least one Cal Shakes production as well as discounts to other productions. Register HERE

Three Thirty Three Arts recently worked with Kaiser Permanente to help activate a large parking lot they own in Oakland to get a face lift. The structure was in a particularly challenging spot and prone to constant graffiti vandalism for many years. We provided a unique design which is the entrypoint for the Koreatown Northgate District. It's very fitting for the set and setting of that particular spot, which is how we approach all projects.

I am a 65 year on and off again resident of Lafayette and graduate of Acalanes and Cal Berkeley. I spent 12 years operating a produce store and juice bar in Lafayette and Walnut Creek. After an opportunity for reflection I decided to pursue working with wood as that has been my passion since I was 10 and built 20 or so skateboards. My brother and I began doing wood display cases for Sennelier art products but eventually settled on doing hardwood floors. This financed eventually a complete woodshop and over time a large collection of rare and highly figured wood with the eventual goal of working on furniture featuring this wood. Finally I retired this year and I am building beautiful furniture as art. - Steve Johnson, Wood Whisperer. Learn more here!

Gift love, joy, and happiness to your favorite person! Copper turns a lovely red-blue when fused between layers of glass to create these simple, yet stylish coasters. They are sold individually, so that you can design your own color palette. Many colors are available online at www.WhitchurchGlassDesigns.com. Free shipping available for Lamorinda residents. 

Over the next couple of months, Cynthia's preparing two glass panels for the Ekphrasis Exhibit at the Art Gallery at the Orinda Library in May 2023, finalizing her 2023 events calendar, and completing custom orders. Learn how she makes her designs and keep up to date on studio projects by following her on Instagram @WhitchurchGlassDesigns. 

Lafayette artist and resident, Cynthia Whitchurch creates her art by melting and bending colored glass into custom molds producing beautiful pieces including bowls, plates, dishes, coasters, night lights and more. She welcomes the opportunity to partner with local retailers to showcase her work. Contact Cynthia at [email protected].

For more information send me an email: [email protected] or call (925)286-9346.

Prints of my work are also available on www.fineartamerica.com (search Tom Taneyhill).

FACEBOOK @taneyhillart

INSTAGRAM @taneyhillart

If you like California land you will like my work! I paint the joy I see in our landscapes. Most of my work is done on location within 60 miles of Lamorinda. I paint Napa, the Bay, small farms, orchards, and trees that I fall in love with. Teresa Onoda, www.onodaart.com.

I currently reside in Moraga CA. My website is www.metzgallery.com and Instagram @jaweedmetz and email [email protected].

Enumero Cribbage Boards are hand crafted in small batches using beautiful, warm hardwoods and richly colored inlay. Each and every board is unique in its appearance, name, and the series (or batch) it belongs to. I humbly believe that an Enumero Cribbage Board will be played on and enjoyed for generations to come.

Cribbage and cutting boards have been recently re-photographed to show the exquisite detail. View etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/enumerocribbageboard.

Dinart is all about finding joy in creativity and all the good energy that we need to carry with us everyday and everywhere we go. To fulfill this goal I came up with the idea to transform my watercolor painting to different types of custom wearable arts. My hand-crafted art pieces can be seen at www.etsy.com/shop/dinartgift and din-art.com. Currently, my handmade painting jewelry is available online and is also sold exclusively at a local high-end boutique in Oakland, CA. Every collection has a name which is inspired by my personal journey such as Self Love, Harmony, Courage, Wisdom, Hope, ....

To learn more about me and my art, please refer to the above links. I was recently highlighted in the Lamorinda Weekly & Rossmoor News.  

For more information about Art Room by Chari please visit art_room_by_chari on Instagram or call 510.381.4634.

I am an artist living in Orinda. I work in multiple mediums, and my work is made to inspire, comfort and connect. Learn more on TikTok.

Restaurant Guide | Gift Guide