September 2024 |
Welcome to a new season at the Feminine Mystique Art Gallery. The summer has been brutal, but we are finally seeing an end to 100 degree days. The gallery will be having several sales throughout the year and the special events in town will be inviting and beautiful. Pat, Josette and Joanie will be here to help you with your art needs.
Hope everyone is well and happy, Pat |
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Art by these Patron Favorites is available in the gallery everyday.
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Gretchen LimaWood
Empowered Images in cloth. |
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Gretchen LimaWood
I have combined natural fibers in the hair as well as the hand Knit or hand dyed clothing. I individually sculpt and paint each face using Sculpey inlaid with beads, pearls or pieces of turquoise.
Each design is conceived and executed by me. I first make a sketch from an idea, then a rough prototype.
A final pattern for a piece is then cut from muslin. Each individual doll is different depending on the fabrics used to decorate it.
My work is not only an expression of what I see, but of what I feel. I create the messages and give a voice to a girl inside who has patiently waited to be heard.
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Arlene Zaloznik
Basket and gourd artistry |
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Arlene Zaloznik
Basketry is my passion. Weaving brings me an inner peace that I hope you will find as well as you look at my baskets. It all began with a class in 1996. Other than that one class, I am mostly self taught. I now work out of my home in Green Valley, AZ.
The more traditional baskets are hand woven from rattan reed have either a solid weave or wood base. These baskets are very sturdy and are easy to care for - a spray of water will remove any dust.
The gourds are woven with pine needles and waxed linen thread. The gourds are left in their natural state and sealed with a furniture polish to maintain and enhance the natural finish of the gourd. Once the weaving is complete, they are sprayed with a protective acrylic spray. The gourds are embellished with natural gemstones, botanicals pods, feathers, fossils, and/or antlers. I look at the gourd - letting it speak to me - and then I select the botanicals, feathers and beads, often spending several hours until I find that “right” combination. No two gourds are alike.
Waxed linen baskets are the most time intensive baskets, often taking days to complete. They are woven from waxed linen thread, embellished with beads and are very colorful reflecting the desert southwest with its colorful rocks and brilliant blue skies. The baskets are hand shaped with the beads creating interesting design elements. No two of these baskets are alike.
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Brenda Peo
Animal portraits with personality |
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Brenda Peo
Self taught oil artist.. born in Chicago.. but grew up in the desert SW. I have had my own line of SW style jewelry for the past 25 years.. using Copper.. Red Brass and Sterling Silver.. successfully selling at art fairs throughout the SW states.. however.. it turned into a job and was not satisfying my creative spirit..
I started painting in 2008.. focusing on painting animals.. trying to capture their curious personalities.. and quirky traits..
I find the expression the most important element.. while infusing the subject with personality.. There is never a shortage of volunteers.. I like to call my style.. a bit of realism/impressionism.. with a dash of humor..
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Pat Aguilar
Hand Built Clay Sculptures |
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Pat Aguilar
(Patricia Jean Druener) was born in New York City in 1949. Her father came as a boy from Germany and her mother was born in Tupelo, Mississippi. Growing up in the military exposed Pat to different cultures, both in the United States and Germany.
Being a child in the 1950’s was very confusing for a girl. We were told we didn’t need higher education (think about a career), “You’ll just get married anyway.” Also, it was so very important to be attractive, “How else will you get a man?” Being yourself didn’t do it.
By the time she was forming her own opinion, Pat had strong feelings against inequality, whether it was Black/White, Jew/Gentile, Male/Female.
Betty Friedan made a big difference in Pat’s life. She knew by reading The Feminine Mystique, she could do anything she wanted to do, career-wise, family, etc. Ms. Friedan had a gentle and educative touch, a more sensible approach at being all, as a woman.
Pat tried to help other women by becoming active in NOW and other less known women’s conscience raising groups.
While attending college for accounting, Pat was encouraged to use the other half of her brain, so she took up pottery. Ms. Aguilar has been a potter for over 35 years now, specializing in miniature houses, masks, boxes, etc. (slab work mostly).
In 1973, Pat married Ed Aguilar and moved west. They now have three children and seven grandchildren.
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October 2024 |
Dear Friends,
It is very nice to see familiar faces in Tubac. Sorry to the Snow Birds, still hot. October will bring us back to normal I hope. Please visit Tubac and the Feminine Mystique Art Gallery.
