Carmichael artist Amanda Cadelago’s work will be included in the Davis Art Studio Tour May 16-17. Courtesy photo

CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - When Amanda Cadelago first moved to Carmichael six years ago, she and her husband knew nothing about the town but knew they loved the house they had purchased on a quiet cul-de-sac.

“The house brought us to Carmichael, and it was the first place we felt like could be a longtime home for us,” Cadelago said.

Within a month or so, the pandemic hit. She was now working from home doing marketing and graphic design full-time for the League of California Cities.

“With COVID, we really got to know our house,” Cadelago said. “My office is in this large room. When the pandemic started, my mom encouraged me to pick up painting again, so I built a large easel and turned half the room into my studio.”

She started painting landscapes like she used to but discovered her style had changed as she evolved as a person. While her focus used to be more on what she had learned about art through the education system, she began experimenting with different elements and wanting to focus more on meaning.

“Picking up painting again felt both great and overwhelming,” she said. “Art is this constant evolution and a continuous battle with self-doubt as I determine my voice and who I am as a painter.”

Six years later, Cadelago will be exhibiting her artwork with her mom, Cathie James-Robinson of Davis, in the free self-guided Davis Art Studio Tour where 48 artists from across the region will open their Davis studios May 16-17. Hundreds of guests will immerse themselves in the creative spaces where local artwork is being crafted and will have opportunities to view and purchase a wide range of artwork, from sculpture and painting to print making and photography.

Cadelago said art has always been a “through line in her life,” as she has always been artistic and drawn to art classes. When she enrolled in Sacramento State, she tried majoring in science and English but eventually graduated with a bachelor’s degree in art.

“I just really enjoyed studying art, both the practice and the history. It was an enjoyable pathway,” she said. “I struggled with what I wanted to do with my art degree because the message I had always received was that the only path was as a starving artist. So that led me to fashion design.”

After earning her bachelor’s degree, Cadelago earned an additional associate’s degree in fashion design from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in San Francisco and worked with a fashion designer in Los Angeles. That career led her to marketing and graphic design.

When she picked up a paintbrush again during the pandemic, she struggled to find her new style. Yet when her grandmother passed away at age 99, Cadelago discovered that she felt a connection to many items in her grandmother’s home that she had grown up with and began a series of still life paintings.

“I started playing with that and feeling really connected in that direction,” she said. “It launched this series of paintings where I was creating a curated environment with these elements I was drawn to where I was imbuing them with color.”

She said birds and flowers have emerged a lot in her art due to the various emotions and meanings they bring, but she said she does not like to attach her own interpretation or meaning to the art, preferring to leave that up to the viewer.

She also is still working to figure out the artistic elements that draw people to purchase art, but she thinks mostly people are drawn to the colors that work with their interiors. One client bought three pieces because she was drawn to the birds and the personalities they evoked.

One of Cadelago’s favorite paintings is “Just a Taste,” in which she used vibrant colors to paint a small hummingbird flying up to a flower near some special art books in her living room.

“When I see a hummingbird out in our backyard, I get excited, so this painting was this perfect moment in time when a bird is having a taste of a flower,” she said.

She said her mom has influenced her as an artist, despite having very different styles.

“My mom has always had a side gig as an artist, and in her 60s she went back to school and earned an art degree,” Cadelago said. “I’ve always been inspired by her, and if it weren’t for her, I’d probably still be tinkering around and have less focus. We influence each other a lot as we navigate the art world and do shows together. Art can feel solitary, which can be nice, but with my mom I also have a teammate in a way.”

Cadelago and James-Robinson both joined the Artery cooperative in Davis and have exhibited there together multiple times, including an upcoming exhibition during the month of June.

In 2023, James-Robinson began working with fellow artists to revive the Davis Art Studio Tour that ended during the pandemic and recruited Cadelago to exhibit her work. Cadelago also volunteers her time providing graphic design for the Davis Art Studio Tour.

As she hones her style in her home studio, she continues to be inspired by her surroundings in Carmichael. In recent years, Cadelago and her husband have been able to explore Carmichael more, including the many parks that their dogs love. The biggest surprise has been discovering how much their neighbors love Carmichael.

“Our neighbors have been here forever, like generations, 40 plus years,” she said. “They say they love Carmichel and they really mean it.”

Cadelago hopes Carmichael residents will come out for the Davis Art Studio Tour.

“The Sacramento region is funny in that we can separate ourselves from Davis just geographically because of the causeway,” she said. “But there are so many artists in the Davis region embedded in the Sacramento area as well, and Davis has such a rich artist community that people should really experience. The Davis Art Studio Tour is a chance to see great art while also experiencing people’s studios, which is really their world. It helps you connect so much more to them as artists and to your community.”

For more information about Cadelago’s work and the Davis Art Studio Tour, visit www.davisopenstudios.com.