Jackson Hole Art Blog

In this Theodore Waddell painting I sense the Great Mystery’s arms embracing this herd; if these are the pastures of heaven, as Waddell suggests, that heaven’s arms gently form this grouping of cattle to the shape of an hourglass.   A sprinkling of ranch animals are black sands of time.

Altamira Fine Art presents Theodore Waddell’s The Pastures of Heaven: One Man Show, with an artist’s reception Thursday, August 19, 5-7:00 p.m.  And, as Altamira’s Dean Munn has opened the Steinbeck door, I will go through it.

If you are of a certain age, and a reader, you may know what Munn has mentioned; the phrase “Pastures of Heaven” is taken from the title of a John Steinbeck story set in California–in valleys not far from Monterey—before mass development swallowed swaths of open land. The book is actually a collection of interconnected stories, just as this Altamira show is comprised of connected stories told by Waddell.  Not being familiar with this Steinbeck book, I Googled.   Wikipedia’s short synopsis says that those California valleys were discovered by a Spanish corporal, who named the valley area Las Pasturas del Cielo.

When we encounter scenes of superlative beauty and power, we want to dissolve into them and become the Juniper tree, that hillside, all the fields of flowers, the ocean, the mountain.  In every way we try to merge so that we may keep living.   Waddell’s animals look like Morse code symbols, marking changes in time and information the artist receives from the land.   These cows, horses and buffalo reflect clusters of stars in the sky.

Being quiet with the land, living off the land. Waddell examines these themes and his symbolic abstract animals stand before us like charred trees–life leaving us but promising to return.

As a bonus, all of the original art from the children’s book “Tucker Gets Tuckered” will be on exhibit.  Written by Ted Beckstead and illustrated by Waddell, the book tells the story of the daily adventures of a lively dog.

www.altamiraart.com.

Item #2

A few days after returning to Jackson I ventured to a few of its galleries.   More than ever, it hit home that our galleries are marketing and selling very sophisticated art.  Masterworks.  Price Upon Request.  If you have to ask, you can’t afford it,….etc. I told a friend about some of the works I’d seen, and we discussed where they might have come from.  Art can show up in a gallery for any number of reasons, and from any number of places. Artwork can be sold by individuals or corporations or museums  – and galleries that are closing their doors sometimes consign works to other galleries.

But what ultimately determines whether someone owning a significant work will sell it at auction or through a gallery?

Sarah Shinn Pratt is a former Vice President and Auctioneer for Sotheby’s New York. An Expert Appraiser on PBS’ Antiques Roadshow for 10 years she is currently President of LeBaron Antiques Trading, based in Woodbury, Connecticut (www.sarahshinnpratt.com).

Pratt explains.

“Some people consign to a dealer because they want the certain cash NOW and don’t want to wait for a sale and then the usual 35 business days payout afterwards. If it does not sell, they might end up owing the auction house money and then the property can be considered a bit “burned.” Also, they may not want their ex-wife or relatives, for example, knowing their business. Auction results for high-end art are readily accessible on the Internet and end up in art data bases, sometimes even in the newspapers.

Pratt says that dealers like to buy from private individuals as opposed to auction because they can often buy cheaper and also because then the public doesn’t know what they paid for it. After auction commission and fees for insurance and photographs in the catalogue, the consignor at auction can end up with less than what they could have gotten from a dealer, so it can be a win-win situation for both the seller and the dealer.

“Some reasons to go for auction as a sales venue include that one has exciting fresh (never been on the market or only a long time ago) merchandise,” says Pratt.  ”And it will benefit from international exposure, or that there are several owners involved and a transparent transaction is necessary.”

Perhaps the new owners of Teton Valley Ranch will fill the place with art bought in Jackson.

Item #3

The show doesn’t happen until September 12th, but now is the time to submit work to CIAO if you wish to be considered for its Third Annual Wildlife (Juried) Exhibit.   Deadline comes up soon  –  August 20th.   If you’ve got a wolf at the door or on canvas, submit up to five images electronically.  Visit www.ciaogallery@yahoo.com (Okay, as I write that I sense a hybrid email and website snafu so please experiment a bit if need be!)  to get the lowdown on how to send your work.   You may also call 307.733.7833.

