Page 20 - the NOISE June 2016

A NEW LATITUDE FROM LEFT: The landscape pendants of Sharri Penland STORY BY
and “Unsinkable” series by Rebecca Nordstrom will be on
ART 35° SHARES ITS STUDIOS WITH NORTHERN ARIZONA display at Coconino Center for the Arts this June. CLAIR ANNA ROSE
In the summer of 2015, a group of artists from Northern Arizona formed a new art collective — Art35°North.Theseartistsholdtruetotheirmission:“Encouragingcollaboration,conversation, community and creativity among fine artists, art supporters, art collectors and the communities of Northern Arizona and the Colorado Plateau.”
This June, work by Art 35° North artists will be on display at Coconino Center for the Arts, showcasing textile art, jewelry, photography, paintings, ceramics, sculpture and more — “A New Latitude” is a preview for the group’s studio tours of the same name. The studio tours will show the work of 59 regional artists, and will take place over two weekends, the first in Williams on Saturday & Sunday June 18 & 19 from 10AM-5PM; and the second in Flagstaff on Saturday & Sunday June 25 & 26 from 10AM-5PM.
A few of the artists shared their personal art stories, and discussed the pieces they would be displaying in the gallery show and the studio tour.
Photographer Ed Dunn is a graduate of ArtBox Institute, a program for artists created by the Flagstaff Arts Council to help artists cultivate their professional careers as artists — focusing on the business side of art.
“For over fifty years, scenes of light have captivated me,” Mr. Dunn says. “I have delighted in finding this illumination in many places around the world. Landscapes, architecture, people and urban scenes are some of my favorite subjects but I look at everything as a potential image. I want to share my vision of the world through my photography and I hope people who view my work love my view of the natural world. What I like about working within a community is the power to promote art is exponential. Networking helps us all to make our businesses viable.”
His piece on display at Coconino Center for the Arts is a winter scene of Piñons at Wupatki National Monument. “Piñon Juniper country is one of my favorite subjects. I love this landscape because it is so meditative, for me,” he reflects. “Everything is exposed — sky, grasses, trees, buttes. The elements of the earth, and of the Colorado Plateau laid bare.”
While Rebekah Nordstrom was interested in painting as a young woman, it wouldn’t be until 25 years later when she would pursue this dream. “I began thinking about looking back at my life with a goal of having no regrets,” she says. “I asked myself if there was something in my life that I have wanted to try to accomplish — learning to oil paint came immediately to mind. I registered for a painting class at Coconino Community College that afternoon.” She went to the first class with a beginner’s mind, and discovered she had talent — and a painting was chosen for Palate to Pallet.
The artist discovered a love for plein air painting, and enjoys going out into nature, and paint the scenes before her. “I have backcountry skied with my paint box, hiked up Kendrick Peak to paint the San Francisco Peaks, and down to the Colorado River to paint the Grand Canyon from the inside.”
While painting the artist likes to take her time, and “paint what I really see, not what I think I see — explore my observations with a faithfulness to the essence of what I am seeing, and what I love about what I am seeing,” she explains. “I also value the relaxing effect of the solitude of plein air painting. The effect of being alone with purpose and thoughtfulness, but not lonely.”
Last year Ms. Nordstrom designed a studio at her home, and since then has spent time creating there every day. In January she challenged herself to paint a small piece each day for 30 days in a row. On the 24th day, she painted a bobber (used for fishing) and this inspired a new series “Unsinkable,” all of bobbers, four of which will be displayed at “A New Latitude.”
“Now, I have a collection of bobbers,” she says of the inspiring objects. “As a Minnesotan, I grew up fishing, but the bobbers I collect are discarded, often broken, many tangled in the reeds of Francis Short Pond. I am the type of person that stops for bobbers.”
As a new painter, Ms. Nordstrom believes it is important to establish personal and professional relationships with other artists, and participated in ArtBox Institute 2015, and later became involved with Art 35° North. Jeweler Ryanne Sebern and ceramicist Joni Pevarnik will be showing along with Ms. Nordstrom at her home studio.
Christina Norlin has been known in the Flagstaff area for her intricate, stained glass pieces, but like many artists felt drawn to explore a new avenue of creativity, and five years ago returned to the art of jewelry making.
