What: 2016 Holiday Pop-up Art Galleries
Where: Joan Waters Studio, 2141 E. Cedar Street, #1, Tempe, AZ 85281
When: Saturday, November 12, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sunday, November 13, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., PLUS, Friday night preview party, November 11, 5 – 9
Who: Artists Sandy Blain, Esmeralda DeLaney, Sandra Luehrsen, Clare Verstegen, and Joan Waters
More information: AZOpenStudio.com or 602.565.1358 or links to artist’s Web sites, below.
Celebrate the creative spirit with award winning artists Joan Waters, Sandy Blain, Esmeralda DeLaney, Sandra Luehrsen, and Clare Verstegen. For the 4th year, Waters opens her working studio to host festive pop-up galleries mounted by local art makers. All of the artists look forward to informally meeting people and sharing their newly created one-of-a-kind artworks. Visit 5 individual pop-up galleries filled with fresh ceramic, steel, fibers, jewelry, and mixed media fine art and gifts. Works by all of these artists can be found in homes and notable corporate and museum collections around Arizona and the United States. Magazines, creative journals, television, and on-line videos have featured their unique work. This year, the artists will honor our veterans by donating a portion of their art sales proceeds to the non-profit Value Our Veterans. Find lots of free parking and wheelchair accessibility at Waters’ studio.
About the Artists and Their Art
Joan Waters, recently honored as one of the Phoenix New Times’ 100 Creatives, is widely known for her energetic contemporary sculptures. Waters says “I love the dynamic, reflective qualities of metal and the challenge of turning flat, hard, industrial material into organic forms that seem to shift and move as the reflect light”. In addition to her sculpture, beautiful color rich small-scale drawings, paintings, and steel framed wall tile will fill her pop-up gallery. She will also show handmade ceramic tile tables and sculpture perfect for outdoor living spaces. She believes, “Living with art around us reminds us of the spirit and joy of life. Art can be an inspiration to us as we go about our daily routines.” Born in England, Waters got training in the core disciplines of drawing and painting at MICA—Maryland Institute, College of Art. Childhood travels helped her cultivate the habit of looking at the world from different perspectives. See more of Waters’ art at www.JoanWaters.com
Sandy Blain will show recently constructed hand-built stoneware ceramic vessels and wall pieces that she says “really become stories”. Her forms are often inspired by travel noting architectural elements and structures. Surfaces reference markings from acquired found objects which are impressed into the soft clay. Blain’s rich and luscious surfaces are additionally achieved by layering oxides, slips and glazes and often through multiple kiln firings. Through abstraction of form and surface, images tell of a moment that has now disappeared. Beautifully designed and superbly crafted, each one of Blain’s vessels goes beyond serving its utilitarian function by enhancing the life of its user. As a professor emeritus at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and director emerita of Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN, Blain continues her teaching at the Mesa Art Center. Her classes are always full. See more of Blain’s art at www.SandyBlain.com.
Ceramic and mixed media artist Esmeralda DeLaney says about her art, “My work is about mystery, love, humor, anxiety, satire, and social commentary. It is about the human condition: all of our perfections, imperfections and absurd situations come out in my work. For me, creating art is a necessity; it is a love affair I am always involved with.” Visitors will find that Esmeralda’s ceramic bowls and wall shrines, themed with nostalgia from the past, are sure to trigger a smile. She works figuratively by featuring animal and human forms as inspiration. DeLaney will show her newest art shrines and vessels, and mosaic garden stepping stones. New this year, she’ll present sterling silver art jewelry. DeLaney shares her considerable skills in ceramics, glass fusing, and 3D Design as a full-time faculty member at Glendale Community College.
Sandra Luehrsen says of her desert inspired sculpture, “I came from Chicago to this wild place for a new beginning. I didn’t expect it but the exotic flora fascinated me right from the start. I use clay to create my own desert hybrids”. With continued excitement with desert plants, she’ll present glazed and mixed media earthenware cups, glasses, and goblets. These purely sculptural and sometimes humorous cups don titles like “Drought”, “Mirage”, and “Rain Forest”. This year, Luehrsen grew her “tree of life” clay sculpture series with the addition of trees on paper. New archival works incorporate woven papers, paint, thread, colored pencil and more into mono prints. Luehrsen got her formal art training in Illinois and Arizona. She teaches ceramic workshops and Three Dimensional Design at Mesa Community College. See more of Luehrsen’s art at www.SluehrStudios.com
New to Holiday Pop-up Galleries this year, fiber artist Clare Verstegen will show exquisitely designed and crafted single edition textile prints and collages. Verstegen incorporates cotton, industrial felt, handmade wool felt, embroidery, heat transfers, ceramic tiles and wood into her wall works. She says of her creative practice “Images related to nature, meteorology, measurement, time and chance provide the visual and metaphorical language embedded in the layers of my fiber pieces”. Verstegen’s elegant wall works lend warmth and beauty to any home or office setting. ASU’s School of Art recently honored Verstegen with professor emeritus status where she taught for many years. She continues to teach presenting fibers workshops around the U.S. See more of Verstegen’s art at www.ClareVerstegen.com
About the 2016 Holiday Pop-up Galleries Partner
The VALUE OUR VETERANS, INC. mission is to provide vocational training and resources for veterans, male and female, who are underemployed, unemployed or disabled, to establish careers in organic farming, grass fed ranching, meat processing and food production. This 501(c)3 works with veterans who are farmers and ranchers who will teach and mentor other veterans. More information can be found at www.ValueOurVeterans.com.