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Quick list of MADE’s remaining summer list of artists exhibiting their work, getting their goods pumped up via John Frechette’s dynamite new-artist-by-the-week rotation concept.   Artists, if you want images of your work posted on this site, please send them to me.  Or, send them to John and ask him to forward the info here.   Be glad to preview it!

Artists with openings and week-long exhibits at MADE (in Gaslight Alley) through September:

Aug 19th   Amanda Sullivan

Aug 26    Padgett Hoke

Sept 2    Jesse Gestal

Sept 9    Travis Walker

Spet 16th    Susan Madrey

Sept 23rd    Raskoll Inc

Sept 30th    Diana Eden

jdfrechette@gmail.com

July 15-22, check out the bold, illustrative  paintings of Jeff Ham at Mountain Trails Gallery.

Last summer’s personal statement on Native American history will be replaced (I believe) with more celebratory Western imagery.  As has been noted, Ham’s color and composition spring from a background in illustration.

“I do my best to translate emotion and feelings into color and communicate my individual interpretation of each subject,” he explained. ”My goal is to capture spontaneity. As an artist I am learning to express myself in an honest and straightforward manner.”

I’m still loving the  memory of  Jeff Ham’s large scale works, his  O’Keeffe and Warhol portraits; they once hung in the J.H. Center for the Arts Theater Lobby, and may still be there.

Email:  fineart@mountaintrails.net

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“I paint with passion, risk and abbreviated images instead of capturing realism. Set against transit texture and vivid color, images and figures cannot be situated in reality. These painterly expressions challenge our emotions and communicate with our sense of mystery. Mystery is a part of life. Not everything is easily explainable.”  - Rocky Hawkins

Rocky Hawkins: Lost At Last, is the new show at Altamira Fine Art. A reception will be held at the gallery July 15, 5-7:00 pm.

What can’t be ignored in Montana artist Rocky Hawkins’ work is the ghostly quality of his portraits.  Conversely, there is a direct confirmation his Native American subjects demand of viewers.   Confirmation of existence transmitted by apparitions.   Thirty-six expressionistic paintings make up the artist’s roster of images on the Altamira gallery site. All are potent, highly vigorous compositions — an approaching army of ancestry and imminent spirits.

Hawkins is a brave artist, true to his own inspiration. His work sells, appealing to a cache of sophisticated collectors of contemporary Western art.  Inspired in part by Terpning, Hawkins’ works are painterly anti-war messages conveyed through portraits of a culture that fought for its right to exist.

And isn’t a break with “the rules” what we often search out for in great art?   Gallery director Mark Tarrant has said that Hawkins’ work recalls “the primitivism that Gaugin sought, and pays little attention to the classical use of perspective and color.”    To my eye, his work recalls Gaugin’s breakout character combined with Jackson Pollock’s rhythmic use of paint….there may be homage to Motherwell’s sweeping black forms.

Lost At Last (if you meet Hawkins, ask him about the meaning behind the title of this show; then get back to me, please!) remains on display through August 4th.     www.altamiraart.com.

Item #3:

Jackson Hole Art Fair Rap Revisited!

(July 16-18   Miller Park   10am-6pm;  10 am-4pm Sunday. www.artassociation.org )

Hey, it’s July, so it’s time to share / ‘Bout that annual gig, the Jackson Hole Art Fair! / “Art Fair Jackson Hole” it prefers to be called / Nobody asked me.  I’m not involved.

Hey man, don’t be bored! / Sometimes Harrison Ford / Comes to check out the art / And he brings Flockhart. (If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it!)

Buy ceramics, toys, fibers–/  This poem’s the town crier / For Art Fair Weekend / Come rain or come shine-er. / Paintings, baskets, jewels, tents / Sunscreen and some fivers / All make for a day / The whole family could die for!

See the Fair.  Have Fun.  This rap is all done.

Item #4:

Hammock painting helpers needed!  July 15, beginning 5:00 pm,  convene at the Multipurpose Ceramics Studio at the Center for the Arts. Help paint 2,000 feet of hammock that will be used as part of Sunday, July 25th’s Vertical Orchestra concert at the Teewinot lift ( I am enough of a non-skier to not even know if that lift is at Snow King or Teton Village.  But I bet you will know, dear readers!)

If you help paint, you’ll go home with a free hammock.   Bring along any unused paint you might have handy, but most importantly, bring yourself.    You can also sign up to volunteer the day of the concert.   Questions:  Bland Hoke,  307.690.0097.

