My Turn

The spring Tucson Artists’ Open Studio Tour is coming up again next weekend, March 13 and 14. I will be here from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., so please come by and see what I’ve been up to (and get first dibs!). I may even have some work in progress on the lathe, as I’m busy getting ready for the Spring Artisans’ Market at the Tucson Museum of Art at the end of March. I’m especially trying to finish some mesquite vessels with stone inlay.

You can find all the details about the tour, including a complete list of participating artists and maps of the studio locations, online at the tour’s website or in the current issue of Zócalo magazine. (This “Tucson Urban Scene Magazine” is worth hunting down; read it online or find it at various locations around town.) Fellow Flux artists Steven Derks, Peter Eisner, and Maurice Sevigny will also be opening their studios.

This weekend, Friday–Sunday, February 26–28, I will be at the Fountain Hills Great Fair, in Fountain Hills, Arizona, in the greater Phoenix area. The show runs 10 a.m.–5 p.m. each day. I will be in booth D70, on Avenue of the Fountains between La Montana Drive and Verde River Drive, facing south. Please come by and say hello and see my new work!

I am busy getting ready for my next two events. First up is the Tucson Open Studio Tour, this weekend. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, 167 artists all over Tucson will open their studios to the public. You can download a combination calendar and map guide showing the locations of all the studios at the Tucson Pima Arts Council site or pick one up at various locations around town, such as libraries and galleries. I am taking a short stack to Flux Gallery tomorrow (actually later today), when I staff the gallery. Five of the Flux artists will be opening their studios: me, Maurice Sevigny, and, at the same shared studio, Bryan Crow, Steven Derks, and Peter Eisner.

If you want more info, the Arizona Daily Star had an article about the tour in its Sunday paper. If you forgot to get the paper or already recycled it, and you’re willing to register and login, you can read it online at azstarnet.com.

The studio tour gives you a chance to see how (or at least, where) your favorite artists work. My studio will, of course, be a lot cleaner than it usually is (although I can never entirely get rid of the sawdust), but you can see my equipment and my wood and learn about my process. You can also see my work, of course, including some in progress, especially pieces I am trying to finish before the following weekend, when . . .

. . . the Tucson Museum of Art holds its annual Holiday Artisans’ Market at the museum (140 N. Main Ave.). The show is open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. You can find me in my usual spot, Booth 105, on the east side of the museum, catercorner from Old Town Artisans. This will be my last show of 2009, so after Thanksgiving I will finally get to finish laying the new floors in my house.

Whoa. Our opening at Flux Gallery on Friday night was overwhelming. We had hundreds of people come out, a constant crowd from 5 o’clock on. The crowd didn’t begin to thin until around 8:30, after the lovely string quartet had packed up and the food was down to crumbs. (Did people not realize we still had wine left?) No doubt the article that ran in the Arizona Daily Star Friday morning helped draw folks beyond our combined mailing lists.

People seemed enthusiastic about the artwork. We were certainly proud. If I can brag a little, the space looked great. Steven did a great job of hanging and displaying the work in a way that let each work both be its best self and complement the pieces surrounding it.
I didn’t take photographs, but you can see some of Karen’s shots here.

I just finished the three-day Patagonia Fall Festival and am proud to say that I won the Jury Award for the “best example of artistry or craftsmanship.” The show is in a pleasant venue and is well organized, with wonderful administrators and staff and good support for exhibitors, and I recommend it for artists and crafters with a lot of work under, say, $100. Unfortunately for me and others—and this may well just reflect the times we’re in—there didn’t seem to be a lot of high-end buyers in attendance. Even so, doing shows like this one is affirming. I received two of the highest compliments I have ever received for my work: One customer confessed to wanting to cry seeing my work; another said that being in my booth felt “like home.” Touching people in this way through my art is why I do this. Namaste.

The official e-vite. Please join us for art, music, and goodies!