A dad daughter duo

Sitting on the floor of her father's shop, seven year old Tirza Buchetto quietly painted a bright yellow sun on a wooden bench.

Above her, colorful, childlike images of rolling green hills, puffy white clouds and crooked houses hung from the walls.

The scenes are a collaboration between Tirza and her dad, Louis Buchetto. The father-and-daughter team own the Creative Play Art Studio and Gallery that opened recently at 412 Commercial Street in Nevada City.

"She draws for hours," Louis said watching his daughter busily sketch a scene with a car and stop sign. A child's chalk drawings on the pavement greet visitors as they enter the shop.

Her drawings first appeared on greeting cards when she was three years old.

"She demanded to know why people paid me and not her when she made art all day long," Louis Buchetto said. She now designs 25 percent of the artwork at the gallery, and her dad is tutoring her on how to use Photoshop on the computer.

Louis, a single dad, left a similar business in Flagstaff, Ariz., to follow his daughter, who moved to Nevada City with her mom and stepdad.

Louis says he's an untrained artist and didn't pursue his creative side until he turned 32. The September 11 attacks caused him to re-evaluate his life and move his artwork in a new direction.

"I had to respond. I live in this world. I'm part of it. I can't sit idle," he said, thinking back. He considered joining the military, but instead, poured his energy into his art, reaching out to the world with simple pictures.

Some call it folk art. Buchetto calls his style "whimsical" or "urban primitive."

"These are houses we made in grade school," Buchetto said showing off the nostalgic squares topped with triangle roofs.

The gallery showcases fine art giclees - pronounced "zhee-CLAYS," it's a high-quality, digital print made with high-end inkjet printers - and matted prints, greeting cards, magnets and bookmarks. The elder Buchetto also will paint private commissions on furniture.

The Buchettos soon will offer classes and workshops at the studio. They also need help painting hundreds of flowers on the studio's interior baseboard.

The Buchettos can be reached at 478-0382 or LouisBuchetto@My-Art-Place.com, and their Web site is at www.TheCreativePlayGallery.com.

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To contact Staff Writer Laura Brown, e-mail lbrown@theunion.com or call 477-4231.