Still. Reflective. Meditative.  Calm.  Mysterious.

Potent.

Landscape artist Jared Sanders’ depictions of barns, fields, rivers and trees — images reminiscent of rural Utah landscapes the artist experienced as a child — feel rooted and secured.  It’s as if these quintessential American structures have made a life decision to stay “home.”  No roaming.   This land is the place and there is nothing finer; all the lights of the city, the allure of a rocky sea coast, the scintillating Western mountain ranges are calculating sirens.  Not real.

This land is real.  And it holds great power — pounding hearts, eternal rhythms.

Jared Sanders has a new exhibition, “Seasons: One Man Show” on display at Altamira Fine Art June 17-29, 2010.    An opening reception takes place Thursday, June 17, 5-7:00 pm, at the gallery.

“Jared is an important and popular contemporary landscape artist. Although the scenery and barns he depicts in his paintings are primarily in or near the area where he lives, they seem to strike a nostalgic chord of recognition and serenity with admirers of his work no matter where they live,” says Gallery Director Mark D. Tarrant.   “His textured brushwork and subdued use of color continually create scenes which are simultaneously placid, yet compelling.”

Sanders, a tonalist, favors earthy, rubbed browns and dusky yellows; burnt reds and “old” blues and greens are aged–subdued–with the injection of grays.   Siennas and ochre oils warm up the cool palette.   Sanders intense attention to connecting objects and colors within each work is apparent; balance is flawless.

Contact Altamira Fine Art by phoning 307.739.4700.   www.altamiraart.com.

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A small note about a big move:  Horizon Fine Art is decamping from its Center Street location and moving across town to new digs.

Horizon’s new address is Suite 202, at 30 King Street.  I believe that address is situated on the east side of King Street between Broadway and Pearl….and close to the corner of Broadway and King.

It’s just north of  from Shades Café and Sweetwater Restaurant.   Ooh, and a short walk down the stairs from Snake River Grill!   And in close proximity to Trailside Galleries, a few steps to the east on Broadway.

Congrats and Bon Chance, Horizon!

Who is moving in to your old space?    Anybody?

Email:  horizonfineart@wyoming.com.   Phone:  307.739.1540.

Item #3:

Laurie Thal, Wilson glass artist, has had her work snatched up by the President. Of the United States.  While exhibiting at a Washington D.C. craft show her work was admired by a member of the State Department. That staff member, Tracy Bernstein, asked Thal if she had any hand blown glass vessels depicting a peacock.  She did; the bowl’s design is by Lia Kass, long time creative partner to Thal.

The bowl, shown at left, was purchased by the State Department’s Senior Gift Officer (what a cool job, shopping for fine arts to bestow upon heads of state!) and presented to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife by President and Mrs. Obama.   The Prime Minister visited D.C. last November.

Thal also had a glass ornament on the Clinton Administration Christmas tree.  AND she’s got work displayed at the Governor’s residence in Cheyenne, Wyoming.   Congratulations Laurie and Lia!   Very cool.

FINAL NOTE: LAST WEEK’S “ARTIST IN THE PARK ” EVENT HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED.  THE NEW DAY AND TIME ARE JUNE 19, 9 AM – 12 NOON.

Bonus Prelude: YouTube Rock Art Epic Sensation!

Now, back to work.

Perhaps Spring’s promise of fresh earth and sky is potent serum for new collaborations.   With Daylight Savings Time just days away, Altamira Fine Art announces a rare two-person show, No Limit. The exhibition joins the work of landscape artists John Felsing and Kathryn Mapes Turner. An opening reception takes place Thursday, March 11,  5-7:00 p.m.  

Turner grew up on Grand Teton National Park’s Triangle X Ranch, her family’s homestead.  Felsing has lived in his rural Michigan home twenty years; the artists have been friends for many years.   Strong rooted landscapes are part of humankind’s great collective unconscious and while Turner’s landscapes are traditionally loosely impressionistic, she’s not let go of realism.  That would be difficult to do, growing up in the Valley of the Park, a landscape packed with every imaginable element but the sea.  And understandable, because the urgent impulse to relate this true magnificence in recognizable form is a constant.   But in this show, I see a loosening of that emotional grip;  a loosening that, far from letting go, allows more interpretation of light and form in.   The results may be less specific to geographical place, but not less specific to sense of place.

