PebbleCreek Art Club – November 2024

Roxana Caffaratto, November Featured Artist

I learned to love and appreciate the art of painting from my parents, who met at an art studio when they were very young in Argentina.

I grew up in Hernando, a small town in an agricultural area in Argentina, where we all knew each other. One of my fondest memories is picking peanuts that had not been harvested by machinery with my high school friends. We sold them at a market to earn money for a high school graduation bus trip.

In 1980, after graduating from college with a degree in teaching English as a second language, I followed the American dream and moved to California where I spent the next 40 years. I worked as a translator and, after earning a business management degree from Pepperdine University, worked as a financial analyst for McDonnel Douglas. In 2008, I quit working to devote myself to painting full time.

I took drawing classes at UCLA, live portrait classes at Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art, abstract classes at Kline Academy of Fine Art, and finally, plein air workshops with masters of the California art club in Pasadena. With a small group of plein air painters, I painted outdoors every Friday in the San Gabriel Mountains and Malibu Creek Park. I loved painting the incomparable golden light over the breathtaking California landscapes.

One of my favorite paintings, “Turkey Vultures in the Mist,” is now on display at the PebbleCreek Creative Arts Center. I painted it from a study I did on location at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

I painted “Big Sur,” the ocean painting in the Tuscany Falls Lobby, from a photo I took in Carmel. I like to do small studies on location followed by large paintings in my studio, using the study and my own photos.

The third chapter of my life began in November 2020 when my husband and I moved to Arizona. We rented a house on Fulton Ranch Lake in Chandler while our PebbleCreek home was being built, where I fell in love with the abundant shallow-water birds in the area. Great herons, snowy egrets, mallards, cormorants, and Canadian geese provided my inspiration for some paintings in the Nov. 16 Art Show.

I have lived in PebbleCreek nearly two years, and I am very fortunate to be a member of the Art Club. My fellow artists and I have painted indoors in the Creative Arts Center and outdoors from the back of the Tuscany Falls Clubhouse and at the downtown square in neighboring Verrado, finding inspiration from the lovely Spanish steps, romantic-looking buildings, and tall palm trees.

The painting of the “Mitten Buttes,” currently showing in the Eagle’s Nest lobby, was inspired by my own photo taken during my recent visit to Monument Valley National Park.

I love all forms of art, but prefer landscapes, in oil, a medium that is wonderful to paint with inside as well as outdoors.

Buy Raffle Tickets for Art Show Baskets Online or in Person!

Emily Grotta

Six beautiful baskets worth as much as $1,250 will be raffled during the 2024 PebbleCreek Fine Art Show on Saturday, Nov. 16, from 2 to 6 p.m., featuring work by more than 50 resident artists.

While we hope you will attend the show in person, you don’t have to be at the show to enter the raffle. You can purchase tickets, $20 for 40, online at pcartclubshows.com or in person at the show. You can view each basket and its content online.

Each basket, created by a member of the club’s Art Show Committee, includes an original, signed painting in keeping with the basket’s theme. The baskets are:

Basket 1: Buon Appetito. A fabulous Italian dinner basket has everything you need to make your own dinner—but, just in case, included is a fabulous catered romantic dinner for two by chef duo George and Maggie Phillippon. The basket includes table settings and plates for four and a painting by Hilary Fiscus. Value $700

Basket 2: Wine Lovers’ Basket. Enjoy a special selection of six fine wines from California, France, and Italy. Included are all the wine gadgets you need, including a party tub, wine cooler bag, a wine saver pump, and an electric wine bottle opener. Painting by Cheryl Wagner. Value $450

Basket 3: Happiness Is Playing Mahjong. Whether you’re an addicted player or a newcomer to the game, this is the basket for you. In addition to a complete Mahjong set, you’ll get Mahjong coasters, placemats, a purse, earrings, and a bracelet. Painting by Diana Horton-Smith. Value $525

Basket 4: Arizona Party on the Patio. Have the gang over for a wonderful time listening to music from a Sony wireless Bluetooth speaker. The basket includes everything you need to serve six, plus a $150 gift certificate for a pet portrait by Bonnie Lewis, Catitude Arts. Painting by Sylvia Armstrong. Value $575

Basket 5: The Big Kahuna! You’ll be enjoying clean and refreshing water if you win this basket, which includes the installation of a Kinetico under sink water purifier plus a Money Cake with $250 in real bills! Painting by Michael Dawson. Value $1,250

Basket 6 – Everything Is Coming Up Roses—His & Hers Pamper Me/Spa Basket. Take time to relax and smell the roses of life. A basket full of activities in just taking that “time out” we all can enjoy. Basket includes spa kits for men and women and gift certificates for a $70 haircut, $25 for Beauty and the Beast at AZ Broadway, a $25 Babbo’s gift card, and a $30 certificate at Glamour Nails. Drawing by Donna Mund-Gustafson. Value $620

One of these prize baskets could be yours but, like the lottery, you need to buy a ticket to win. Go to pcartclubshows.com now and join the raffle.

Do You Want to Learn to Draw? Lots of Classes in November

Emily Grotta

The PebbleCreek Art Club is happy to announce a new instructor, Carla Cebrelli. She will be teaching two classes in the fundamentals of drawing in November. In addition, Ed Sprafkin returns to teach two landscape classes in any medium, Beth Zink will teach how to paint a sunset in vibrant colors, and Julie Larsson will again teach a beginner’s class in acrylics.

While the Nov. 16 Fall Art Show and Sale will be the highlight of the month, the club has classes and other events to keep everyone busy before the Thanksgiving holiday.

The drawing classes will be held Thursday, Nov. 7, and Thursday, Nov. 21. “I love to teach this class because so many people who really want to draw well or improve their existing skills can be hindered by not having the missing information needed to get them there,” Cebrelli says. Each class will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and all levels of students are welcome to attend. At $38 per class for members ($58 for nonmembers), we expect the sessions to fill in quickly!

Sprafkin’s classes are ideal for painters of all levels who work in acrylic, oil, or watercolor. Each class begins with a demonstration, and students will then paint from an image of their own or one that Sprafkin supplies. The first class is Friday, Nov. 1, and Friday, Nov. 8. The second class will be Tuesday, Nov. 19, and Saturday, Nov. 23. All sessions will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Beth Zink, who is best known for her colorful, bright images of desert plants that span the entire canvas, will be here Tuesday, Nov. 5, to teach how to paint in bright and vibrant colors as they complete a painting of a beautiful sunset. The instructor provides all materials. The 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. class costs $126 for members, $146 for nonmembers.

If you want to learn how to paint but don’t know where to start, the Sunday, Nov. 24 Acrylic Painting Tutorial is for you! Instructor Julie Larson will bring all the materials you need in this step-by-step class for beginners. The cost for the 1 to 3 p.m. class is $38 for members, $58 for nonmembers.

In addition to these classes, the club offers many events for members, including:

* Open studios

* Nov. 1 First Friday Lunch

* Nov. 11 Mid-Month Mingle

* Nov. 13 Open Critique

* Nov. 14 Sketcher’s Workshop

* Nov. 22 Art Club meeting

* Nov. 23 Field Trip to Hidden in the Hills

To learn more about the club, please visit PCArtClub.org.