Oolong ain’t just for tea anymore, it’s an RSF art icon

Before the taking of a toast and tea

Dishing it out, so you can take it

The finest of finely contemporary art, curated with intelligence and taste, graces the surprisingly light and airy boutique gallery courtesy of the kindly proprietary stylings of director Laine. A Big Apple native in his 40s, Laine first moved to beachside Cardiff before moseying down the yellow brick road to rural-ish Olivenhain.

Oolong Gallery owner Eric Laine, left, with artist Hiroshi McDonald Mori, a Rancho Santa Fe native./Oolong Gallery

Gallery-wise, Laine started out on Highway 101, Solana Beach in June 2022, hop-scotching to Encinitas in 2024, before deciding to head uptown to The Ranch last September.

Laine also engaged in numerous art opportunities including annex shows at Sota at The Brown Studio and a six-month residency at a private coastal 5,000-square-foot warehouse.

“This is a wild start-up, ” Laine said to The Union Tribune. “It kind of came out of left field…The space is gorgeous, it looks like a tea house so I came up with the name Oolong.”

You never know who is going to come in from the cold to this warm lofty space next to Rancho Santa Fe Historical Society’s tony Lilian Rice designed cottage, down the street from the renowned Thyme in the Ranch deli. Laine, who seems smarter than your average art bear, appears to take great pleasure in his surroundings and clients. He smartly dissects art, and even life, arranging the best matches between artists, their works and interested parties.

“For me, it’s about connecting with fine art lovers,” he said to The Union Tribune. “I’m excited about being in the Rancho Santa Fe community.”

There’s a method to the tall man’s art madness. He said he wanted to “feed the unbelievable estates” at Rancho Santa Fe and surrounding areas, where art can enhance the already magical ambiance.

“Finding good homes for vetted contemporary art is a win-win, simply the best,” Laine said. “For me, it’s about connecting with fine art lovers and I’m excited about being in the Rancho Santa Fe community.”

We sent Stefon, San Diego city correspondent, to the scene of Oolong’s latest show, Gilded Age by Amy Pachowicz. The show opened Feb. 7, running through March 15.

Amy Pachowicz (b. 1968) Untitled (female protrait series), 2025/Oolong Gallery

Ohhh my godddd, San Diego’s hottest new art show is Gilded Age at Oolong Gallery. Curated for artist Amy Pachowicz, this show has everything: dreamy botanical paintings, large-scale collages, and a deep, existential reckoning with nostalgia. It’s like if a Victorian scrapbook and a fever dream had a baby and that baby grew up to question its place in a crumbling empire.

Picture this: delicate renderings of branches, feathers, and leaves—just floating, suspended in rich color like they’re ghosts haunting an Anthropologie catalog. Pachowicz, who literally hangs dried plants in her studio like an artisanal witch, sketches them into large-format oil stick drawings that whisper, ‘Remember when nature wasn’t on fire?’

And the collages? Buckle up. These aren’t your average Pinterest mood boards. No, honey. Pachowicz is out here sourcing vintage print media from the 60s through the 80s—encyclopedias, Betty Crocker cookbooks, Charlie’s Angels posters, and yes, even 1980s Penthouse. It’s giving ‘lost analog childhood meets pre-internet maximalism,’ vibes, a world where books mattered, and your dad sold encyclopedias door-to-door like a traveling knowledge dealer.

So, if you love nostalgia, existential dread, and the feeling of flipping through a forgotten stack of old magazines in your grandma’s attic while contemplating the decline of Western civilization, then this show is for you.

Party on with Stefon city correspondent at Oolong Gallery/Grapevine Graphics

This gallery opening had everything! 📚✨ Faded encyclopedias, botanical ghosts, and Farrah Fawcett deconstructed like a fever dream.

That’s because San Diego’s hottest artist is Amy Pachowicz—she’s got nostalgia, she’s got nature, she’s got encyclopedias so old they whisper secrets in lilac and mint green. Remember when colors were soft and teal, not screaming primary red like a pop-up ad? Amy does.

Her exhibition Gilded Age at Oolong Gallery is serving archaeological vibes—like if Indiana Jones traded his whip for a paintbrush and an emotional support fern. Her botanical works? Feather, Ironwood, Brown Sage—so delicate yet so powerful, like if a nature documentary had feelings. Her collages? Farrah I, Farrah II, Farrah III—think vintage magazines, personal artifacts, and a deep-dive into how the ‘60s and ‘70s shaped our brains forever.

The opening reception was February 7, 6–8 PM—you laughed, you cried, you’suddenly remembered the smell of an old book. For inquiries, call +1 858 229 2788 or email info@oolongallery.com.

This show had everything: black-and-white arctic glaciers, Victorian encyclopedias, and the slow, existential realization that digital advertising has ruined us all.

Oolong, relaxing as fine tea, art for the everyman and connoisseur in equal measaures.  Stuff you can hang with pride in any home environmental and designing confluence. And aside from all that, art your friends and family will come to love for years to come. Or you can flip for cash and buy more of it.