This may be Felsing’s influence; he has long been encouraging Turner’s painterly explorations.  Felsing’s minimalistic, tonalist palette relates memory of place, Michigan’s more dissolved and meandering open territories.  He describes his work as being adverse to labels, and his paintings are responses to moments.  Viewers of Felsing’s paintings say they often have to step across the room to view his works before realizing their subjects as the paintings, up close, appear abstract.   Felsing thinks of his paintings as anything from portraits, to deductions, to music.

As in Whistler’s nocturnes, there is a meeting of the east–Asian–and Western influences in Felsing’s work.  An essay I found on Whistler’s nocturnes says that for Whistler, “nocturne” is a reference to the tendency of French Romantic painters to relate art to music and a “binary color scheme.”

“I am not interested in reproducing what is visible, but in attempting to make things visible,” says Felsing.  “Not until I visit a place repeatedly, do I feel enough intimacy to attempt a painting; only then does one realize that art grows out of love.”

(This is an active period for Michigan’s “state of mind” in the arts;  playwright Sam Shepard, a long time Michigan resident, is currently enjoying both a successful New York run of a new play and a revival of one of his classics.  His spare, tight stories are almost molecular in their scarce structure and prose.)

Turner, a partner in Trio Fine Art, is taking a spring break with this show, germinating a few new seeds.   She continues to be fully associated with Trio.

No Limit remains on display through March 31.   For information, email Altamira Fine Art at connect@altamiraart.com.

Altamira Fine Art continues its ascent by adding yet another new artist to its roster:  Marshall Noice. Some years ago I wrote about Noice for Planet Jackson Hole. The column went something like this:

Noice, who lives and paints in Kallispell, Montana, is a nationally noted artist whose works are part of many prestigious collections.  However, the prize he holds most dear comes from the Blackfeet Nation, which, in 1987,  honored Noice with a name-giving ceremony.  Medicine man George Kicking Woman, who saw Noice’s name in a vision, gave the artist a Blackfeet name: “E-Kah-She-Mah-Kin.”

I don’t know the translation, but I do know that Noice began his artistic career as a photographer.  The work taught him about light.  In fact, Noice was Ansel Adams’ assistant during the summer of 1977, and the experience gave birth to Noice’s love of landscape.

“I have sometimes wondered if I live here because of the work I do, or if I do the work because I live here,” muses Noice.  “An interesting question without an answer. I learned how to see light from Ansel Adams.  He was a great teacher.  I really learned how to recognize landscapes.  I feel that my experience in photography has helped me to develop a heightened sensitivity towards landscapes.”

Noice’s work also has to be influenced by Fauvism.  For the Fauves, color is TOUT.  It is applied furiously, without restraint, and it is wholly interpretive.

Art history lesson alert!

“Fauvism” refers to a period in art history having its genesis in 1905, when French painter Henri Matisse and his buddies Andre Derain, Maurice Vlaminck, Albert Marquet, Raoul Dufy, and Georges Braque first displayed new paintings drenched with color; huge, vast masses of unbroken, emotional, explosive color.   These painters and others were given the nickname “Les Fauves,” –the Wild Beasts. Upon seeing the collection of wildly colorful paintings surrounding a comparatively run-of-the-mill sculpture, unveiled for the first time at the 1905 Paris Salon d’Automme, French art critic Louis Vauxcelles remarked that “it was like a Donatello ‘parmi les fauves’”-among the wild beasts.

Wildlife art. Wild Beasts.  Sense a century-old connection here?

Contemporary Western Art is in no way disconnected from art history’s great movements; it descends from many masters and traditions.  Artists in the West articulate landscape and are paying homage to light, color, and “the shapes of things,” as artists always have.

In addition to Trio house artist Lee Carlman Riddell hosting a painting workshop in Tuscany, her gallery partner Kathryn Mapes Turner has said “yes” to an invitation to exhibit her work alongside those of Michigan painter John Felsing.

The two artists plan a joint exhibition at Altamira Fine Art, where Felsing is represented.  The show runs March 11-13, kicking off with an artist’s reception on Thursday, March 11, 5-7 pm, at Altamira, in Jackson.

