Sedona Arts Center’s new exhibit to feature local artists in September

(Portrait by Gretchen Lopez)

(Portrait by Gretchen Lopez)

The Sedona Arts Center represents over 100 professional local and regional artists. The Art Gallery in Uptown Sedona is a dynamic, ever-changing display of juried local talent in all dimensions and forms, according to a news release.

The Gallery is currently featuring a diverse group of artists that specialize in mixed media, oil painting, batiks, and unique stone mosaic tables and sculptures. Sedona Arts Center is one of northern Arizona’s most well-established cultural organizations and serves as the creative heart of Sedona.

Founded in 1958, the nonprofit 501(c)3 organization is based at the Art Barn in Uptown Sedona and offers year-round classes, exhibitions, festivals, and cultural events that enhance the creative life of the Verde Valley. The Center’s Art Gallery promotes the original works of over 100 local artists and regularly offers special assistance for collectors and art buyers, offers private studio visits, and fosters hundreds of arts education opportunities each year.

ART HISCOX

“My architectural art combines man-made materials with nature’s own art (marble, granite, slate, fossils). My use of color, texture and resin compels viewers to actually touch the surface of my pieces. I frequently use river stone, granite, marble, copper, shell, tree bark, semi-precious stones and fossils in combination with man-made materials to create functional art pieces that convey nature’s peacefulness. Many of my pieces depict rivers, streams, landscape, birds and bright colors.”

JOANNE HISCOX

Not only did Joanne begin selling her work at Sedona Arts Center, she and Art also taught mosaics and fused glass for 10 years at the Arts Center after learning skills and techniques from workshops offered at the center.

In her work, strong design and color choices are balanced with the integrity of the materials. Then there are the unique accents…in some of the tables currently on display there are fossils embedded in the stone that make up the mosaic.

A theme of flowing water runs through both Joanne and Art’s current designs. Resin creates the look of real water, enticing viewers to actually touch the river to see if it is real. The tables, depicting a river flowing as seen from above, are bordered by granite, marble or exotic soapstone slabs.

The river itself is made of crystals, glass, ancient fossils and semi-precious stones from around the world. Art Hiscox’s current work depicts wall and standing sculptural waterfalls through a similar use of stone, glass and resin. 

“I love to create architectural art that blends nature with style, incorporating man-made mediums with nature’s own art. My tables startle the viewer by juxtaposing natural elements (copper, semi-precious stones and fossils) with man-made materials, compelling the viewer to actually touch the surface (bringing in another sense besides sight),” Joanne Hiscox said. “My goal is to create sculptural art pieces that are new and different, constantly changing in design and material composition. My sculptural fused glass works showcase my strongest point: that I’m a ‘no-fear artist.’ Present me with a new challenge and I’m on board instantly.”

GRETCHEN LOPEZ

Gretchen’s work is inspired, not only by her love of painting, but from her ethnic heritage, teaching and the world around her. After majoring in advertising and design, she went on to study fashion illustration at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, then finished out her studies at The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

As a 10th generation native of California, Gretchen is a descendant of the first Spanish settlers and the California Rancheros. Combined with her native roots, her work is inspired by this rich Ethnic heritage. Vibrant color and spontaneity, are expressed in the gentle beauty of the Native and Hispanic people she paints. Combining the traditional with the contemporary, she is able to paint with freedom and passion.

Gretchen lives in northern Arizona, where she continues to pursue her love of painting and teaching. She has taught at the Sedona Arts Center for over 18 years, and teaches workshops abroad in Spain and Mexico.

Gretchen was nominated for the Viola Award for Excellence in Art Education, and has won numerous awards in the Sedona Plein Air Festival. Her works are in private collections both nationally and internationally, as well in exhibits at the Historic Phippen Museum of Western Art. Gretchen’s work is represented by The Sedona Arts Center Gallery, Adelante Gallery, and The Turquoise Tortoise Rogoway Gallery in Tubac Arizona.

She is also a member of the Impressionist Society of America.

LYDIA DILLION-SUTTON

Lydia was born in Tuscon, Arizona, has always been immersed in the desert, and drawn to Native peoples. For almost 40 years, using the ancient process of batik, she has painted with hot bees wax and procion dye baths. She begins with woven cloth, then layers all her materials into substance. Through her batiks, Lydia strives to represent her experiences and interactions with the Native American community.

“In today’s busy society, we often miss chances to interact with our own family, let alone the larger community of all Americans. If I can open more eyes to viewing our human family with respect and honor; I’ve been successful,” she states.

DEANNE MCKEOWN

Deanne was born in Missouri and lived in early childhood in the Pinal Mountains of central Arizona. She has explored a variety of media since graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute - painting and printmaking, fiber, leaded glass, graphic design...and most recently, jewelry design and bronze sculpture. For many years she worked in the field of medical illustration, both as director of the Design and Illustration department at the University of Kansas Medical School and as a free-lance illustrator of medical books.

“None of us perceive the world in exactly the same way. Our oneness lies in a yearning to touch and to understand. My work is an endeavor to share my thoughts and vision through form and color and relationships, hoping to charge my images with meaning which will reach across the spaces between us,” McKeown said. “However, in the long run, it’s all about making art - great if there’s communication, but if not, I’d still do it anyway. In looking back over a lifetime of working and exploring ideas, I realize that I have never created art, art has been, and is now, creating me.”

Sedona Arts Center’s Gallery is now open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. Visit SedonaArtsCenter.org to learn more.

Information provided by the Sedona Arts Center.


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