One More to Celebrate

 

One more artist from the Celebration of Fine Arts.  This time it's Ray Tigerman who paints these southwestern paintings with bold and bright colors.

I remember his paintings from visits to this art show in previous years.  I like his style.

He had one sculpture in his little space that I liked very much.  

There is always a lot of art on display at this annual event.  I also enjoy talking with the artists.  That opportunity makes this event pretty special.

Artistic Styles

 

Shannon Leigh has her own very distinctive style of painting her mostly western paintings.  I had to study that one to the right to see the cowgirl emerge.

I really like the style of Martin Blundell's paintings.  All those straight lines stacked up draws my eye into the painting to form such beautiful scenes.

Dale Terbush has a more realistic style to his paintings.  I admired this one with the brilliant sky very much.  By the way, that is the artist busy at work to left in this photo.

Adding a Touch of Humor

 

Bruce Marion is a painter who depicts a variety of wildlife in his paintings. This year he added a touch of humor with these two paintings of Jurassic Cowboys.  It never would have occurred to me to depict a cowboy riding a dinosaur. It looks like a life or death bronco ride to me.

Pete Tillack's paintings always contain something that is a bit out of place.  In the two paintings above  it's furniture placed in odd places.  He added a bit of humor with the small piece to the left of the lower painting.  It professes that "This is Not Art Yet it Has Appeal!"  I've seen that "banana art" joke before but I liked the way he juxtaposed it with his own art.

 This last piece is from artist and sculptor Parker McDonald.  He's added a row of brass song birds perched on a flute.  Very clever since the sound of birds is often depicted by the sound of a flute.

The Paint Carver

 

Brit Hansen is another artist I've admired at the Celebration of Fine Art.  She calls herself a "paint carver" and she explained to me what she does.  She paints a very thick layer of acrylic paint to the canvas and after it dries she carves away layer of the paint giving the remaining layer some texture.  The texture is hard to see in my photographs but it reminds me a bit of the brush strokes you sometimes see on a canvas.

These two paintings of hers really grabbed my attention when I stopped at her space.  And, I'm happy to report that they were purchased by a couple who were leaving the space as I stepped in.  I like knowing they are going to a good home.

Familiar Artists

 

Many of the artists who come to the Celebration of Fine Arts, come every year.  That makes their work very familiar to me.  Above is a painting by Barbara Rudolph.  She mixes a love of birds with a love of literature in her paintings.  She calls this one "Tall Tales Before the Flame Goes Out".  

To the left is a mixed media sculpture by Jeremy Firehammer.  This one has wood and fabric and metal and tiny lights.

Terrell Powell has very colorful paintings as well as a few very whimsical animal sculptures.  I love this polka-dotted moose.  

Seth Fairweather is another mixed media sculptor working with metal and other materials.  He's had sculptures similar to this one at the show before and I've always found them appealing.

Celebration of Fine Art

 

I went to the Celebration of Fine Arts yesterday so I could spend some time among the artists and their beautiful works.  I've posted about this show many times before.  It always happens between January and the end of March with artists spending the whole time working and showing their art in the big white tents in north Scottsdale.  Above is the work of Eric Holt a heavy metal sculptor.  Most of his work is on a very large and grand scale but these smaller pieces caught my eye.  

I cropped the top photo a bit so I could show you two of the pieces that have a sort of "other-worldly" look to them.  This one has a title, "Thorn of Crowns".

I didn't see a name for this one. It's quite unusual looking too.  This artist was new to me.  I have more photos from the show.  In the next week or so, I'll show you more from some of the artists I see every year.

An Art Filled Weekend

 

This last weekend was another busy one for me.  It was filled with art and art events.  Starting on Friday when I went to the annual Celebration of Fine Arts event.  It runs from mid-January through March and I hadn't been there yet.  It was another fascinating day meeting and talking with the artists.  The space above belongs to Cindy Dimascio.  She paints with acrylic paints ads a little 3-D effects to many of her pieces.

On Saturday I went to the Heard Museum for another "Artful Mornings" lectures.  This time one of the curators talked about the different types of print making and featured several artworks from the collection.  This one is by Marwin Begaye and is a wood block print called Inner Strength.  It just won first prize in the recent Indian Fair and Market.

On Sunday I attended the Scottsdale Ferrari Art Fair.  This was a new event that happened over the weekend and featured over 100 galleries and art brokers with a few fancy cars scattered around the building.  This show was truly something to see.  There was every style of art you can imagine from all over the world.  There was so much to see it was almost overwhelming.  

Obviously I'll have more photos to show you over the weeks to come.  I was very busy snapping photos right and left.  

Speaking of art, I have a new artwork up on my love of art site. It's an unusual painting.

Amazing and Unique Art

 

I loved the work of Seth Fairweather at the Celebration of Fine Art.  The one to the right was my favorite.  If I was rich and had the wall space, I would have bought this piece. I'm not sure why it spoke to me but it did.

This last piece was very eye catching. It was constructed with both steel and glass.  It looks a bit dangerous.

To top off all the art I've seen in the last week, I drove way north in Scottsdale on Saturday to visit that other art expo called the Arizona Fine Arts Expo.  I have lots more art to share in the weeks to come.

