I am now recording audio spots for Best Bets on the Sonoma Arts website. You can go to their site and click the Best Bets button to hear the most recent posting, or you can read the text here on my website.

My Best Bets for the week of April 5 to April 11, 2012.

Currently the leading exhibition at the Sonoma County Museum, in Santa Rosa, is the Tsars’ Cabinet. This well-timed exhibition is associated with local Russian history and is part of the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of Fort Ross, which was the first Russian settlement in California. The exquisite dinnerware and other decorative objects are integrated with wall texts, giving a brief but coherent history of the Romanov Dynasty.

One of the ancillary exhibitions is Recent Work by Inez Storer. There are a number of connections here that make this a very appropriate companion show. Inez, who lives in West Marin, is married to Andrew Romanov, grand-nephew of the last Russian Tsar. But also, in the eleven, mixed-media pieces, Inez blends her personal as well as general histories with Russian elements. For example, in a piece called Maps of the World, she incorporates copied details from a 19th century sketchbook she found in Moscow. Inez will give an artist’s talk at the museum on April 14. Both exhibitions run through May 27.

Then at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, in Sonoma, we have Color Theory: The Use of Color in Contemporary Art. The exhibition is guest curated by Katrina Traywick, and explores the use of color by nine contemporary artists from across the country. A variety of media are represented including video, photography, collage, site-specific painting, and installation. The exhibition continues through June 10 and includes a number of lectures and events. Check their website for more information.

Now, in Geyserville, you can find the work of Randy Colosky at the Perdita Production Gallery. You may not have heard of this gallery because it’s rather new. The seven pieces in this small venue are a sampling of work he had been commissioned to do by the Museum of Craft and Folk Art in San Francisco, where a show of his work closed recently. Colosky uses industrial and construction materials in conceptual and non standard ways. The show runs through May 27, and the gallery is located at 21025 Geyserville Ave. Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 12 to 6 pm. The owners say they have a whole roster of shows they lined up, so it’s worth a trip to Geyserville.

Lastly I want to mention the new show at the Phantom IV Gallery in Windsor. Opening on April 5 and continuing through the 29, will be Bohemia Ranch Waterfalls, New paintings and lithographs by Ryan Douglas and Bill Wheeler. This is very timely since Bohemia Ranch in Occidental has recently been saved from developers to become one of Sonoma County’s newest private parks. A reception for the artists will be held on Saturday, April 14, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Phantom IV Gallery is located at 9077 Windsor Rd., in Windsor.