PINETOP CONTEMPORARY FINE ART GALLERY

James Kingneon Gucwa - Painter - The photorealistic art of James Gucwa offers us a slice of the American culture and ushers us into the world of flashing neon signs and big noisy Harley-Davidson and Indian motorcycles.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2002 Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
'As Real As It Gets.'
2002 Leslie Levy Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
'Small Works' Invitational Exhibit
2001 Daytona Bike Week 2001, Daytona Beach, FL
2001 Laughlin River Run 2001, Laughlin, AZ

SELECTED ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2002 The Cultural Exchange Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
2000 Bruce R. Lewin Gallery, SOHO, New York City, NY
Vanier on Marshall, Scottsdale, AZ

GALLERY REPRESENTATION
Leslie Levy Fine Art, Scottsdale, AZ

R. Geoffrey Blackburn - Painter - A passion for painting Southwest red rock landscapes was born of involvement in the uranium boom of the 1970’s. Invented and later patented a new, user-interactive art form, "Trans-Dimensionalism". He began his professional art career in 1970 and has created art, taught art and worked in various art-related fields his entire professional life.

RECENT EXHIBITIONS
2008 Springville Museum of Art, 84th Annual Spring Salon
2008 The President's Art Show, SLC, UT
2007 “Small Works North America” Greenwich Workshop, Fairfield, CT
2007 Red Rock in Detail, one-man-show, Moab, UT
2007 Art Expo Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV
2007 The West in Detail, Horizon Fine Art, Jackson, WY
2007-Finalist-3rd Annual Art Kudos International Juried Art Competition and Exhibition
2007 9th Annual New Horizons Academy Art Show and Auction, Las Vegas, NV

RECENT GALLERIES
2007-08 Marshall Arts Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
2007 Greenwich Workshop Gallery, Fairfield, CT
2007-08 Moab Art Works, Moab UT
2006-08 Horizon Fine Art, Jackson, WY
2006-08 Art Encounter, Las Vegas NV

Jeannie Maddox - Painter - Known for her works of photorealism, especially her swimmer series, Jeannie Maddox's work has spanned twenty-five years with remarkable success. Her larger-than-life paintings have been acquired by collector's from Japan, Italy, Holland, Venezuela, Switzerland, and throughout the United States.

The works are based on photographs that both Jeannie and Sam take form their travels around the country. Once Jeannie has decided on the image and how it will be executed, Sam begins the process of building the armatures. These are cut from cabinet grade Birch plywood. In many cases the canvases are three-dimensional, which involves multiple armatures. Each one is individually stretched and then gessoed and finally screwed together. Some of the larger 4' x 6' 3-D canvases can take as much as 100 hours to build. Jeannie's painting process is Ala Prima, or wet-into-wet, and often range up to 450 hours to complete.

Jeannie's work hangs in many private and corporate collections including the Wiregrass Museum or Art (Dothan), The Halifax Museum of Art (Daytona Beach), The State of Alabama Retirement Systems, and the largest law firm of Boston. Her work is also in many prestigious private collections including the former president of Macy's, one of the leading architects in Miami, Barry and Barbara Sugerman, the Vice President of Toshiba, The Hollywood Screenwriter for Roots, and the largest CEO of the largest boat company in Italy.

Charles Pabst - Painter - Raised in northern California, his early influence was from such painters as Russell Swan, a marine artist that painted Monterey Wharf and Cannery Row. He studied art at Arizona State University, where he received his degree in Fine Arts. As a young boy, his family traveled extensively, and their interest in travel helped develop young Charles' fascination with the beauty of the outdoors. Charles continues to travel around the world, studying the landscapes and culture of the people, taking photographs of different scenes that capture his interest.

Charles likes to keep his paints clean by using two pallets. He will keep his paints on one, and mix on the other. He uses a combination of pallet knife and brush. Typically he’ll lay in the entire painting’s background and sky first. Then he has to let that dry before he lays in the foreground. It may be days or months later before he gets back to it. He finishes it off with highlights of light and shadow to bring out the drama in the picture.

