The Loop Newspaper - Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide

First Fridays have become a popular event of fun, refreshments, hospitality and shopping at all the participating venues.

Gallery 'N' Gifts will feature an entire new collection of artwork by Anita Jesse that will be on display for the month of June located at 100 W. Tehachapi Blvd., with a special show opening party on First Friday June 3 from 5 to 8 p.m.

Tehachapi Treasure Trove is located at 116 East Tehachapi Boulevard, right across the street from the water tower in Railroad Park. The Treasure Trove will be featuring the Navajo Art of Jerald Kee and Dayna Smith (See article on this page.)

Come see what is happening and join the fun, food, wine and conversation.

Oak Tree Art Antiques Etc Located 102 W. Tehachapi Blvd. (across from The Depot) broad variety of items, refreshments and music. Open until 8 p.m.

Back Street Gallery, 106 W. Tehachapi Blvd. hosts live music and refreshments.

Tehachapi Museum & Errea House on South Green St. Treasures from our local mountains and around the world will be featured on First Friday. Stop by for refreshments. (See article on this page.)

Sheridan's Boutique Home Consignment at 108 W. Tehachapi Blvd. will be open on First Friday. Please stop by! Refreshments will be available.

This June, Tehachapi Valley Arts Association and Gallery 'N' Gifts is delighted to feature an entire new collection of artwork by Anita Jesse-work she calls Paintography.

After years in theater and film both as performer and teacher, Anita Jesse discovered cameras and that changed everything. In spite of having a passion for making pictures with her camera, Anita soon became impatient with what, to her, felt like the constraints of photography. She wasn't satisfied with images that depicted the cold reality of what her camera captured. She yearned to convey not only what she saw, but more about what she felt, when she saw it.

Eventually, Anita began to see what the camera sensor recorded as a starting point, not a final product. Anita began to read about painting techniques to supplement her knowledge of photography. She was ready to leave photographic realism behind.

Now, Anita says that thanks to combining the photographer's tools with digital brushes, a graphics tablet and a new way of seeing, she can paint in light and shadow, color, and texture until she finds her way to an image that existed only in her mind's eye. Anita shared, "My work comes from the collected stories in my heart they are imaginings, as well. They emanate from dreams, half-forgotten memories, impressions, and feelings. I hope my images will stir memories, dreams, and stories in your heart."

Please join us on First Friday, June 3 from 5 to 8 p.m. for an evening of sharing dreams at Gallery 'N' Gifts, located at

100 W. Tehachapi Blvd. For more information call (661) 822- 6062. For a tantalizing, curiosity rousing glimpse of what Anita's show has in store, follow her Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/AnitaJesseEquineArt.

First Friday Fun Fest will be celebrated at Tehachapi Treasure Trove on Friday evening, June 3, from 5 to 8. The Treasure Trove will feature Navajo Art by Jerald Kee and his sister Dayna Smith. Join us to support Dayna and Jerald. Watch Dayna demonstrate Navajo rug weaving. Enjoy food and wine, and listen to music by Art Larson on clarinet.

Dayna will be teaching a class on Navajo Rug Weaving on June 11 and 12, Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 4. The class fee of $250 includes table top loom– warped in wool and ready to weave, wool yarn along with a shuttle and comb. Students will learn to weave the Navajo way, take home their own looms and a 12" x 18" rug that they have created.

Jerald Kee creates intricately woven dream catchers with their own Navajo traditions. He is also versed in many other traditional arts.

Jerald's Dine –Navajo lineage

Tobacco People

Red Running in to the Water Clan

Born for One Who Walks Around Clan

Grampa - Salt Clan

Paternal Grampa - Big Water Clan

Jerald's Story: "I have been making dream catchers for many years. I sell them to pay for my food. One day following a ceremony up in the mountains, I was bitten by a black widow. I suffered and prayed all night and finally the next morning the rescue squad found me and took me to the emergency room. When my brother appeared to me, I knew that I would be OK. The next day they held a sweat lodge for me and a spider appeared in the lodge. I knew then that I had been given permission to sell dream catchers to buy my food, just as the spiders use the web to catch their food.

"The dream catchers I make have a special meaning for my people. The outer hoop represents the circle of life or mother earth. The web itself represents the prayers and teachings of the people. The beads in the web represent the people, all the relations of every color and nation. The teachings flow around the web to all the people in a clockwise direction. The center is the council fire holding all the people together with their traditions and teachings. The fringes represent the roots of the people. The teachings start with the ancestors and flow up into the web to all the relations."

Dayna's Dine – Navajo lineage

Red House

Towering House

Maternal Clan – Yucca Fruit

Paternal Clan – Rock Gap

Dayna Smith was born and has lived her entire life in Canyon Diablo on the Navajo Reservation in northern Arizona. The area has four houses all belonging to family members. Dayna raised three sons and now has two grandchildren. Her home is 30 miles from Flagstaff where she has worked for the last 6 years in the Headstart Program. She started working at Headstart when her granddaughter was in preschool. She loves working with the young children from a mixture of ethnicities: Caucasian, Navajo, Hopi, Hispanic and Saudi Arabian. She enjoys driving. She spends as much time with her grandchildren as she can, sometimes driving several hours to take the children home for the weekend.

Dayna was raised by her grandmother, who taught her to weave at age nine. Initially they carded, spun and dyed their own wool. She now generally uses finished yarn. She has 4 looms at home in different sizes. She has trained her son and several relatives to weave and to help her set up and finish the looms when she has rush orders. She sells a variety of rugs in different sizes and makes rug dresses for special occasions, such as high school graduations. Her sales are mostly word of mouth. She has also been taught to weave traditional baskets and sash belts.

Tehachapi Treasure Trove is located at 116 East Tehachapi Boulevard, right across the street from the water tower in Railroad Park. Hours are daily 10 to 5 p.m. (Sundays 11 to 4). Be sure to stop by and see our collection of uncommonly eclectic and unusually unique stuff. Remember we carry an extensive line of art and craft supplies and artist services along with books, yarn, music and a jewelry studio. For additional information on any of our activities, classes and events, please call (661) 822-6794 or visit http://www.facebook.com/Tehachapi Treasure Trove.

Dayna Smith helping Laurie Piccolotti with her Loom Weaving.

On June 3 visit the Tehachapi Museum to view new and continuing exhibits. In the main gallery's Community Case are scale models constructed by Rufus Thomas, a longtime resident of Tehachapi. Born in Shafter, Rufus lived in many cities in the southern San Joaquin Valley. He even lived in Johnsondale, where his father was a logger. Before retiring, Rufus worked for Flynn and Snyder Ambulance services and the Southern Pacific Railroad for forty years as an engineer. His wife, Diane, was an employee of the United States Postal Service for thirty years. Rufus's art career began when he was asked by SP to do a needed drawing. He started with pen and ink drawings, then began building models during this past year.   Keep a lookout and you might see this pair driving around town in one of their antique automobiles.

In the Textile Gallery are many of the kitchen items found in the Museum's Archive Collection. Beautiful spring hats are also featured. A collection of cat figurines is also on display.

The Tehachapi Museum is open each First Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. serving wine, champagne, and appetizers. The Museum is at 310 South Green Street, a short walk from Tehachapi Boulevard. For more information, call the museum at (661) 822-8152.