Artists Happenings

Ana Žani? was recently interviewed by the Artwork Archive. Read the full feature titled, "Why Ana Žani? Doesn't Think About Her Audience While Painting" here.

“Pentimenti”, a solo show by Melana Bontrager, will run from January 27-February 24 at J.Rinehart Gallery in Seattle. The exhibited works explore the passage of time as it shapes our current ways of thinking, being, and experiencing the world.

Elaine Coombs'  solo show Sky Bloom, opens February 7 at Andrea Schwartz Gallery in San Francisco.   ''I was extremely moved when I read the first chapter of A New Earth in which Eckhart Tolle describes the blooming of a flower as the enlightenment of plants.  Pondering this idea for quite some time, I have come to think of sunsets and sunrises as the blooming of the sky.''  The exhibit runs through March 14 and will feature ten new skyscape paintings on canvas and paper.

Tonia Bonnell's pair of prints, "Emerge From Black 1 & 7", were awarded Best in Show at Arvada Center's 528.0 Regional Printmaking Exhibition, a juried show whose title references Denver's altitude (5,280 feet) and includes prints from artists within a 528-mile radius of Denver. 83 works by 69 artists were selected for this exhibition which showcases the expansive diversity of contemporary printmaking found within the Western Region. The exhibition is in partnership with Denver's Month of Printmaking (March 2024) and runs through January 18 - March 24, 2024.

Gloria Pereyra's series "The Strange Tale of a Bird in a Looking Glass" was awarded Silver by the prestigious 2023 Prix de la Photographie Paris -PX3.  "The Strange Tale of a Bird in a Looking Glass" is presented on silk organza over 24K gold leaf and was exhibited at Walker Fine Art in the January-March, 2023 show, Peripheral Contemplation.

Farida Hughes is honored to have a work placed in the new CFG Bank Collection in Baltimore, Maryland. The art will adorn their new headquarters on the Baltimore Peninsula that is set to open in late February 2024.

Kevin Hoth will show his work and participate on a panel with Mike McClung, Director of the Michael Warren Contemporary gallery, called From Film to Phone: A Conversation with Landscape Photographers as they explore the evolution of photography from its early days to the present. Presented in conjunction with the Museum’s Picturing the West exhibition. The panel takes place from 7–9pm on February 8th, 2024 at the Longmont Museum. 

Sharon Strasburg has her printmaking based artworks included in this dynamic, richly layered group exhibit of Print Educators of Colorado from universities and art schools around the state. The work is on view in the newly designed gallery at Red Rocks Community College in Lakewood CO, January 6 through March 15, 2024. Reception on February 8, 5-7pm.

Carol Coates has been featured in an eight page spread in Gulfshore Life Magazine out of Naples, Florida, written by Emma Witmer and photographed by Omar Cruz. A solo MindsEye exhibition will be hosted by Larimart Gallery in Naples from February 15th through March.

GET TO KNOW

Give me the basics.
I was raised in the Midwest where I spent much of my childhood on a family farm in Missouri. This experience undoubtedly informs my painting to this day. I am dyslexic, so I struggled with school. Painting was a different way of learning. It helped me solve problems in other areas of my lif, and still does. I began to learn visually in other areas like math, science and english.

Tell me about your art journey.
Creativity has been a constant my entire life. Painting was the foundation as a kid, and then at Kansas University I pursued graphic design. It was a new and different way of solving a visual problem; it helped me focus my creativity. It was helpful to have deadlines, as well as use visual language to solve very specific problems. I worked as an Art Director for a number of years after college, which expanded my process. It was a great sibling to painting, and is one reason I have a sensitivity to color. I spent hours on press checks viewing ink on commercial printing presses and making small color adjustments. Color printing is achieved by layering multiple colors to achieve the final color. It’s a process I use in my paintings. I use thin layers of oil paint that slowly build up to the overall color personality of the painting.

I eventually lived and worked in Eagle Colorado for years, before feeling the need to return to Missouri. At that point I decided to focus on painting exclusively. That was 2004, and I have been active in the art community ever sense. I have shown with a number of great galleries and in 2021 had a solo museum show of oil paintings (Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art). I am represented by Walker Fine Art (Denver, CO) and Moberg Gallery (Des Moines, IA).

What inspires you?
Color. Particularly exterior color. Visual pops, subtle tones. The colors within a field of snow. It doesn’t matter if it’s a tree, a road, or the sky, I will notice a particular combination of color and that starts everything.

What are you most proud of in your art career? 
Perseverance; the fact that I have stuck with it. That, and being comfortable with failure. You fail a lot more than you succeed in art, so learning from that and not viewing mistakes as a negative.

What are you looking forward to this year?
Spring for starters. I would like to open the studio more to the public, involving youth in the process of painting in a studio.

I have been working much larger lately, so I would like to continue finding my way through that work. My studio has some size limitations, so the ability to move outdoors and work on these pieces will be a welcomed change.

Come visit us!
Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 11am-5pm
Street parking is available during gallery hours.
Additional parking for events is available across the street in the MegaStar lot. 
 
Event Hosting
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