PUB LIC COLLECTIONS

Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, Vermont
C.M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, Montana
Leanin' Tree Museum, Boulder, Colorado
Superstition Mountain Historical Society Museum
Southwest Airlines Board of Directors
New York Stock Exchange Corporate Collection
Arizona Historical Society Museum
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
United Bank Collection
Salt River Project Collection
Fox News Arizona Collection
National Bank of Arizona Collection

Ning Lee - Painter - Inspired by the Renaissance masters and the seventeenth century Dutch masters; he applies his outstanding realistic skills acquired through years of academic trainings into creating still life paintings of long-lasting beauty. While working on landscapes and figurative paintings as well, Ning has a profound love for painting still life. Guided by a special perspective to light, shadow, color and form, he paints the objects commonly seen in daily life with a contemporary realistic approach that has distinguished his paintings by an element of orderliness,
serenity, rationality and harmony.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2008 Third Annual International Guild of Realism Juried Exhibition - Scottsdale Fine Art Gallery
2007 “Masterpieces for all Seasons", 2007 Annual Small Works Show - Winstanley-Roark Fine Arts Gallery, Dennis, MA
2007 Two Man Show, Rose Company Foundation Gallery - Howard Community College, MD
2007 “Leading Masters of Realism” - Winstanley-Roark Fine Arts Gallery, Dennis, MA
2007 Object D’Art, Group Show - Winstanley-Roark Fine Arts Gallery, Dennis, MA
2007 International ArtExpo New York, USA
2006 International ArtExpo New York, USA

Barbara Edidin - Painter - Working with only colored pencils she creates remarkably realistic still lifes composed of simple objects, flowers, fruit and fabric. During her academic career she became interested in ceramics and fiber arts, especially quilt making. The influence of her quilting background is apparent in the repeated juxtaposition of patterns and the intricacy of her textile subjects.

Edidin's technique with colored pencils is unique. And as many artists know, anyone who is dedicated to this medium considers it a labor of love.

Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1952, Edidin attended the Kansas City Art Institute, Northern Arizona University and Arizona State University.

Edidin's drawings, with their jewel-like colors and crisp lines, look like oil paintings. The great patience and focus with which she creates each image is apparent. Silver gleams like silver, crystal refracts light like crystal. The work is startlingly realistic, with a deep, luxurious surface, pushing the limits of the medium to a new level.

Fred Hambly - Painter - A fifth-generation Arizona native, Hambly has portrayed the cowboy and horse in his art since childhood. The West is in his blood, and he comes by this heritage honestly: his great-great grandfather was Sheriff of Tucson in 1867.

Hambly's influences mirror the times that his canvases depict: the French romantics Théodore Géricault and Georges Seurat, Diego Rivera, Frederick Remington, and James Reynolds. With the exception of Reynolds (b. 1926), these artists worked chiefly in the mid-1800s or before. All can be classed as Impressionists or Romantics, and their influence on Hambly is as clear as any brand.

Uninterested in scenes of natural grandeur, Hambly's focus is the momentary drama of an ordinary day, man and horse at work in open country, coping with whatever the elements deliver. His scenes are dramatic, often using high-contrast chariscouro to pull foreground figures from a depth of darks and bring the light to focus on a single, story-telling instant. We witness the simple moments of everyday heroism, valiant defeat, and animal nobility.

Ron Head - Sculptor - Ron's wide range of creative interests have included illustration and design, intricate miniature engravings known as scrimshaw, paintings both abstract and realistic, murals, and sculpture. He works in oils and acrylic, terra cotta and bronze, ivory and wood.

Ron's passion for art has been evident throughout his educational and career path. In high school he was awarded two scholarships to the Interlochen Arts Academy in Interloched Michigan. It was there that the spark of creativity was fanned and his confidence grew to pursue a career in fine arts.

He studied at the University of Michigan and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of California Santa Barbara. After a few years as a gallery artist he went back to school at the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan. From there he went to work as a graphic designer and eventually began his own advertising agency, working in print, radio and television.

A lifetime of experience, continuing education, and interest in a variety of spiritual disciplines has given Ron's work the dynamic representation of a multi-cultural and inspirational spirit.

