Jacki Andes
In the late 1990’s I visited a NYC friend who moved to Tucson, AZ. That did it! I flew back to Philadelphia, PA sold my house and moved to Tucson. After six months of substitute teaching I applied for, and got a position as an art teacher and moved to Ajo, AZ. Seven and a half years of teaching I retired.
In 2015, I opened a co-op gallery Art Under the Arches in the beautiful Ajo, AZ Plaza and worked it for five years. It is still doing very well in this little town and recently artist friends expanded into an across the hall space and added a gift shop.
Now, what am I doing? Still painting, following new creative ideas and make a living doing portraits. Provincetown education carried me through, as did teaching, AND selling my work!
Julia Aubrey
I currently reside in Somerton, AZ on the outskirts of Yuma, with my husband of forty nine years. He is my biggest supporter and also on of my biggest critics.
I have always been into doing some type of art coming from a family of artistic women.
In the 1980's I dabbled in tole/decorative painting while raising four children and working full time in the glass industry. In 2011 we attended a gourd festival in Fallbrook, CA and became quickly addicted to this versatile canvas as a art form. My passion is carving gourds but I don't limited myself to carving. Painting with acrylics, ink dyes, pyrography and embellishing with all types of manmade and natural objects. These all go well with gourds. I have learned most of my creativeness with gourds by browsing the internet, trial and error. Teaching myself as I go.
Joyce Chaney
Tucson based artist using mixed media to create exciting works based on the beauty of the Sonoran Desert. Over her lifetime the artist has been honing her craft, never knowing a time without a paint brush or pencil in her hand. Her preferred 'tools of the trade' are many and varied to include colored pencil, pen, acrylic, ink, fabric art and assemblage with found objects. As part of a growing art community in Arizona she has served on the Ajo Council for the Fine Arts, has been instrumental in the creation and maintenance of the Art Under the Arches Gallery located in Ajo, Arizona. Joyce taught art through the Gila Bend School K-12 in Gila Bend, Arizona for 28 years. The artist has also shared her love of art while teaching for Arizona Western College, Summer Arts Program Director for the town of Gila Bend, a children's book illustrator as well as serving on the Committee for Park Sculpture "Art in Public Places" and a member of the Desert Artist Guild of Ajo. Joyce was invited to participated in the October 2019 opening of "Superheroes, Capes of Strength and Beauty" exhibit fundraiser for Breast Cancer Awareness month co-sponsored by Oro Valley Roche Tissue Diagnostics (RTD) and Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance (SAACA). Her hope is that you the viewer will receive as much enjoyment in viewing her work as she has in creating it.
Debbie Cope - Returning Artist
For over thirty years, Debbie Cope has been exploring and mastering the concepts of color, design, and – above all – the patterns that flow through her collages. Her childhood was enriched by her mother who practiced the ancient art of trans-forming love, craftsmanship and worn-out clothing “one stitch at a time” and the result is Debbie’s celebration of quilting.
There is nothing less than magic in Debbie’s wonderful and whimsical work. As the viewer beholds the images, they “morph” from quilt to reality or intrigue us with collaged characters found in the depths of our imaginations. Her scenes of women shopping, lunching, dancing, hanging laundry, or just laughing are depicted in her screaming-color collages. They are inspired by just plain fun and they bring smiles and a feeling of lightheartedness to the viewer.
Marilyn Darcangelo
Being born and raised in Chicago Suburbia, one would think I was acclimated to winters and snow. I was not! My parents eventually moved to Tucson and I visited them often. I grew to love the sunny days, mountains, deserts, and the special fragrance after a rainfall. When I became a registered nurse, I realized I could work anywhere and Tucson, and then Sahuarita, became home. After a visit to the Tucson Gem and Mineral show, I was mesmerized by all of the jewelry designs. An artist from Oregon caught my eye and she thankfully shared her design techniques with me. My aunts had taught me various crafts and to crochet early in my life so wire crochet beading became my passion. The great feature of wire crochet is that the wire is fairly flexible so the length of a necklace or bracelet is adjustable simply by gently pushing or pulling the wire strand. My joy in creating a piece is assembling the various colors of crystals, beads, and wire to make a truly unique necklace or bracelet.
Elaine Elliott
After pursuing and achieving my childhood dream of being a successful artist, I have retired but still paint and create every day in my large studio in Mexico.
Over the years, I have traveled extensively and painted in many locations. We went to France and Italy, also Tahiti, for several long painting excursions, and were some of the highlights of my life. Every year, I would use the time also to collect tidbits of paper, stamps, and ephemera to use in my work, which has made my work more interesting and personal.
Recently, I have found a new creative journey in sculpture. I have always loved layers of paper, and sometimes my paintings extended off the canvas.
This has led to an incorporation of my varied collection of materials in my new work, still involving my love of paper. Papier-Mache and air dry clay are some of my new interests and include the use of unexpected found materials
Sue Helle
I reside in the small, rural, farming community of Paulding, located in NW Ohio where I was born and raised. I earned my undergraduate degree from Bowling Green State University and a master in classroom technology from Waldon University. I taught Family & Consumer Sciences (formally known as Home Economics) in several area schools, the majority of my career being with Paulding High School, retiring in 2010. I have two children and 4 grandchildren. While teaching and raising my family, I was very involved in our Methodist Church and the local VFW Aux. Post 587. I also had a home-based cake business for many years. I enjoy working with a variety of mediums, including all needle and yarn arts, felting, kumihimo, sewing, quilting, and general "crafting". I spent several years selling things at various local craft shows. I love to travel, experiencing and exploring our magnificent countryside. Since retiring, I spend the winter months in Green Valley, AZ where I discovered working with clay in 2013. This has now become a passion for me.
