Gail Salituri's painting of Ceago Vinegarden in Nice. Photo courtesy of Gail Salituri.

UPPER LAKE – Lake County Wine Studio will host a wine tasting with Obsidian Ridge Vineyards this week.

The event will take place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, at the studio, located at the studio, 9505 Main St. in Upper Lake.

Lake County Wine Studio will pour a $10 sampler of their much-acclaimed Obsidian Ridge Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon paired with appetizers.

Obsidian Ridge has gained high praise from respected reviewers from wine publications, including Wine Spectator, The Wine Enthusiast, SF Chronicle, Food & Wine, as well as wine advocate Robert Parker. It also has a rapidly expanding fan base among Lake County locals.

The wines of Obsidian Ridge will be featured on Oct. 3 and 4, 2009. Courtesy photo.

Winemakers Michael Terrien and Peter Molnar will be at the Wine Studio on Friday evening to meet with guests and share the history of Obsidian Ridge Wines, the fine characteristics imparted by the 100-percent Kádár Hungarian Oak barrels they use from the Molnar family-owned cooperage, and the elevation of wines in Lake County.

On display at the event will be the artwork of local artist, Gail Salituri.

A 2009 Stars of Lake County award winner as well as a humanitarian and philanthropist, wine studio owner Susan Feiler called Salituri “one of Lake County's finest assets.”

Works by Salituri, who operates her own gallery in Lakeport with the help of her daughter Sheri, will be on display at the wine studio for the month of October.

With an eye for both the obvious and hidden beauty of her chosen subjects, Salituri has established herself as one of California's rising artists. Working exclusively in oils, she superbly depicts many of the Golden State's natural, cultural and architectural treasures.  

Missions, courtyards, gardens, vineyards and wineries are among Salituri's many specialties. Each one reflects her artistic vision, as well as a love and appreciation of beautiful places and scenes she wishes to share. Her enchanting scenes are vibrant in color, yet serene in their peacefulness, a combination that has won her increasing notice and acclaim in the art world.

For more information call the Lake County Wine Studio, 707-275-8030.

Works by local artist Gail Salituri will be in display at the Lake County Wine Studio during the month of October. Photo courtesy of Gail Salituri.

The event is sponsored by Clear Lake Performing Arts (CLPA).

Burgess has studied with the preeminent Argentinian guitarist Manuel Lopez Ramos, and later was chosen as the first recipient of the Andres Segovia Fellowship, after which he studied periodically with Segovia, probably the world's foremost classical guitarist until his death in 1987.

Segovia gave Burgess high praise, calling him an artist “with a magnificent technique.”

Hope Brewer, CLPA concerts arrangements chair, said that it was a rare occasion for Lake County music lovers to have the chance to meet, see and hear an artist of David Burgess' international stature without leaving home.

“It's a concert not to be missed,” she said.

Praised by critics for his polished technique and flamboyant style, Burgess has performed throughout North and South America, Europe and the Far East, as well as having recorded for CBS Masterworks, Musical Heritage Society, Tritone and Athena records.

He has won top honors in many international music competitions, including the Ponce International in Mexico City, Guitar '81 in Toronto and the 31st International Music Competition in Munich.

In recent years he has traveled often to Brazil, rediscovering guitar music from Brazil's past as well as many contemporary works, with many of the forming the basis of his first Lake County concert.

His program will begin with some of the oldest known guitar music, written in Spain at the time of Columbus, and include Spanish Baroque works along with pieces by such noted composers as Isaac Albeniz and Joaquin Rodrigo.

The second half of the program will feature contrasting guitar works from different Latin American countries including Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina and Bolivia, with music from such composers as Agustin Barrios and Antonio Carlos Jobin.

General admission is $20, or $15 for CLPA members, with young people under 18 admitted free of charge.

For information call 707-277-7076.

The judges will be the five former and current Lake County Poets Laureate, and the application deadline is Jan. 15, 2010.