Carol Ruff Franza - Sculptor - Creates classical bronze forms and oil paintings filled with energy, grace, and spirit.

Born in New Orleans and reared in southern states including Mississippi, Tennessee and Georgia, the imprint of those childhood years spent in the south seasons much of the artwork and life of Carol Ruff Franza.

Art education began at Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida. Carol continued studies at The Atlanta School of Art and Callanwolde. In adulthood Carol has lived in Illinois, New York, Virginia, California, Georgia, Arizona and Washington, before returning to Scottsdale, AZ.

In 2003, Carol created a portrait bust of Governor Sonny Perdue, the first Republican to fill the office of Governor in Georgia since the reconstruction. This work is located inside the Governors Mansion in Atlanta.

The artist was commissioned to create a monument to mark the decade anniversary of Desert Mountain High School. This bronze sculpture stands proudly between the Palomino Library and Desert Mountain High School on Via Linda in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Errol Beauchamp - Sculptor - Errol Beauchamp, a highly stylized bronze sculptor, carves the clay with passion.

As a sculptor, Beauchamp defines his experiences of western landscape as a minimalist statement. He uses a graphic designers eye to simplify ideas into 3D forms of clay that will later become a patinated bronze in a public place or private residence. He also creates dynamic forms through layering clay before carving it, to allow the natural architectural forms to counter the man-made marks.

Errol is a past board member of the Art Students League of Denver, where he began his training in bronze sculpture. His first major gallery show was followed by three Invitational Shows and gallery representation in Santa Fe, NM, Colorado and Utah. His work is in private collections in Paris, France, Colorado, Utah, Texas, Oregon and Florida.

The response to his work in bronze encourages his newest exploration of combining glass and bronze. By creating these forms, he invites you to look inside and around corners, as you redefine your perceptions.

Bren Sibilski - Sculptor - Bren Sibilsky is an international artist and full-time sculptor and painter, with work in many collections throughout North America and Europe.

Having worked in the art field for over 20 years her current primary focus is sculpture in the style of classical realism with emotional undertones. Her art work is the reflection of her interests in nature and realism. According to the artist her sculptures are, "a study in understanding universal emotion."

Born in 1963, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Bren showed signs of exceptional artistic abilities and at age eight she asked her parents to send her to art school. Years later she graduated from the prestigious Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD), formerly the Layton School of Art, in 1987. She studied sculpture with international artist Hanna Jubran and intensive anatomical study with artist Harold Huber.

Bren’s many awards include being chosen as an ARC Salon finalist; her sculpture, “Aphrodite,” is featured at www.artrenewal.org under sculpture finalists. She was also a recipient of a "Best of Sculpture" award in Manhattan Arts International’s “HerStory” juried exhibition. She also received many awards for her illustrations when she worked in the graphic design field before becoming a full time fine artist.

Jay Dusard - Cowboy Photographer - Having studied with Ansel Adams and Frederick Sommer, has established himself as not only a consummate creator of images, but one of the greatest black & white printmakers. A self taught photographer, earned a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a couple of book awards.

With work published, exhibited and in collections worldwide, Jay Dusard is best known for his black-and-white images of the working cowboys and landscapes of the North American West.

Jay taught photography for seven years at Prescott College, Arizona, and has conducted workshops for over thirty years. In 1992, he was nominated for the Kodak World Image Award for Fine Art Photography.

His limited edition portfolio of twelve digital prints, The California Vaquero, was published by Cattle Track Press (2005). Jay Dusard: Keeping the West Western, a documentary by Michael Markee, was premiered at the Sedona International Film Festival in 2006.

Larry Halverson - Ceramics - Combining his interests in primitive art, ancient tools, natural forms and a lifelong love of pattern, he creates an ever-evolving body of work. The recent focus of his work has been a series of free-standing totems, including sculptures, birdbaths and tables and work for the wall.

The designs for Larry's sculptural pieces are inspired by ancient stone tools, ritual objects, primitive shields, and forms of nature. He has taught ceramics for many years, and has exhibited around the country at galleries and juried craft fairs since 1982.

