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Sedona Arts Center update for May 3

by Community Contributor • May 3, 2018 • Comments Off

First Friday in the Gallery

New Exhibition Featuring 7 Local Artists

Opening Reception May 4, from 5 to 8 pm

May and June at Sedona Arts Center’s Fine Art Gallery will feature a group of artists who delight in presenting together! The Exhibition will be showing from May 4 through July 3 and will feature Evelyn Gholson, Art Hiscox, Joanne Hiscox, Dennis Ott, Komala Rohde, Holly Stedman, and Joanie Wolter. Each artist complements the other with glass, ceramic, mixed media, precious metal and pearl jewelry. Meet the artists at an opening reception on Friday, May 4 from 5 to 8pm in Uptown, Sedona.

Evelyn Gholson

“It is so rewarding to give renewed life to a once useful object through mosaic art. Most of my found objects were originally crafted from the earth, served their functional purpose and now deteriorating back into the earth. The medium of mosaics allows me to resurrect these objects and give them renewed life, like putting a puzzle together with the result being an aesthetically pleasing design.

I was raised on a ranch in Texas, love the outdoors and always collecting found objects (from birds’ nests to old bottles, rocks and dried flowers). This gave me a sense of connectedness and continuity with nature and memories, while expressing myself creatively. Today, these personal emotions are artistically communicated through the composition and design of my mosaics.”

Art Hiscox

“My architectural art combines man-made materials with nature’s own art (marble, granite, slate, fossils). My use of color, texture and resin compels viewers to actually touch the surface of my pieces. I frequently use river stone, granite, marble, copper, shell, tree bark, semi-precious stones and fossils in combination with man-made materials to create functional art pieces that convey nature’s peacefulness. Many of my pieces depict rivers, streams, landscape, birds and bright colors.”

Joanne Hiscox

“I love to create architectural art that blends nature with style, incorporating man-made mediums with nature’s own art. My tables startle the viewer by juxtaposing natural elements (copper, semi-precious stones and fossils) with man-made materials, compelling the viewer to actually touch the surface (bringing in another sense besides sight). My goal is to create sculptural art pieces that are new and different, constantly changing in design and material composition. My sculptural fused glass works showcase my strongest point: that I’m a “no-fear artist”. Present me with a new challenge and I’m on board instantly.”

Dennis Ott

Dennis is head of the ceramic department at the Sedona Arts Center, teaching beginning and intermediate pottery classes as well as workshops in alternative firings. The past few years his focus has been teaching and developing the Ceramic Dept. into a vital part of the Arts Center. Dennis has shared his talents by developing ceramic learning programs in Italy, Nicaragua, Monument Valley and the Navajo Nation. Dennis was honored with the Sedona Mayors Arts Award in Arts Education in 2017 and 2018 and is one of three Finalists for the Arizona Governors Arts Award in Arts Education for the 2^nd time.“Clay is my window that allows me to see the creativity that is within me. I’ll start with an idea and make changes along the way as new possibilities occur. The end result is a captured moment of spontaneous creativity, with clay being the catalyst. Each piece represents its own moment and therefore is one of a kind”.

Komala Rohde

Komala is an award-winning jewelry artist and certified instructor. Born in Germany, she travelled the globe and lived in different countries, before settling in Sedona in 1995. Surrounded by artists and art lovers in her youth, she was inspired both by her Grandfather’s Art Nouveau paintings and her parents love for all things Bauhaus.Komala’s extensive stays in Japan helped her to absorb the essence of “Wabi Sabi”, a comprehensive Japanese aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete”, derived from Buddhist teaching. Meditation has been at the heart of Komala’s path for the past 35 years. She presents workshops and classes in “Mindfulness and Art”. Sitting at the workbench and creating jewelry is a meditation for her.

Holly Stedman

Holly Stedman has been designing and creating stained glass windows, sculptures, and panels for more than thirty years. Describing how her creative process takes form, Holly says; “I create art to satiate my passion, my compulsion (some say obsession) to bring forth in tangible form this cacophony of vivid visual drama that is always playing in my mind’s eye. It begins with my own history, often after an emotional adventure that can never be quieted. This evolutionary process may command to be expressed in glass sculpture, stained glass, or kiln formed glass; bronze sculpture; or in the printed word. I try to capture three elements in each of my stained-glass windows or sculptures:clarity, richness, and sparkle to stir emotions and the human spirit.”

Joanie Wolter

After her career as a long-time teacher in California schools Joanie moved to Arizona where she learned the art of working with clay and more specifically sculpting in Fiber Clay. The whimsical pieces she creates are who she is – a little goofy and fun loving. After learning to create with paper clay and because of her appreciation of the beauty of the outdoors – particularly flowers, she began making them from paper clay to embellish her hand-built ceramics. She and her husband have now moved to N. Scottsdale, AZ. Where she spends much of her time in her home studio teaching others to work with Fiber Clay. Joanie has been lucky enough to be able to combine her two passions – teaching and fiber clay. Her new motto is “Have Clay, Will Travel!!”

Sedona Arts Center is one of Northern Arizona’s most well-established cultural organizations and serves as the creative heart of Sedona. Founded in 1958, the nonprofit organization is based at the Art Barn in Uptown and offers year-round classes, exhibitions, festivals, and cultural events that enhance the creative life of the Verde Valley. The Center’s Fine Art Gallery, open daily from 10am to 5pm, promotes the original works of over 100 local artists and regularly offers special assistance for collectors and art buyers, offers private studio visits, and fosters hundreds of arts education opportunities each year. For more information, call the Gallery at 928-282-3865 or visit SedonaArtsCenter.org.

In Our Special Exhibition Gallery

Elegant Earth Exhibition

The ELEGANT EARTH EXHIBITION is a beautiful collaboration of two Sedona women artists who have come together with Prismacolor pencil drawings of trees and beautiful flowers painted in Old Master techniques that portray the magnificence and beauty of nature. Both artists have their own interpretation of our elegant earth and represents their work with translucency and light.

Coming Up!

Silent Auction – SedonaKind Kindness Blooms

May 6, 1–4 pmKindness Blooms is a unique public art show and sale featuring the recently-discovered original watercolor and oil floral paintings of the late renowned artist Leor Warner on Sunday, May 6, 2018 from 1 to 4 pm at the Sedona Arts Center. These amazing paintings will be offered for sale by silent auction. Each painting will also have a “buy it now” price for those who wish to insure acquisition of a specific piece. Light refreshments will be served at the event. Warner’s paintings can be viewed in advance and purchased through the SedonaKind web site at: Sedonakind.org/art-sale.html. All proceeds will benefit the work of SedonaKind…to encourage acts of kindness, large and small, locally and around the world.