The show does not signal any change in Turner’s affiliation with Trio Fine Art.  More on this special exhibition soon.

“Sunrise, sunrise…Looks like morning in your eyes…” -Norah Jones

Browsing through the works of landscape artist John Felsing, I find myself humming Norah Jones tunes.  Felsing’s paintings conjure up misty, purple views I enjoy here in New England, sunrise and sunset.  Quiet daybreaks slipping up the horizon, transforming to brighter colors of the day more slowly than those quick-rising Teton mornings.  Landscapes coming into focus.

Lucky you, Jackson Hole. Art lovers have a chance to see Felsing’s works at his new gallery venue, Altamira Fine Art. The gallery showcases Felsing and sculptor Steve Kestrel – also new to Altamira — during this Wednesday’s (December 30th) Gallery Walk.

Kestrel’s work, quite distinguishable, is poetry transmorgrified to sculpture.  Its nascent qualities — his sculptures, often egg-shaped and eliptic — suggest birth’s innocence and omniscience.   He is a favorite of mine.  Of his work it is written that the artist “….prefers to carve directly in granite, slate, limestone, and sandstone….His stone carvings forsake the use of a prior constructed model as…this method helps preserve “the soul of the stone”.

Bregelle Whitworth Davis, Andree Hudson and John Greene will be featured as well.   Says Altamira, “Davis is a colorist whose style resembles the illusion of silk screening yet retains the textured surface of a painting. Andree Hudson’s art features large dramatic brush strokes that enliven her subjects while her use of contrasting light and dark colors create an intimacy between the viewer and the subject. John Greene’s landscapes depict imagined rather than actual realms that reveal new insights upon each viewing.”

Stop into Altamira for fresh art, and refreshments.    Phone: 307.739.4700.  email: econnect@altamiraart.com.

Happy New Year!  May Jackson Hole flourish, remain creative and nourished.   Keeping arts at our forefront is the best way, that’s sure-ish.

Greg Woodard’s “Native Americana,” an exhibition of his new sculptural works, opens with an artist’s reception at Altamira Fine Art on Thursday, September 17, 2-4:00 pm.   The show, currently on display, remains up through September 21.

Woodard is largely self-taught. I’ve chosen to share his portrayal of a wolf, “Last Stand,” carved from apricot wood, because the continued successful sustaining of our region’s wolf population is, currently, at the top of conservationist’s lists.  But Woodard is widely known for keenly specific bird sculptures.   A master falconer, Woodard has been a contender in the Ward World Competition in Ocean City, MD, recognized as the most prestigious bird carving competition in the world.   That is big stuff.

The arts overlap with with conservation and conscientious hunting.  We can all co-exist if we are mindful and creative.   As Woodard notes, understanding environment, habits and characteristics of wildlife is crucial to us, crucial to survival.  His love of the wild is present in his work.

For information, email connect@altamiraart.com.

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Chris Burch sends this headline:

“THESE ARE THE PEOPLE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD: CENTER OF WONDER SHOW FOCUSES ON COMMUNITY DURING FALL ARTS FESTIVAL!”

Where: Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary, 130 South Jackson Street
When: September 11, 5-8 p.m.  (Palates & Palettes Night!)
Sponsors: Center of Wonder, LMC,  Art Association,  Community Foundation, Rocky Mountain Bank, Wyoming Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts.

Many locals have a hidden–or not so hidden–creative side.  You probably know some of them, but others come as a surprise.   This exhibit, curated by Christian Burch, consists of 30 wooden silhouettes of these secret creative people.

Maybe they can be placed around downtown Jackson?   Our version of NYC’s bronze, life-sized sculptures of businessmen and other citizens, sprinkled around that city.   A nice echo of last winter’s cut-out wildlife figures spread around Wilson and its environs.

Says Burch, ” The show, … in collaboration with Bland Hoke and The Center of Wonder, consists of thirty wooden silhouettes of Jackson Hole citizens painted by an equal number of Jackson’s own local artists. The free-standing figures have been painted so that one side represents what is known of the person, while the other side is painted to reveal something that might not be known. “  Works will be auctioned off to benefit non-profits chosen by the artists.

Information about public art programs will be on display and computers will be available for people to comment on the Teton County Comprehensive Plan review.

Item #3  (excuse the black text…hey, it stands out!)

