A Visit to Studios on the Park: The Art Hub Of Paso Robles

Studios on the Park is the brain child of Anne Laddon, who had the vision for a home for a group of art studios open to the public where people could observe artists at work and interact with them, as well as buying what they had for sale.

Since I discovered it in 2009, I've been a frequent visitor and have gotten to know several of the artists. For the last few months my health issues kept me away most of the time. I did get there once on February 13, and yesterday I finally got a chance to drop in again. I saw immediately there had been a lot of   changes, though there were still some familiar faces around. One of them was Anne's. You can see her in the back, middle, talking to a visitor in the work area of the studio she now shares with Tamara Thornton. Please click on the photo to enlarge it.

Studios on the Park found a home in a former auto supply store right across from City Park on Pine Street. It is huge, and all the studios and galleries are entered from a large central area which houses the current exhibit. I will cover that in another post. The studio Anne and Tamara share is the first one to the left as you enter Studios on the Park. It is one of the larger studios, but like most, it has an exhibit area at the front near the entrance and a work area at the back. Tamara's paintings are featured on the left wall as you walk in, and Anne's are at the right. I took this photo of Anne and Tamara in the studio area in front of the back wall, each standing in front of her own painting.

Tamara specializes in painting dogs, and she might be willing to paint your dog as a special order. She also paints pigs. This is her wall in the studio. Remember, you can enlarge any of these photos by clicking on them.

Below is Anne's wall. You can see her style is much different, and her subjects are usually different, too. As Anne says, the two have agreed that Anne won't paint dogs (except she painted her own dog, Smudge, previously) and Tamara won't paint cows. But they will both paint pigs. Anne paints landscapes of our Central Coast, still life, and the animals found on farms, but she's not limited to that. All the artists here keep growing and evolving as they try new subjects and styles.

I will continue to introduce you to artists in the studios in future posts. There is no way one can more than scratch the surface in a single post. You can get some advice from Anne Laddon and other current and former resident artists at Studios on the Park on How Artists Actively Promote Their Work, as well as more information on the history of Studios on the Park. .

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