Capturing the Sonoma Spirit

You've probably seen the iconic poster of Petaluma with a lone tree and chickens amidst a backdrop of farms and rolling hills.

That print, which can be found in shops around town, is the creation of Petaluma artist Warren Percell, who has dreamt up a whole line of wine country posters showcasing the beauty of local spots like Bodega Bay, Guerneville and Sebastopol.

The posters have a vintage look, fashioned after the lettering and art on old fruit crates.

“They’re never going to go out of style because they already are,” Percell says.

The 68-year-old artist works out of his studio on Bodega Avenue, a 1930s-era Exxon gas station that he has leased for over twenty years. It’s here that he makes his vintage posters, signs for local businesses and builds boats, inspired by his love of the sea.

Percell moved to Sonoma County in 1982, setting up a studio at the Old Marshall Post Office and General Store, where the Hog Island Oyster Company is today. Built in 1889, the only thing for heat was an old pot-bellied stove during his first winter watching the tides come in.

It was on Tomales Bay that Percell had his first contact with a whale, which rolled about and stared at him with its huge eyeball—an experience Percell calls “breathtaking and mind-boggling.”

The coast and marine life are among his favorite subjects to paint, using mediums like acrylics, watercolors and oils.

Percell studied art at Humboldt State University, but insists that he is self-taught. When he was only seven he discovered his grandmother’s oil paints, which his mother kept in a “sentimental box.”

Today his paintings, some as tall as six feet, are featured in numerous galleries and private collections. When Percell is not painting, he builds boats and has recently completed a houseboat called Fog Bender—a flat-bottomed, burgundy barge that was five years in the making.

The two-story houseboat will also function as his water studio, where Percell can get up close to the acquatic scenes he loves to paint. He also has plans to take other artists out on Petaluma River cruises to draw.

“It’s not a boat you’ve seen,” Percell says. “It’s got carvings and an ‘evil eye’ to see better in the fog and avoid rocks.”

Percell’s latest project is portraits of famous people, along with local luminaries like jazz musician Peter Welker. Tony Magee, owner of , will be his next head on the wall.

Next summer he’ll sell posters to tourists passing along the highway. Marilyn Monroe will go on a signboard outside with the message “Got art? Open Studio.”