Hidden gem: Don’t miss the world of Scott McGrath on Sierra Art Trails (updated)

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The Art Trails stop: McGrath Arts in Mariposa. It’s No. 70 in the 2019 Sierra Art Trails catalog. Owner Scott McGrath creates custom, hand-forged metalwork, often for fancy homes in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. The company creates reproduction and original artistic sculptures and functional art such as railings, lighting, gates, and arbors.

Related story: Sierra Art Trails combines the foothills and art. What’s not to love?

The scene: This is much more than a staid home studio, however. The visitor walks into an amazing, sprawling, hard-to-describe cacophony of towering metal sculptures, vintage treasures and unabashed creativity. Brightly colored fire hydrants mark the parking area, and dozens of free-standing sculptures — including one called “Radiation Man” — lead to the studio, whose front is an example of gorgeous brickwork and replicas of old-fashioned metal shutters (he calls them “Mariposa doors”) that helped protect the wooden buildings downtown from fire. Across the way, another building filled with nearly 30 years of stuff includes an antique metal roller machine. (“I’m pretty sure it’s from the 19th century,” he says.) Next to it stands a towering windmill, which is inoperable at the moment because a family of hawks recently built a nest just below the blades, and even though they’ve all flown away, McGrath doesn’t have the heart to remove it.

But wait, there’s more: Just inside the studio sits a 1929 Franklin automobile, partially restored, which was the last car on which McGrath’s father worked. (He loved restoring really old cars.) Walk through the kitchen to the back porch, and you’ll find brick steps — which McGrath laid, of course — leading to the compound’s most fascinating attraction. McGrath’s mountainside of a backyard offers an expansive walking trail and garden tour upon which is arranged a wonderland of sculptures, found objects and whimsical sights. It’s like the hole that Alice fell into turned out to include an antique store, junkyard, metal shop, demonstration garden and theme park, all mixed together.

Almost every step reveals something new to see: a metal tree bearing brightly colored glass bottles for fruit; fanciful spheres studded with marbles; vintage glass mugs strung on a chainlink fence like popcorn on a string; kitschy little gingerbread men; bright orange circular exhaust vents on pedestals that turn in the breeze; more glass bottles configured in weird and wacky ways; and, my personal favorite, three former liquid natural gas cylinders of varying heights positioned as if they are site-specific sculpture, looking like Cold War missile silos. A consistent theme is odd juxtaposition, with familiar objects turned upside down and plopped down next to each other in aesthetically pleasing but head-scratching ways.

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The reception: McGrath, wearing a purple shirt and weathered black hat that made him look like a very hip Gold Rush prospector, is as amiable a host as you can find. (At one point, taking a break from studio duties to madly grate some cheese, he offered us part of his chicken fajita lunch as we walked through his kitchen.) He and his wife built the studio in 1992, and it kept expanding. It’s cluttered with family memories — his dad’s last car, and he tells us that his mother was instrumental in planning the backyard path — and, overall, the place has the look and feel of mad genius. It’s worth every extra mile to get there.

Addendum: I asked McGrath if visitors could see his studio even when it isn’t Sierra Art Trails weekend, and he nodded. “I’m almost always there,” he said. You might end up buying something one-of-a-kind.

VIDEO: Get a peek at Scott McGrath’s Mariposa studio

The rest of my Sierra Art Trails 2019 experience was great, too. I raced around on Saturday afternoon popping in here and there, always with great conversation and a deep appreciation for the talent on display.

I marked the occasion with some of the artists I visited:

With Ann Hart, who sculpts clay and other wildlife. She was showing her works at the home studio of Vicki Thomas (and, I’m sorry, but the photo of Vicki didn’t turn out).

With Jerry Bosworth, whose landscape photography is primarily in black and white. He had a good crowd congregated in his studio/garage.

With Kathy Marks, who had a lot of fun making little “people” through repurposing and collage. (I love the hats.)

With Christian Mueller, who specializes in landscape photography. (We had a great time talking about Hamburg, Germany, where he’s going to visit family soon.)

With Criss Wilhite, who showcased works in drawing, photography and pastel.

With Lura Schwarz Smith, who displayed her new paintings at the Gertrude Schoolhouse.

With Kerby Smith, who showed me his bold new works in photography, mixed media and acrylic.

With Teresa Sharp, who showed off her self-portrait.