Ironically, decorative artist Wendy Gold uses vintage globes and maps as her canvases, yet the geographic location of her own studio/storefront ImagineNations—near the U.S. Post Office on San Anselmo Avenue—is easy to miss.
Gold started out offering her artwork online, and what has since evolved to globes, maps, puzzles and more began with a less versatile medium—toilet seats. Gold made one-of-a-kind decoupaged bathroom scales and toilet seats and gained a following for her unique and original work.
The Lucas Valley-based artist recently returned home from Connecticut to Marin, where she now lives in the same home that she grew up in. Gold opened her San Anselmo gallery in June of 2016, and on the first Sunday of every month, heads to the Alameda flea market to scour for vintage globes and maps for her whimsical and customized works of art.
“It takes a little while for people to wrap their heads around what I do,” says Gold, who displays multiple globes that feature everything from colorful butterflies, to underwater fish to flowers. “Often I create pieces that commemorate important events—like weddings and anniversaries.”
Gold also takes commissions for hobby maps that are personalized with an individual’s or a family’s name. The maps, not necessarily vintage as they are often meant to be functional, are mounted on foam core, framed and include pushpins to continuously track travel destinations.
Gold feels that her work offers people a way to have highly personalized pieces of art that capture what they are passionate about. It can also provide a snapshot in time—and the globes and maps can quite literally show a person’s place in the world. “Everyone has a story to tell,” she says. “This is kind of a way to step back and see it all.”
ImagineNations; 151 San Anselmo Ave., San Anselmo; 415/491-9619; artonglobes.com.
