Page 19 - the NOISE September 2012

Circle of Life by Erica Fareio, whose vivid paintings and lyrical meditations are at West of the Moon this September.
“For almost 40 years, using the ancient pro- cess of batik, I have painted with hot bee’s wax and procion dye baths,” Ms. Dillon-Sutton ex- plains. “Beginning with woven cloth, I marry the materials using line, color and moving forms, layer upon layer, into substance. It is a substance that conveys my understanding of the Native American community. Through my batiks, I strive to represent my experiences; my interaction with the Native American com- munity. In today’s busy society, we often miss chances to interact with our own family, let alone the larger community of all Americans. I feel I am part of their world — I explore it through my art every single day. It has become my community, our family. If I can open more eyes to viewing our human family with respect and honor, I’ve been successful.”
Ms. Dillon-Sutton has won many awards over the years and displays her arts at the Se- dona Center for the Arts and galleries as far north as Montana. Her art is a part of many collections, including the US Embassy and has been published in American Style magazine.
Gary Brightbill and Margaret Adams- Brightbill create jewelry from rare gemstones from all over the world. “While growing up in vastly different parts of the country, both Mar- garet and I had a fascination with rocks and fossils from a very young age,” Mr. Brightbill says. “Our combined knowledge and apprecia- tion for gems and minerals led us to focus our creativity in our own jewelry company. With Margaret’s 30 years in the art business and my background in construction and design, we founded Rare Forms. The name of our com- pany, Rare Forms, describes our design focus. We search for rare and beautiful stones from around the world to enhance our wearable art creations. Some of our favorites are Chrome Diopside, mined only in Siberia a few months of the year and hundreds of times more rare than diamonds, and Ocean Jasper, found only in Madagascar and mined underwater at low tide. High quality Sonoran Sunrise is getting very difficult to find but worth the search. We
also enjoy getting out and searching for our own gem specimens.”
Rare Forms uses fine silver in their designs, “Fine silver adds value and also offers the benefit of not tarnishing,” Mr. Brightbill says. “We often use the ancient Korean technique of Keum-boo to bond a sheet of 24k gold to our silverwork as an accent. Our emphasis on unusual and rare materials is the foundation of our work, but shape and color drive our creation. Nearly all our primary stones are freeform shapes and
that’s where our designs begin. Sketching, working with the stones, collaborating on size and shape all lead to new combinations and unique finished pieces.”
Local photographer Joe Coyle is once again taking part in Art in the Park. “This is the third year we have done Art in the Park,” he tells me.
“My friends in the Artists’ Gallery kept telling me I should participate, that it was a lot of fun and would increase the number of out-of-towners looking at my work. They were right on both counts. My favorite thing about Art in the Park is the opportunity to meet and talk with a wide variety of people. I love to share my techniques with aspiring photographers and to discuss the stories behind each piece I display. We also en- joy meeting the really cool dogs who visit our booth with their people.”
I ask Mr. Coyle about the photographs he will have on display. “My life-long love of vin- tage aircraft has recently been rekindled and I have a number of new images I will have at September’s show alongside my landscapes,” he tells me. “This September I will be display- ing lots of canvas prints as well.”
“I am lucky to live in an area surrounded by unimaginable beauty,” Mr. Coyle says. “I pho- tograph things I am passionate about. My kids used to ask me how to make good pictures. I told them to look at the world through a view- finder and when they saw something that made their knees wobble, press the shutter. This is still my philosophy.”
These artists and many more in all variety of art forms will be at Art in the Park Saturday,
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