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DAY 1, Saturday, October 5 My base of operations for the show was Bob's Pine Grove, a small private campground nestled between the Pogonip Open Preserve, and a picturesque cooperative farm at the edge of town. The setting was appropriate to the flavor of Santa Cruz, where homes of a variety of diverse architectural styles nestle in delightful natural surroundings. Between pine covered hills to the north, and Monterey Bay to the south, old farmhouses, ranches, and an occasional adobe, mingle with victorian, craftsman, and modern architecture. Gardens, fountains, and pools accent many homes, and flowers are everywhere.

I headed southeast on highway 1, figuring that I could work my way back toward Santa Cruz as the day wore on. My first stop was a small light industry center just off the highway, where I found the ceramics studio of Marilyn MacKenzie.

In the town of Aptos, only blocks from the beach, is the home and studio of Laura Anderson. Laura paints dramatic natural scenes on canvases layered with Silica sand.

Just a few blocks away, a ceramist and a photographer shared space at a split level contemporary home in a cozy, shaded neighborhood. The ceramic work of Steve Salisian, and the hand colored photography of Steve Pearl, was displayed on beautiful redwood decks surrounding a central courtyard. A verdantly landscaped decorative pool, and the pagoda pictured at the beginning of this article, provided a tranquil centerpiece to the scene.

My next visit was the home of painter Carmen Leon. Her images are loosely rendered in lustrous color, and bring to mind the poetic and dreamlike imagery of magic realism.

Mike Kilgore's home clings to a steep hillside in eastern Aptos. Mike creates metal sculptures, carefully formed from simple geometric elements and found objects into gyroscopic constructions.

Day one was coming to an end, and I decided to set my sights on one of the artists located further out of town. I checked the catalog, and decided on the glass work of Wayne Robbins. I headed into the hills and soon found myself in a sylvan wonderland on a crumbling one lane road. There is a special magic to the redwood sprinkled forest of the California coastal foothills. Where most of Southern California is a dry golden brown, the coast range from Big Sur to the Oregon border is riddled with secret emerald canyons.