“Gifts from Home” Holiday Art Market
Articles by Laura Fogg
“Unique. Original. Beautiful. High quality. Locally made. Affordable. These are all adjectives that describe the ideal holiday gift,” says Katie Gibbs, a founding member of Art Center Ukiah, “and that is exactly what we are offering to the public in our beautiful downtown gallery for this holiday shopping season.”
Art Center Ukiah, located in the rear of the Corner Gallery at 201 S State Street in Ukiah, is once again reaching out to a large group of local artists to participate in their annual ‘Gifts from Home’ holiday art market. “The emphasis is on original art,” explains Susan Blackwelder, another founding member. “If you buy something at our show you can be assured that the recipient will never be gifted a duplicate item from someone else. No two items are alike, and none of the art that we display will be available anywhere else.”
Katie explains, “We are delighted to feature a number of new and talented artists this year.”Among them are Alysson Brooker (fine mosaic jewelry), Marcella Martinez (wildflower and acrylic jewelry), Dora Briley (clay ornaments), Jill Millward (clay raccoons and other surprises), Katie Kight (coasters and ornaments) and Laurie Howard (assorted treasures). There are also many repeat artists, including Ana Llorente (a whole lot of surprises), Sulin Bell (painted scarves), Sulin Bell (hand painted scarves), Jacquie Lolich (necklaces), Elizabeth Raybee (jewelry), John Richards (wooden coasters and mirrors), Katie Gibbs (metal trees), Rob Hassett (cutting boards and bowls), Virginia MacIntosh (small paintings) and Laura Fogg (mini art quilts).”
“In addition to our wonderful lineup of artists,” Katie continues, “we have a new schedule for ‘Gifts from Home’ this year. Instead of waiting for December to open the show, we are joining most of the other downtown merchants to have it all together for the weekend after Thanksgiving. The show goes up a full week early so it will be open on Friday November 28 and Saturday November 29 for people who want to get a jump on their holiday shopping.” The show will continue through December during the gallery’s regular hours, Tu-Sat 11-5. The gallery will close at 2pm on Christmas Eve and will be closed all day on December 25.
Front Windows, Corner Gallery, December 2025
The Artistic Explorations of Karen Wallaert and her student Mia Cortina
Karen Wallaert, the featured artist in the front windows of the Corner Gallery for the month of December, is a long-time artist with a lifetime of experience teaching art in our local schools. Now retired from her job as a Teacher’s Assistant at Nokomis School, she says she is delighted to have enough time and energy to focus on creating art, instead of feeling done for the day when she got home from work.
This is Karen’s first time showing her work at the Corner Gallery, though she has been in many other galleries over the past years. She has played with a variety of media, including ceramics and jewelry made of ceramic, in addition to painting. And for ten years after her retirement she taught art in after-school programs at both Nokomis and Oak Manor Schools. When Karen was very young she worked as a professional seamstress- making dresses, men’s suits and doing clothing alterations. She even knitted, but says emphatically, “I’m glad that’s all over.”
“This show will be mostly my current work in oils and acrylics,” Karen says. “It has no theme, and will include a wide variety of subjects- still lifes, animals, and abstracts. Whenever I get bored I do something different.”
Another aspect of Karen’s show will be seven or eight pieces done by a young student of hers. Karen describes Mia Cortina as her prodigy, who comes to do art with her on a weekly basis. “Mia is basically performing at high school level or above in all subjects, even though she is only in the seventh grade,” Karen explains. “We work together to have fun and experiment with art… if Mia likes the assignments I give her she does them, or if she’s not interested we figure out something else to do.”
Karen continues. “I’ve taught a few other groups of kids since retirement. I want to teach them that art is accessible, because as an adult I’ve had so many people say kind of wistfully “I wish I could do art. But I believe that everyone is an artist. It’s just a way of expressing the unique parts of yourself. You can do whatever you feel like doing. That’s what I love about working with Mia- She always surprises me. She does stuff that I never would have thought of.”
The Corner Gallery is located at 201 S State street in Ukiah.
