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Artist News

www.wildemeyer.com

Wilde Meyer Gallery represents so many fine artists; we thought we should give you a sampling of some of their recent achievements and honors.

Timothy Chapman, Michelle Chrisman and Jeff Cochran are all included in a new hardcover book Contemporary Art of the Southwest. This is a beautiful high gloss book representing the best artists of the American Southwest. Author is E. Ashley Rooney with forward by Chief curator of Contemporary Art for the Tucson Museum of Art – Julie Sasse.


Timothy Chapman is also exhibiting his work in the US Embassy in Nairobi Kenya.



Trendy Santa Barbara Magazine chose to feature Karen Bezuidenhout's paintings in a home located at fabulous Rincon Beach. Karen has also completed commissions going to Johannesburg, South Africa, and Noosa Australia.

Bill Colt and Andrea Peterson’s paintings were real hits in their Scottsdale restaurant, so Del Frisco’s is now including them all over the United States.


Debora Stewart

Debora Stewart is finishing her book Abstract Painting: Expressions in Mixed Media. North Light Books will release it April 2015. In the “how to” book Debra shares her secrets for creating pastels and acrylic paintings. One of her recent pastels is on exhibit in Boston at the acclaimed Vose Gallery as part of the International Association of Pastel Societies.

Celebrating 25 years as an artist, Gregg Rochester’s “Tour d’ Art” (bicycle art show), will tour Europe this summer and be featured in New York and Miami later this year. Greg is a well know landscape painter featured on the National Endowments for the Arts website, and named Wisconsin Artist of the year.

Ceramics artist Kari Rives was awarded a merit award by juror and international celebrity artist Leopold Foulem. Juror Jim Romberg chose Kari’s work to be included in the Western Colorado Center for the Arts - Ceramics Biennial.

Sarah Webber’s “Seated Bunny” was chosen to be part of Art of the Animal Kingdom XIX at the Bennington Center for the Arts.. “Are You My Momma” was juried into the American Women Artists 17th Annual National Competition in Orleans, MA.

Wilde Meyer’s talented artist and blogger Judy Feldman had a painting “Friends” included in the Shemer Art Center show, “Animal Other”.

Jamie Ellsworth is included in two new books. 100 Artists of the Northwest written by Ashley Rooney, and 1000 Dog Portraits written by Robynne Ray; both include beautiful work by Ellsworth.

Tracy Miller and Suzanne Betz are both participating in “The Cloud Foundation Annual Art Exhibit”. This is a celebration and fundraiser for Wild Horses through Art and Music. This is a really worthwhile cause helping to save our wild horses.

Selected as a finalist for this year’s Athena Award, Tracy Miller said it “was a real honor to be nominated. The award is given to outstanding businesswomen in the community, and I believe I was the first artist ever to be in the group”. Tracy was also selected out of 1100 artist submissions to be included in the new book Acrylic Works, The Best of Acrylic Painting by Nancy Reyner, published by North Light.

Sushe Felix exemplifies the beauty of the Sonoran desert through her paintings. Over one dozen of Sushe’s paintings were used to illustrate the beautiful program for the 2nd annual Tucson Desert Song Festival. I do not know who originally said this: “Visuals can be Music for the Eye”, but it is appropriate here, for these paintings are truly “Music for the Eye”.

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Collecting 101

(actually, Collecting more than 100)

By Judy Feldman | www.wildemeyer.com


by Monika Rossa

Collecting original art can be a bit stressful for first-time buyers. You can walk into a gallery and be overwhelmed by choices of styles, subjects, colors and sizes. The prices, too, can be out of reach for some would-be collectors.

Betty Wilde, one of Wilde Meyer Gallery’s owners, said that gallery visitors are often afraid to make their first purchase. But, she tells them, “Buy your first piece, and you’ll be hooked on original art. Posters won’t do it for you anymore!”


by Chaille Trevor

Some people are initially convinced that they have to purchase art that matches their décor. Betty tells them that their tastes will come through in their selection. “Chances are, you’ll gravitate to colors that you like anyway. Choose what you like, and what you’ll enjoy living with in your home.”


by Connie Townsend

Betty has found a way for art lovers to dip their toes into the wonderful world of art collecting, and helping animal charities at the same time. During the month of June, the gallery at Marshall Way will host a “100 for $100” show. More than 40 artists are participating, and each painting will sell for $100, with much of the proceeds going to several animal charities.


by Judy Feldman

“It’s a great way to get to know many different artists,” Betty said. “It’s always easy to find a place for a small painting, and at this price, you can even make a grouping of several paintings without spending too much.”