EXHIBITIONS AND AWARDS

2006, Juried Exhibition, Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA

2004, Looking Forward Glancing Back, Northwest Designer Craftsmen 50th Anniversary

2001, “Made of Clay,” Patina Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

1999, Pacific Northwest Arts Fair Award of Excellence

1998, Potters Choice, Washington Potters Association Annual Juried Show

Tom Wallick - Ceramic - Tom Wallick started throwing in high school and has been doing it for over 30 years. He knew from the beginning that it was what he wanted to do. Every other firing can bring no results, he says, it is all chance and no two (pieces) are alike.

It is estimated that there are fewer than 100 potters worldwide specializing in crystalline art. The potter tries to recreate nature's own ability to grow crystals in a controlled environment.

Porcelain clay is used for three reasons. It can be fired at extremely high temperatures; it is very smooth, affording an excellent surface for crystals to grow; and, it ffires very white, providing a great "canvas" for color development. Glazes are mixed using mineral oxides which yield various colors based on proportion.

The pots are then glued to catchers. Crystals will only grow if the glaze is very fluid. The glaze will actually run off the piece into the catchers.

Once in the kiln, the pieces are quickly taken up to a temperature of 2,400°F causing the glaze to run. The kiln is then crash cooled to 2000°F and is kept there for up to eight hours. Then, another rapid drop to 1850°F for three more hours. It is during this "soak period" that the crystals actually grow on the pieces. The results are often unpredictable and sadly only about half the pieces are even worth saving.

For those that survive, after cooling the catchers are cut off with a blow torch and the bottoms are ground smooth. Thus, another fine finished piece is added to the collection.

Jane Hoffman - Weaver - Uses wool, alpaca, angora, mohair, cotton and silk fibers in tapestries and felt sculptures.

Jane Hoffman onveys a sense of the precious that is integral to the ecology of the landscape.

She appliques, embroiders and embellishes the felted form with mixed media such as beads, seeds, metal, and plant fiber.

Creation of a tapestry evolves through painting, photography and finally weaving.

Jane uses dye plants from the forest and her garden to create natural dyes for her yarn palette of soft graduated hues.

Kathleen Beck - Weaver - Kathleen is a self taught weaver and also attended both Paier Art School in New Haven, Connecticut, and Hartford University Art School in Hartford, Connecticut.

The Navajo weavers, their history and the presence of historic trading posts, such as Hubble Trading Post, all captured her attention and influenced her artistic style and design choices.

As a child, her mother taught Kathleen how to sew, crochet, knit and embroider.

The type of embroidery used to create these one-of-a-kind creations is known as “huck” or ”Swedish Embroidery” which became popular in the 1940's. It is typically seen applied to curtains and hand towels as a border decoration, but here it is used in a more contemporary and fashionable manner.

Each handbag is meticulously handcrafted and takes over fifty hours to complete. Some of the three dimensional accents include Katie’s handmade clay designs and also unique fused glass, ceramic beads and turquoise stones.

Susan Beck-Cassler - Weaver - Susan was born and raised in Upstate New York in a very creative/artistic family.

Between 1974-1976 she attended SUNY at New Paltz, NY, majoring in Art History.

After moving to Arizona, she attended Arizona State University, and received a BFA with honors in 1982.

Susan is a self-taught pine needle basket artist. Her connection with nature drew her to the craft.

" I love walking through the forest to collect the materials I use to create a basket. My mind wanders, as I search the forest floor, keeping a good eye out for any object that strikes me as beautiful, and a potential element to add to a basket. It is a very peaceful activity for me, as I search and become so acutely aware of the small but exquisite details in nature."

Deborah McLean - Jewelry - Working primarily in silver with semi-precious stones, Deborah's jewelry is contemporary and spans the spectrum of hard edge industrial to soft edge organic design.

She fabricates earrings, bracelets, and broaches/pins and also assembles neckpieces with an eye for asymmetry.

The period of art that most influences her work is between 1910 and 1930’s when the “Art Deco” style was popular. During this period sharp geometric shapes in combination with sleek rounded structures, and bold colors were common.

Deborah has 2 distinct lines of jewelry that can be worn with both casual and dress wear: one is “contemporary bold industrial" that incorporates semi-precious stones or antique Bakelite.

