UPDATE:The Bonny Doon Art and Wine Festival has been rescheduled for Saturday, June 25 due to weather concerns.
An artist’s interpretation of a subject often has a way of transforming the everyday into something greater — something larger than life.
Larger than life quite literally describes the artwork of Boulder Creek-based artist Annie Armstrong, the featured artist at this year’s Bonny Doon Art and Wine Festival.
Armstrong, 65, is a full-time painter and frame artist whose specialty is large canvas paintings of nature’s smallest things, such as plants, butterflies and seashells.
When she paints, she said, she enjoys making small things large, because beauty in nature can often be overlooked because of size alone.
“There are so many things you see in life every day that are small,” she said. “You just pass by this stuff, and you can’t see it, because it is so small.”
Armstrong creates her works in a brightly lit, custom-built art studio and frame shop at the home she shares with her husband, Duane, himself a noted painter known for his field paintings.
Though she entered the art world as a full-time custom framer, she began painting in 1986, when her husband encouraged her to make the leap after she felt confined by carving and painting mats for framing.
“Duane gave me a nudge, and I landed on canvas,” she said.
Nineteen years later, Annie Armstrong’s original artwork can be found hanging in such places as Bethany University, Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Gatos and Stanford University.
The Armstrongs have donated many pieces of their work over the years — including an estimated $1.9 million worth of paintings to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Armstrong said her inspiration comes from all over nature. Several of her butterfly paintings, for instance, were inspired by a trip to the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary in Kuranda, Australia.
“They were like little flying shards of stained glass,” she said. “I was almost ready to cut the trip short.”
Though she is no longer a full-time framer, Armstrong still does the framework for nearly all the couple’s works. She uses a layered approach to create unique frames that accentuate each individual piece.
The downstairs level of her studio contains about 40,000 feet of moldings, along with a precision miter saw. She said she orders moldings in bulk and keeps as much on hand as possible for when inspiration strikes.
“It’s spur of the moment,” she said of the creation process. “You lose it if you have to wait for the pieces to arrive.”
The festival, which will feature classic cars, vintage aircraft, wine and beer tasting, live music and art, all for the benefit of Bonny Doon Elementary School, will feature several of the couple’s paintings. Several have been donated for auction, as well.
“Mostly we’re involved with fundraising these days,” Duane Armstrong said.
At a glance:
What: Ninth annual Bonny Doon Art and Wine Festival
When: Noon to 6 p.m. June 25, a Saturday
Where: Bonny Doon Airport Gardens, 8647 Empire Grade
Cost: $40 per person (21 and older)
Info: www.bonnydoonartandwinefestival.com