Teton Artlab spotlights favorite local artist Craig Spankie, on September 11.  Jackson natives Mark and Wade Dunstan and Abbie Miller contribute, too.  Mark and Wade are the children of Kaidi Dunstan and grandkids of Art Association founder Georgie Morgan. (Abbie is making a huge inflatable dress!  Heck yes. – TW) The opening takes place during the FAF festivities that evening.   But don’t call Travis, he has a new baby.  Call Spankie, now an old hand with babies: 699-0687.

Item #4

Came across a headline the other day about Scottsdale, Arizona’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Its attendance “surged” and grew by more than 6,000 visitors since the economic bomb fell, and the museum has enjoyed more than 40,000 visitors in the past fiscal year.  That’s more than last year, but less than its 2005-2006 high, a 47,291 visitor count. The link to that article is here.

Center Street Gallery debuts artist Kay Stratman’s new brush paintings at an artist’s reception Thursday, August 20, 5-8:00 p.m. Titled Expect the Unexpected, Stratman’s collective works are, as far as I know, Jackson’s only examples of East Asian sumi-e (墨絵) painting, originated in China. An ancient practice, sumi-e (soo-me-ee) was introduced to Japan in the mid 14th century.  Ink and wash paintings at first used only black inks; color washes were added later.

Sumi-e’s tools—stick ink (sumi), grinding stone, fine papers or fabric, and bamboo handled brushes—are known as the Four Treasures. According to practice, Stratman has produced paintings balanced in composition and color.  They depict landscapes that, although often inspired by the West, are swathed in Asian delicacy—soft, as well as precise.  Misty mountains, swans flying in tandem over serene, mirror-like lakes, snow scenes and liquid portraits of koi, geckos and butterflies are Stratman’s subjects–she renders all using a palette of warm and cool pastel tones.

Sumi-e’s goal is to capture a subject’s soul.  “To paint a flower, there is no need to perfectly match its petals and colors, but it is essential to convey its liveliness and fragrance.”

A final note: Stratman is married to new Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance Executive Director Paul Hansen. For more information, phone 307.733.1115.    www.centerstreetgallery.com.

Item #2

Tonalist Jared Sanders’ new collection of works, “A Period of Transition,” also opens Thursday, 5-7:00 pm,  at Altamira Fine Art. A chronicler of nature, Sanders’ quiet, harmonic works play out in soft browns, earth yellows, reds, and their balancing cooler tones of blue and green.  His compositions are simple, in the realm of the naive.   His portrayals of cows in the fields, those colors and structure, can remind me of Milton Avery.

As a rural youngster, Sanders began painting the landscapes of his northern Utah home. “His artistic process is measured and very detailed,” says the gallery. “After scouting potential landscape subjects and taking hundreds of snapshots, he sorts through the best candidates, sketching some in pencil.  He then transfers the sketch to gesso board using brown or sienna oils finished in warm gray or ochre tones, focusing on getting the color of one object or shape in the painting perfect.”

Sanders likes the softer, shoulder seasons: Autumn and Spring.

“I like it in autumn after all the leaves have fallen from the trees.  And my favorite time is in spring when winter is just barely leaving – nothing is green yet, everything is still dead from the winter, the trees are leafless, the willows are red, and a few patches of snow are left on the ground.”

For information: connect@altamiraart.com.

Item #3

Explorer-photographer Jimmy Chin will be at Oswald Gallery on Friday, August 21, 6-9 p.m.,  to discuss his photographic work and his climbing experiences.

Chin exhibits his views of the extreme landscapes he explores and the people who live in those high and distant countries.  Says the Oswald, “From the Karakoram to Mali to Everest and beyond, Chin has traveled the globe, shooting from some of the most inaccessible terrain in the world, all in an attempt to arrest images that go beyond the ambition of the athlete and wanderlust of the explorer. Images that give the audience a glimpse into remote cultures, distant lands and the world of extreme athletes, ultimately giving perspective into the human potential and our own culture.”

Got bliss?  Want some if you don’t have it?  Visit some of the lands where bliss is a way of life as you view Jimmy Chin’s vibrant photography.   www.oswaldgallery.com.

Mary Roberson’s epic collection, Nature is Life in the Dream, opened at Altamira Fine Art on August 6, and you should not miss seeing this remarkable collection of new paintings.

