Parallel shows by Idaho artists Cynthia Stoetzer and Valerie Stuart begin at the Tayloe Piggott Gallery on October 25, and remain up through December 12, 2010;  but the shows will be officially opened together in a new venue for the gallery, an Open House.  Saturday, November 6, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm the public is welcome to stop by the gallery for an open “Art Conversation.”  Throughout the day visitors may drop in to talk with the artists, view the work, and enjoy refreshments.

Stuart and Stoetzer will talk about their process, experience and challenges as artists — this opportunity, in tandem with an atmosphere likened to a home setting, is meant to be a satisfying experience for all attendees. A satisfying and dynamic mix of gallery and inside-the-artist’s-studio.

Stoetzer’s show In the Leaves and On the Plains expands upon the artist’s style of combining elements of European and American Impressionists, with a bit of Pointillism in the painterly mix.  The subject, though, is Stoetzer’s western landscapes. As large as 48″ x 60″, Stoetzer’s paintings are known for their ability to shimmer.

“My aim now is to reclaim landscape as the serious and cherished subject it has always been,” says the artist. “And to celebrate that love of the specific place and time. So when I paint a grove of trees, you can see that they are Aspen trees as they grow in that particular way in the Rockies. They’re not just an idea, or a symbol, of a tree. It’s been said that to give one’s attention is the greatest act of love, and when I’m painting an aspen tree, I’m giving it my full attention.”

Stuart’s Incontado mixed media works recall Renaissance frescos. This series, her “Mura Venete” (Venetian Walls), incorporates plaster, oilpaint, and resin. Stuart uses a layering process and “chromatic key construction,” creating great luminous depth on her canvases.  A combination of color, tension, language and experience speak to the emotional “self.” And Stuart’ self has had many lives; the artist has worked as an actor, stunt driver and in fashion design before devoting herself full time to her painting.

www.tayloepiggottgallery.com

Contact information for artists:  Valerie Stuart, valeriestuart@cox.net, (208)720-6115    Cynthia Stoetzer, (208)354-0112, guild@silverstar.com

Item #2

One of Jackson’s coolest cultural traditions is the creation and admiring of  Parejas del Día de los Muertos- –Day of the Dead Figures—around town.  The Teton County Library never omits marking this Latino tradition of creating and displaying colorful, festive altars honoring the circle of life, and those who have gone before us.

October  23 & 30, celebrate “Day of the Dead” by creating and decorating novios with the artisan Oton Baez, at the Library. Class offered in two continuous Saturday sessions. Registration required and has been ongoing as of Oct. 11.  For ages 7 to adult. Ordway Auditorium. Free. For more information, contact Latino Programs Coordinator Patty Rocha, 733-2164 ext. 237 or procha@tclib.org .  In Spanish & English.

Item #3:

It’s hard to paint the night.

But, for wildlife and many painters of landscape and wildlife, night bewitches. Wildlife emerges, gathers and responds to the deepening light. Artists strive to capture the effects of moonlight and the stars on a blackening sky and the earth below. The National Museum of Wildlife Art’s new show, Dusk to Dawn: Nocturnes from the Collection, opens October 30, 2010, remains on display through May 1, 2011, and “combines master works of the genre drawn from the museum’s collection with an exploration of nocturnal animal behavior.”

My favorite present-day “local” night-sky artist is Bill Sawczuk. Sublime, twinkling, translucent nocturnal skies.  And one of my favorite wildlife/landscape works is Rockwell Kent’s 1920′s stylized “Mt. Equinox, Vermont,” an oil painting featured in this show.

This exhibit spotlights historic painters such as Georges-Frederick Rotig, Frank Tenney Johnson and Albert Bierstadt, as well as more contemporary painters; Lars Jonsson and Bob Kuhn are two examples.  For more information contact the Museum, or log onto the website, www.wildlifeart.org.