The other line is a “unique organic” style that is created by drop casting.

Ann Turpin Thayer - Jewelry - Ann Turpin Thayer is an internationally renowned Master Wire Artisan whose elegant designs are distinguished as the only Wire Art Jewelry, a technique not using solder, juried as fine art.

Her magnificent creations have been displayed in more than 100 prominent shows and exhibitions, and have earned her membership in the prestigious International Guild of Wire Jewelry Artists.

Ann has studied one-on-one with two Master Wire Artisans. In 1997, she began working with Seth Blansett, perfecting her wire wrap techniques. In 2000, she studied with Preston J. Reuther to explore advanced methods of creating Wire Art Jewelry. She continues to expand her knowledge and techniques.

In 2004, Ann began teaching her style of Wire Art Jewelry in a six-week, beginning Wire Art Jewelry Course. She provides 24 hours of personal instruction and an illustrated instruction book written by her.

She is currently writing a book based on her six-week course which will be available in the near future.

Deborrah Daher - Jewelry - Deborrah Daher approaches fine jewelry with an artist’s sensibility, creating handmade, rough-hewn pieces balanced with fluidity of form in traditional jewelry categories like cuff links, earrings, brooches, and tuxedo pins.

Fine jewelry, mass produced by machines, has the advantages of perfection and ubiquity. But Daher’s human touch, with its appealing irregularities bestowed on those same traditional jewelry categories, is comparatively compelling.

Daher’s appreciation for nature and dissipative structure result in textures reminiscent of strange, archaeological finds. The artist acknowledges how her background as a painter and ceramicist enables her to create unique jewelry forms, “I am caught by the idea that transcendence can be found in what’s common and small, awareness and appreciation can create a mysterious and strange beauty.”

Daher’s aesthetic sensibility and her eye for fashion converge in a way that is unsettling—and this is what an artist needs to stand out. You don’t quite know where to categorize her work. Is it art jewelry, fashion jewelry, or fine craft? The ambiguity is what makes Daher’s work so exciting.

Jennifer Knollenberg - Jewelry - Jennifer Knollenberg was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado.

Intrigued by the art and science of beauty, she first studied cosmetic chemistry and claims to be “a beauty school dropout.”

Jennifer holds a bachelors’ degree in chemistry from the University of Arizona and a masters from Purdue University, and completed four years of graduate study toward a PhD. Through Jennifer’s years of study and unrelated world travels and experiences she became acquainted and intrigued by art and developed a broader sense of her talents.

In 2001, Jennifer completed the graduate jeweler program at the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts and apprenticed to a San Francisco jewelry designer. As her own work evolved, she merged her scientific background with her creative expression.

Jennifer’s fine custom jewelry celebrates the marriage of chemistry, alchemy and aesthetics. Jennifer’s goal in making jewelry is to create unique, elegant treasures that celebrate the spirit of the wearer.

Curtiss Brock - Glass - Curt has a BA from Goddard College and an MFA in Sculpture from University of Illinois, Champaign. In 1988 he received the Shimono Sake Museum Prize at the International Glass Now Competition.

Curt acknowledges that the biggest influences have been those acquired during 9 years working and teaching at Pilchuck Glass School, the famous mecca of the studio glass movement located north of Seattle. At Pilchuck Curt worked closely with Dale Chihuly, Lino Tagliapietra, William Morris, Stanislav Libensky and Jaroslava Brychtova, Bertil Vallien and many other well-established glass artists. This experience provided a much broader understanding of glass from a global perspective.

Curtiss Brock has run the Glass Program at the Appalachian Center for Craft since 1988. As Associate Professor of Glass he has developed the program to focus on handblown form with a strong emphasis on technical mastery in hotworked and coldworked glass.

Curt's work is featured in over 25 museum collections worldwide. He has received two NEA grants, a Southern Arts Fellowship grant, and a Tennessee Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship. He teaches regularly at the Pilchuck Glass School and Penland School for Crafts and has lectured widely in the United States and Japan. In 1988 he was recipient of the Shimono Sake Museum Prize at the International Glass Now Competition.