Says Roberson, “When I struggle, I watch the critters who teach me the greatest value of all – simplicity and joy.”

This new grouping of large scale paintings is mythic in scope, abstract, muted and…dream-like.  Roberson uses earth tones mixed with low-impact greens and amber, and feels she is capturing climate, ground, atmosphere, and animal by avoiding an over use of color.   Her bison appear to have floated down from the sky, settled on desert amidst sandy clouds of dust, and are slowly materializing.

Altamira’s artist bio page says that Roberson is a “….firm believer in the concept that the creative process should be fun, selfless, and that it is natural and distinct to every individual…. Wildlife and nature are her sources of both inspiration and reaffirmation.”

Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival Update:  R. Tom Gilleon, 2009’s Fall Arts Festival Poster Artist, is now represented by Altamira Fine Art.   This year’s poster signing event will take place at Altamira.   See J.H. Fall Arts Festival Calendar –click on the page link, right hand side of the Jackson Hole Art Blog’s home page.

Altamira: 307.739.4700.   www.altamiraart.com.

Item #2

The Legacy Gallery presents its summer Visions of the West: Multi-Artist Show and Sale, opening Friday, August 14.   With a focus on sculpture and paintings of Native Americans and Cowboys (I’ll capitalize both!) the show, says the gallery, “represents the true spirit of the West.”

A spirit more and more elusive, some might argue.   Let’s keep the legends, romance and history alive in Western art.  Many Legacy Gallery artists are participating in the show and will be on hand for the August 14 opening.

A list of participating artists includes: James Ayers, Roy Andersen, Russell Houston, Robert Shufelt, Chad Poppleton, C. Michael Dudash, Jason Rich, John Fawcett, David Wright, Gary Lynn Roberts, John Gawne, Teal Blake, Joni Falk, George D. Smith, and a few paintings to be sold on a draw basis by G. Harvey.  Also showing will be bronze sculptors Tim Shinabarger, Richard Greeves, G. Harvey, John Coleman, T.D. Kelsey, and Mehl Lawson.

This special show is accompanied by a color catalogue, a fine addition and collectible item in itself. For additional information or color photos,  contact Legacy Gallery at 307-733-2353 or email maya@legacygallery.com.

Item #3:  Art Association/Art Lab

The Jackson Hole Art Association’s August Art Fair Jackson Hole takes place August 14-16, at Miller Park in Jackson.   Additionally, The 10th Annual (Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival) Takin’ It to the Streets art fair takes place  Sunday, September 13, 2009. Says the Art Association, ” An intimate ‘local’s only’ show, this fair has become a popular favorite with locals and visitors alike!  If you create your own art and want to apply to this juried show, we’d love to have you! Contact Amy Fradley, Art Fair Director at 307-733-8792, or email at artistinfo@jhartfair.org.

Visiting the Art Association?  Don’t stop there; head upstairs to the Jackson Hole Center for the Arts third floor and check out Teton Art Lab. Travis Walker’s brainchild, the Art Lab provides artist residencies and a shared artistic and studio experience.  It’s a great place for artists new to Jackson to find their way and establish credibility.

This Friday, check out artwork by local and regional artists works in It Came from the Supervolcano, a collection of charged, energetic art by up-and-coming creatives and, just maybe, inspired by Yellowstone’s volcanic power.   The show adds to the ever-growing list of venues for new artists “exploding” around town.   Alexandra Kornblum’s graphic, bold oil paintings headline the show. Ben Carlson and others get in the groove, too.  The show pops its cork  with an opening Friday night, 6-9 pm, at the Art Lab.    www.tetonartlab.com.

In the fall, the Art Lab can set qualifying artists up with housing, studio access, and other kinds of support.  Email: info@tetonartlab.com.

The Legacy Gallery hosts a two-man show for Western artists James Ayers and Jason Rich this month.  An opening reception will be held on Thursday, August 6, at the gallery, 75 N. Cache, on the Jackson Town Square southwest corner.   Both artists will be present.

Ayers, a Rhode Island School of Design grad, is noted for his portraits of Indians.  (John Byrne Cooke almost decapitated me for using the term “Native American,” a term, according to Cooke, coined by wrong-headed white men.) His travels and observations of Iroquois, Sioux and Hopi inform his works, oil paintings on canvas.  I’ve read that he’s influenced by a diverse group of great masters: John Singer Sargent, Gauguin, Klimt, and Henry Tanner.  That list encompasses myriad uses of light and paint; the latter artist’s painting style alone varied extensively over the course of his career.

