It’s A Dog’s World,-At Least for This Month


Dog Days the 20th, August 2012
Coyote Underbrush by Sarah Webber
 We all know that dogs are man’s best friend, right? I think that you could also say that dogs are one of Wilde Meyer artist’s favorite subjects – especially right now, when the 20th annual “Dog Days of Summer” show is up at the Marshall Way gallery. As noted in the show invitation, the "dog days of summer" refers to the period of time between early July and early September when the Dog Star, Sirius, is visible in the night sky. Presumably because Sirius appeared during the very warm days in August, "dog days" came to signify the hot humid days of summer.
Party Dogs in the Pueblo by Melinda Curtin 

There are several great things about this show. First, it features small and affordable paintings. So, it’s a great way to collect a piece by a favorite artist without spending too much. Second, it showcases many different kinds of dogs in so many painterly ways.


Some artists choose to paint the dog in a more realistic manner, such as Sarah Webber who has done an impressionistic portrait of a coyote. Others, such as Melinda Curtin, favor a more non-traditional route. Her dancing dog is reverse-painted on glass in a contemporary, funky way.


Sounds Resonable by Linda Carter Holman


Top: Pancake and Polly, Puggie
Bottom: Whittle Brown Baby, Pug
by Trevor Mikula
If you follow the artists at Wilde Meyer, I’m sure you’ll recognize their style in these small dog paintings. Linda Carter Holman’s painting has so many of her favorite “accessories:” calla lilies, a pearl necklace on the dog, a bowl of fruit, lovebirds and a goldfish bowl. Trevor Mikula shows his wacky characters- some adorable hounds you’ll probably never see in real life! As usual, Connie Townsend’s dogs are going for a joy ride – this time on a motorcycle.

You’ll also recognize Sushi Felix’s distinctive style in the stylized canines she’s portrayed. You might even recognize my two pieces (hint: Plein Air Pooch and The Secret of the Missing Cupcake). The latter was inspired by a photo of a friend’s dog who was stealing a sweet potato. I thought a cupcake would be more appealing!


Biking the Bloomin' Desert by Connie Townsend

Coyote Pups and Little Coyote by Sushe Felix

Plein Air Pooch by Judy Feldman

The Secret of the Missing Cupcake by Judy Feldman

The last, and maybe best, great thing about the Dog Days of Summer show is that so many artists choose to participate (more than 30 this year). It’s so much fun to paint dogs in different ways, and we all enjoy the spontaneous pleasure of working on a small canvas. So, brave the heat of August, and cool off at the gallery while selecting your favorite hound. If you’re in Tucson, the show will be up there in September.

"Dog Days the 20th" view from outside




Found Objects II: Bill Colt, Step by Step

Maroon Sunset by Bill Colt
In my last blog, I talked about two artists who recycle materials to create unique art pieces. There’s another artist at Wilde Meyer who also is into recycling, using old newspapers and magazines as a background for his acrylic paintings. Bill Colt goes to antique stores and flea markets to find old magazines, comic books, engineering manuals and random reading material.


Tuskegee's Finest by Bill Colt
Bill’s a corporate pilot, and some of his paintings include pieces of aviation maps, old Pan Am ads and aviation engineering manuals. His collage technique is pretty methodical, as you can see from the interesting photos he was willing to share when he was creating his painting entitled “Estelle,” which Bill was commissioned to do for  Del Frisco's Grille, a new restaurant in Phoenix.

To start, he creates texture on his canvas with joint compound and bits of things like cheesecloth. 




Then, he collages pieces of his printed materials on the canvas with gel medium. In this photo, you can see the vintage ads he uses. I like the one for Duz soap – I think that was from the ‘50s. The blonde woman smoking the cigarette reminds me of Betty in “Madmen!”





As the creative process takes over, Bill draws his image in charcoal (I can still see the Duz ad and Betty.), and then paints with acrylics, covering agood portion of the collage work.


To finish, he glazes his painting with a product that deepens and enriches his colors. Here, Estelle is looking right at us in a very engaging way, and although there is really no correlation between the cow and the old ads, the images work very well together. The owners of Del Frisco liked this painting so much, they commissioned Bill to do another version for their restaurant in Washington, D.C.

Estelle by Bill Colt
48"x48"
The different papers give Bill Colt’s artwork an additional dimension and an element of graffiti. Like Charles Davison, Bill’s paintings can be enjoyed at a distance, and then examined up close to see what’s beneath the paint. That makes these paintings especially interesting to me.

Found Objects: Recycled or Re-purposed

Melinda Curtin, Cacti and Succulents 28" x 36"
reverse glass painting in vintage window
Recycling is now a common word in our vocabulary. We recycle paper, glass and certain plastics in a special pail, and we often find that things we buy were once something altogether different, like a floor mat made from old flip-flops!

