Wines I'm Making: 2015 Wines Pressed

I pressed our 2015 Cabernet and Sangiovese wines the other day. We ended up with only two gallons of Sangiovese, three gallons of Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc--the smallest harvest we've ever had. This appears to have been typical even at commercial wineries around the county--very low yield this year. The wines are now resting, ready for inoculation to initiate malolactic fermentation. I'm also in the middle of a hard cider fermentation and trying to make wine from the neglected Zinfandel grapes (mostly raisins) my neighbor gave me.

Art I'm Making: Sonoma County Art Trails 2015

Sonoma County Art Trails Open Studios 2015

Two weekends in October, every year, more than 160 artists open their studios (October 10–11 and October 17–18, 2015, 10:00AM to 5:00PM). This year, I'm studio no. 63, at 973 Stone Castle Lane, Santa Rosa, CA 95405.

In case you don't already know, I' m a self-taught artist active in a range of media, including drawing, painting, printmaking, collage, and photography. I began making photographs at the age of eight and began drawing at an even younger age. In the realm of abstract art, I've recently focused on photography and on creating collages from monoprinted paper elements. This year at the Art Trails open studio event I'll be showing new collage work and new work from my "Museum Shadow Series" of photographs as well as older woodblock prints, etchings, and other photography, including nudes. My work is in private collections in the US and Japan and has been shown in galleries in cities around the world including San Francisco and Tokyo. I am the creator of Serendipitous Art, a blog that celebrates the unintended art all around us. Additionally, I curate shows on The Art Wall at Shige Sushi, in Cotati, CA. I spent much of my adult life in Tokyo, but I've lived and worked in Santa Rosa since the year 2000. If you visited my studio last year, please come again and see how busy I've been since you were here. If you've never visited, please come and have a look at how I work and at the art I make.

See more at my website (http://ctalcroft.wix.com/collage-site/)
More than 50 new pieces since last year