After the judges make their choice in March, the Lake County Board of Supervisors will appoint that person to represent the county.

Many people wonder what a poet laureate does. According to the proclamation written by the Board of Supervisors, the job is to “encourage poetry and writing among Lake County residents by stimulating literacy and creativity in spoken and written form.” Over the years, each poet laureate has found his or her own way of doing this.

In Lake County, the poet laureate is a volunteer position. However, some poets have applied for and received grants to perform certain functions, such as conducting workshops.

Any Lake County resident can apply for the position or nominate someone they think would do a good job.

Here is how to apply:

• collect up to eight of your original poems (10 pages maximum);

• ask another poet to write a letter of recommendation for you;

• write a statement describing how you have served Lake County’s literary community in the past, and how you’d like to serve the community as Poet Laureate;

• if any of your poems have been published, list their titles, and the names of the publications and dates they were published.

Send five copies of each of these items in one package to Mary McMillan, P.O. Box 1236, Kelseyville 95451. Send your application before Jan. 15, 2010.

If you don’t want to apply for the position yourself, you may nominate someone. Just send a letter or email with the following information about the person you are nominating: the person’s contact information (name, address, phone number) and a short statement about why you are nominating them. Send this information in an email to Mary McMillan This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or in a letter to the P.O. box above.

For more information, write an email or letter to Mary McMillan at one of the addresses above.

Can you imagine a teacher saying this to aspiring writers, and meaning it?

That’s exactly what Clive Matson will do Saturday, Oct. 10, and Sunday, Oct. 11, at the Lakeport Arts Council's Main Street Gallery, 325 N. Main St., Lakeport.

Can he be serious? We should “Write badly”?

“I‘m serious as a heart attack,” says Matson. “Write badly, and write a lot!”

He has eight books of poetry, a tutorial, “Let the Crazy Child Write!,” and numerous stories and essays among his publications.

“There’s no better way to short-circuit the critical and editorial voices in our minds,” Matson says.

He waves a portfolio of exercises aimed at stifling those voices. He’s used them all in his more than 35 years of teaching here in Lake County, at University Extension in Berkeley, at private workshops in the Bay Area, and at venues abroad.

Those analytical voices have a way of stopping our unique, blessed creativity before it gets going. They do at times need serious remedies to quiet them. They’ve been well trained by our school system, by our parents who told us to get real jobs, by the teachers who said our talents for sure lay elsewhere.

But 99 percent of the brain’s activity is unconscious. And in this realm lies more inspiration and creativity than you can shake a stick at. In anyone. In everyone.

There’s so much creativity there we don’t have a chance of bottoming out. Even if you write twice as much as Shakespeare!

You might think the unconscious is full of dark, chaotic, troubling material, but once it starts coming out, you may be in for a surprise. Lightness, playfulness, awe, passion, jumping images and stories, full of an intelligence all their own. Be prepared to learn from the power of what comes pouring out of you. It’s often a great surprise.

The goal is to get in touch with that unconscious energy. These inspirational workshops teach you to write from the “itch in your body.” And write whatever it suggests. The editorial voices, which we all need, rightfully come after the first draft is down on paper, after it’s gone through all its rough glory.

Clive Matson has used these techniques for 35 years, and been the midwife to many novels, poems, stories and essays. He continues to be the guide to inspiration for a number of writers and writers’ groups in and around Lake County.

You can read Matson’s work at www.matsonpoet.com and peruse the first chapter of “Let the Crazy Child Write!” (New World Library, 1998). Or pick up a copy at the book store next to the gallery and begin the creative explosion when you “Write badly!”

The class begins on Saturday, Oct. 10, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., and writing and feedback sessions continue from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, with a break for potluck lunch.

To sign up for the class or to get more information, contact the Lake County Arts Council, 325 N. Main St., Lakeport, telephone 707-263-6658, or call Clive Matson at 510-654-6495 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

This event is supported by Poets & Writers Inc. through a grant it has received from The James Irvine Foundation.