Many of the paintings have been created by the artists expressly for this show; others, including Jamie Ellsworth and Chaille Trevor, have included larger paintings as well, because they want to help the charities.


by Kari Rives

Last year, the show was so successful, that the gallery will be selling more than 100 paintings through a lottery system. The images will be emailed to all of you next week; you can put your name on a list for a particular painting, and a name will be drawn for each painting on Friday, June 5. This is your chance to start (or continue) collecting!

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Cowboy Art Reinterpreted

By Judy Feldman | www.wildemeyer.com


"Black Mare's Life"
by Amy Watts

The “cowboy artist” has long been associated with American art. The lore of the West and the cowboy lifestyle are good source material for many painters. Some artists like to portray these themes in a more contemporary way. The cowboy – or cowgirl – is still in the picture, but in a stylized, interpretive manner.

For example, Amy Watts – who is actually a southern gal from Georgia – has a unique style that enables her to tell her stories in a modern way.

“I’ve been a cowgirl all my life,” she said. “Western history has always fascinated me, and I was a horse trainer for 20 years. Amy received a college degree in art illustration, but she didn’t start painting seriously until she stopped training horses. Her epiphany came at a visit to the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Georgia. “I admired the paintings of Shonto Begay, and I realized that I was already interpreting Western art in a more contemporary way.”


"The Good Samaritan"
by Amy Watts

Amy says she likes to tell a story in her paintings. In “The Black Mare’s Life,” Amy portrays the life cycle of a horse. Surrounding the focal area of the horse and its cowgirl rider, there are smaller sections that depict its life. The upper left circle shows the young horse in a field with its mother; in the upper right circle, the horse is being trained for the first time by a cowgirl; and in the lower right area, the horse has been turned out to pasture in retirement.

A key component of Amy’s contemporary take on western art is her use of patterns and her illustrative style. “My grandmother was a quilter, and I think that influenced me. Also, I grew up around roses, and that pattern appears frequently in my work.”

“The Good Samaritan” is another example of Amy’s modern interpretation of an old story. Taken from a biblical parable of hope and how one should behave, this painting depicts a Native American man helping a stranger. The figures are stylized, and the colorful patterns create a finely designed background. It pays to look at Amy’s work closely, since something new is always emerging from the painting!

Charles Davison has a different approach to a southwestern theme. A collector of textiles, beads, buttons and other items, he creates collage pieces that present his subjects with a fresh approach. In his painting entitled “Back Road Boys,” the cowboys strike a typical pose, but the mood is very playful. The colorful clothing is cut from different fabrics, and collaged, along with buttons on the shirts and neck scarves. Another evidence of Charles’ contemporary style is his layering of paint, fabric and paint again to create the textures he wants.


"Night of the Vision"
by Charles Davison

His love of textiles can also result in a new textile of Charles’ creation. “Running Horses” is presented on an unstretched canvas, painted with many layers and collaged with fabrics and bits of beads and buttons.

Charles is inspired by southwestern art, as well as the rock formations around his home in Superior, AZ. “My work is more mystical than representational,” he said. In “Night of the Vision” he alludes to Native American spirituality, and clothes his characters in strips of fabric, beads and antique jewelry.

Thom Ross calls himself a “storyteller who paints.” His narrative art has a very specific theme and purpose. He focuses on iconic western American heroes who have become mythic figures.


"They Cast Long Shadows"
by Thom Ross

“I’m interested in how we take a story with an historical foundation, and turn it into a more romantic version of the actual truth,” he said. “In my paintings, I like to depict these heroes as real people who are actually much more interesting as human beings with their own flaws.”

