Napkin Art

At this link we are working on establishing a gallery of napkin art for you to view and enjoy.  This is a work in progress.  Click on an artist to see his/her napkins.  Drop-in artists who made only one or a few napkins are grouped under Misc Drop-In Artists.  Unsigned napkins are grouped under Unknown.  Click on a napkin image to see a napkin.  Use the left/right arrows to move between the napkins in an artist’s gallery.  It might take awhile for the napkins to load.  NOTE: Napkin images are copyrighted and not to be copied without the permission of the artist and Think in the Morning.

ABOUT NAPKIN ART

HILDA PERTHA:  For a number of years, some of the local artists would meet on Sunday afternoons at the Seagull Inn (the “Cellar Bar” upstairs). David Jones, the proprietor then, and an enthusiastic art collector, offered napkins for the artists to monkey around with. Community fun was had by all, sitting around a big table and sharing felt pens and other goodies, along with coffee and peanuts in the middle of a big table. The resultant “Napkin Art” was exhibited several times, at the Winona Studio of the Art Center, and also in the Bay Area.

KELLEY HOUSE:  A scrapbook collection of napkin art created mostly by James Maxwell, with a few other artists, who frequented the Sea Gull Restaurant in Mendocino in the 1970’s – 1980’s. The Sea Gull, located on the corner of Ukiah and Lansing Streets in Mendocino was a favorite hangout for local artist of all kinds. From the 1960s to the 1990s, the Sea Gull Restaurant was a well-loved Mendocino institution. Martin and Marlene Hall, together with their four children, came to Mendocino in 1962 to operate Cafe Mendocino. After the name changed to Sea Gull Inn, it became a symbol of the Mendocino Community. In late 1972 David and Cathy Jones took over. Together they ran the Seagull for 13 years. On Sunday afternoons the napkin artists of Mendocino would gather in the Sea Gull Cellar Bar and create these humorous sketches.

KELLEY HOUSE:  20 Bar napkins created informally at the Sea Gull Cellar Bar in the 1970’s by local artist customers. These casual doodles were created by some of the artists who brought Mendocino its artistic reputation. The napkins were collected by Gary Donovan, Sea Gull bartender at the time, who encouraged napkin doodling and expanded it.

Napkin images are copyrighted and not to be copied without the permission of the artist and Think in the Morning.