​Maureen McGarry is a watercolor painter who primarily paints local landscapes. Also a teacher, she has offered classes to people of all ages over the past 40 years, primarily teaching art to children in many of the local schools.    

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​Donvieve is a multi-dimensional artist/educator.  She creates masks that challenge our personal barriers and speak to our inner spaces.  Another longtime resident of Humboldt County, she is best known as a mask-maker.  She has conducted many art workshops, including in other countries.  

Our gallery hosts over 20 local artists every day, but during the two weekends of North Coast Open Studios, you get a chance to see some members working their magic right at the gallery. Check out the (updated!) schedule below, and visit anytime to chat with our members.

​Lida Penkova has gained fame in Humboldt County for her unique art pieces. Her unusual process of linocut with colors added by acrylics and colored pencils always tells a story, sometimes from mythology, sometimes from real-life moments of a Mexican market or a surf day at a Trinidad beach, and sometimes from her own imagination. This month she is focusing her work on October's Day of the Dead.

Penkova, born in Czechoslovakia and living in countries around the world, was deeply affected as an artist by sixteen years of living in rural mountains of Mexico where she encountered folk art. The style she has developed is perfectly suited to illustrate the many ways that the dead are honored in October's Mexican tradition.


​Her lively scenes show altars adorned with flowers, candles, favorite dishes and drinks for deceased loved ones, families visiting the graves of relatives to honor them, the sugar skulls and skeleton toys sold in outdoor markets and at street stalls, marigold flowers in vases or spread out on pathways or hanging on strings to embellish homes and streets for the remembrance of those who are gone before us.

Donvieve creates amazingly lifelike masks that “gently challenge personal barriers and speak to people's inner places.” She uses only natural and recycled materials such as leather, fibers, metal, clay, and wood to achieve her three-dimensional expressions. “I am committed through my work, to build a deep appreciation of our connection to all things and cultivate awareness of how we each impact our planet and care for one another.”

When Donvieve traveled to countries such as Bali, Mexico, Central America and Europe, she worked with native mask makers, developing deep appreciation for the art of varied exotic cultures. Donvieve generously shares her skills and her ecological consciousness with students in a variety of venues, from high school to university and with private organizations such as the Ink People. 
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When teaching, Donvieve works to help her students become more interested and sensitive to different cultural groups and to what each group considers beautiful and valuable as they observe the world around them.

About the art of Donvieve:
   "Multi-dimensional artist/educator' creates masks that reach across our personal barriers and speak to the landscape of our beings. Each piece tenderly touches areas of inner strength, introspection, and that secret place of dreams that lies within each of us.