Page 13 - the NOISE December 2013

Devid Fish by cover artist Jan Sullivan, is an example of the artist’s fresh and eye-popping style.
A RETRO FRAME OF MIND by Ellen Jo Roberts
The mind of cover artist, Jan Sullivan spills out into her wildly bright and lively artwork. Whether on canvas or flesh, this painter and tattoo artist operates a distinct style reminis- cent of a vivid, mid-century cartoon, a happy fever dream or a symphony of surreal archi- tectural elements.
Retro Art By Jan covers a wide range of the artist’s favorite topics.
“What inspires me is very random,” Ms. Sul- livan explains, “My dogs are my muse. If I’ve had too much coffee and listening to music that fits that energy, I just start busting out into sketches and painting. Could be conver- sation I’m having with someone that plants a visual image in my head. Or it could be a sub- liminal message I see in an ad on TV. Could just be a thought that just flies through my head. The word, an animal. The situation I get very inspired especially is when you’re not quite asleep, when you’re still in the real world but on the border of entering into that dream space. I create a lot in that particular zone.”
Her paintings, on canvas, wood or chunky hunks of block, are thick with heavy, lively lines, humor and bright contradictory and complementary colors. There is an energy of the west about them, as run through a blender of pop culture.
Though Ms. Sullivan has been a Sedona resident for the past 10 years, she’s an east- ern girl by birth, spending her formative years in suburban Massachusetts. She real- ized early on that she wanted to be an artist. As a youngster her creative pursuits were an early focus, “I would write stories and design characters to fit in with the story. I would draw robots. I worked a lot with pen and ink and I had this fascination with drawing cats of prey, tigers, leopards. And zebras, too.” Her early art projects were not limited in their scope nor their materials which ranged from mixed media, to clay and wood.
She also may have exhibited an early pre-
dilection for tattoo art, though she laughs, “I do not feel that markers and pen drawings on your body count as tattoos when you’re five. I always wrote on my body. But doesn’t everyone?” Ms. Sullivan attended Worcester State College, where she studied science, photography and business courses.
Her first foray into a creative career was as a professional photographer of portraits and weddings.
She sites “composition and lighting” as two key elements that cross over from this way of seeing to her current enterprises, “I love close-up photos of people and animals and their facial features. I feel that translates into my pet portraits. I always get close into their face to see small details. Highlights and shadows translate into my black lines.”
Vivacious and athletic, Ms. Sullivan is an avid mountain biker and well-known within the mountain biking community as the part- ner and marketing guru of the popular bike shop, Sedona Bike & Bean. Her move west came after visiting the area as a tourist. “I came out here on several vacation trips,” she says, “I really enjoyed the peacefulness, the outdoors and the people here. I thought it would be good fit for me as I was planning on relocating. So I came here 10 years ago.”
Her brand new gallery space and tattoo parlor, The Funky Side Studio is located ad- jacent to the Bike & Bean in Bell Rock Plaza along Hwy 179 in Sedona’s Village of Oak Creek.
In the past 20 years Ms. Sullivan has no- ticed a great shift in the tattoo world. “The culture has evolved from the dark taboo back alley thought process to a reputable business and art industry.” Indeed she’s right! Nowadays it’s unusual to find someone without any ink. My very own mother, age 72, proudly sports a full mural on her back, begun when she was in her 60s. Ms. Sul- livan’s tattoo art is graphically potent, with the same bold and lyrical lines of her wall art. When not painting, tattooing or drawing, Ms. Sullivan spends time working with res-
cue dogs who join her on her mountain bike forays into the national forest trails around Sedona.
In addition to The Funky Side Studio, the artist’s work may be seen at Sedona Bike & Bean, Garland’s Indian Gardens Café & Market in Oak Creek Canyon, and the Grand Canyon Winery Tasting Room in Williams.
She frequently paints commissioned works, including pet portraits and other cus- tom requests all interpreted with her joyous sensibilities. Retro Art by Jan may also be purchased online anytime, via eBay and the artist’s website RetroArtbyJan.com.
SPACE RECLAIMED
Nestled between the Artists’ Coalition of Flagstaff Gallery and Gallery One13, is John Running and Shelley Claude’s working studio. Where once there was a reception desk and a small hallway however, is a newly renovated space showcasing the art of both husband and wife, as the new Aspen Av- enue Gallery.
I meet with Mr. Running and Ms. Claude to talk about their new space.
“We had this business office space when my studio manager retired,” Mr. Running tells me. “We thought about reclaiming the space. It was Shelley’s idea to turn it into a gallery. We’ve spent the last two months working on it, making the place new again. It became a place where we can both display our work. It’s nice to have that as a constant.”
Both artists are delving deeper into their disciplines, Ms. Claude has recently began working in gold, and has changed her studio space in the back so that she can now work with two students at a time. She is gaining more students, and as the time passes, gain- ing more skills and continually refining her own artistic approaches to jewelry making.
In addition to having a place to regularly show her new creations, Ms. Claude says of the new gallery space, “This will give John a space to show new work and a reason to
make new work.”
Mr. Running has been focusing lately on
his portrait making, offering master portraits and family portraits at specialized rates.
The Aspen Avenue Gallery will be par- ticipating in the December First Friday Art- Walk and is located at 111 E. Aspen, Suite 3. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday 10AM to 5PM and by appointment. 928/774-2924 Claudejewelry.com, Photog- rapherjohnrunning.com
WATERCOLOR AND ACRYLIC VARIETY
This December Roberta Rogers is fea- tured at Brandy’s Restaurant. “I am totally excited to be the featured artist at Brandy’s as you can imagine,” Ms. Rogers tells me. “I’ve been working like a crazy person to get ev- erything framed and ready. The news just mentioned what nice weather Flagstaff ’s having and we’re looking forward to it! The paintings to be shown at Brandy’s include watercolors of a few historic buildings in Flagstaff, Tumacacori Mission, wildflowers, cacti and large acrylic landscapes.”
While in Flagstaff Ms. Rogers is best known for her watercolors, she has also been paint- ing in acrylics and tells me a little more about that. “For the fun and learning about acryl- ics I have worked with various color schemes using the same subject. Each one has a different atmosphere or sense of season. It is a great way to learn how colors mix in a new medium. There are three large acrylics, and there have been many positive remarks about Aspen Spring, from visitors here. The photo reference for this piece came from one of the plein air excursions in Hart Prai- rie. I am enjoying painting in acrylic, but will never give up watercolors! Water does such a great job of mixing paint! These days we painters are all trying to loosen up and that has also been my goal. Tumacacori Mission Sunset, would be a good example of a more colorful approach,” she says.
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