By Jon Chown
How influential is genealogy? Do we all have a destiny? Does anything really ever happen by accident? South Santa Cruz County resident Lynette Cederquist believes her personal story offers some answers to life’s mysteries.
Cederquist is a jewelry designer and was displaying her work at her friend’s studio in Aptos during the Santa Cruz County Open Studios Tour on Oct. 4. A little more than 25 years ago, she was a schoolteacher but suffered a head injury during a class field trip that left her mostly unable to read or write. During rehabilitation, she was rear-ended in a car accident, and the encounter led her to meet a local silversmith. She was so intrigued by his work that he offered her a chance to give it a try.
Susanna Waddell in her studio on Soquel Drive, where she does encaustic painting.
She discovered she was a natural and then left for San Francisco to study under Alan Revere at the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts. Recognizing her natural talent, Revere gave her personal instruction and she eventually taught at the academy before it closed in 2017. She now teaches at Monterey Peninsula College.
“I love what I do,” Cederquist said. “I can do this 10 hours a day.”
Cederquist was adopted and had long wanted to find her birth parents. Several years ago, she hired a professional and made the unfortunate discovery that both her parents had died, but was stunned to find out that her father was a jewelry maker, as was his father before him. In fact, both parents were from jewelry-making families in France and Germany.
“It’s in the genes,” she said. “It goes back five generations.”
Cederquist’s creations sparkled in front of her: silver rings inset with beautiful stones of various sizes and colors, such as Ethiopian opals, sapphires and diamonds.
“I don’t plan my pieces,” she said. “I just let them evolve.”
The annual Open Studios Tour is a huge event for Cederquist, who has been involved for 18 years now. Her friend, Bonnie Stiles Walker, who lives and creates at her studio on Soquel Drive, has been showing her work at Open Studios for about 25 years.
Peter Vizzusi’s at his Magic Sands Glass Studio on Cliff Drive.
Stiles Walker makes beautiful beaded baskets, boxes, and animal sculptures. One piece, about the size of a walnut, will take dozens of hours to create. She started her career as an artist painting, but grew bored of it and started making furniture. Her furniture was very popular, but when she turned 79 three years ago, she decided to stop because her strength and balance were waning.
“I didn’t want to cut off any of my fingers,” she said.
The Open Studios Tour features nearly 350 artists throughout the county. The first weekend, Oct. 4-5, showcased South County artists. Signs pointing the way to the art were prominent all over Aptos. Susanna Waddell had a full house in her studio on Soquel Drive, where she does encaustic painting.
The technique of encaustic painting dates back to the 4th century. It’s a process of fusing melted wax with pigments. Homer described its use by the Greeks to decorate their warships. Waddell’s art looks far more modern, sometimes even psychedelic. She spent the day describing how she creates.
“I make a well and pour hot wax into it. When it cools, that becomes my canvas,” she said.
Lynette Cederquist and her jewelry.
The artist’s process was on full display at Peter Vizzusi’s Magic Sands Glass Studio on Cliff Drive. Vizzusi demonstrated the entire process of creating a vase. A chunk of molten glass hung on the end of a long, hollow steel pipe like hot, glowing honey. He rolled it over a table covered with powdered glass to increase its size, shape and color before placing it back in the furnace. Between steps, he blew into the rod to create a bubble.
Vizzusi said he would probably see 200 visitors a day during the tour, which is why he participates every year. He’s been at his studio for 40 years now.
“This is a great way to get exposure,” he said.
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The Open Studios Tour concludes Oct. 18 and 19. More information is available at santacruzopenstudios.com.
TOP PHOTO: Bonnie Stiles Walker’s beaded baskets.