Thom sees the humanity in his figures, but he still portrays them in a stylized, graphic way. These cowboys are active, yet they appear flat. Their long legs stretch under full-length coats, and their macho look is accentuated by their strong – yet not very defined - faces under their big-brimmed hats. I especially like the geometric shadows he places under his figures. A good example of Thom’s style is his painting entitled “They Cast Long Shadows,” which refers to the three Earp brothers from the gunfight at the OK Corral.

“These men cast long shadows in our western culture,” he said. “They are insignificant outside of their mythology, which embodies the human spirit and courage.”


"The Clantons"
by Thom Ross

The “Clanton Gang” also refers to the story of the OK Corral. The Clantons are crossing Allen Street and going to their death, according to Thom. The line he painted underneath each figure is symbolic of their crossing and their courage. “With that decision, these unknown men become part of a world famous story,” he explained.

These contemporary artists express many themes we already know, but it’s nice to see them portrayed in a new light.

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The Art of “Texting”

By Judy Feldman | www.wildemeyer.com

Text is an integral part of our language. We need the written word to learn about things, to communicate and for the pleasure of reading.

When we think of art, we generally think of imagery, either in two- or three-dimensional form. But some artists like to combine images with words and numbers. From my interviews with three different artists at Wilde Meyer, this technique is used for different reasons.

Timothy Chapman’s initial education in biology informs his choice of subject matter and use of text in his paintings. According to Timothy, his paintings owe a lot to his fondness for earlier styles of depicting animals, particularly the copperplate engravings that illustrated Buffon's Natural History, as well as Victorian animal portraiture and old scientific illustration. Since there was no photography at that time, the images are not always correct.


"The Effects of Diet on Pattern"
by Timothy Chapman

“I’ve tried to present similarly earnest, but basically inaccurate renderings of animals by using humor, irony and a surrealistic sensibility that’s not available to the scientist,” he said. Timothy also follows the tradition of naming the animal on the painting, sometimes with the correct genus nomenclature, and sometimes with an invented Latin name that could be “plausible.” For example, in his painting labeled “Onchorhynchus Zebra,” he used the correct species name for the trout, but he created his own version, with a zebra design.

Timothy’s humor comes through in his painting of “Pets of the Pleistocene.” He said, “I tried to imagine what cavemen’s pets would be like. Smilodon is the actual genus name for a saber-toothed tiger that lived in the Pleistocene era. This cat hasn’t grown into its fangs yet.”


"Embrace the Bloom"
by Lori Faye Bock

If he doesn’t include nomenclature on a painting, Timothy comes up with interesting titles to explain the species he portrays, like “The Effects of Diet on Pattern.” “These titles use the language of a scientific historian, but in an ironic way,” he explained.

Lori Faye Bock’s colorful paintings incorporate text as a design element. Her appreciation for words came later in life, since she had dyslexia as a child. But when she had a major birthday, her mother gave her a book of quotes by women who recently turned 50. “I started reading these quotes, and found them very uplifting,” she said.


"Your Main Squeeze"
by Lori Faye Bock

Then, the words found their way onto her paintings. She started with a series of skirt paintings, and incorporated quotes as pattern elements. The quotes come from the many books of women’s quotes that she’s collected since her birthday gift. In “Embrace the Bloom,” the quotes are hand written on orange blocks of color that are part of the skirt’s patchwork fabric.

At some point, Lori was asked to paint a more masculine image. She came up with paintings like “Your Main Squeeze.” Here, a shirt is decorated with men’s favorite things, as well as amusing quotes. She also uses rubber stamps to create text as a decorative trim – seen in this painting, and in “Hungry?”

“Incorporating hand-lettered text is a time-consuming process, but I enjoy it, “she said. “I think the words add playfulness to my work, and enhance the design.”


"Hungry?"
by Lori Faye Bock

Brian Boner’s words and numbers are used as aesthetic elements in his paintings. After his father developed a neurological disease that deprived him of his ability to speak and decipher written words, Brian said he started to look at text differently.


"Early Morning Dreams"
by Brian Boner

“My paintings are very intuitive,” he said. “I try to capture a passing thought. Sometimes the words come first, and sometimes the images do. Some of the numbers are significant to me, such as birthdays or other important dates. Since I paint many layers, some of the images can get all or partially buried.”

