Christin Coy ... A Lifetime of Art

MALT - Ranches & Rolling Hills Art Show

2011-05-16T18:04:00.001-07:00

May is here and on the 21st and 22nd the Ranches & Rolling Hills Art Show will return to the little town of Nicasio in West Marin. This week some of us will be raising panels, mounting lights, and hanging all of this years new crop of wonderful paintings depicting life on the ranches of West Marin. It's always exciting to see all the art work as it's unwrapped and labeled. Next comes the overwhelming task of arranging the paintings to be hung on the blank panels, something that Arturo Tello of the Oak Group has mastered over the past 12 years. With a lot of patience and a good eye for what will look best where, he walks the floor moving paintings around and arranging them in the best order. Then the hanging crew comes in and we measure and hang each painting with the correct height and spacing, a daunting task at first until we get used to the technique. Within 3 days the old Druid Hall is transformed once again into a beautiful art gallery.

This year I painted "Lucy", a Jersey calf from the Gale Ranch in Chileno Valley. I also will be showing a painting that might just put a smile on your face when you see it. "Milly and the Kids" are six curious Nubian goats lined up next to each other checking you out across the field. When the painting was sitting on my easel it was always fun to come into my studio and find them waiting for me.

The weather forecast is looking good for this week end, sunny but not too hot. We are expecting a big crowd of visitors to once again fill the art gallery and hopefully take home some of their favorite paintings. And in doing so, help benefit Marin Agricultural Land Trust so that they can continue preserving the precious farms land of West Marin. Hope to see you all there!

For more information on the event click here: http://malt.org/programs/sale.php

"PAINT MARIN" art show - a benefit for Marin Open Space Trust & Marin County Open Space District

2010-11-01T21:35:00.000-07:00

On October 22nd the BayWood Artists held their opening reception for "Paint Marin" at the Bay Model in Sausalito. The gallery was packed with guests admiring over 130 newly created paintings of Marin County's open space painted by the eleven members of the BayWood Artists. This year the proceeds of the art sales, 50%, will go to benefit MOST and MCOSD to help reclaim and enhance endangered species habitat at the Ring Mountain Open Space Preserve in Tiburon.

"Paint Marin" will be open free to the public Tuesdays through Saturdays until November 20th, with the exception of Sat. Nov. 13th. Please make sure you stop by to visit this beautiful collection of outstanding original landscape paintings. We hope you will find a painting that you will enjoy having in your home or office. You will always feel good knowing that your purchase helped to protect the magnificent open space surrounding us here in Marin County.

Artwork may be purchased by credit card or check simply by picking up a "How to purchase art" form at the gallery and calling the phone number noted. You will be able to pick up your artwork on November 20th at the Bay Model in time for the Holidays.

http://www.baywoodartists.com

MALT - Ranches & Rolling Hills Show Update

2010-05-13T22:31:00.000-07:00

For the past two days a group of us have been transforming the Nicasio Druids Hall from a dark plain looking and dimly lit space into a fantastic art gallery... "Ranches & Rolling Hills". The newly erected, well lit panels are filled with wonderful images of West Marin ranch land in a variety of styles, media, and sizes. It's a very magical transformation that takes a lot of hard work and dedication on behalf of a group of artists and MALT staff and volunteers. MALT SHOW INFO

To me, this week of show preparation is something I look forward to every year. I get to work closely with my fellow artists, some of whom I only see once a year since they are part of the Oak Group in the Santa Barbara area. We all work as a team, building walls, cleaning and touching up, hanging lights, organizing and hanging the paintings, labeling, etc., etc. It all makes us feel very lucky to be part of such a great community of artists and to be part of the "Ranches & Rolling Hills" Art Exhibit which raises funds to help permanently preserve Marin County's farmland.

Today I received an email from the Poncia's who own the ranch in Tomales where I have painted many of their sheep over the past years. They told me that "Angel", which I painted for this years show, just had her own lamb two days ago. His name is Angelo, and you can see their picture below.

MALT - Ranches & Rolling Hills Show Coming in May

2010-04-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

Spring is here with what seems like endless rain storms with some sun in between. It all made it a bit more challenging this year to visit the ranches to do our painting for the upcoming Ranches and Rolling Hills art show on May 15th and 16th. But, landscape painters manage somehow to brave the wind and rain in order to accomplish their goal, to paint inspiring views on the MALT ranches that are located in beautiful West Marin.

