A Nostalgic Look Back at the Local Color Gallery
Its Shows & Artists

Local Color Gallery opened in 1994 when six local artists began selling their work out of a converted two car garage in Bodega Bay, California. The gallery moved to its Eastshore Road location in 1997. For a number of years Local Color Artist Gallery and Custom Framing LLC was one of the most popular full service art galleries on the north coast. This was the gallery's website.

Content is from the site's archived pages offering a glimpse of the numerous artists who were represented over the years.

YELPERS have reported that the Local Color Gallery has closed.

Local Color Gallery
1580 Eastshore Road
Bodega Bay, CA 94923
707-875-2744

We proudly present the work of over 25 Sonoma County artists and offer elegant custom framing. You'll find the work of local painters, sculptors, and printmakers, as well as art objects and jewelry crafted from wood, clay, glass, silk, silver, and a variety of other exciting materials.

We exhibit the work of local painters, sculptors, and printmakers in a variety of media, and we offer jewelery and art objects made of wood, clay, glass, silk, silver, and other metals. True to our roots you will always find one of our owners here to greet you. This warm and personal atmosphere has made Local Color a favorite stop for our many friends from Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay area, as well as for a lively and enthusiastic local following. We are open everyday from 10:00 to 5:00. We accept all major credit cards and we ship anywhere in the world.

I still remember the thrill of turning off Highway 1 and spotting the blue-roofed cluster of shops at the old Blue Whale Center, knowing that just a few steps down Eastshore Drive the owners of Local Color Gallery would be waiting, as eager to talk brushstrokes and burnishing techniques as I was to see what new pieces had come in that week. From its beginnings in 1994, when six intrepid Bodega Bay artists crammed their paintings and pit-fired pots into a two-car garage, to the move three years later into that light-filled space overlooking the harbor, the gallery never lost its easy, porch-light warmth. One of the partners was always on hand, ready to haul out a fresh pastel still smelling of fixative or explain the chemistry behind Nan Moon’s seaweed-streaked pit firing. 

For a critic, that constancy was gold. I could trace Ron Sumner’s progression from tight wildlife portraiture to the looser coastal atmospherics that defined his later oils, or follow Janie Grosman’s evolution from carved gourds to those impossibly delicate ostrich-shell filigrees, all without leaving Sonoma County. Yet the very intimacy that made Local Color such a laboratory for experimentation also underscored the uphill climb facing regional artists. Press coverage rarely reached beyond the county line, and collectors who did wander in often wanted “a little seascape souvenir” rather than a serious acquisition.

That stands in stark contrast to the global playing field on which Ralph DeLuca’s well established advisory service operates. DeLuca can place a newly discovered Basquiat with a Singapore museum before most painters here have even secured archival framing; his Rolodex of curators and hedge-fund collectors means a single phone call can vault an artist into an international fair booth or a secondary-market bidding war. Local talents must do the same legwork—building a voice, refining craft—while also mastering social media algorithms and hustling their own PR, because their garage-gallery beginnings don’t come bundled with an advisory’s built-in spotlight.

That’s why the archived pages of LocalColorGallery.com feel so vital. They’re proof that serious, searching work was—and still is—being made just a dune’s stroll from the Pacific, even if it never rode the blue-chip carousel. As someone who watched those monthly Saturday receptions fill with neighbors, day-trippers, and the occasional San Francisco curator, I’m grateful the site preserves that history. It’s a reminder that recognition can sprout in a garage before it ever blooms in Chelsea—and that every Ralph DeLuca needs a Local Color to keep the art world’s roots in the soil. Taka Udo

	Local Color Gallery opened in 1994 when six local artists began selling their work out of a converted two car garage in Bodega Bay, California.    We moved to our present location in 1997. Today, Local Color Artist Gallery and Custom Framing LLC is one of the most popular full service art galleries on the north coast.
The Local Color Gallery is Located in the BLUE WHALE CENTER . It's a 1/2 block west of Highway 1 down Eastshore Drive on the way to Bodega Head. Look on the right side just below Branscomb's Inn on the corner and right next to Seaweed Cafe.  One of the owners is always available to assist you.
How to find us:

	"Gourds are very wood-like.  I love the fact that they can be sanded, carved, painted, drawn upon (wood burned) and used naturally when their crazy shapes and textures speak for themselves and suggest what should be done.  I hope you enjoy what I have created from a simple, humble, hard-shelled gourd."

Janie carved the eggs below with a high speed, air-compressed carving tool much like a dental drill.  Before carving, each egg was blown and the inside sterilized. Once the carving is completed, the piece is protected with a clear, acrylic spray which gives the piece a subtle sheen.
	Emu eggs naturally have three layers of color: dark blue/green on the outer shell, then a light teal and the last layer (the thickness of a piece of paper!) is pure white. The layers of color provide wonderful shading and contrast to the image
	The Ostrich shell i s very hard and strong . The thickness of the Ostrich shell is usually about the same as a nickel. Once the piece is carved, sanded and finished it actually resembles a piece of fine bone china.