Charles Davison, Magic Sky
28.5"x22.5"
acrylic, buttons, paper, yarn,
 & various metal objects on panel

Art also can be made from recycled objects, and the results are pretty creative. The other day, I found a piece of corrugated metal from an old wood icebox in my studio. I started wondering what I could possibly do with it. Probably make an interesting small painting. Or, maybe I could adhere it to a larger piece of wood. Or, maybe stick some small rocks or shells on it. These decisions will require some thought! In the meantime, I decided to check out some of the Wilde Meyer artists who use found objects in their artwork. They seem to know exactly what to do with bits and pieces of stuff!
Charles Davison, Prosperity Tree
36"x32" mixed media

Charles Davison’s work reflects his collecting habit. He has a stockpile of buttons, antique jewelry, rusted bottle caps, stones, papers and fabrics that enable him to produce multi-media pieces that are infused with bright color and textures.

A self-described pack rat, Charles says that he gets his materials from thrift shops, antique stores, and from things he finds in the desert. His three-dimensional artwork can be appreciated from a distance, and elicits delight upon closer examination, when you discover what materials are in the paintings.

Charles Davison, Jonah's Tale, 20"x20"
mixed media: acrylic paint, buttons, mirror, beads, fabric, printed paper, bottle tops

For example, in his painting entitled “Jonah’s Tale”, Jonah is standing atop different found materials, looking at a huge fish encrusted with buttons. Behind the watery shoreline, a bright orange background is made from what looks to be an embroidered Indian fabric, perhaps a sari in an earlier life. The sun is made of several found objects, and the entire piece is framed in buttons.

Charles Davison, Calling up the Moon, 56"x56"
mixed media tapestry:fabric, objects include beads, ceramic dishes

Charles says that his collection often gives him ideas for paintings. Or, he may have an image in mind, and then delves into his huge inventory to find just the right objects. Rusted metal objects, wooden stars and decorative house moldings all play roles in different paintings. Some objects are glued on with epoxies; others are sewn on. “Calling Up the Moon” is a work that took him four years to complete. It features miniature dishes, semi-precious stones, beadwork and appliqued fabrics.


Melinda Curtin, Party Dogs in the Pueblo 28" x 36"
reverse glass painting in vintage window

Melinda Curtin, Snake and Cacti 57" x 27"
reverse glass on vintage window
Old windows are the canvas for Melinda Curtin’s paintings. Her first collection was from windows she found at a salvage yard. Now, she gets calls from people who are re-modeling homes in old Tucson and want to dispose of their old windows. Melinda does reverse paintings on the glass, and keeps the old frames as they are. “I like the idea that these windows have been used before,” she said. “Reverse glass painting originated in Europe centuries ago,” she explained. “It’s a folk art concept that we see in many different cultures.”

Melinda puts a contemporary, playful twist on this style. She taught art in elementary school in the past and refers to the way kids think when she conjures up an image. “Kids have a wonderful simplicity and happiness that I like to convey.”

She lives in Tucson, and her work has a southwestern influence. Her technique for painting on glass is challenging, since she has to paint in reverse. She told me that she has to paint the details first, and then add the main image on top. “You have to think backwards, “she said. “The details you would normally do last, you have to paint first.” Her painting, “Party Dogs in the Pueblo,” is painted on a window with its original hardware intact. It’s typical of her style, with bright colors; flat, playful images and a southwestern theme.
Melinda Curtin, Casa Sedona 28" x 30"
reverse glass on vintage window

“Casa Sedona” also has a weathered frame and old hardware, with the bright blue sky, cacti and simple subject rendering she favors. Things got a little more complicated in “Snake and Cacti,” since she had to work on a 10-panel window, and unite the 10 different images by theme and color.


I can see that using old materials for new art requires quite a collecting habit, a great deal of imagination and a bit of humor. Now what can I do with that piece of corrugated metal (and my old button collection)??

Myths, Truth & Western Characters

Thom Ross | Doc Holiday
Doc Holiday 40"x30"
Thom Ross | Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Earp 40"x30"
Myths and truth are the narratives that run through the distinctive paintings by Thom Ross. In his art, Thom paints famous Western characters in a distinctive way that tells a more complex story than the traditional historical myths we have come to know. “I’m a storyteller who paints,” he says.