In Chicago, the high school Ms. Norlin attended had an exceptional art department, and as a student she learned ceramics, wood and metal sculpture, and jewelry — in addition to
drawing and painting. She continued to study jewelry making at a community college level. “When I got to NAU, and for reasons that haunt me today, I walked away from jewelry to pursue a degree in graphic design,” Ms. Norlin confides. “Don’t get me wrong, the training I received in graphics gave me the critical eye for design and layout and that has been of immense use in
every discipline I have pursued, including my jewelry.”
While still working in stained glass, Ms. Norlin began to feel a desire for change. “I would be
working on a piece and a voice inside my head would wish that I was polishing a stone to be set in silver,” she recalls. “That voice wouldn’t go away, it just got louder! After finishing several very large and involved stained glass pieces I gave into the voice and returned to my first love
— silver work.”
Nature influences Ms. Norlin’s creative endeavors, and the piece she will displaying at
Coconino Center for the Arts is called Laughing Waters and was inspired by a solo hike to the Colorado River from the top of Havasupai Canyon. “The design is whimsical and fun, built on connecting spirals like the many water falls and pools of Havasupai Canyon that tumble and ramble down to the Colorado River,” she describes. “The stone in the main bracelet is labradorite, a very magical stone that has colors reminiscent of the beautiful blue-green water of the amazing canyon.”
During the studio tour Ms. Norlin will be joined by metalworker Denise Edwards and quilter and water colorist Sharon McGinnis.
Artists Elizabeth Bonzani and C. Tanner Jensen are displaying their art at Moon Flower Studio on North Fremont in Flagstaff. Influenced by her Reiki practice, Ms. Bonzani’s art is an invocation of her feelings and relationship with the natural world, and her current body of work “Wushu: Honoring The Art Of Conflict” will be on display in the studio tour, and Wisdom of the Warrior, which she describes as “a memorial urn glazed in deep copper and earth tones” and will be on display at Coconino Center for the Arts. These pieces incorporate crystals, branches and antlers into the artist’s stoneware creations.
While Ms. Jensen works every day in her home studio, it’s “a bit off the beaten path.” She became involved with Art 35° North after being invited to attend the first meeting. Ms. Jensen has shown her paintings at West of the Moon Gallery in Flagstaff for many years, and teaches art in Flagstaff schools, art centers, colleges and universities. Leap of Faith, an acrylic painting with charcoal and graphite on yupo, and Primavera, an oil painting on canvas, will be on display at the Center.
Using dichroic glass, Sharri Penland creates “pendant landscapes” inspired by the Southwest. “I am fascinated by the stunning beauty of the Southwest — its plateaus, mesas andbuttes,foothillsandhighlands,riversandcanyons,”shedescribes.“Fashioninglandscapes from glass is a natural avenue for my creativity. I experience creative joy through forming these abstracted landscapes while exploring depth and dimensionality and incorporating quirky shapes, colors and patterns.”
After finding out about Art 35° North from a friend, Ms. Penland began to attend the group’s meetings. “I saw a lot of familiar faces — artists I have known in Flagstaff over the last twenty years — who really wanted to get a new group of established local artists together for collaboration, conversation, community and creativity,” she shares. “Now, less than a year later, a lot of people have worked really hard on our upcoming art tour. It’s going to be a great event!”
Ms. Penland will be showing her art at Studio R during the studio tour along with five other glass artists. “We’d love for folks to come by and see how we all create very unique pieces from similar kinds of glass,” she says.
In the Jewel Gallery at Coconino Center for the Arts is“Moments of Peace,”featuring paintings by Kayley Quick, Kory Miller and Amorell Demmert, and sculpture by McKenzie Dankert. Each peace embodies the artist’s interpretation of peace, and creates a space of tranquility.
An opening reception for “Moments of Peace” and “A New Latitude” at Coconino Center for the Arts will feature performances by Flagstaff Aerial Arts on Thursday, June 9. Both shows will remain on display through August 6. Throughout the time “A New Latitude” is on display, Art 35° North artists will be offering workshops in their specialized medium. A full list of workshops and artist’s talks can be found online. FlagArtsCouncil.org, Art35n.org
| Clair Anna Rose has an attitude of latitude. clair@thenoise.us
20 • JUNE 2016 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us