News

Contemporary Artists of
Southern Arizona
Art Show

An art show, "Cosmic Shift: The Dance of
Earth, Fire and Light", by CASA is now hanging
at Pastiche, 3025 N. Campbell Ave. until
November 19. Sharyn Binam was juried into
this show and has a piece entitled "The Quiet
Song of Earth".

The Tucson Decorative Painters Guild was at the St. Phillips Art Show on October 22-23

Congratulations are in order to Linda Komo

Zhostovo is a technique that uses multiple layers of very thinned paint to create exquisite pieces. In Russia it was typically done on black lacquered trays in oils. Each layer of oils is baked in a hot oven over several days. They have adapted that same technique to acrylics. It took the Russian Masters a bit of time to get use to painting with acrylics but the results are equally impressive. It has taken Linda about six years to complete all 5 levels. Each level of Zhostovo has particular areas of study. Level 1 is an introduction to the techniques and basic flower studies. Level 2 is more advanced flowers including closed and open roses. Level 3 concentrates on different types of fruit. Level 4 concentrates on birds and feather techniques. Level 5 is a study of wildlife, fur techniques, and landscape techniques.

After attending each seminar level and completing the seminar pieces, students are then required to paint at least four more pieces related to that seminar’s techniques and paint a certification tray. Most of the surfaces were wood with the exception of the metal certification tray. All the projects were sent back to New Hampshire where they were photographed and critiqued by the seminar chair/teacher, Tricia Joiner and Russian Master, Slava Lethov and given a grade with a written critique.

In the beginning the projects were fairly small and didn’t take long to paint. As the seminar levels got more difficult, the pieces also became larger and more challenging. Linda was happy when she completed the program as she was starting to worry the pieces might get bigger then she is. She has always been more interested in learning the techniques at each stage than the actual certification for each level. It became a goal to complete all five levels because she knew she would have to push herself to stick with it when it got more challenging and w-a-a-a-ay more time consuming. After awhile she wasn’t sure she had another life at all.

Linda recently achieved her goal of being acknowledged as a Master Zhostovo painter.

A young Michael Jackson impersonator that Blake saw while visiting
Venice Beach, California was the inspiration for this wonderful watercolor.
(Can’t you just hear the gulls and smell the ocean?)

This painting was juried into the Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild’s 42nd annual show.
This now makes Blake a “Signature” member of SAWG.

Joyce Pashe was the Artist of the Month for the Old Pueblo Gourd Patch

The information below was taken from the Old Pueblo News monthly newsletter

As shared by Ms. Joyce: “It (working with art) started with rosemaling (decorative folk painting of Norway), when I lived in Northern Minnesota. Maybe it is my Scandinavian heritage, but I was drawn to the rich earthy colors, flowing scrolls, and free form flowers. It also appealed to me that it was painted on useful items around the home. A trip to the thrift store or a yard sale could yield a wonderful surface on which to paint.”

“This led to painting lessons in other styles and mediums. When I moved to Tucson in 1998, I joined the local chapter of decorative artists, Tucson Decorative Painters’ Guild. I also have dabbled in silversmithing, handwriting analysis, face reading, reiki, hypnosis and NLP. But now I am captivated by gourding.”

“It was a trip to Tubac that introduced me to gourds and how beautiful they can be. In one of the galleries, I saw this huge gourd made into an Indian maiden with turquoise jewelry and a leather shawl. I went on the internet to learn more about gourds and discovered there were actual clubs of gourd enthusiasts and one right here in Tucson! The club was fairly small and met once a month at the community room of a mobile home park on the East side. This was about eight years ago and Phyllis Sickles was a new member and fledgling gourder, too!”

“The demands of the mortgage business and new home construction sales grew and didn’t leave time or enough energy for creativity and gourd projects. I retired in 2008 and am enjoying the freedom to do many of the things I have put off for years. Without deadlines, I don’t get as much accomplished as I thought I would.”
“The third bay of my garage has been converted into a studio filled with paints, furniture pieces to decorate, and gourds; lots of gourds! Above all this clutter hangs a Robert Rivera poster. I didn’t know about gourds and had not even heard of him when I lived in Albuquerque. What was a nice, clean patio now holds the belt sander and carving paraphernalia.”

“It is a joy to take the humble, plain gourd and turn it into something pretty. With pottery you have to make the mud, turn it and shape it, and then fire it in a kiln for hours. With the help of a grower, nature has already made the vessel and the artist has all the fun of decorating it. We are so fortunate to have authors and nationally known gourd artists in our Old Pueblo Gourd Patch. They set the bar pretty high. With their inspiration and the teaching and sharing of techniques, we grow in honing our skills in turning the simple gourd into a work of art.”