Brian’s interest in bird paintings is also a memory of his father, who was an avid bird watcher. In his painting entitled “Early Morning Dreams,” he uses some text as a faint background layer. Although the two robins are painted realistically, the other mark-making elements and calligraphy convey a very personal statement. “South Cloud Palace” also makes a reference to Brian’s father, who told his children to “stay very still” when they were bird-watching.


"South Cloud Palace"
by Brian Boner

“The Lamb, the Birds and the Bison” is another reflection of memory: Brian said the black birds are a metaphor for something ominous – perhaps the fragility of the bison herds in his native State of South Dakota. The numbers have personal meanings, too, but they are integral to the painting’s design.

Artists have the wonderful privilege of using whatever elements contribute to their artwork. For these three, text is part of their visual message.


"The Lamb, the Birds and the Bison"
by Brian Boner
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Patterns Perk up Paintings!

By Judy Feldman | www.wildemeyer.com


"Spots, Stripes, and Squares"
by Judy Feldman

Patterns are all around us. We see them in nature, on clothing, and in any number of decorative items around our homes: wallpapers, rugs, pillows, upholstery, etc. Patterns perk things up. Think how dull it would be if everything were solid! I can’t imagine how plain my painting entitled Fruits, (Mostly) would be without the patterns on the bowl and tablecloth. And, certainly, Spots, Stripes and Squares would be so boring without the spots, stripes or squares!

Patterns have been a big part of artists’ work for a long time. The Japanese wood-block prints influenced many painters, such as Monet, Van Gogh, Gauguin and Toulouse- Lautrec, to name a few. The pointillists created their own form of pattern with small dots of color that become blended in the viewer’s eye to form an image.


"Red & White Cat and a Puppy
in a Landscape"
by Joseph Young

Joseph Young is all about patterns. “I’ve always been a decorative painter,” he says Trained as an art historian, Joseph is influenced by many art movements, such as Art Nouveau, Arts and Crafts, and the artists mentioned above. “Even abstract expressionists such as Jackson Pollack were decorative artists in their own way,” he commented.

Joseph likes to paint flat, and uses pattern to give the illusion of three dimensions. He juxtaposes colors that vibrate off each other. “If there’s no vibration, I add another contrasting color, until I get the desired effect. I want the colors to either work with or against each other to create excitement in the painting.”


"Cowboy and Two Dogs
in a Landscape"
by Joseph Young

To achieve patterns such as these requires considerable patience. As you can see in his painting entitled Red and White Cat and a Puppy in a Landscape, there are many different elements, and each has its own pattern. There are so many varieties of butterflies, flowers, fish and birds; yet they are grouped in an organized, thoughtful way. You can tell that Joseph has a very strong sense of design (and an amazing ability to stay focused!).

In his painting Cowboy and Two Dogs in a Landscape, we see similar floral designs and butterflies, but here Joseph has used a pointillist effect of dots and tiny patterns to create a sense of depth against the flatter, more solid elements in the work.


"Woman with Pups"
by Rena Vandewater

Rena Vandewater also uses lines and dots to give her paintings movement and a three dimensional effect. Woman with Pups is a very stylized work – the woman and her dogs are flat, but everything else vibrates because of the patterns she’s created. Pear Tree would be a pretty uninteresting painting without the textures she’s given to the sky, leaves and patches of ground that together remind me of a quilt and needlework.

“I work intuitively,” she explains. “The painting talks to me the entire time I’m working on it. The patterns and shapes evolve in the process, and although I see the images as a whole, each space has a life of its own.”

Yellow Sun Vineyard also shows the influence of textiles on Rena’s work. The shapes of the hills, each with its own pattern and color scheme, convey the look of a collage piece. The red ground that shows between the patterns and as a border around the shapes makes the colors really pop.


"Bear"
by Tracy Miller

Tracy Miller isn’t afraid of color. She often puts conflicting hues together to give energy to a painting. “People respond to color emotionally,” she says. Tracy lives in the foothills of a mountain area in Colorado, where the wildlife she sees daily inspire her art.

Her method is so different from Joseph and Rena’s, She says she follows a “visual haiku,” meaning that she starts with black lines painted in a free-form way to create forms for a color abstraction. “That movement and pattern informs the animal I create,” she says. “It just evolves from the initial drawing.” If you look at two of her paintings, Horse and Bear, you can see the initial black swirls under the red background.