Mendocino County Art Association
Elizabeth Raybee, mosaics and more
Well known mosaic artist Elizabeth Raybee takes advantage of the exhibit space to show her hats. “These hats are lovingly hand-crafted using natural, time honored methods. Much of the wool is from sheep raised on my form. The wool is carefully cleaned, combed and carded, then hand-dyed, simmering it in a broth using natural, wild harvested mushrooms, lichen, moss nd other primarily natural ingredients for the incredible colors you see here. After rinsing and drying, the wool is hand spun using the drop spindle method. The yarn is then crocheted into the beautiful hand-crafted items offered.” And of course, there are mosaics. The sea horse mosaic will become part of a very artistic mosaic sidewalk in Fort Bragg.
Corner Gallery Guest Artist
Michael Eich Abstract Painter
Redwood Valley painter, joins the Corner Gallery again this month.
Today, I still like to make space for painting, to initiate a storyline with a certain color followed by texturing, collaging, and whatever presents itself in the process. This offers a perspective and balance that I can sometimes embrace for a more harmonious outlook in this troubled world.
If you’d like to see more of my work, you can reach me at (707) 391-7915 or write to michaeleich12@gmail.com.”.
Painting by Michael Eich (below)
Corner Gallery Young Artist Trinity Thurner
Corner Gallery Young Artist December 2025-January 2026
Trinity Thurner was the first person who came to mind when college art instructor Jazzminh Moore was asked to recommend an artist for the Corner Gallery’s upcoming Young Artist’s wall. “I have had Trinity in several art classes at Mendocino College,” Jazzminh elaborates. “She was a real delight to have in Figure Drawing because an exceptional level of craftsmanship would often be paired with some unexpected macabre alteration of the figure. I never knew what to expect.”
Trinity is a recent immigrant to Mendocino County. Hailing from the Southern California land of endless beaches, she moved recently to Redwood Valley. “I always enjoyed the cloudy and rainy days at the beach,” she says, “because that was when it was less packed.” It’s possible that Trinity’s preference for wild weather is linked to her love of Surrealism and the macabre as a form of artistic expression.
Trinity’s favorite artists are all well-known Surrealists, two of them women (which was unusual for the time). Remedios Varo was one of the few acknowledged female surrealist painters of the first half of the 20th century, and Mary Leonora Carrington was a British and Mexican Surrealist painter who lived most of her adult life in Mexico City.
Contemporary filmmaker and artist David Lynch has also inspired Trinity, with his representations of the human figure and a decided leaning towards the dark world of Surrealism. “Artists such as David Lynch have inspired me to go further with both realism and surrealism,” Trinity says. “My favorite piece in my show I call ‘The Council’, which is a whimsical subject that I portrayed darkly… like David Lynch might have done.
“My favorite medium as an artist is oil paint,” Trinity continues. “Paint in general is great… and I will use acrylic and water color as well as oil, but I really enjoy oil paint the best. I now go to Mendocino Community College where I take art classes and plan on pursuing a career in that direction. I’ve always been into painting and photography, but I got more into art after taking classes in college. I haven’t gotten into ceramics yet, and am always curious about glazes and kilns… so that would be an art medium that I would be interested in trying.
And do enjoy our website, cornergalleryukiah.com kept up-to-date by member artist Elliot Little.
Art Center Ukiah, your Community Gallery
announces upcoming exhibits in 2025
We’d love to have you sponsor an exhibit
January 2026 Calling Them home – art in response to the MMIP (Missing and Murdered Indigenous People) crisis
February 2026 Beauty in the Beast – Portray any animal that moves you to create art
March 2026 A Thousand Shades of Green – Green, the color of Spring, or what else?
April 2026 Starry Night Use the Van Gogh painting to inspire your own work
May 2026 Ukiah High School Photography Show – a tradition for 17 years
sponsored by Philip Gary and Donna Mecca
June 2026 All Are Welcome Here – How does your art express DEIA, (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility)?
July, August, September, October and November are all open. Any ideas you’d like to offer? Tell us at acuentries@yahoo.com.
