As if to mirror the bustle of grape-harvesting time, scores of Napa Valley artists are busily preparing for their own annual observance: the 21st annual Open Studios event, taking place the weekends of Sept. 20-21 and 27-28.

“We’re going nuts,” said Reuben Godinez, one of six artists who will present their work at g Studio, in the Napa Box building on Walnut Street.

“We’re all hanging work right now,” said Godinez, who has also been producing as many small paintings as he can — most recently, psychedelic florals in oil on paper, which he said are influenced by both graffiti and Diego Rivera.

“I’m stressing out about having enough art for everyone,” he said.

Sculptor Josanna Borelli-Zavala isn’t stressing out: After some 10 Open Studios, she has developed a plan.

“You always run out of time, so your wish list is huge,” she explained.

 “I basically try to clean my way out of my studio, right out to the front yard.”

Because visitors spend most of their time in her Adams Street studio, “I reverse the path that somebody would be coming when they arrive,” she said.

While Borelli-Zavala’s studio is at home and Godinez is sharing the g Studio space, other Open Studios participants must improvise temporary galleries.

Ceramicist Sarah Brown, who divides her time between sculpture and pottery, will display her work in the garage of her mother’s home on Franklin Street. Like most artists on the tour, Brown will offer refreshments — light bites and perhaps some iced tea, she said.

In contrast, the g Studio group will take advantage of having what is likely the only gallery on the tour with a built-in bar: “Six different wineries will be pouring at different hours,” said Godinez, who also promised hors d’oeuvres, passed on trays.

Borelli-Zavala takes a homier approach, cooking up pasta and serving her own pickled vegetables.

“I will have a substantial amount of food,” she said. “Besides having something very hospitable, that is the food for my family that night.”

Taking the tour

In all, 72 artists will showcase their work at 52 separate studios during the two weekends. An interactive tour map is one of many Open Studios resources available online at www.nvopenstudios.com.

During both weekends, a pair of information centers will be set up to help guide visitors. In Calistoga, potters Sally and Jim Manfredi will preside at their Calistoga Pottery; in Napa, Emmy Lesko and James Orlando will welcome questions at the Brown Street Gallery, 225 Brown St.

Orlando might also accept a few compliments: He curated the Open Studios exhibition at Mumm, the first show in the winery/gallery’s history that did not center on photography.

Though no longer hanging, the exhibition created a vivid portrait of the valley’s artistic community, with work in media from metal to llama hair to, well, kitsch (William Henry Callnan’s mock-epic seascape, studded with plastic fetish objects pulled from the flotsam of the 20th century). 

The tour is sponsored by Arts Council Napa Valley and coordinated by Kathy Lund, who said this year’s Open Studios will include an evening event: On Sept. 27, Hall Winery in St. Helena will host “From Palette to Palate: An Artful Wine Tasting,” from 5 to 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance, available from Lund at 257-7016, and $20 at the door; proceeds will benefit Arts Council Napa Valley.

Visiting the studios themselves is free of charge — unless, of course, one chooses to collect one or more new pieces. Like Godinez, many painters produce smaller works to make their creations more affordable.

But while everyone hopes for sales, most artists are simply happy to host visitors and talk about their work. For Brown, it’s a chance to hear others react to the pieces she makes in the solitude of her basement studio; she also enjoys the company.

“These are people I only see once a year,” she said, “friends from out of town who want to see what I’ve been doing all year."