"Longhorn Series II"
by Tracy Miller

But that’s just the beginning of the work. As she adds brushstrokes of color, the animal emerges, with its shape and musculature. Tracy uses different colors to show contour, rather than more traditional lights and darks of the same hue.

Other techniques that characterize Tracy’s unique style include switching between opaque and transparent colors. The moose in Lazy Days is portrayed with strikes of transparent hues that give it a luminous glow. Tracy often crops her image to zoom in on her color patterns, as in Longhorn Series II. “It’s more about the design, than a realistic image of the animal,” she explains. And, the flourish of a splatter of paint that flies over most of her paintings is “my, fun, energetic signature.”

So, keep your eye out for patterns. They are everywhere, and they make life so much more interesting!

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Tactile Art: The Thrill of the Touch

By Judy Feldman | www.wildemeyer.com

In my last blog, I talked about three sculptors who have found their artistic expression in three-dimensional art. All of them said that they love the feel of creating art in a tactile way. You could say the sense of touch is an integral part of their work.

To continue this theme, I talked to three other 3D artists who display at the gallery. The first two are ceramicists, whose tactile expressions are revealed directly in their art. The third is a glass artist, whose journey to a finished piece is a little more complicated.

Kari Rives began her artistic career as a painter, favoring a palette knife and her fingers instead of brushes, to create highly textured work. Her love of a hands-on technique led her to try ceramics, combining her painterly skills with modeling. “Clay made good sense to me,” she says. “Its tactile nature provides a great opportunity for expressive gesture, and I prefer to leave the evidence of my touch.”


"Emerald Turtle" by Kari Rives

You can see an example of Kari’s mark making on her ceramics in two charming sculptures, entitled “Hedgerow” and “Bruce” (shown above). She doesn’t sketch before sculpting, and although she refers to photos, she doesn’t strive for realism, saying that “an animal speaks to me, so I feel an emotion and convey life in the piece.”

Although Kari enjoys the painterly part of coloring her sculptures, she likes the uncertainty that results from firing a piece. “You really don’t know what’s going to happen, and the surprises can be great” she says. Often, she’ll re-fire a sculpture, sometimes as much as eight times, to achieve depth and layers of color. I think you can see these layers in her piece entitled “Emerald Turtle.”

Michelle MacKenzie also started exploring art as a painter. But she, too, loves the tactile thrill of “taking a ball of clay and creating something beautiful from it.” And, she adds, “When it’s done you can touch it!” Michelle is passionate about animals and looks to them for inspiration. She has a keen interest in birds, and says “Birds symbolize life to me. Sculpting them is so delightful. As I work, they’re in the palm of my hand and their face is looking up at me.”

Michelle’s bird series is charming. She uses old wire to form a nest, makes ceramic eggs and creates a family setting with a mother bird. Here’s an example of her bird collection:


For her sculpture entitled “Quail on a Rock,” she uses a horseshoe nail to create the quail’s topnotch.


"Guardian" by Michelle MacKenzie

Always on the lookout for found objects, Michelle likes to mix up her mediums. For her sculpture “Guardian,” she re-finished an old shutter door, added trim where the hinges had been and created a ceramic bas relief to depict the wolves as “animal spirits of the forest.” Although it’s meant to be hung on a wall, this piece still offers the texture and depth of three-dimensional art.

Although Tom Philabaum had a natural ability to draw and paint as a child, his initial pursuit in college was academics, But when he decided to take a ceramics class, he says “the clay grabbed me.” Tom focused on hand building, working in such a large scale that his instructor told him that his ideas were too fluid for clay, and that he should try glass.


"Small Gourd" by Tom Philabaum

A chance meeting in Wisconsin with Harvey Littleton changed the course of Tom’s artistic career. (Littleton and glass scientist Dominick Labino introduced glass as an art medium in 1962, and Littleton taught the first glass-blowing class in an American college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.) Tom was drawn to the expressive possibilities of glass, and, under the tutelage of Harvey Littleton, was encouraged to push the boundaries of artistic expression in that medium. He started to work with glass in the same way he had worked with clay: by creating shapes and constructing objects with them. “I use heat instead of water to make the material flow,” he explains.


