Art, art and more art, all surrounded by beautiful homes, gardens and home art studios, is the focus of this year’s San Diego Coastal Art Studios Tour.
Art lovers can’t stop talking about the event, which has artists in Pacific Beach and La Jolla opening up their homes, personal art studios and gardens for the public to enjoy.
“It is a joy to show our artwork, but even more, to create an event that celebrates the local vibe that is super friendly, casual and diverse,” said artist Dot Renshaw, who created the tour with Leah Higgins. Last year’s event drew over 1,500 attendees.
Set for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, the free, self-guided tours will include meeting 30 professional artists throughout four gardens. This year’s tour features 13 new artists and two new gardens.
Three of the homes are in Pacific Beach and one is in La Jolla. Their addresses can be found at sandiegocoastalartstudios.com. They are within a few miles of each other. There is free street parking.
Neil and Carla Murray’s 1941 home in Pacific Beach is a new addition to the tour.
Neil Murray described it as a “very small and inexpensive house” on a large lot. After purchasing in 1994, the couple added a second-story art studio and a granny flat.
They have also done extensive landscaping, including adding a deck, water fountain, pathways and site-appropriate trees and scrubs.
“We love living in PB. The climate is pleasant, almost seductive with its cooling afternoon breeze and plenty of sunshine,” Murray said. “Given some water, just about anything grows here and we have filled our yard with plants, mostly xeriscape.”
The plants are more than just decoration, however, as Murray paints vivid contemporary close-ups of his lush plants.
Another Pacific Beach home belongs to Dot Renshaw. She and her husband, Zack Taylor, have opened their 1920s Moorish-style home to tour guests each year.
The home was renovated 30 years ago, going from one story to two, and features an 18-foot high art studio. The home overlooks a garden filled with fruit trees, flowers and huge staghorn ferns.
Renshaw paints coastal art in oils, plein air and pastels, and often chooses small trails, camping spots and neighborhood canons for her pieces.
The PB home Leah Higgins shares with her husband, Patrick Higgins, was built in 1926 by well-known architect Irving Gill. It is the first custom home of famed San Diego horticulturist Kate Sessions. Highlights of the two-acre property include a detached art studio, and numerous mature trees and plants from Sessions’ original garden.
Higgins specializes in homes, landscapes and portraiture for her artwork, but enjoys a wide variety of subjects.
The La Jolla home of artist Jane Fletcher was built in 1970. Her Techbuilt home, purchased in 1971, was remodeled in the late 1990s.
It includes Fletcher’s art studio, where she paints and works in wood and glass. Her custom-made front entry doors greet guests, and her hand-carved doors and glassworks are found in many area homes.
Her 400-square-foot entry doubles as a gallery to reach her 300-square-foot studio.
Showing artwork is by invitation only. Renshaw and Higgins said each participant is “an accomplished, award-winning artist.”
Hundreds of pieces of artwork of every medium will be available for purchase, with prices ranging from $10 to $5,000. There will be all types, including ceramics, jewelry, clothing, quilts, pottery, reclaimed wood carvings, glass sculpture, mosaics, cutting boards, baskets, steampunk polymer and more.
“We strive to have variety in both price and style,” Renshaw said.
For a list of participating artists, including bios and samples of their work, visit sdcoastalartstudios.com.
Each year, the tour organizers pick a charity that receives 100 percent of all donations received from collection boxes at each tour stop.
This year’s beneficiary is ALS United Greater San Diego, which is helping to discover treatments and a cure for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and serves those affected with ALS.
Want to go?
San Diego Coastal Art Studios Tour
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14
Where: Three homes in Pacific Beach, one in La Jolla. Addresses at sandiegocoastalartstudios.com.
Cost: Free, but donations will be accepted for ALS United Greater San Diego.
Good to know: Tour will feature a wide variety of work by 30 artists, with prices ranging from $10 to $5,000.