My first painting this year is one of Angel, a white lamb that Al Poncia's mom raised as her pet sheep. Angel was trained much like a dog, walking in and out of the house with a little bell around her neck. I guess you could say that I have a real soft spot for painting sheep...

I visited the Gale ranch in Chileno Valley last Fall in order to do some paintings when the grasses were golden rather than spring green. As a painter I find that I prefer the warm colors of the golden grasses as you can see in this painting with the Gale's flock of grazing sheep.

On Monday May 10th all the artists will be bringing this years crop of paintings to the MALT office in Pt. Reyes Station and in the following week the show will go up once again in the humble Druids Hall in Nicasio. By Satuday morning the place will have been transformed into an incredible art gallery filled with amazing paintings of West Marin's MALT ranches.

You won't want to miss this art show...you'll surely walk away with a new appreciation for the inspiring beauty of West Marin's farmland, and maybe you'll take a part of it with you home in the form of an amazing painting created by one of the talented artists in this years Ranches and Rolling Hills Art Show.

For more information... Click Here: MALT - Ranches & Rolling Hills Show

2010-04-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

Imperfect Birds by Anne Lamott

by Christin Coy on 4/11/2010 8:42:52 PM
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Last Fall I was contacted by a publisher in New York asking if they could use my image "Lucas Valley Glow" on the cover of a new book due to be released in the spring of 2010. I was then told that the book, Imperfect Birds, was written by the well established Marin County author Anne Lamott. I was truly delighted since she lives only 15 minutes from my studio where I created the painting. This is the first time that one of my paintings has been used as cover art for a book, and how appropriate thatImperfect Birds takes place in the same county where I live and work.

One day recently I was out hiking on a local trail and I recognized Anne up ahead hiking with a friend. I walked up and introduced myself (we had not yet met). I told her how happy I was that she and the publisher had selected my painting and how much I was looking forward to reading her new novel. Anne said that she would send me a copy. The following week I received two copies in the mail, one with a great inscription that said this was her favorite cover of all the books she has published. It was very exciting to finally be holding a copy of the book and seeing my painting on the cover.

Anne Lamott will be at two local author events this month: Mill Valley Depot Book Store on April 12th at 7pm and at Book Passage in Corte Madera on April 18th at 7pm .

Bolinas Museum's 21 Annual Mini Show opens

2009-11-22T12:57:00.000-08:00

This weekend the 21st Annual Mini Show opened at the Bolinas Museum with over 200 small scale pieces of art, 6"x6" maximum dimensions including frames. Every year over 80 artists are invited to show their creations in the museum's art show fundraiser. I have been a participant for over 10 years, and every year I look forward to creating my smallest paintings of the year, 3"x4" and 3"x5".

All the artwork is beautifully displayed and you will want to spend some time looking at each and every one. Maybe you will find the perfect little piece of art to give to that special person on your holiday gift list.

Bring your kids, they will have fun picking out their favorite painting and taking a walk on the beach afterwards.

The show will be open through December 30th. Please visit the museum website for more information.

http://www.bolinasmuseum.org

Holton Studio Show - "A Heaven in the Eye"

2009-11-17T22:01:00.000-08:00

The opening for the current landscape show at Holton Studio, A Heaven in the Eye, took place last Saturday, Nov. 14th. The show features 7 Northern California landscape painters: Kevin Courter, Christin Coy, Mark Farina, Paul Kratter, Terry Miura, Robin Moore, Brian Mark Taylor. Tim Holton has assembled a strong show of landscape paintings, all beautifully framed in his Craftsman style frames, each one custom built to suite the painting it surrounds. The gallery is open daily and is located in Emeryville. Please visit the website for more information. http:/www.holtonframes.com

Marin County Fair - Plein Air Event

2009-07-03T09:57:00.000-07:00

Marin County Fair - Plein Air Painting Event
by Christin Coy on 7/3/2009 12:23:21 AM
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The Marin County Fair opened yesterday with beautiful weather and a big crowd. It was my first time participating in the Marin Arts Council's Annual Plein Air Event held at the fair grounds. We had an orientation meeting and the official stamping of the canvases at 10 A.M. followed by a group photo of all the participating artists, 35 strong.

