••• The pedestrian tunnel linking Coast Village Circle and Butterfly Lane has reopened. The entrances are a bit municipal for my taste, and the inside doesn’t look much different, but nearby residents must be relieved to have it back.
••• Opening September 30 at Sullivan Goss: “the first solo exhibition in five years for Ojai-based contemporary painter, John Nava. This exhibition marks a return to floral still life, a subject that helped build the artist’s reputation as one of the country’s most important realist painters. Over the past two decades the artist has also become nationally renowned for his innovation with jacquard tapestry, [and] recently the artist began making his first works combining his specialties of still life and tapestry, and this will be the first solo show to feature the new floral tapestries. In addition to the florals, Nava has created four iconic portraits of Anacapa Island.”
••• Speaking of Ojai artists, the town has seen a huge influx of people from L.A., some of whom are artists, making this year’s Ojai Studio Artists self-guided tour (October 8-10) the largest in the organization’s history, with more than 70 artists opening their workspaces to visitors. What I love best about these kind of tours is that you get to check out a bunch of fascinating spaces (as in the videos below). The event is free, but you have to register. And if you’re not sure which ones to put on your itinerary, a show up now at the Ojai Valley Museum includes pieces by all the artists.
••• And while I was in Ojai the other day, I peeked over the construction fence at El Roblar, as the former Oaks at Ojai complex will be known when it reopens as a 50-room hotel. It’s shooting for 2024, according to an L.A. Times article from May.
••• Fans of Jeff Shelton have another reason to visit the current Thomas Reynolds Gallery show that features art by architects: a number of “Shop Dog” table lamps.
••• My husband and I struggle with what to do with visitors who have been already here more than once or twice. Recently, we tried a Celebration Cruises private charter of an electric boat called Whisper, and it was a hit. The boat, which can handle six passengers, was super quiet and in impeccable condition, and the captain took us around the harbor, out past Stearns Wharf, alongside East Beach, and back. (We opted for the 90-minute option for $189 instead of the hour-long one for $129.) Next time we’ll go later in the day and bring wine.
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