Amador artists welcome visitors on Saturday

The next Amador First Saturday Art Trek will be July 7, from 1 to 7 p.m. at nine galleries in Amador County and the north part of Calaveras.

Take a trek and see what each gallery is currently featuring. It might be an artist’s reception, with cookies and punch, wine and cheese and music, or simply staying open for an extra hour or two.

At Chaos Glassworks in Sutter Creek, view the new exhibit of photographs by life-long Amador County photographer Larry Angier, featuring select black and white and color photographs of Amador County and the west. His work has won awards internationally including silver and bronze awards in the 2012 Epson International Panorama Competition. His work was juried into the California Works exhibition at the 2012 California State Fair. The Amador Council of Tourism uses Angier’s work in their travel planners and on its Website.

During the July 7 First Saturday event, a reception celebrating the work of San Francisco artist James Groleau will be held at the Hanford St. Gallery in Sutter Creek.

The new exhibit is called “Salt Granite Spruce” and is a series of 18 color mezzotints depicting coastal Maine. Groleau taught himself this most difficult printmaking technique and has become a modern master at it. He is the recipient of numerous awards, grants, and fellowships, and his work is in the collections of National Museum of Fine Art, Antwerp, Belgium; the Oakland Museum; Cleveland Museum, and many others.

Fine Eye Gallery will present Ugone and Thomas as their featured artisans for First Saturday Art Trek. These incomparable designers saved their studio by pioneering an affordable giclee process that maintains the unique, luminous look and feel of their signature lampshades. See the works of Janna Ugone and Justin Thomas and their full line of giclee lamps and home accessories as well as custom-order original hand painted lighting.

In time for the event, Petroglyphe Gallery in Mokelumne Hill received new one-of-a-kind wearable art by fibre artist and textile designer Melissa Arnold, who’s been working with textiles for more than 30 years.

Her work includes many different processes from screen printing to wool collage to nuno felting. She has won numerous awards, including a Best of Show award from Wearable Expressions, an International Art to Wear Juried show.

Art Trek maps are available at the following participating galleries: Add Art, 20 Main St., Jackson,  provides fine art framing services and displays the work of John Johannsen; Chaos Glassworks, 121A Hanford St, Sutter Creek, produces blown glass vases, bowls, plates, pumpkins, lighting, lamp-worked beads, paperweights, sculpture, and jewelry, as well as ceramic sculpture; Fine Eye Gallery, 71 Main St., Sutter Creek, lets you revel in your style and indulge yourself with enticing delights, inspiration and imagination making the common extraordinary; Gallery 10, 15 Eureka St., Sutter Creek, established in 1995 and housed in a historic former saloon and bordello; Hanford St. Gallery, 291 Hanford St., Sutter Creek, presents local, regional and occasionally international artists working in a wide range of mediums and styles; Little City Studio and Gallery, 14180 Main St., Amador City, with local artists; Petroglyphe Gallery,8317 Main St., Mokelumne Hill, featuring original contemporary works of art in oil, acrylic, watercolor, glass, ceramic and jewelry; Sutter Creek Gallery, 35 Main St., Sutter Creek, a community oriented co-op presenting works of 24 local artists plus special presentations; and Valley View Interiors, 48 Main St., Sutter Creek, brings a strong eye for detail and a smart sense of style.

For information on this event and other arts-related information visit amadorarts.org.