Fill your weekend with garage sales, art and wine

Have any plans this weekend? If not, we’re hosting our annual Parkmead Garage Sale this Saturday at 8:00 a.m.!

Neighbors all over Parkmead have cleaned out their closets, garages and attics to put items together for this awesome event. Grab a map and look for the mailbox balloons to identify which homes are participating. Lilac and Newell (west of Trader Joe’s) are entry streets to the neighborhood.

If past years are any indication, there will be plenty of outdoors equipment, kids toys and clothes, furniture, jewelry and kitchen utensils. If you’re looking to stock up or upgrade for cheap, this is the place to be in Walnut Creek on Saturday!

And as a bonus, the Walnut Creek Art & Wine Festival takes place all weekend, starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday! You can swing by the Parkmead Garage Sale, fill your arms with thrifty finds, and then wander to Heather Farms for a glass of wine in the sun.

Can’t beat that!

Cut Up/Cut Out at Bedford Gallery is can’t-miss art

The Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center usually hosts some awesome exhibits. I’ve been to quite a few over the years, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen something as mesmerizing as Cut Up/Cut Out, which is on display now through March 5.

The exhibit features 56 contemporary artists from around the world whose artwork is made from cutting and piercing paper and other materials. The detail in some of the pieces is truly astonishing, as is the creativity in cutting and pasting certain parts of texts together to make something entirely different.

You can see a slideshow of some photos below, but it really won’t do the artwork justice. It’s one of those displays that must be seen to be believed. I’d highly recommend going to check it out when you have an hour free in the next month or so! Pro tip: If you go on the first Tuesday of February or March, you can get in free (but donations are always encouraged).

Art Town: The Reader

I love this utility box art on Locust St. and Cypress St. by Ruth Kolman Brophy. She is an Austrian artist living in the Bay Area. As you can clearly see by this beautiful mural, she is very influenced by working with bold colors. What a great piece!

Art Town: Laws of Nature

One of my favorite utility box art projects is on the corner of Cypress and N. Main St. in downtown Walnut Creek near Bonanza; it’s called “Laws of Nature,” and was done by Netsanet Tesfay.

Information on the artist and the piece are scarce, but I love the childish, cartoonish lion overlapping with a passage from C.S. Lewis’ collection of signature spiritual classics.

Art Town: Tree Art!

You may not always notice some of the public art in Walnut Creek, especially when it blends in with your surroundings, or is tucked away on a less heavily-walked part of downtown. The latter was true for me, until I stumbled upon a really cool tree across from the creek next to Maria Maria.

Check out the creativity that went into creating this little scene, and allowing a nice place to sit down. I couldn’t find any title or artist information, but this piece is awesome! I especially love the quotes on the bench!

Art Town: I’m Your Puppet

Walnut Creek has been doing a really cool utility box painting project for a few years, and they’ve recently changed some of their art for 2017. You can see more information on the program and recent additions here, but we’ll be including some in Art Town moving forward.

This one is called “I’m Your Puppet” by Jennifer Bain and covers the utility box on the corner of Newell and Main. Check it out!

Anthropologie in Walnut Creek is irresistible

Last week, I walked into the new Anthropologie location in Walnut Creek just to check it out. The store, which moved to the old Barnes & Noble building on S. Main, is a perfect combination of funk, style and art. A few hundred dollars later, I was walking out with bags full of must-have, unique jewelry and a wonderful spiced candle that reminded me of Fall.

But it was more than just the items that made Anthropologie irresistible. Walking through is truly an experience made for all the senses. There are shopping options, browsing options and relaxation options. One of the three largest Anthropologies stores in the nation, this store immediately hits you with a floral scene upon entering, with a wide range of succulents and potted plants. There is a plethora of candles, an outdoor terrace with plants and furniture, a bedding section and, of course, tons of clothes and art. Knobs, aprons, dishes and cake stands filled the kitchen section, and I was surprised to find a bridal department, too!

It was like shopping in your living room (of course, all the men were sitting around looking at their phones while the ladies shopped). Some items are new to the Walnut Creek location, such as the shoe department. As you saw in the slideshow, there are even zebras for sale (kinda…)! Go check it out when you get a chance!

Art Town: Geologica

If you’re strolling down North Main in Walnut Creek, you might wander right past a really cool piece of art. Surely, you recognize Geologica, the glittering half-rock fountain piece in front of Wells Fargo. But have you taken the time to actually look at it?

The piece, created by husband and wife artist team Wowhaus, was created in 2012 using ceramic and glass tiles. They designed it to change with the light, weather and seasons so that every time you walk by it, the look is slightly altered. You’re never supposed to see the same thing twice!

The mosaic patterns flicker and change in the water. Wowhaus likes to play with narrative to help understand the communities we live in, and puts that into their work as well. Other pieces they’ve done reside in places like Emeryville, Oakland and San Francisco. They have another piece coming to Walnut Creek soon!

Give it an extra look next time you’re downtown and maybe you’ll notice that it’s different from every angle.

Art Town: Bike Watchers

Walnut Creek isn’t just becoming a hot spot for dining options and to live – it’s also quickly filling up with quirky, mesmerizing art! That’s probably because city ordinance says 1% of any new construction project budget must be dedicated to erecting public art or donated to a public art fund.

Check out this new piece next to the Teleferic/Rooftop/Vineyard Vines building:

Take a stroll around town, you will be amazed at all the art there is to see … one just needs to be observant. Enjoy!

“Flux” on display at Bedford

Sometimes you just have to get out of the office. Our Walnut Creek Lifestyle Group decided to take a little outing to the Bedford Gallery for its new exhibit (free to the public each first Tuesday of every month!), which preceded our meeting over beers at ØL around the corner.

The exhibit on display through the end of August is called “Flux” by artist Crystal Wagner.

The colorful art installation was built from chicken wire and disposable tablecloths and takes up almost all of the gallery space.

One of the most interesting things about the artist is that she does not pre-plan her installations; she looks at the space available and creates a twisting shape to fit it.

Wagner, according to the accompanying information at the exhibit, intentionally builds installations where the viewer is overshadowed by an enormous sculpture. She wants the viewer to be surrounded by bright colors and feel as if they are dwarfed by all the surrounding textures.

Her work is anchored in her anxiety about the compromised state of the natural world but is designed to bring joy to her audience. The piece was really quite remarkable.

Check out the timelapse from the Bedford website below, as well as all the pictures my team took.

Also, keep an eye out for that ØL blog next Tuesday!