City a Canvas for Golden Gate Art Club Artists

By Kevin Davis

Sixteen dynamic, practiced, humble bohemians of wildly diverse age, class and ethnicity are creating art in the motivating meadows of city parks.

The seeds of this home-grown art group were planted five years ago at the Sharon Art Studio, the historic, fanciful stone building in Sharon Meadow at Golden Gate Park. Keiko Suzuki, Linda Townsend and Thelma Murakami met in a drawing class at the studio and proceeded to get together on their own in preparation for a working tour of Venice and Tuscany with their watercolor teacher.

The now-named Golden Gate Art Club (G.G.A.C.) presents groundbreaking and lucrative group shows at the Presidio Alliance Community Center, which stages month-long rotating exhibits on Ruger Street near the Lombard Street gate. Noteworthy happenings in the group's history were the germinal exhibits at the Tenderloin's swank Scone Works Cafe and in the lobby of the Moffitt Hospital at UCSF.

The group books its own exhibitions. Popular locations for the artists to explore their craft include the Marin Art and Garden Center in San Anselmo, Crissy Field Visitors Center, Lake Merced, the Cliff House, Embarcadero, Golden Gate Park's Stow Lake, Arboretum, and Dahlia and Rose gardens and a sheltered corner at the Fort Mason Community Garden.

"With people stopping to view us paint, I'd feel on the spot if I was working alone," says Kelcie Tinker, a member of the group. "Golden Gate Park is centrally located, so it tends to be one of our stand-bys, but we also paint landscapes, cityscapes and people."

Most of the time members of the group paint with watercolors. The appeal of watercolors, as opposed to other pigment mediums such as oil, acrylic, chalk, or crayon, is its portability, non-toxicity and fast drying time, unlike gooey pastes.

But watercolor is a harder medium to master because, as Townsend explains, "Its harder to work out mistakes. You can't cover over with opaque paints the way that you can with oils. You have to let the paint do its own thing. Sometimes, though, accidents turn out to be good ones."

The chemistry of watercolor pigments has come a long way because nowadays the colors do not fade.

The members also share art world information, such as textbooks on technique, upcoming competitions or where to buy the cheapest supplies. Heavyweight 100-percent rag paper, which does a good job absorbing watercolor pigments, is a necessity.

Murakami, formerly a dietician, says, "We have an interest that's more than superficial because you really have to apply yourself. You can't just fool around to pass the time."

Club member Marilyn Warden agrees.

"We have hundreds of dollars worth of equipment. I own three easels," she said.

Group member Myrna Yee, a former social worker, knitted fingerless mittens for the members of the art club to keep their hands warm while painting on cold, foggy days. During the rainy season, club members can be discovered sketching still-lifes in a cafe, home or museum.

The biggest challenge, club members say, is knowing when to stop a painting.

"Jackson Pollack went too far. He didn't know when to say 'enough,'" says Warden. "Although its not unusual for me to take out an old work, look at it, rework it and recompose it, she adds."

When describing the benefits of interacting with a community of artists words like "inspiration," "incentive," "bonding," "friendship" and "fun" surface often. Members speak of the timeless appeal of creating one's art among peers.

"It can be lonely working by yourself. We counteract that. There's an energy in a group," according to Townsend, the articulate, cheery spokesperson for the group. "Its stimulating to talk to other artists about your work."

Tinker agrees.

"We don't have to talk to each other. We work independently and quietly but then we come together and share and critique each other," she said.

Each member plays a vital role in the G.G.A.C. organism. Min Marguleas, 88-years-young, acts as the inspiration for the group. Warden caters the group's gallery openings. No wine-in-a-box and clammy Brie wheel for their audience of admirers, though. Warden and Tinker prepare a smorgasbord of fresh dishes like foccacia bread and chickens wings elegantly displayed alongside elaborate floral arrangements.

Yee, aside from knitting mittens, acts as the group's web mistress, scheduling shows and e-mailing everyone the upcoming work sites.

And then there's Ed Goldstein, who recently achieved professional, mainstream success. His latest group show participation is an acrylic portrait at a juried exhibition called Elder Arts Celebration at the City College Visual Art Gallery.

To illustrate the confidence-building power of group support, someone provides an anecdote about the robust and hearty Goldstein, who at one time so disparaged his talents that he resisted even framing his finished art works.

Goldstein, 80, who in past careers dealt and crafted rocks and minerals of a different kind as an entrepreneur of fine jewelry, attends classes at the 37th Avenue Senior Center and at the Maritime Museum.

Currently, the group is brainstorming a more modern name for themselves, weighing in with suggestions as "Dizzy Daubers," and "Artward Bound."

The group is also looking for like-minded artists.

"We're happy to meet new members," Townsend said. "Doing it is the only way to get better."

For more information, call the Golden Gate Art Club at 681-2692.