Recently I was invited—OK I invited myself—over to the home studio of husband-and-wife artists Susan Jaekel and Rich Guidice. Their home is of 1920s vintage and located just off Santa Cruz Avenue.
They have a shared studio on the remodeled second floor. I was not prepared for the depth of their work and their commitment to artistic excellence.
As Jaekel ushered me up the stairs. “Brandy,” their standard poodle, greeted me and gave me the go-ahead to enter.
These bright, spacious studios are any artist’s dream. Natural light filtered onto plenty of large countertop work areas.
Several books were laid out on a counter. Jaekel offered me coffee.
“I grew up with professional artists parents,” she began. “My dad was an art director, and my mom an illustrator. My dad would bring home work for mom, and also bring home manila paper for me to draw on.”
She decided she wanted to be a professional artist.
“My high school art teacher had gone to San Jose State (SJS), and he brought (his students) over to the art department, showing us what a great art department it was—and still is.”
Jaekel added that the classes were taught by working professionals. And after graduation, many of these art majors moved into an office on Church Street, in Los Gatos.
“That Church Street building was full of creative people,” she recalled, explaining Guidice had his studio there. “Guidice, as a successful illustrator, became my mentor. This was around the time he was starting to work on NASA paintings.”
An early start in architectural illustration
Guidice entered the studio holding a recent oil plein air work, and introduced himself. I asked him to start from the beginning. While attending Willow Glen High School, Guidice, at age 16, was noticed by a student teacher for his ability to draw and for his sense of perspective.
This student teacher recommended him for a part-time position at an architectural firm. “I did get the job,” Guidice stated. “So, I started working professionally at 16 years old. I worked after school and all summer. Most of the men that I was working with were 10 years older than me. They liked me and took me under their wings. Here, I excelled at hand-drawn conceptual renderings—creating architectural illustrations of custom homes.” Guidice eventually started his own architectural design firm.
Jaekel added, “Rick retired from architectural design in 2019, but continues to support his former clients—and also enjoys painting plein air in nature, for fun. He often does travel sketchbooks as well.”
The dawn of the dot com
Guidice and I continued our talk about “back in the day”—the mid-60s in Los Gatos. The buildings were quaint and artists outnumbered the real estate agents. The unexpected boom—the birth of the dot com revolution—had not yet arrived. The Valley was just a valley that grew good apricots and plums (not so silicon, yet). Los Gatos was a place where artists thrived. Job openings outnumbered the available work force. Personal computers and cell phones were also off in the future.
A fertile valley
Guidice sent me his single-spaced eight-page autobiography with accomplishments and awards going back to when he started. As Guidice freelanced, he worked on many projects for different concerns at the same time.
Here are a few client highlights from his early career: Sunset Magazine, Chevron Magazine, New Homes Magazine, California Today Magazine, S&W Foods, Santa Clara Transit, Simpson Publication, Hewlett Packard, Altos Computer Systems, Ampex, General Electric, Champion Paper Co.
Later on, he worked with Gary Dahl of “Pet Rock” fame on designs for Carrie Nations and other marketing materials. At the time these were called “fern bars.” He had his hand in the designing of Classic Car Wash on Lark Avenue, and the Delta Queen Car Wash.
Guidice’s involvement with the Western Art Directors Club led him to doing a series of illustrations for Siesta RV campers and trailers. “This is what I love to do: cars, and people in an inviting setting,” he said.
NASA
In 1970 Guidice started a 15 year relationship with NASA. “The first assignment was a series of illustrations depicting the projects NASA Ames Research was in charge of,” he said. “My work brought a whole new look. My dream of selling cars through illustration in national magazines was now realized in selling future and current space missions for NASA.” The work that Guidice did at this time is now recognized around the world.
In 2015-16 NUMU held the show “Rick Guidice: The NASA Paintings.” Thanks to the internet, his NASA work went viral. In 1917, Guidice was invited to Paris to show these works. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, being influenced by Gerard K. O’Neill’s 1976 book, The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space, are fans of his as well. Guidice mentioned that recently he was asked to sign a copy of this book—it went to Bezos.
Pong
Around this time, Atari was just starting out. They had their first office here in Los Gatos. Pong was one of their first video games. Eventually they moved into a new building a short drive from Los Gatos. From Guidice’s autobiography, “the owner director (of Atari) Nolan Bushnell contacted me to design a special exterior entrance to the new space. I was given a tour of the facility. Later when the 2017, 300-page book Art of Atari by Tim Lapetino, came out, I learned that Apple’s co-founders were also working there then.” Please note that both Susan Jaekel and Rich Guidice are included in Art of Atari.
(Dinah Cotton / Los Gatan)
The art of video games
Guidice went on, “Years later I was called upon by Steve Jacobs Design. They were handling the emerging Atari account and asked me to do some Atari game covers. I produced some of the first ATARI video game covers including; Basic Programming, Black Jack, Canyon Bomber, Casino, Memory Match, Night Driver, Space War and Street Racer. The ATARI assignments took place 1976-1982.”
Back to the second floor studio
At the far end of their studio, there was a sliding glass door that was open to an outdoor deck. Comfortable chairs were positioned to look out at some of the remaining open space land here off Santa Cruz Avenue. I was sad to know that I had to leave this enchanting area soon.
Guidice’s current works: plein air paintings. Plein air is French for “in the open air,” meaning painting outdoors to directly capture the effects of natural light, atmosphere and movement. Some of his most recent paintings were framed and are hanging on what little space is available on the walls of his home studio. I wonder if any of these are for sale?
Susan Jaekel
Jaekel has made quite significant artistic contributions, as well. Sadly, the space allowed here prohibits detailed mention of her career highlights.
Guidice’s two daughters are both graphic artists in Santa Cruz: Leslie with “Energy Energy Design” and Stacy freelancing (as well as collaborating with sister Leslie). Leslie did the Alain Pinel logo and branding.
This article barely touches the surface of all they have added to the wonder of the Silicon Valley. Maybe there will have to be a sequel?
For more information visit: nrgdesign.com
