Page 20 - the NOISE July 2014

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NATURE IN TECHNICOLOR
Walking into Urban Nest, still Gal- lery One13 at the time, I was immedi- ately drawn to the leafy Aspen grove oil paintings of artist Frank Balaam. Although rendered in brilliant Tech- nicolor, they manage to retain the feel of being in an actual forest, dazzled by the dappled light. It was as if the artist knew exactly how far he could go before tipping the piece into the unreal, leaving them poised perfectly between the representative and the abstract.
His finished pieces, where thickly painted trees, leaves and sky share center stage, are a metaphor for his philosophical belief against see- ing any individual aspect of life as separate from the environment from which it springs. As he puts it, his paintings are “a model for a world of mutually inclusive societies united in the simple passion of existence.”
Mr. Balaam, who was born in the United Kingdom and now resides in Globe, Ariz., is also represented by galleries in Sante Fe, Scottsdale and Jackson Hole, Wyo. We are fortunate to have a small selection of his work in the newly re-envisioned and re- cently renamed Urban Nest. Open during First Friday ArtWalk from 6-9PM, and 10AM-5PM daily, closed Tuesday, 111 East Aspen Street. To learn more about the artist visit Ur- banNest.org or frankbalaam.com
WATERCOLOR FANTASY
For the 11th year in a row, Cath- erine Sickafoose exhibits her wa- tercolors at Brandy’s Restaurant
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Having left his career “masquerading as a computer systems analyst,” it was time for photographer Robert Dutton to get creative on how to support the lifestyle he wanted while being able to focus on his art. One morning during his yoga and medita- tion practice, the vision came to him fully formed in an instant.
He decided to turn his Kendrick Mountain home, “The Mountain Star,” into a vacation rental and private gallery of his photography that is specific to Northern Arizona, some of which were taken from the very roof of the house.
“It’s difficult for photographers to sell their work in this market, so one has to be cre- ative,” he says. “But if you can combine imag- ery with an experience, it’s a whole different ballgame.”
Mr. Dutton’s idea has been quite success- ful, selling more pieces out of his home than in any other gallery, affording him the ability to travel and take photographs of other sub- jects that interest him, such as dance, yoga, abstracts and wildlife.
Mr. Dutton had been a hobby photogra- pher since he was a child, and always had a natural eye for composition, but it was only in the last five to ten years that he started getting serious about it. Working with the three fundamental exposure parameters — shutter speed, aperture and film speed — he began experimenting with how to express
with imagery what the imagery expressed to him in the moment.
“To me it all starts with composition,” says Mr. Dutton. “But to make it special, what you’re looking at has to invoke some kind of visceral emotion, and then the trick is to see if you can play with your exposure controls to accentuate the emotion that’s already there. To me, the most special shots violate the compositional rules just slightly enough to make them more appealing.”
An example is a shot he took of April’s full lunar eclipse. Compositionally speaking, having a much larger object like the moon with tiny Mars in the lower right quadrant, and with so much empty space in between, shouldn’t work.
“But in this particular case,” explains Mr. Dutton, “because of the subject matter, and because that space in between was space, really captures the juxtaposition of Mars and the Moon —there’s something magical and mystical in letting your mind imagine their actual sizes relative to each other, seeing Mars as this little tiny dot while in actuality, it’s much bigger than the Moon. If you put that together in your mind, the composition works because the message works.”
Another thrilling aspect of photography for Mr. Dutton is capturing the dynamic in- terplay of light and contrast, as seen Morn- ing Breath, an image of sun beams, often re- ferred to as the “god light, slanting through
the trees during a controlled burn in the ear- ly morning. Another particularly memorable shot called Mountain Stars was taken from the roof of his home as a crescent moon was rising, casting just enough light that he was able to capture the snow on the peaks as well as the stars.
Mr. Dutton also does some figurative work, belly dance performers and yoga practitio- ners, which he sees as just another form of nature’s expression.
“When you’re in the moment, whether it’s with nature or dance, that photographic moment just presents itself. You can’t force it. Sometimes you’re looking so hard for the shot you can’t see it. When I feel myself do- ing that, I repeat the mantra, ‘let the shot come to you’ or ‘take what is given,’ because then imagery might appear that you may have not noticed when you’re looking for it. My philosophy is really, anything, if you look at it in the right way, has beauty. All you have to do is be aware of what’s before your eyes, and there’s a shot in everything.”
Mr. Dutton is the featured artist at the Artists’ Coalition of Flagstaff Gallery dur- ing the month of June with an opening dur- ing First Friday ArtWalk, 6-9PM June 6, 111 East Aspen Street. Regular gallery hours are 11AM-4PM Thursday-Monday. Flagstaff- Arts.org. Mr. Dutton will also be August’s artist of the month at the Powell Museum in Page. powellmuseum.org
20 • JUNE 2014 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us