“Coffee Time” by Sally Posner during her stay at the Black Mountain Lookout

Plumas Arts holds opening reception this Friday

November 1, 2022November 6, 2022 Editor

Plumas Arts is pleased to announce a gallery opening reception this Friday, Nov. 4, from 5 to 7 p.m. at 525 Main Street in Quincy.

For November, the Plumas Arts Gallery will be displaying art from local artist Sally Posner and her residency at the Black Mountain Lookout. Sally has been a Plumas County resident since 1964. She taught art, and architectural drawing at Lassen College and art classes for Feather River College and worked at the USFS as the landscape architect assistant. She also had her own business, designing houses and drawing plans. Although she had these day jobs, she has always been a producing artist.

With Jane Braxton Little, they published the book, “Plumas Sketches,” a history of Plumas County told through its historical architecture. Her children’s book “A is for Almanor” is a local best seller. Last year, she illustrated a small book of homes lost in the Dixie Fire. Sally has displayed her art in many venues in Plumas and Lassen County, and Chico and Palm Springs. She has been part of numerous shows and has won prizes for her work. She has taught workshops in Plumas County, Lassen Park, Red Bluff, Mendocino etc. This year she was “Artist in Residence” at Black Mountain Lookout.

“Alpine Garden” by Sally Posner during her stay at the Black Mountain Lookout

The Artist in The Lookout residency program provides a unique opportunity for one artist to spend three nights at the Black Mountain Lookout to draw upon the breathtaking landscapes of the Plumas National Forest for inspiration.

In return, the program asks that the artist donate an original piece of framed artwork and/or body of work from this experience, to be hung at the Beckwourth Ranger District, and work with Plumas Arts to make a public presentation of the work.

The Artist In The Lookout residency seeks to use art and artists to explore the many ways in which people relate to the Plumas National Forest.

The program goals include:

Capture the beauty and spirit of the Plumas National Forest (PNF) through the creation of high-quality art;
Provide learning opportunities through the arts and visitors to the PNF;
Help citizen understand the connections between public lands, use of natural resources and our emotional ties to beauty, nature and self-expression, thus serving as a link between the utilitarian and aesthetic values of the forest; and
Celebrate the power of the arts—and artists—to explore and interpret the forest environment and the forest related issues.

Artist selection is based on an evaluation system that includes: how the artwork will support the forest’s interpretive themes, resume of professional art work, application packet and electronic file of artist work or website link.

The refurbished Black Mountain Lookout located at 7,161’ in elevation on the eastern edge of the Plumas National Forest. The 75-year-old lookout comes with a commanding view to the east of Nevada’s Basin and Range folds, to the north stands the higher, still active Thompson Peak Lookout. At the bottom of the Sierra Nevada’s eastside escarpment sits the sometimes colorful, however, often dry Honey Lake.

Patti’s Thunder

Plumas Arts also coordinates the art display at Patti’s Thunder Café. For November and December, Patti’s Thunder Cafe is exhibiting a show by painter Lucinda Wood. She is most at home sitting on a rock by a stream, painting the wild landscapes she loves that surround her mountain home in Quincy, California. Most of her paintings are begun on location, to the music of roaring waterfalls, rushing streams or singing birds. She has the eye of a naturalist, and finds the beauty of the actual place and its wild residents very inspiring. She will return to the site for several days, if need be, and weather permits. Sometimes she finishes her paintings in the field, but usually she finishes from photos in her studio.

Lucinda works in transparent watercolor, which she loves for its vibrancy, the crisp detail possible and the playful bleeds. She often paints along her favorite hiking trails, or on remote backpacking or river rafting trips with her adventurous family. She has had ice crystals form in her pallet while out painting in the winter. That’s when she knows it’s time to stop!

The Plumas Arts Gallery and office hours are Wednesday through Friday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.