Page 26 - the NOISE July 2014

26 • JULY 2014 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us
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A noRthERn ViEW
Linda Shearer-Whiting does not make a secret of her obsession. At least a dozen renditions of Flagstaff’s historic Monte Vista sign — in its many incarna- tions and from just as many perspec- tives — decorate the walls of her work- ing studio and gallery.
“It’s my beacon for being back up in Northern Arizona,” says Ms. Shearer- Whiting. “Paris has the Eiffel Tower; San Francisco has the Golden Gate Bridge. For me, the Monte Vista sign is Flagstaff. And it’s always changing — letters go out, the background colors change — but it always remains.”
The neon lights of the Monte V have been a beacon for Ms. Shearer-Whiting long before she made Flagstaff her per- manent home a little over a year ago. In 1984, after living in Vancouver, BC; Washington State, and Oregon; the Al- berta, Canada native and her husband moved to Phoenix, where she studied printmaking at ASU. Somehow 29 years passed, the couple making frequent trips to Northern Arizona to find relief from life in the hot, concrete jungle. About 10 years ago, Ms. Shearer-Whit- ing and her husband bought a second home in Flagstaff with retirement in mind, but when her husband was di- agnosed with terminal cancer, they de- cided not to wait.
After the death of her husband, Ms. Shearer-Whiting relocated full time to Flagstaff, often revisiting the same ar- eas her husband Mark Whiting, a black and white photographer, would shoot while she sketched nearby. “Now that he’s passed away, I feel like this is still my connection with him,” she says.
This connection comes through most poignantly in her monoprint series, which showcases her background as a printmaker, and gives her the opportu- nity to work in a looser, more fluid style than her detailed, almost graphic paint- ings. Working from sketches made in some the same places she would visit with her husband, the soft black and white images of cloud swept skies, fields, fences and coastlines, are created by rolling a plexiglass plate in black ink, and then using a rag to wipe away the ink to create the image. She then over- lays it with a piece of paper and runs it through the press, creating a single, un- reproducible print.
“I like the magic of a monoprint,” says the artist. “It’s a onetime thing, and you never know how it’s going to turn out. It’s always a surprise.”
For her other pieces, including the Monte Vista series, Ms. Shearer-Whiting works in guache, an opaque watercolor, to create train scenes, iconic Route 66
landmarks such as the Twin Arrows Trading Post, and lamp-lit street scenes that are al- most photographic in their realism.
Ms. Shearer-Whiting and her art have finally found their American equivalent of home. Ari- zona, and Flagstaff especially, resonates with her western, cowboy roots — growing up in rural Alberta, with a mother who worked in truck stop cafes, long road trips, cowboy TV shows and diner kitsch — influences perfectly in tune with the aesthetic of the Southwest.
“I know for sure I’m a western girl,” she says. “I need those big spaces and dramatic skies, as
well as the bright yellow billboards advertis- ing moccasins and ice cream ... And I’ve never felt so much a part of a community so quickly. I love it here. Look at my studio; look at what I get to look at every day. I’m between these two iconic hotels and feel very lucky to be smack in the middle of them.”
For July, in a show called “Long Roads to Big Spaces,” Ms. Shearer-Whiting will be featuring work inspired by views from the passenger window as well as the black and white pho- tography of her late husband. “Long Roads to Big Spaces” opens on First Friday ArtWalk, 6-9PM July 4 at Northern View Artist Studio, 7 East Aspen Avenue, Studio #5. NorthernView- Studio.com
thE suBstAnCE oF stEEL
Blacksmith Cathi Borthwick and her func- tional ironwork are featured this month at Arizona Handmade/Fire on the Mountain Gal- lery — delicate and indestructible creations not unlike the artist herself, who is petite with tough and blackened hands from working with metal that has just come out of a 2000° forge, softening the steel to the consistency of modeling clay which can then be worked with tools. Garnering much of her inspiration from time spent outdoors, her kitchen uten- sils and hooks — adorned with small scale pine cones, moose, lizards and leaves — are an attempt to bring nature into the home in the form of something beautiful and also use- ful. Finding ironwork to be a good material to combine with other mediums, she also col- laborates with fellow artists, making frames for the work of fiber artist Sharon Richards, racks for George Averbeck’s hand-blown glass goblets, and stands for Judi Hartman’s fused glass bird baths. Her solo work as well as her collaborations can be found at Arizona Handmade/Fire on the Mountain Gallery which will be open during First Friday ArtWalk from 6-9PM July 4 at 13 N. San Francisco Street #100. AZHandmade.com
sounD oF FLight MuRAL PRoJECt
In case you haven’t heard, painter Sky Black & Mural Mice Universal have teamed up to create Flagstaff’s largest mural yet — an ambitious two-year project that will cover the 4500 square foot east facing wall of the Orpheum Theatre with an explosion of birds bursting from a grand piano over a backdrop