Artists

Artists Explore Climate Crisis

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TWO CENTRAL COLORADO ARTISTS were among eight Colorado artists selected to participate in the Colorado Art Science Environment Fellowship, a program that connects artists with University of Colorado Boulder scientists and educators to visually explore the climate crisis in their own communities. “We could essentially choose any environmental issue that affected the way our community …

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The Salida Studio Tour 2017

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The biennial Salida Studio Tour will be showcasing 22 Salida fine artists and crafters in 19 studios inside city limits and the immediate surrounding area of Salida on Saturday, August 12, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, August 13, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This year’s artists are known locally and nationally for their professionalism and high quality of work.

This is a unique opportunity for the public to visit and to share the artists’ hands-on techniques of their creative processes. The free studio tour allows attendees to observe working studios, interact with the artists and view both finished pieces and works in progress.  Artists’ works will also be for sale. The Salida Studio Tour is a collaboration of working artists dedicated to promoting, enhancing and expanding appreciation and knowledge of the process of artistic creation.

Amongst the 22 participants are oil painters, photographers, sculptors, a clock maker, a glass blower, a fiber artist and many other talented Salida-area artists.

One is Kay Litz, a sculptor who combines materials of various colors, textures and characters to create interpretations of nature. The use of found objects, natural objects, and handmade papers are added to her clay/cast stone/glass figures she models, molds and casts.

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About the Cover Artist: Rita Roberts

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Artist, writer and illustrator Rita Roberts lives and works in Monte Vista, Colorado. Her artwork is indelibly tied to the San Luis Valley, surrounded by the cycles of the upper Rio Grande, which flows a mile from her studio. Born in Nebraska, the artist still gravitates toward farmsteads and big, stormy skies. Her landscapes exist …

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Salida StudioTour – GILMORE VAN STONE, JR.

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by Mike Rosso Since 2009, art fans have had an opportunity to meet Salida artists and craftspersons in their working studios, thanks to the Salida Studio Tour. Every other year, artists open their doors to the public for a chance to watch the artists at work, discuss techniques and view private displays of art. Among …

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About the Cover Artist – Susan Spohn

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Salida-based artist Susan Spohn describes herself as a gardener, recreating in paint the magic she feels when in the presence of flowers, critters and nature. Painting memories, visions and whimsy, her favorite medium is oil paint. She paints on wood panels using bristle brushes, painting knives, turpentine and varnish. Her paintings of textural garden scenes …

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Saguache Paints a New Picture: Artists Create Hope for this Historic Town

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by Bill Hatcher The casual visitor to Saguache, Colorado will see ranches, farms and a quaint valley town. But upon closer inspection, you will find a trove of artistic gems that rival those in any metropolitan area. A downtown revitalization project, completed in 2012, gave businesses a chance to recover from the town’s century-old slump. …

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June McDaniel, creative ladybug

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Article by Marcia Darnell

Artists – October 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

IT’S BEEN SAID that art is food for the soul, that it is sustenance to carry one through life’s travails. That sentiment is true for La Jara artist June McDaniel, whose painting has seen her through career, marriage, motherhood, and illness, and is still nourishing her in retirement.

Her gratitude and whimsy can be seen in her home/studio, which she calls Lady Bug Creations. Signs denoting her anthropomorphic sense of humor adorn the outside of her house.

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Salida’s Little Shop of Horrors

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Article by Jennifer Dempsey

Artists – June 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

WALKING INTO 132 West First Street in Salida is like walking into the Little Shop of Horrors. Or maybe the prop room at Disneyland. It definitely could be Who-ville.

“We like to think of ourselves as Dr. Suess gone bad,” said Pat Landreth who, with partner Suzanne Montano, is the creative genius behind Bungled Jungle.

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Synergy meets Chaos: The Art Thing

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Article by Marcia Darnell

Artists – December 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

“If I come in here and say, ‘I’ve discovered something that will change the face of art forever!’ and you don’t give a flying monkey’s crap about it, you don’t have to be part of it!”

That was Denny Wallace, aka The DenMan, joyfully declaiming his view of The Art Thing, a highly organized, chaotic, functional, casual, and highly fluid art coalition based in Monte Vista.

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200 years of living art history in Westcliffe

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Article by Jennifer Dempsey

Artists – September 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

ALMOST 200 YEARS of living art history will be present at the Brookwood Gallery in Westcliffe on September 15th.

“The three of us artists are expected to be there, but being in the ‘no green banana phase’ there’s no guarantee,” laughed Gerald Merfeld, 71, owner of the gallery that will display his work alongside Colorado Springs artists Eric Bransby, 90 and his wife Mary Ann Bransby, 87. “When you get to be my age, you don’t buy the green bananas anymore!”

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Susie Allen’s passion for painting

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Article by Lynda La Rocca

Artists – August 2004 – Colorado Central Magazin

BRIGHT, BOLD, AND BIGGER-THAN-LIFE: These are the words that immediately come to mind when viewing the works of Leadville artist Susie Allen.

From vibrant oils and acrylics to pencil drawings glowing with unexpected flashes of color, Allen celebrates form and figure in both realistic and fanciful ways.

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A couple of artists: Tammie and Dave LaVercombe

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Article by Columbine Quillen

Artists – March 2002 – Colorado Central Magazine

SALIDA ARTISTS Tammie and Dave Lavercombe offer a diversity of art, from bright colorful landscapes, to wood and paper-maché sculptures, to elegant silver jewelry. They are one another’s biggest fans and they create an atmosphere in their home and studio that welcomes creativity and encourages admiration not only for one another’s art but for the beautiful world that inspires them.

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