BJ THRAILKILL

The Press Democrat
By Dan Taylor

Three years ago, the de Young Museum in San Francisco took a bold step by opening up a major juried exhibition to entries from any Northern California artist who wanted to apply, something the museum had not attempted, even on a smaller scale, since 1935.

The result was the de Young Open exhibition in 2020. Some 6,190 artists from the nine Bay Area counties applied to have their work included. At the least, you could say it was a success. So, the museum has decided to stage an open-invitation exhibition every three years. The second one opened Sept. 30.

This year, 7,766 artists applied. Of those, 883 artists — including 12 from Napa County — were chosen to have one work shown in the museum’s largest galleries.

BJ Thrailkill of Napa was among the dozen local artists selected.

Her daughter, Molly, who is getting her Ph.D. in visual studies and “has a sharp artist’s eye,” picked one of Thrailkill’s cactus paintings to submit.

“Somehow, miraculously, I got in,” Thrailkill said. “I was stunned to be accepted; with 8,000 applications it had seemed impossible.”

Her “Cactus with Zebra Butterfly” is part of the exhibit.

“I think that being accepted into the de Young Open has had a beneficial effect on how people view me as an artist,” she told The Press Democrat.

Napa Valley Features
By Rosemarie Kempton

Thrailkill is a prolific artist who has been painting with oils since she was 7 years old. Growing up in rural Maryland in the 1950s and 60s, she lived near Helene Coakley, an accomplished artist, who taught weekly painting classes to the neighborhood children. Her teacher not only had easels set up for the children to paint, she also “piled them into a station wagon to drive them around the countryside to sketch barns.”

Thrailkill paints in a portrait style, paying homage to what she is painting – whether it is a tree branch, bird, kitchen sink or a cactus – by placing it against a solid background.

“I get up every day and paint. If I don’t, I won’t get any better,” Thrailkill said. “I put on canvas what I am thinking about and feel incomplete if I haven’t spent time with my brushes and paint.”

She often paints in a series when she finds a subject that fascinates her and has been featured in dozens of exhibitions throughout the Bay Area.

7x7
By Jen Woo

From September 30th through January 7th, explore a staggering selection of art from nearly 900 local artists spanning nine mediums.

Delving into the wide array of issues shaping Bay Area life and beyond, the de Young Open is a refreshing triennial, following the success of the inaugural exhibition in 2020.

It's a showcase of local artists, diverse in all aspects and artistic backgrounds, from all nine Bay Area counties. Mediums include painting, photography, drawing, prints, fiber, sculpture, video, film, and digital art. Unique to any major museum in the country, the works in this showcase are all for sale, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the artists.

Napa Valley Register
For the Register

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco is hosting The de Young Open, a juried community art exhibition of submissions by artists who live in the nine Bay Area counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma. 

Twelve Napa County artists have been selected to participate in the show, which opens later this month. The following artists will have work on display through the show's run: 

- Tere Ertola Charney, "Savannah", Paintings (Not Acrylic or Oil)

- Julia Crane, "Stick Insect "Phasmid Eggs", Sculptural Relief Mixed Media

- Carolyn B. Ellils, "Becoming Visible: Rage to Grief to Seed", Sculptural Relief Mixed Media

- Michael Fitzpatrick, "On The Bay", Paintings (Oil)

- Melissa Hutton, "Napa CA 2021", Paintings (Acrylic)

- Nissen King, "Virato", Paintings (Not Acrylic or Oil)

- Kristine McCallister, "Hello", Paintings (Oil)

- Christopher Paddock, "Blu Lou" Paintings (Acrylic)

- Carol Rosemond, "Yosemite Reflections", Paintings (Oil)

- Araceli Soto, "La Mujer", Paintings (Oil)

- BJ Thrailkill, "Cactus with Zebra Butterfly", Paintings (Oil)

- Scarlett Woolsey, "Pitstop", Paintings (Not Acrylic or Oil)