First Friday Oct. 3 and Open Studios: October 11-12, October 18-19

Above image: Margaret Niven, "Interruption", 2025, collage on canvas, 36"x30"

First Friday at PATT October 3 from 6 pm-9 pm

Come and join us on October 3, First Friday at PATT. Member artists Johanna Atkinson and Margaret Niven will each show a preview of their work which will be featured at Open Studios in October. In other parts of the county PATT members Hedwig Heerschop and Cynthia Siegel are participating in Open Studios at their respective studios.

Open Studios at PATT October 11-12 and 18-19

PATT member Margaret Niven: Open Studios Artist #234. October 11th, 12th, 18th and 19th. The Tannery, PATT Studio 107, 1060 River Street, Santa Cruz.

Margaret Niven studied art at UC Berkeley, earning a MFA in 1982. The following year she moved to Santa Cruz, and she has kept a studio here ever since. Alongside her studio practice, she serves on the Santa Cruz County Arts Commission, now as chair.

Margaret is a lifelong artist and recently retired art teacher, with over thirty years of experience sharing the joy of drawing, painting and printmaking with students of all ages. Though she worked in many media, printmaking has always held a special place in her heart—its layers, techniques, textures and the surprise when it comes off the press for the first time keeps her wanting more.

Click on an image to get a full view.

Margaret Niven continues to work with images and inspiration from wild landscapes. Along with work in traditional printmaking techniques Margaret is showing new mixed media works that combine linocuts and oil paint.

PATT member Johanna Atkinson: Open Studios Artist # 235. October 11th, 12th, 18th and 19th. The Tannery Courtyard, 1060 River Street, Santa Cruz.

Johanna Atkinson received a BFA in printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute. She has been a Tannery Artist and resident for 16 years and a member of PATT (Printmakers at the Tannery) for 11 years. She is a multimedia artist. She is currently working on a series of Santa Cruz Views.

Click on image to get full view
Johanna Atkinson exhibits her love of local beauty with her Santa Cruz series. She has created this body of work combining mediums and techniques such as photography and painting with an encaustic finish.

Elsewhere in Santa Cruz County:

PATT member Hedwig Heerschop is participating in Open Studios at her studio: 9083 Soquel Dr., Aptos Suite #2. Artist #33. October 4th, 5th, 18th and 19th.

Dutch-American Hedwig M. Heerschop is a photographer, educator, curator and printmaker who lives and works in Santa Cruz County, California. Hedwig graduated with a BFA and MFA in photography from San José State University . Currently, Hedwig divides her time as Exhibit Coordinator at Pajaro Valley Arts in Watsonville, and working in her studios in Aptos and Santa Cruz. She is a member of the Printmakers at The Tannery, at the Tannery Arts Center, Santa Cruz.

Hedwig works with alternative photographic processes, including historic 19th century printing techniques, mixed media, and handmade books. As a printmaker she uses different techniques such as; monotype printing, drypoint etchings and photopolymer/aquatint etching.

Hedwig Heerschop uses 19th-century non-silver printing techniques—Cyanotype and Gum Bichromate—by hand-applying light-sensitive emulsions onto watercolor paper. The result is a highly archival, one-of-a-kind print, rich with texture, depth, and the human touch—qualities she believes bring a quiet resonance to the work.

PATT member Cynthia Siegel is participating in Open Studios. Her studio address: 231 Trevethan Ave, Santa Cruz. Artist #176, October 11th, 12th, 18th and 19th.

Sculptor, potter and 2014-2015 Fulbright-Nehru Scholar to India, Ms. Siegel has presented lectures and workshops in India, Israel, Taiwan, China, New Zealand, and the U.S. Recently, her sculpture was featured at the 2025 Monterey Biennale, and she received the Hambidge Center’s Bill Nixon Distinguished Fellowship in Ceramics. She taught ceramics at Foothill College and Cabrillo College for many years. Ms. Siegel lives and works in Santa Cruz, CA.

Much of Siegel's inspiration for her current Bristlecone Series comes from the ancient bristlecone pine tree groves in the White Mountains near her former home in Bishop. Traveling through the temples of South India sparked an evolution of Siegel’s work. She began to focus on the expressive possibilities of the figure, exploring how the inner workings of thought, imagination, and longing manifest externally on the figurative form.

In the making of her pottery, she sought to blend the cultural and natural worlds, inspired by both the rugged local landscapes surrounding her home, and her travel experiences in Asia.
CREATED BY
Catharina Marlowe