Jason Rich also chronicles the Western life, but with a focus on cowboys and their horses.  Imbued with an illustrative golden light, Rich’s landscape-cowboy-horse portraits capture ranch life and individual moments of reflection, traversing the plains, resting the herd creekside, riding the range under endless skies fluffed by cumulous clouds.    His love of ranch life springs from his own childhood on a Utah farm.

For additional information contact Legacy Gallery at 307-733-2353 or maya@legacygallery.com.

Item #2 :   O’Connor at Galleries West

E.C. O’Connor’s solo exhibition, “Willing: Saying Yes to the Road Less Traveled,” is featured at  Galleries West, August 6-19. The show highlights O’Connor’s productive Joshua Tree National Park residency, as well as landscapes painted in the Greater Yellowstone region.

Talented Jackson Hole artists of all ilk often go about their day-to-day lives unnoticed.  O’Connor is one: she waits tables at Nora’s, landscapes, and does her fair share of outreach work in and around the valley.   But, as has previous posts have reported, O’Connor is an accomplished landscape painter recently awarded the coveted Joshua Tree residency.   At Joshua Tree, the artist created many new works–one painting will become a permanent part of that park’s collection.

“Many people perceive undeveloped areas as valueless and inhospitable,” says O’Connor.  “In no place is this more true than in our nation’s deserts. My goal is to show the inherent beauty within a very harsh environment.”

She is a passionate on-location painter; no painting from photographs for her.   As McHuron likes to do, O’Connor paints the “wow.” Her light recalls that of such master painters as Maynard Dixon, E. Martin Hennings and Edgar Payne.

An artist’s reception happens August 6,  5-8 PM.  O’Connor will be in attendance–yay, I finally get to meet her!–and  hors d’oeuvres, wine, beer, and the gallery’s hallmark chocolate fountain will be available.  Call the gallery at 307-733-4412 or visit www.gallerieswestjacksonhole.com.

Galleries West twitters.  You can also follow the gallery on Twitter (www.twitter.com/gallerieswest) and their page on Facebook (http://tinyurl.com/gallerieswest).

Item #3

Mary Roberson opens her new show, Nature is the Life of the Dream, at Altamira Fine Art on Thursday, August 6.  A reception will be held 5:00-7:00 pm.  More on this exhibit in my next post, but don’t miss what promises to be a good kickoff for a special show.  connect@altamiraart.com.

Item#4

Jackson Hole Center for the Arts’ founder John Tozzi and Center resident Dancers Workshop Artistic Director Babs Case are 2009’s Winners of the Award for Creativity.

Case’s 11-year devotion to Dancers’ Workshop has transformed a small, back-office company into a state-of-the-art outfit. DW provides dance classes and performances for all ages, all tastes; its electric current and constant vivacity are one of Jackson’s main creative arteries.   It’s all due to Case, who, in addition to  her dancing and directing, is an accomplished visual artist.  It could be said that Case ignited finding new venues for artists not able to appear in galleries, with her popular summer “Harpo’s Art Fair,” a day-long fun arts n’ picnic in Bab’s back yard.   Fun like Alice’s Wonderland fun.    Jodeen Tebay beautifully writes, “while dance is what brought Babs to the community, space is her true passion. On the stage, on paper, in textiles, in architecture, and in life she sees and creates beautiful compositions of space.”

Nobody deserves this award more than Babs Case.  Congratulations, Babs!

Congratulations to, to co-winner John Tozzi, without whom Jackson would not have the magnificent Jackson arts hub, the Center for the Arts.   Said Bruce Hawtin, “It is at times difficult to be creative and make a living. Because of John, the arts, all of the arts in Jackson Hole, have a home; therefore they have a place to be creative. That doesn’t spell success but it removes one of the obstacles.”

The Cultural Council of Jackson Hole invites everyone to attend the 15^th Annual Award for Creativity Celebration on Thursday, September 10 from 5 – 6:30 p.m. at Dancers’ Workshop’s Studio 1 in the Center for the Arts. 2009 recipients will be presented with awards made by a local artist. This year’s artist is Laurie Thal.