Some of Thom's most well know  paintings is his ongoing series of works about the Gunfight at O.K. Corral.  Here is a bit of background on the Gunfight at O.K. Corral from Wikipedia:
The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a gunfight that took place at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona Territory, of the United States and which is generally regarded as the most famous gunfight in the history of the American Old West. The gunfight, believed to have lasted only about thirty seconds, was fought between the outlaw Cowboys Billy Clanton, Tom McLaury and his brother Frank McLaury, and the opposing lawmen Virgil Earp and his brothers Morgan and Wyatt Earp, aided by Doc Holliday acting as a temporary deputy of Virgil. Cowboys Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran from the fight unharmed, but Ike's brother Billy Clanton, along with both McLaurys, were killed. Lawmen Holliday and Morgan and Virgil Earp were wounded. Only Wyatt Earp came through the fight unharmed. The fight has come to represent a time in American history when the frontier was open range for outlaws opposed by law enforcement that was spread thin over vast territories, leaving some areas unprotected.

Thom Ross | Clanton Gang Crossing Allen Street
Clanton Gang Crossing Allen Street 18"x18" giclee print

And here are a couple from our image archives.  Some, Thom painted many years ago:

Thom Ross | Gunfight at OK Corral
The Gunfight at OK Corral  oil on canvas 48"x72"  2009

Waiting in the Corral, oil on canvas 48"x48" 2005
Midnight Tombstone Quartet 2005
Billy Clanton, 2001
Virgil Earp, 2001


Tom McLaury is Dead, 2001
Billy Clanton's Last Shot, 2001




The Storyteller & The Dream Maker

The Dream Maker by Andrea Peterson
What stimulates the artistic mind to pick up a brush and create a painting, or to produce a beautiful object, or, for that matter, to write a compelling novel? Sometimes we see something that triggers our imagination – whether it’s a beautiful landscape, a bowl of perfect fruit, colors that turn us on, or a story that we’ve overheard.

Some artists use many of these stimuli to create their work. Painters can tell the story of what they’ve been thinking about through narrative art. These storytellers don’t use words; they use images and color to inform the viewer.

Ka Fisher’s paintings, which have a lovely, Impressionist style, tell stories about Native Americans – their land and the things they do during their daily lives. She told me that she often visits places like Chinle, Kayenta and Canyon de Chelly for her inspiration. At the Hubbell Trading post, she has taken a “listening tour,” where she overhears conversations among customers.

Escape Plan by Ka Fisher

Billy Blue Hat Rides by Ka Fisher
“I get many ideas from the people I meet and the stories I hear,” Ka said. For example, I heard about animals that tend to get away such as problem sheep. That provided me with the idea for ‘Escape Plan,’  which depicts a woman herder and a border collie keeping watch over sheep that seem to have another idea about where they want to go.”
Boots and Fetish
by Ka Fisher

Another painting, “Come to Say Hello,” was inspired by a moment when Ka was at a ranch in Taos eating donuts and some horses approached her. “I think they wanted a taste,” she said. “That was a moment I remembered and decided to share in this painting.” Although her references are accurate, Ka’s color palette is very imaginative, as you can see in her paintings.

Come to Say Hello by Ka Fisher
Sometimes memories can play a role in narrative painting. In Ka Fisher’s case, she spent her childhood summers in Canada by a river near two Indian villages. The scenes she paints incorporate some of that landscape, along with the Southwest she has adopted as her current home.

Andrea Peterson’s paintings are based on ancient mythology, lost legends and a time when nature was full of mystery. She, too, tells stories about cultures, often referring to eastern traditions and symbolism. Andrea’s paintings seem to be inspired by thoughts of figures wandering through mystical lands.

Phoenix and the Tiger by Andrea Peterson
Field of Piece by Andrea Peterson
For example, in “Phoenix and the Tiger,” she uses popular yin/yang symbols. The white tiger is a rare animal, and a powerful representation of strength, or yang. The girl has the tattoo of the Phoenix bird, a feminine, or yin, symbol of rebirth. Although this painting is highly imaginative, Andrea told me that the background is actually a depiction of an actual Chinese landscape called "Tiger Leaping Gorge."
My Bonnie by Andrea Peterson

In her painting entitled “Field of Piece,” we see a young woman with windblown hair cradling a lamb. The landscape that surrounds her is clearly one of the artist’s imaginations, and we wonder about the story that she is telling us here.

Her newest painting, entitled "Spirit World," is inspired by the annual Chinese lantern festival where many lanterns are released the first full moon of the New Year.

Spirit World celebrates positive relationships between people, ancestors, nature and the higher beings that were believed to be responsible for bringing or returning the light each year,” Andrea said. “The large size of this painting gives the viewer the sense of not just looking at a peaceful scene, but the feeling of being within the painting themselves,” she explained.

Spirit World by Andrea Peterson
As you can see, narrative art depicts subjects that are dear to an artist’s heart. In my next blog post, I’m going to look at paintings by Thom Ross. His stories are all about famous Western characters and the myths that follow them. Should be interesting!