Farida Hughes is very pleased to share that the exhibition Between the Stripes, Under the Stars, of which she one of 10 artists exhibiting, was recently reviewed on Art Hounds, Minnesota Public Radio. The radio spot, by Hawona Sullivan Janzen, specifically describes the installation artwork by Hughes, and says of the entire show “It’s technically, visually and intellectually some of the most complicated work I've seen in a recent show exploring these topics...” (topics of navigating between American culture and at least one other culture). The show runs through Dec. 11 at the Catherine G. Murphy Gallery at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN with an artist discussion Dec. 7, 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.

Jane Guthridge recently completed a 3 story suspended sculpture entitled “Play of Light” in downtown Denver’s 1670 Broadway building. Moving from the midwest to the abundant sunlight of Colorado has inspired this work. The installation uses materials that bend, refract, obscure and reveal, diffusing light in various ways. It interacts with light creating a dynamic, immersive experience that changes throughout the day, the month and the seasons. It is a connection to nature.

Ben Strawn is a featured artist at the King Gallery with his family members Melvin, Bernice & Daniel Strawn.  The Strawn Family Exhibition showcases work from an iconic and ground-breaking family of artists. The exhibition is on view through March 4, 2023 at the Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center.

Theresa Clowes is showing pieces from her Colorado Color Samples in Like Like, a group exhibition of current TANK Studios artists. As Denver continues to grow in complicated ways that greatly impact, and at times threaten, access to safe and sustainable professional workspaces for artists, this exhibition celebrates the influence of TANK on Denver’s art community.

Malcolm Easton has a piece in the juried show Motion Blur at Praxis Gallery, Minneapolis, MN. The exhibit runs from December 17 through December 31, 2022.

Elaine Coombs + Heather Patterson have work in the All That Glitters show at KW Contemporary in Kennebunk, ME.  Heather's moon series will be glittering on display along with Elaine's majestic clouds

Heather Patterson's work will be represented by Andrea Schwartz Gallery, SF at the Art Miami Fair as a part of Art Basel the first week of December.  You can find it at Booth 535 in ART MIAMI.

Gloria Pereyra's portfolio of intaglio polymer photogravures is featured in a solo show in New York City at the Soho Photo Gallery, November 17 through December 4.

Give me the basics.
I grew up in Massachusetts, but spent time on both coasts teaching, going to school, and making art before settling in Salt Lake nearly 13 years ago. I even lived in CO for a few years teaching in Denver.

Tell me about your art journey.
Some of my earliest memories are of making stuff in my mom’s studio. The only rule was that I had to pick up and put away anything I used, which nurtured a lot of my early creativity. I was lucky enough to attend a private high school in MA that really emphasized the arts, so I was exposed to a breadth of media including animation, film, photography, drawing, painting, woodworking, textiles, and sculpture at a young age. I was spoiled to have all those voices and influences.

In 7th grade I apprenticed with a marble sculptor where I got to observe an artist at work and eventually sculpt my own alabaster works. In 8th grade I had another apprenticeship with a site-specific environmental sculptor, which seemed pretty radical at the time. As a young teen, these were pretty formative experiences. I saw the work that goes into serious practice.

I attended undergrad at Skidmore College, an amazing liberal arts school in upstate New York. They have a great arts program and its definitely where I earned my chops as an artist. My emphasis was in ceramic sculpture and drawing - as a college athlete (soccer) I loved the physical nature and malleability of both media: charcoal and clay. Being able to express myself by using my hands and being physical with the artwork seemed really natural at the time.

I didn’t come to painting until later while getting my MFA. Something about grad school strips away everything that you hold dearly so that you can reinvent yourself. 2 years of introspection at Claremont Graduate University east of Los Angeles awakened me to a whole new understanding of who I was meant to be as an artist.

What inspires you?
To be entirely general: everything. I have this maddening visual awareness that I once thought was a gift, but am not so sure anymore! My brain collects everything; combinations of color and pattern, design and layouts in glossy magazines - every single thing. I tuck these things away, knowing that maybe something will make its way into a painting, or might just be a solution that unlocks one particular composition. I have this confident, but perhaps naive, fearlessness of “why not?” I’ve  learned to really trust my instincts and pay attention to my thoughts. One of the things I’ve realized as an artist, something that’s given me unlimited freedom, is that a painting doesn’t need to be justified. It doesn’t have to answer to anyone’s expectations, or try to be anything other than what it is. It doesn’t have to confront historical demons or its potential, it is just what it is. I like that. I also like that no two paintings will ever be the same. How dreadful.

One of the things I’m aware of in my work is the desire to provide a longer read. The works I admire most reveal themselves over time. I’m definitely not a quick worker. I’m deliberate and place value in the well-made. Working on several pieces at a time, it can take weeks for a work to find its direction and months to reach a place where I feel it's ready.

For this current exhibition, I’m exploring a series that I’m calling "Studio Conversations". Each painting has elements that stand in for bits and pieces of conversations that happened while hanging around in the studio. Visitors sometimes have a way of pointing out things I haven’t yet thought of. I’ll make some informal notes and see where I might pop these bits into a composition. Because it's my introduction to the Denver art scene, I wanted to show a range of approaches and the layered buildup that one would see across my practice, from my regular works to the Rescue series.

What are you most proud of in your art career?
I think keeping or being able to maintain studio discipline. Life throws you a whole bunch of changes all the time, but I’ve been practicing for about 20 years now. It hasn’t been on/off, it’s been a consistent part of who I am. It gives me mental solace. There is a great feeling of satisfaction when a painting heads out into the world and somebody likes it enough or finds it enriching enough to live with it.

What are you looking forward to this year?
I must say, I’m pretty easily satisfied. I’m really looking forward to just getting away with my family, just the four of us being somewhere together and taking it all in.. That’s what I’m most looking forward to.

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