Hope everyone is well and happy, Pat |
Artists in the spotlight this month:
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Roxanne Beckman |
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Roxanne Beckman has had a serious interest in art and photography since she was a youngster. As a child, she used her Brownie Box Camera to capture the images surrounding her. In high school she worked at expanding her knowledge of all things photographic, including darkroom and enlarging techniques, as well as black and white imaging. She did this by attending after school and weekend classes and workshops. Later on, she combined her love of flying and photography and launched an aerial photography business.
Roxanne has done a fair amount of traveling and always keeps her Canon digital camera handy. Residing in southwest Arizona, she has ample beauty to shoot. She captures close-up pictures of wildlife in their natural habitat and landscapes and sunsets that are glorious! She has her own workshop where she makes her one-of-a-kind frames for her pictures and also where she creates her mirrored/wooden tables. She uses various woods, permitted saguaro ribs, copper, turquoise and other elements. No two are exactly alike. The photos are in digital format printed on Kodak Endura or metallic paper, both of which have a shelf life of over 100 years. She uses only acid-free matboard in mounting and matting the photos, and the glass is UV resistant.
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Barb Livdahl |
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Barb Livdahl
Growing up in a rural community in Wisconsin, Barb loved the outdoors, animals and nature. When she was not outside, she was drawing and painting. Her love of art carried her through high school, earning several prestigious awards, and then through college, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The BFA included one major in Visual Communication and one in Advertising Design.
She began her career as an Advertising and Art Director for several corporations including Graebels Shoes, JCPenney and Design and Print Corp, handling their print, radio and television advertising. Her spare time still saw her painting wildlife and the West. In 1979, she accepted a position as Advertising Director for a company in Phoenix. In 1985 Barb opened her own advertising agency, handling commercial sign work for several large companies such as AMC Theatres.
She began using an airbrush with the commercial sign work. Feeling its limitless ossibilities, Barb began to create her paintings with the airbrush. By airbrushing completely freehand, her work has an incredible softness while retaining vibrancy of color. A sense of quiet power and energy pervades all her images as she extends to the viewer the sacred spirit of all living things.
Responding to a spiritual encounter with a wolf and embracing ancient wisdoms, Barb’s work moved into a three-dimensional phase. Her “Spirit Dolls” were born. Each doll is a unique, one-of-a-kind creation reflecting the spirit, strength and culture of the Plains Indians which Barb has studied extensively. Specific to each large standing doll, the leather clothing and moccasins are all buckstitched by hand. Beadwork, fetishes, pipes, etc are also hand done using authentic materials. Her smaller, hanging dolls reflect the same instinctual knowledge. Constantly called back to honor, nurture and share her
understanding of ancient wisdoms and the scared mysteries of all living things, Barb continues to create. She invites you to experience the energies.
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Lori Felix |
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Lori Felix
Lori was born in Queens, New York 1958. She began her art education at age sixteen, working from the model and sculpting in stone. After high school, she attended the Art Students League in New York City where she received many awards and scholarships. Lori studied figure painting and mural design. After extensive work at the Art Students League, she left New York to travel across the nation with the Renaissance Festival. Traveling throughout the diverse terrains in the United States was a visual inspiration.
She integrated the various textures, colors, and forms found in nature into her artwork. Lori continued to travel across the U.S.A and Mexico painting murals. Her studio was her home: a 21 foot motor home that took her on an odyssey that included creating custom interiors in private homes, restaurants, and salons.
She works in a variety of mediums that include oil paint, collage, mixed media, polymer clay and laser cut wood goddesses, dolls and Icons.
An array of Organic textures, recycled can lids, tree bark, handmade papers are all used in her mixed media collages.
At present she is actively exhibiting her work in multiple galleries throughout the United States Continuously exhibiting new works as her style evolves, she is manifesting her dream of making a living as an artist. She is generously contributing to the start of a thriving local art community and is involved in The Flowering Lotus Retreat Center in Magnolia, where she spends time for meditation and practice.
In 2005, Lori received A Fellowship Grant thru the Mississippi Arts Commission. Her solo exhibition “Celebration of Life” traveled the state of Mississippi and Louisiana thru November of 2006. Lori’s work is dynamically growing as her knowledge in new techniques continuous to evolve.
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