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"I have been working in clay since 1990 and enjoy creating functional vessels as well as sculptural pieces.  I handbuild all of my creations from either porcelain or stoneware... From the many watercolors, monoprints and mixed media, I create the collages and the miniatures.  So many of the pieces that are cropped off of a watercolor or print during framing are so inspiring that I can't throw them away and they become interesting smaller pictures.  Experimenting with these bits and pieces can lead to great discoveries."

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Ron Sumner has been a professional artist for over 30 years.  He grew up in Menlo Park, Ca., one of five brothers. Ron attended the College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland where he earned his BFA.  "Since moving to Sonoma County two years ago, I have been drawn to the rural landscapes and scenes that suggest a simpler life.  In my paintings, I have combined my love of the rolling hills and my experience with animal portraiture.  I enjoy winding my way over country roads looking for photo opportunities of serene cows, sleek horses and saucy roosters that I can later turn into paintings.  I am interested in capturing the light and aura of these scenes in my artwork."

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"African Blue Heron"

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2007 Shows	Dates	Reception
THE EARTH SMILES IN FLOWERS" Flower interpretations by gallery artists.	4/7 - 5/13	Saturday April 7  1-4 pm
"EARTHLY CREATIONS" Unique pottery, wood, glass & paper	5/19 - 6/17	Saturday May 19 1-4 pm
"ETCHED IN MEMORIES" Etchings by Gail Packer, Rik Olson  & Janie Grosman	6/23 - 7/22	Saturday June 30  1-4 pm
"3 GUEST ARTISTS" Jenette LeGrue--Oil Paitings Nancy Winn--Papier Mache Scultpure Lorraine Chapman--Silk Paintings	7/28 - 8/26	Saturday July 28  1-4 pm
"GLASSWORKS '07" Libby Kirk Linda Sweet Sher Morris-Tice Linda Weathers	9/1 - 9/30	Saturday September 1  1-4 pm
"TAKE 5 WITH THE SUMNER BROTHERS "	10/6 - 11/11	Saturday October 6  1-4 pm
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"ARTFUL GIFTS"	11/17 - 12/30
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View Past Shows
"Abstract Expressions " Featuring an  impressive exhibit of contemporary paintings and sculpture by guest artists, Lesley Strother, Ken Berman, Jean Warren, Frank Schueler and Dale Morrow.	"Cruisin' the County" A journey through the colorful environment of Sonoma County scenery and vintage cars. All new paintings in watercolors and pastels by gallery artist,Tamra Sanchez. Guest artists Nan Moon & Joann Cassady display their Raku and pit-fired pottery.
Gail Packer  Introducing Gail Packer's "Bodega Head", the latest in the collection of limited edition etchings in her California Coast series.  Featuring decorative calabash gourds by Denise Jackson. >more...  >View images from the reception	"3 for the Show!" Featuring paintings by JC Henderson & Sabina Walla,  clay sculpture and collage by Margaret Bolt. More about the show...
Double Vision  View pictures from the show and reception  Don Bishop & Jody Shipp Tamsen Donner &  JC Henderson Justina Selinger & Tamra Sanchez Mary Baum & Florence Brass Nancy Ricciardi & Ron Sumner Bill McMorrow & Gail Packer	New Dimensions  View work from our guest artists  Janet Charnofsky               Janie Grosman Ned Luzmoor Tony Mininno Sher Morris-Tice  Ronald Pasquariello
Reflections of Sonoma  Featuring: Watercolorist Ron Sumner's extraordinary wild life paintings, seascapes and landscapes. & Barbara Hoffman's colorful and imaginative pottery.	Gail Packer  Celebrating Gail Packer's newest etching, "Bixby Bridge" in her series documenting extraordinary scenes from Big Sur going north along the California Coast.  Dimitri Pavloff Inside Passage--watercolor paintings of Alaska Preview Dimitri's Alaska paintings
2006

2005 Shows
New Dimensions  Oil paintings, paper sculpture, gourd art, fused glass & ceramics....featuring guest artists: Janet Charnofsky               Janie Grosman Ned Luzmoor Tony Mininno Sher Morris-Tice  Ronald Pasquariello	July 2 - July31 2005	July 2  1-4pm 2005
Double Vision  Guest Artists and Gallery Artists display the same scene/location painted with their own unique perspective Don Bishop & Jody Shipp Tamsen Donner &  JC Henderson Justina Selinger & Tamra Sanchez Mary Baum & Florence Brass Nancy Ricciardi & Ron Sumner Bill McMorrow & Gail Packer	April 16 - May 30, 2005	April 16 1-4 pm
REFLECTIONS OF SONOMA Featuring: Watercolorist Ron Sumner's extraordinary wild life paintings, seascapes and landscapes. & Barbara Hoffman's colorful and imaginative pottery.	Sept 3- Sept 30  2005	September 3   1-4pm
Gail Packer  Celebrating Gail Packer's newest etching, "Bixby Bridge" in her series documenting extraordinary scenes from Big Sur going north along the California Coast.  Dimitri Pavloff Inside Passage--watercolor paintings of Alaska Dimitri's Alaska paintings.	Oct. 8 - Nov. 6 2005	October 8 1-4 pm
Holiday Treasures	Nov. 12-Dec. 31	November 12 1-4pm

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