"Canasta" by Tom Philabaum

You can see the unique way Tom fashions glass in his rock sculptures, made of blown glass and fashioned together. In pieces like “Small Gourd” and “Round Paperweight”, the balls of glass appear to be floating, yet delicately attached. The shimmering, multi-colored hues of the sculptures look so ethereal.

Tom says that he has learned the principles of chemistry and physics through glass making. His various techniques require new understandings of the medium each time he tries a different idea. For his sculpture entitled “Wrapped,” he combines two mediums: clay and kiln cast glass, making a form in clay, a mold from that and then pouring glass into the mold to create the final piece. In his series called “Handbuilts,” he makes coils with molten glass and then creates a form such as the vessel entitled “Canasta 18.”


"River Road" by Tom Philabaum

A recent exploration has led Tom to a fusion of glass making and painting. “River Road” is an example of his fused glass collage painting series. In this multi-step, complex process, 2D and 3D have a chance to meet!

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Three Dimensional Art: Visual physicality

By Judy Feldman | www.wildemeyer.com

As a painter, my only experience with three-dimensional art is when I try to show the planes in something like a table, or work with perspective to try to draw the viewer into the scene. But a painting is always two dimensional because there is no actual depth. When you add that extra dimension of depth to length and width, you get 3D art.

Sculpture is a wonderful form of three-dimensional art. It’s primarily a hands-on process, and color takes a back seat to form. I wanted to know why some of the artists at Wilde Meyer favor sculpture (how can they live without red paint??), and learn about their techniques.


"Alter Ego" by Tony Dow

Tony Dow creates abstract bronze sculptures, as well as mixed media 3D pieces. He said that he’s always loved this medium, and has the ability to visualize a three dimensional image even before he starts to work on a piece. In his artist statement, he says the following about his work: "The figures are abstract and not meant to represent reality but rather the truth of the interactions as I see and feel them.”

Tony produces limited editions of nine bronzes using the lost wax process from molds of the original burl sculpture. He describes his method this way: “The first and most important step is to create the original figure that is to be cast. My originals are done in burl wood, which is extremely hard, requiring special carving equipment. The natural contour of the wood contributes to the form of each piece. Using various saws, chisels, grinders, and sanders, the details are brought out to reflect the concept of the piece.”

The bronze sculpture is then produced using the lost wax process at the foundry. It’s a pretty interesting process used by many sculptors, which I’ll describe here. A heat-resistant mold is formed around the wood original and encased in plaster. Once dry, the mold is separated into two pieces and the wood original is removed. Sometimes multiple molds are made for one sculpture.


"Welcome" by Tony Dow

The mold is then bolted together and filled with hot wax to produce a duplicate of the original wood sculpture. The final wax version is dipped in a plaster-like slurry to encase the wax figure. Once hardened, the new plaster mold is placed into an oven at 1800 F, where the wax melts away through ducts in the mold and leaves a plaster reproduction of the original mold. The cavity of the plaster mold is filled with bronze or other desired metal. Once cooled, the plaster is broken away leaving a rough cast version of the original sculpture which now has to be cleaned, reconstructed if more than one mold is necessary, and sandblasted.

Now the sculpture is now ready for patina, or coloring. After the piece is washed down to remove any contaminates, it is heated to the applicable temperature depending on the combination of acids used to produce the desired finish.

Jim Budish sculpts his smaller pieces in clay, and then casts them in bronze in the same lost wax method as Tony’s. For life-size and monumental works, he prefers to sculpt in low density foam with a hot-knife, applying clay to the surface before casting in bronze.

Jim said that he loves the feel of three-dimensional sculpture, and knowing that a bronze piece “will be around in 5,000 years, even though I won’t,” He creates whimsical animals that have exaggerated features, such as the rabbit ears in “Abby,” or the long, long legs of “Moose.”

Long ago, Jim realized that he didn’t want to sculpt "photographs" in bronze. He says, “I felt that I wanted to create my own new and unique direction in representing the human form and the forms of the multitude of special creatures surrounding us, exploring the unique attitude, emotion and personality of each, while attempting to capture the ‘joie de vivre’ that I believe is lurking somewhere inside all of us. Maybe if we smile more and take each other a little less seriously, people would get along better!”