Next we all scattered to find our inspiring painting locations. Wow, what an overwhelming place the Fair
was. There were bright colors bursting out everywhere, a real feast for the eyes! I went hunting for the perfect spot in the shade where I could paint some of the brightly striped tents with all the venders selling their wares. It took some walking around until I found the spot that met all my criteria. It was under a tree in the amusement park area with lots of kids everywhere. The first day of the fair kids under 12 got in free. Several of the young kids came over to see what I was doing and many of them said that they also loved to make art. I was having a great time in the midst of all the excited crowds, it really felt like summer!

I finished my first painting, then took a break for lunch. It was 2 P.M. and I had time for another attempt before we had to turn in the paintings to be judged at 5 P.M. I decided to stay put since I was all set up and still had shade from the little tree I huddled under. This time I painted a long horizontal with yellow, red and blue striped tents. When I was done, I really needed a break and to sit down and put my sunglasses back on. My eyes were pretty tired after hours of painting.

All the artists lined up their paintings inside the exhibition hall and left the judges to their business of selecting their favorites. After an hour they announced the winners, starting with merit awards and so on. To my unexpected surprise the last painting I completed, "Red, Yellow and Blue", won 2nd place!
The evening was topped off with some of the most spectacular fire works display that we had ever seen.

If you go to the Marin County Fair this 4th of July week-end make sure you stop in at the Exhibition Hall that has all the flower and plant displays. In amongst the plants you'll see lots of newly completed plein air paintings on display. Have fun!

Plein Air Painting at Lake Tahoe

2009-06-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

In mid June Richard and I spent five days visiting our friend Michele deBraganca in Carnelian Bay, Lake Tahoe. We painted together along the shores of the lake with spectacular views.

Every day we checked the weather and the prediction was for scattered thunder storms. We seemed to luck out though and only had a little rain shower with some hail one of the days. The skies were filled with great clouds of every size and shape which made for interesting subject matter. Blue skies can be so boring when you are a landscape painter. All the mountain tops were still covered with snow which made me think that I was painting in my home land of Norway. The cool, cloudy weather made it even more like being there. I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

We also spent one day painting in Squaw Valley with our friend Andy Skaff, a local painter who creates magnificent paintings of aspen trees. We will be painting with Michele, Andy and 30 other artists in the second week of September at the North Tahoe Plein Air event at North Star. Mark your calenders and come up for a visit. The show will be held in conjunction with a Wine Festival that same week end.

Landscape Oil Painting Class in Marin, CA

2009-06-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

Christin at her Easel

May 1, 2009 began a new chapter in my professional life with my move into a new studio at the Isabel Cook Center in San Anselmo, CA. It was originally a large classroom in a local school, but now it is a community building that houses non-profits and other artist studios.

Part of my studio is my working space and part is an open area that I will be using for teaching intermediate level artists that wish to paint landscapes in oil and want to be part of a mentoring situation on a regular basis. I will only be accepting six students so that personal attention is assured.

Having painted in Marin for more than 15 years, I have grown to know the landscape here intimately. Click here if you want further information. http://christincoy.com/workshops

It's "Ranches & Rolling Hills" time...

2009-04-16T12:32:00.001-07:00

It's once again "Ranches and Rolling Hills" time of the year for me. As soon as Spring shows it's face with those iridescent green hills and fields, I know it's time to start entering my ranch and critter painting mode. I love the opportunity MALT presents me to paint animals once again. I get to visit some of my favorite ranches and try to capture some images of cows and sheep that will inspire me to paint them.

This year I made a visit to the Poncia Ranch in Tomales and enjoyed catching up on the latest animal news there. Al told me he rescued a new born calf he found in the field and decided to name the pure black calf Obama. He said they call him Obaba's Mama! Al has a flock of sheep also and last year my painting of "Torpedo" made headlines at the show. This year I have focused on portraying more of the flock and enjoy painting the sheep together as they graze peacefully across the Poncia Ranch hillsides.

I also made a visit to my favorite ranch, the Gale Ranch, in Cheleno Valley. Sally has 7 pregnant sheep grazing in her pasture, and yes I was inspired to paint this painting of the "Three Pregnant Sisters". They have since had their lambs, 2 each!