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Los Olivos, California, is one of my favorite places. If you haven’t been, the town is a small cluster of wine tasting rooms, restaurants, art galleries and specialty shops surrounded by some of the most beautiful oak-studded and vine-crossed hills California has to offer. The light is somehow different there. Maybe it’s the sunlight bouncing between the giant sunflowers and the white-washed picket fences lining circa 1880’s storefronts? The air is different there too. You can smell the grass and sage off the mountains one day, or catch a waft of lavender the next. And always, everywhere, there is wine. Yes, there are lots of things to do in Los Olivos, including my current art show.

First Rain, Wandering Hills, oils 18" x 24" © Laurel Sherrie

This is the last week for the show, to May 6th, and  I welcome you to come by the Los Olivos Café & Wine Merchant to view my art on display. The paintings I’ve selected for this show are scenes that reflect what I love most about this region of California: vineyards, lavender fields, sunsets in the rolling hills of the Central Coast, rustic barns at the base of mountains basked in the red, late afternoon sunlight.

Summer Velvet, triptych in oils 30" x 80" © Laurel Sherrie

While you’re in town, here is my:

“Can’t Miss List” of Things to Do in Los Olivos

1. Explore the local art scene. Los Olivos has wonderful sculptors in addition to accomplished painters. Wandering around is richly rewarded.
2. Wine tasting! Dozens of wine tasting rooms line the two main streets, Grand Avenue and Alamo Pintado, but I would also encourage you to explore the side streets. Which is my favorite? I can’t say (there are so many), but Dragonette Cellars and Carina Cellars are on the list.
3. Find the hard-to-find wine. Los Olivos Café & Wine Merchant sells some of the most difficult to find wines in the area. It’s well worth an exploratory walk-through (and you’ll see my paintings on the walls too!).
4. Have breakfast. Two hidden breakfast spots deserve a hungry traveler’s attention: Corner House Coffee on the corner of San Marcos and Alamo Pintado (best for coffee and a quick bite), and Los Olivos Grocery just up the road on Highway 154 (gourmet breakfasts on the patio and local, organic groceries to take home).
5. Picnic in the lavender fields at Clairmont Farm. Here’s what you do: Order Panino’s sandwiches to-go (best sandwiches on the Central Coast!), drive (or walk) the one mile to Clairmont Farms, and picnic in the midst of 5 acres of lavender.
6. Enjoy Cupcakes. Just look for the vintage tear-drop trailer for the best cupcakes in town.
7. Have dinner. With great wine comes great food, and Los Olivos is no exception. Los Olivos Café, of course, is one of my favorites. Mmmm brie.
8. Come on May 2nd for Earth Day in the Santa Ynez Valley Botanic Garden!  The Botanic Garden and the City of Buellton invite you to celebrate Earth Day in Riverview Park in Buellton. Bring your family and friends, picnic baskets and blankets. Enjoy live music, family activities, educational booths and garden tours.
   
   Botanic Garden and the City of Buellton invite you to celebrate Earth Day in Riverview Park. Bring your family and friends, picnic baskets and blankets. Enjoy live music, family activities, educational booths and garden tours. - See more at: http://www.solvangusa.com/includes/events/index.cfm?action=displayDetail&eventid=7561#sthash.aVEBGcQ3.dpuf
9. See the sights. I’ve painted several views around Los Olivos, and I encourage you to see each one for yourself. The ancient olive trees shading the entrance to Clairmont Farms, their lavender fields and the majestic Figueroa Mountain range (drive as far as you can go up Figueroa Mountain Road for the best vantage points).
10. Come to my spring art show going on now through May 6th at the Los Olivos Café!