"Rocking Foal" by Lisa Gordon

Horses have always been a part of Lisa Gordon’s life. She says that there’s an emotional bond between herself and her horses.

”I drew and mimicked them as a child; I owned and trained them as a teen; studied and revered them in college. Now as an artist, it’s natural that I sculpt the horse's image. The horse is the figure through which I actualize my ideas. It becomes a tangible bridge between the viewer and me. My goal is to render the horse with empathy and respect without getting bogged down in realities.”


"Trophy" by Lisa Gordon

Lisa’s art studies exposed her to bronze casting. She said that she loves the hands-on physicality of sculpture. Her method is different from that of Tony or Jim’s. Lisa actually works directly in wax, heating it enough to manipulate it and then carving on it when it cools. “It kind of marries the skills of ceramics and woodworking,” she said. “I work with many technical processes that are woven seamlessly together so that the viewer cannot see the complex assemblage that’s required.”

If the scale of the piece is small, such as “Rocking Foal,” she’ll make a one-of-a-kind piece that may be part of a series with a theme. For a sculpture like “Trophy,” Lisa created the horse in that manner, then cast the handles, pedestals and balls. The central column is fabricated and and colored.

After speaking with these three artists, I realized that although it’s a tedious process, the pleasure of handling the materials and creating a three-dimensional image is what drives them to pursue this medium.

In my next blog, I’m going to speak to some other 3D artists – this time, the mediums will be ceramics and glass.

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WILDE MEYER Celebrates 30 Years of Art

By Judy Feldman | www.wildemeyer.com

On November 7th, Wilde Meyer celebrated its 30th anniversary at its Marshall Way gallery with a party for clients, artists and “art walkers.” It was fun for me to meet some of the artists I’ve spoken with on the phone during blog interviews. I met Ka Fisher, Charles Davison and Chaille Trevor. Nancy Pendleton and Brian Boner also came for the occasion. Mark, Laura, Jonathan, Ryan, Tyler and Andrea were all there to chat with everyone while we enjoyed a delicious anniversary cake.

If you don’t already know, Wilde Meyer is named for owners Betty Wilde and Mark Meyer. Betty’s son Jonathan Henderson, also is a partner.

Since Betty wasn’t able to attend (she was at the WM party in Tucson), I decided to give her a call to congratulate her on this milestone and learn a little more about the gallery’s history. I didn’t know that Betty has a BFA in fine art, and that she had a gallery in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

In 1983, Betty and Mark came to Scottsdale and opened a gallery on Marshall Way, just across the street from their current location. They brought some artists’ work from Tulsa, but quickly, other artists applied to have their work exhibited. Over the years, the gallery has had several locations on Marshall Way. Betty said that their present location used to be a veterinarian and dog clinic. Instead of art walks, Thursday nights were for dog training classes! Wilde Meyer moved into this space in 1990. Wilde Meyer Annex, their other gallery in Scottsdale, has also had several previous locations, but has been at the Main Street site since 1997. It’s a fun place to shop, with colorful art, jewelry, gift items and some “arty”clothing.

Quite a few Wilde Meyer’s artists have been with the gallery for many years. Linda Carter Holman and Charles Davison have been represented here since its inception. Barbara Gurwitz came a little later. Sherri Belassan, Timothy Chapman, Ka Fisher, Alix Stefan and Nancy Pendleton have been showing their art here for 10 to 15 years. And, I’ve been with Wilde Meyer since 2006!

The year 2000 marked the opening of the beautiful Wilde Meyer gallery in Tucson. We artists are fortunate to have these three venues for our work to be displayed. And, sometimes, we’re featured on the walls of the Canyon Ranch Spa.

But no matter which locale you visit, you’ll find the contemporary, colorful art that characterizes Wilde Meyer. Whether it’s paintings that portray everything from landscapes to amazing chimpanzees or art glass, ceramics or sculpture, the recurring motif is quality art that pleases the eye.

Betty told me that owning art galleries is a fascinating endeavor, certainly not without its challenges. But she, Mark and Jonathan are looking forward to a bright future. “Both visitors and local residents in these two cities enjoy and support art, and we feel very fortunate to be in this business.”

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