Page 26 - the NOISE August 2015

26 • august 2015 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us
ArTsBrIeFs:
CAnyon PAinTers
The seventh Annual Grand Canyon Celebration of Art is happening september 12-19 showing two plein air painters from the Artists’ Gallery — Rob Dalegowski and Dawn Sutherland. To celebrate they, along with potter Joni Pevarnik and stained glass artist Sharri Penland are the featured artists in The Artists’ Gallery in August with the appropriate theme of Canyons.
The Grand Canyon Celebration of Art is an event that displays paintings by some of the best landscape painters in the country. This year only 26 artists were selected to participate.
Although they’re both being celebrated and work together often, Mr. Dalegowski and Ms. sutherland have different approaches to the art they create. One of the more obvious ways they differ is in their medium. Mr. Dalegowski paints in watercolor and Ms. sutherland in oil.
Mr. Dalegowski grew up in Flagstaff exploring the canyon and painting. “I’ve done a lot of wandering around,” said the watercolorist. Growing up in Flagstaff he would often backpack, whenever he would go he would bring his paints in a tin box. This gave him the opportunity to paint what he likes to call seldom-seen-views. when he finds a spot which inspires him to paint, he grabs water from the Colorado River or Grand Canyon springs, sits down and paints (without an easel) using the same water that carved
the incredible geological wonders. This will be his
fifth year at the Grand Canyon Celebration of Art.
Ms. sutherland has had quite a different experience with the canyon. This is her second year in the celebration of art. she first saw the canyon in 1996 before she was a painter. when she saw the canyon again in 2001 after she had started painting she went back to her studio with an extreme urge to paint it. Her first three paintings of the canyon were big and ambitious. when she moved to Arizona she started plein air painting the canyon. “The canyon bug bites you and you just keep getting called back, it just beckons to you, it summons you,” said the oil painter.
For the painters it’s not about showing the exact
representation of the canyon, but rather the canyon’s
essence. According to the artists this essence is
characterized by the canyon’s vastness. “you felt this
energy maybe — there was this energy where you didn’t want to get too close to it because it was unsettling — so that is one of the essential aspects of the canyon,” said Ms. sutherland.
Potter Joni Pervarnik is working on a collection with iron photo-decals of the canyon imprinted on her pots and vessels and varnished with the vibrant colors of the canyon. “I think it gets into your soul, doesn’t it? Then you become part of it and it becomes part of you,” said the potter.
Mr. Dalegowski and Ms. sutherland will also be part of the Flagstaff Open studios Tour on August 22 and 23 at 2300 w. Kiltie Lane. The Artists’ Gallery, 17 n. san Francisco, debuts “Canyons,” during the August 7 First Friday Artwalk. 928/773-0958 flagstaffartistsgallery.com
PAinTing THe Wild WesT
Jim Schroeder’s paintings are aimed at capturing the wild west of Arizona with the grandeur of Grand Canyon and the old-timey stoicism of the men who inhabit it. In August he is the featured artist in the Gallery in Williams.
The painter grew up in san Diego County, CA. He painted often, and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.s. in illustration and a minor in design from woodbury University. But when his professional life took off he found himself spending all of his time in the design world helping create in flight magazines for the airlines in the condensed metropolitan city of Los Angeles. He would often take trips to Grand Canyon where he could have more space. He loved to hike and camp, and has backpacked rim to rim more than once. “you get down to the campground area below Havasu Falls and it’s just Disneyland,” said Mr. schroeder about the Canyon. so, when a teaching position in visual communication opened up at northern Arizona University he jumped at the chance to move to Flagstaff. eventually he started to develop a design program over at Coconino Community College (CCC). However, he wanted painting to be a bigger part of his life, so he showed his painting portfolio to the department chair of the Arts. He’s been teaching all levels of painting at CCC ever since.
His subjects are explicitly western — he paints Grand Canyon, bandits and cowboys. He also has a lot of portraiture work of influential Americans like Richard nixon, Carroll shelby (the car designer) and American Indians. sometimes his motivation to paint someone is simply because, “he just had a wonderful face.”
He also has plein air work of the canyon and oak creek, although he paints his ideal version of these places. If there’s a tree in the way of a perfect scene he moves or removes it. His paintings are a perfect world of his creation. “you feel almost godlike,” said the painter.