The amount of artistic talent in this world of ours is amazing.  

Artist at Work

 

Another artist from the Celebration of Fine Art is Becky Pashia.  She paints with oil paints and creates these impressionistic works.  She is from Bayfield Colorado.  

The piece above was one of my favorites from Cathy Sheeter, a scratchboard artist.  I would love to see a demonstration of this type of work.  Her pieces were so perfect, they looked like photographs and all are made by scratching away a layer of color to reveal another color below.  

Her works were simply amazing.  I love that cute raccoon in the middle. You can read about scratchboard art on her website.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I stumbled upon another school in London.

Celebration of Fine Art 2024

 

Last Saturday, I made the long trek out to far north Scottsdale to attend the Celebration of Fine Art.  There are two of these huge art shows out in the north desert.  Last year I went to the one even further north but this year I went back to the one I usually attend.  These shows run from January through March and it's an opportunity to meet with the artists and for them it's an opportunity to sell their works.

The artist above is Beth Zink.  I saw the woman to the left taking her photo so I took the opportunity to get them both in the scene.  Beth works with acrylic paint and as you can see, she paints a lot of desert plants and scenes. I'm sure she gets inspiration from around her home in Cave Creek Arizona.

This exhibit was new to me.  I hadn't seen this artist at the show before.  Veronica and Gabriel work in the fine art of "Repousse".  Here is a quote describing that type of art from their website.

Repousse refers to a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is shaped by hammering from the reverse side to create a design in low relief.  This technique is very ancient and has been extensively used all over the world, as they require only the simplest tools and materials, and yet allow a great diversity of expression.

I think this artist was also new to the event. This is an acrylic painting by Ray Tigerman from Tubac Arizona.  Tubac is an artistically inclined town south of Tucson and near the border with Mexico.  His pieces all had a Native American look to them. Tomorrow, I'll show you some more art from the show.

My Artistic Purchases

 

I mentioned that I purchased two things when I visited the Celebration of Fine Arts last Friday.  Here they are.  

Above is a small handbag by Janet Chico of Material Things.  The ironic thing about this purchase is that I thought it would be perfect for when I attend plays at Gammage Auditorium.  They changed their handbag policy to only allow bags of a certain size.  A few days after I made this purchased, they changed their policy again, only allowing clear plastic bags.  Oh well, I'm sure I'll get lots of use out the handbag for other events.

To the left is the piece of pottery that I purchased from Myron Whitaker.  I've always admired his pottery pieces and in fact, I bought my first one probably 8 years ago.

I had to do some rearranging on my bookcase but I think it looks pretty good on the same shelf with the one I bought years ago.  The one in the middle was made by a good friend and fellow Art Challenge club member, Ted Wolter.  

Another Look at the Art

 

I have a few more scenes from the Celebration of Find Art today.  Above is the space occupied by Matthew Sievers.  I love that tree!

I also enjoy seeing the work of Terrell Powell.  He creates paintings and sculptures and other art pieces.  I love the horse in the painting above.  

Brian Sykes had some new pieces this year that were a little different than the turned wood pieces he has shown in the past.  His wood vessels are simply breathtaking.  I also like these new sculptural pieces he has added to his collection.

Gregory Sievers (Matthew's father) paints incredibly beautiful scenes.  I've seen European street scenes, desert scenes and landscapes in his collection before.  This year he introduced these multi- painting sculptural pieces.  I thought is was an interesting new take on his landscape art.

Something a Little Different

 

Here is a piece of art that stopped me in my tracks as I was roaming around the big tents for the Celebration of Fine Arts.  This is the work of artists Brad & Sundie Ruppert of Norwalk, Iowa.  They create art using pieces of felt.

I had to take a closer look.  The piece had a 3-D effect making it look like that big cat was about to leap out of the frame.  

Taking an even closer look, you can actually see the individual pieces of felt used to create the image.  What an interesting way to create art.  It's fascinating the number of ways people express themselves in through art.  

Art With a Sense of Humor

 

A few of the artists at the Celebration of Fine Art create images with a bit of humor and whimsey and sometimes a touch of irony.  Barbara Rudolf is one of those artists.  I featured one of her paintings last year.  It was the clever take on To Kill A Mockingbird with her version called Tequila Mockingbird. (It's at the bottom of this post.) I thought this play on Crime and Punishment was also pretty clever.  

My favorite painting from this year's collection was another one with a tequila theme.  This one is just so exquisitely painted.  

Another artist with a sense of humor is Leah Kiser.  I loved this painting called fine feathered friends.  Pink cats covered in feathers are truly a rare sight!  Ms. Kiser says she gets a lot of inspiration from her young children.  If you check her link, you will see some of her dancing dinosaurs.  

I featured Jenny Foster about two years ago but she deserves another look.  Her whimsical animals will always put a smile on my face.  I loved this long-eared rabbit.  Jenny was a joy to talk to.  She's every bit as happy and spirited as her wonderful paintings.

I've been going to this event every year and posting about it since 2010.  If you are curious about other artists you can click the tag C of FA at the bottom of the page.