Page 14 - the NOISE May 2013

an example of cover artist, sky black’s new work, Consequence, whose new mural is at madrid tapas and has an upcoming show at 100 mikes pike.
SENSE OF WONDER
When I arrive at madrid tapas, 12 E. Route 66, mid-April, a new mural by sky black is nearing completion. Somehow the colors and depth lead one to think the archway is much taller than it is; the room so much bigger. The scene depicting a castle shaped from chess pieces built upon a sandy cres- cent beach with a child in the foreground directing the scene, as if it was a piece of mu- sic, gives the illusion that you could step into another world; walk into the painting and approach the fantastical castle with bubbles floating into the air all around. Rapunzel dangles her long, golden tresses, exotic ani- mals strut along the turrets, and a peacock fans its colorful tail.
“I felt when I was a kid that anything could happen,” Mr. Black says. “I think all kids feel like that. That’s the theme I went with, with the kid in the foreground. I wanted to give the feeling that things are happening. The most important thing about it is the feeling I had when I started it. I had such a strong feeling about all these things happening in this castle.”
Owners itzel arvizu and mitchell Wiewel are excited and very happy about the mu- ral. “We told Sky to go for it, we trusted his intuition,” Mr. Wiewel tells me. “I feel like it matches the personality of the restaurant.”
On the cover is one of his most recent paintings. Mr. Black tells me a little more about it. “The first thing I had in the painting was the door with the light coming out of it; I thought that was such a strong element to the piece. With the sun in the background I really worked with the light to get the shad- ows. I had the idea, halfway through paint- ing this, the title, Hurry My Dear, the Storm is Near. The sky looked like a storm was com- ing.”
“This man stuck,” he says, pointing to the
center figure of the painting. “He was pull- ing in something and a boat revealed itself in time too. On the crest of the boat is a wom- an sculpted into it and she’s holding the rope. He’s pulling her in. It doesn’t even look like she’ll make it through the door, but it’s just that feeling. It also says ‘Exit’ above the door. I think they’re exiting one world and enter- ing another.”
Abundantly full of ideas, Mr. Black is excit- ed for his upcoming show at 100 mikes pike, where cohort mchala kravako will also be featured for First Friday ArtWalk, from 6 to 9PM. MadridTapas.net, SkyBlackArt.com
SCULPTING WITH THE MUSE
“Throughout the years, my art work has been my life’s work. My personal goal is that many people’s lives have and will be touched and enhanced from my work, and they expe- rience joy from the executed pieces. Also, that opportunity will arise that I may work, hands on, with children whose lives will be expanded and lightened with the experi- ence of creating visible, touchable art from their spirit,” reads Jacqueline r. Jackson’s artist statement.
In her studio, she tells me about one of her most memorable teaching experiences. She holds up a little clay dog. “A mother brought in a little boy who immediately hugged me.” Ms. Jackson asked for permission to have the little boy in the class, he was 7 years old with Downs syndrome, and for the first few days wouldn’t make eye contact or talk to the other children, he just made round balls out of clay and smashed them. “Then he started making the most wonderful little animals. It’s great when you can open a door for someone and just watch them go.”
In addition to working with children, Ms. Jackson has also worked with cancer pa- tients. Most of her days are spent through
long hours at her light-filled studio in the Lake Montezuma area.
After first showing me one of the tiniest, fluffiest, most adorable cats I’ve seen yet, the artist leads me across the yard to her open and spacious studio. On the shelves drying are dishes, bake ware and wall art, and rows of two-feet tall Indian women whose faces seem to hold a different personality, each with individual thoughts before being fired in an electric kiln on the other side of the studio.
A multi-media artist, Ms. Jackson first leads me around the studio, showing me the vari- ous creative pursuits she enjoys. On one wall is a collection of Aspen paintings, which at first glance look like encaustic work, but are layers of paint built up using different medi- ums, gel and paste that make the paintings alive with texture and movement.
In a small room at the back of her studio, I am confronted by a treasure trove, a rack of paintings on soft silk scarves, some small, others big enough to be displayed as wall hangings. Saguaro cactuses, flowers and mountain scenes dance as the silk moves.
“When I get the silk scarves, they are stark white,” she tells me about her silk paintings. “I wash them, stretch them and pin them on
these frames and then I start my artwork. I have to draw out the design with a resist to keep the dyes from blending together, much like a watercolor painting.”
My eye runs away to a shelf with a two- foot tall bull, seated and wearing a wreath of flowers around his neck. One of her little women, vibrant in colorful glazes, balances a pot on her shoulder as her almond shaped eyes smile.
Bookshelves are filled with finished dishes in stacks that shine the color of jewels, rich reds and deep blues, and in between the
stacks, a group of little Javelinas stand to- gether. I see a cabinet and through the glass are a collection of wall hangings, life-size clay cats sit here and there with mischievous faces. There is something to see in every cor- ner and I stay a long time examining all the little treasures.
Ms. Jackson builds all her earthenware and clay sculptures by hand, without the use of a wheel. She explains her process for making dishes and other baking vessels. “I pound out the clay so it looks like a giant flat tortilla, roll it out like cookie dough, and then I slump that over an existing form and that’s where you get all these different shapes.”
Like a storybook of her life as an artist, Ms. Jackson shows me her portfolio, photograph after photograph of little figures, from a few inches tall to a few feet tall. The Mad Hatter Tea Party from Alice in Wonderland, a mer- maid, cowboy cats, numerous people and animals, all personal and colorful.
We set the bull with the flowers around his neck on the counter for me to photograph.
“Ah, Ferdinand,” she says, and begins to tell me about where this character came from, “You’re familiar with the story of Ferdinand?” She crosses the room and pulls an old sto- ry book from the shelf. She begins to flip through the book, showing me the drawings, the story of a bull who, instead of fighting, loved flowers. “And when they led him into the ring, he just sat and smelled the flower
scents on the air.”
She tells me her ideas for her little clay
animals and people come from everywhere, from simply looking.
Her journey as an artist began since she was small, playing in the red dirt clay of Se- dona. She tells me a little about her child- hood and family history, a great-aunt who loved her like she was her own. “She was a great artist, Helen Jordan. What was hers
14 • MAY 2013 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us