Renowned ceramicist Mattie Leeds, 60, might be the best-known artist in Bonny Doon. His enormous pots, which he’s been sculpting for 40 years, are featured in Europe, in the Far East and all around Santa Cruz.
But his home, which spans a couple of acres, is perhaps his most stunning artwork.
The backyard features a whimsical rock wall with his huge vases embedded throughout. The wall, which he calls the Great Wall of Chop Suey, wraps around the front and back of his property.
Chop suey, Leeds explained, is an American term for Chinese food that means “a little bit of this, a little bit of that,” he said.
Understandably, then, the artist’s house has been a hot spot for Open Studio-goers for years. For this year’s 25th annual Open Studios Tour, artists from all around the county will show their work where it’s created the first three weekends in October. North county artists will have their turn Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 9 and 10.
Leeds said he has added to his masterpiece of a home since last year’s tour.
“There’s a new front section of the wall that no one has seen — it’s just been completed,” Leeds said. “It has a spiral staircase that goes to a sculpture garden.”
There are vase water fountains and a bridge that crosses over from his Great Wall to the house.
He said his home has been a work in progress for 30 years.
Leeds’ latest collection features dinosaurs, monsters and rocket ships.
“I’m doing a lot of different stuff this year,” Leeds. “The monsters and rockets collection is way to explore the past and the future.”
Jessica Blaine Alton Maring, 59, another participant in the studio tour, is an oil painter in Boulder Creek who paints every day.
“I started drawing and doing art as soon as I could pick up a pencil,” Maring said. “It just came naturally.”
For Open Studios, she will share a collection of paintings of the California coast, mainly West Cliff in Santa Cruz.
“I love California, because there is so much to paint,” Maring said. “Sunsets are different in California than anywhere else.”
Maring takes photos of a landscape and then paints from home. She said she prefers to paint nature rather than cityscapes.
“I think the natural world is more beautiful,” she said.
Marring started her present collection in 2009 and said she completes a painting at a time.
“It usually takes about two to four weeks to finish a painting,” Maring said. “The reason it takes so long is that I use very tiny brushes. I enjoy doing the very fine details.”
Maring, whose paintings usually sell for $1,200 to $2,500, also designs quilts, raises orchids and creates gardens from scratch.
“I have eclectic taste and am pretty much interested in everything,” she said.
Maring’s favorite piece in the collection is a portrayal of the arches in the promontory on the north end of West Cliff, which she calls “Low Tide Under the Arch.”
This is her third year showing with Open Studios.
“Artists who live here are really privileged,” Maring said. “This is one of the finest open studios in the country. You don’t have this kind of opportunity in many areas.”
Paul Vernier, 58, will show his collection of sculptural pottery and garden art for the first time during this year’s studio tour.
The Scotts Valley resident, who worked as an engineer until he retired a year ago, said he enjoys the technical challenge of working with a wheel and clay.
“I took a class 20 years ago and got hooked,” Vernier said. “I’m slowly making the transition from engineer to artist.”
Since then, Vernier has traveled to Japan, where he was exposed to different styles.
He creates sculptural and functional art, along with bottles and vases, and also makes his own tools.
“My vases have gotten up to 4 feet tall,” Vernier said.
He also creates totems to accent gardens that are large and rectangular in shape.
Vernier said that he likes working with clay, because it is very process- and tool-oriented.
“It takes ingenuity, and the wheel is a very technical process,” Vernier said. “I don’t want to be a production potter. I want to be an artist.”
Maring, Leeds and Vernier will show their works between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Oct. 9, 10, 16 and 17 as part of the 25th annual Open Studios Tour. A commemorative calendar and map, which serves as a guide to the tour, costs $25 at many places around town.
For information: www.ccscc.org.
At a glance
Jessica Blaine Alton Maring, 226 Highland Court,
in Boulder Creek
WHAT: Oil and acrylic paintings of the California coast
INFO: www.jessicamaring.com
Mattie Leeds, 7258 Empire Grade, in Bonny Doon
WHAT: Hand-painted large and small ceramics
INFO: www.mattieleeds.com
Paul Vernier, 345 Ohlone Trail, in Scotts Valley
WHAT: Functional, sculptural pottery and garden art
INFO: www.claymanpv.blogspot.com