I continue to enjoy teaching and teach a variety of classes through GVR and the Clay Studio. With clay, I do both sculpture and hand-building and enjoy creating totems and whimsical pieces, especially fairy houses. These playful structures add character to flower beds and landscapes and make for one-of-a-kind gift giving. I have built dozens and dozens, both selling and giving them to friends many being unique and specific to the recipient. These fun and creative houses can be found at the Feminine Mystic Art Gallery.
Amy Jimenez
Amy was born in Nairobi, Kenya and at age 3 moved to Tucson, AZ with her family. She recently retired and plans to focus on creating beadwork and making unique handmade soaps. She enjoys collecting rocks, arranging flowers, seeking spirituality and learning Lakota traditions from her partner, and camping on family land in Southern Utah every summer. Amy has three children, two sons and a daughter. She lost her daughter four years ago and turned to beading as a way to endure the grief. She initially did beading projects as gifts to family and friends. While beading the projects, her love and prayers for the recipient went into every stitch. She uses lazy stitch, running stitch, flat and round peyote stitch in her work. Amy’s projects include leather bags, hat bands, medallions, drum stick and spear handles and guitar straps. She follows the tradition of intentionally misplacing one bead in each piece to ensure that her beading will continue.
Vickey Johnson
Working with art soothes my soul and brings me a lot of pleasure. I hope my work brings joy to others. Being creative and exploring all kinds of art forms is what most interests me. The mediums I enjoy working with are: paint, woodburning, solder sculpting, scratch art, and glass fusion. My art focuses primarily on my love for animals. I think our human family has a lot to learn from these beautiful creatures.
I am self taught. I learn and experiment as I go. I refer to books, magazines and YouTube for guidance. I have also attended several local art classes. I’m most thankful for the ability I have and want to continue to share this with others. Should you have a specific subject of interest please enquire within.
Tina Levy
Artistic affinity is hereditary in our family of welders, quilters, and painters. Throughout my childhood in snowbound Maine of the 60’s, I embraced sewing, knitting, crocheting, rug braiding, crewelwork and needlepoint. Transplanting to a warmer climate in 2000, I started my journey as a bead artist in Florida making funky beaded earrings, Cellini reverse spiral pendants, and bracelets of bead crochet, kumihimo, and peyote.
Eventually gravitating from humid Florida to the arid, mountainous Mojave Desert of Southern Utah in 2019 I quickly became enamored with textures of earthy, richly colored rock formations streaming from one precipice to the next. Suddenly, I began wire wrapping raw stones from nearby rivers and sculpting “beaded embellishments” using river rock. Since my husband and I have relocated to our “forever home” of Tucson, the Sonoran Desert has taken over now, inspiring me with blooming cactus and majestic vistas that run for miles. I enjoy “interrupting” symmetry whenever possible so– as I create artistic beaded jewelry– I have also begun to dabble with beadscapes of my organic surroundings.
Barb Livdahl
In response to a spiritual encounter with a wolf and an intrinsic interest in the strength, culture and spirit of the Plains Indians, Barb creates her “Spirit Dolls”. Each doll is a unique, one-of-a-kind creation. Specific to each large, standing doll, the leather clothing and moccasins are all buckstitched by hand according to old customs. Beadwork, fetishes, pipes, etc., are also hand made using authentic materials. Her smaller, hanging dolls reflect the same instinctual knowledge while presented in a more contemporary realm.
Constantly called to honor, nurture and share her understanding of ancient wisdoms and the sacred mysteries of all living things, Barb continues to create. She has exhibited in art shows, either by invitation or jury throughout the West. Many Best of Show awards have come her way. Barb resides in the beautiful southwest desert of Arizona. She invites you to experience the energies.
Marietta Loehrlein
Marietta, who also goes by Mari, was born in southern Indiana, attended college and worked in Tucson, California, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. She taught Horticulture at Western Illinois University before retiring and devoting her time to traveling and in creative pursuits.
Mari joined the Society of American Mosaic Artists and attended a conference, taking workshops and meeting other mosaic artists. She also enrolled in numerous helpful online classes through Mosaic Arts Online and began mastering several different mosaic styles and techniques. In Tucson, she learned how to make her own ceramic mosaic elements at Santa Theresa Tile Works. She attended workshops at the Chicago Mosaic School and learned the hammer and hardie technique of Italian smalti cutting, stained glass cutting and designing and working with Italian smalti.
Anette Lowery
After moving to Arizona in 2018, Anette now lives in Marana with her husband and 2 cats describing herself as an artist who is in love with the ‘endless blue skies of the desert’. Her life experiences have included 25 years of traveling with her Navy husband, two children and numerous pets. This artist, with a few lessons here and there is primarily self-taught, has been involved with the creative process since childhood and felt that she never had enough paper, tape, crayons or paint. Currently her interests are in watercolors and soft sculpture characters she calls her Little Friends. The beauty and colors of the desert world around her as well as the architecture of the Sonoran Desert and customs of its people are a source of constant stimulation. Her desire is to continue to grow as an artist as she immerses herself in the creation of new and exciting pieces.
Susan Marvin
Susan creates small acrylic and watercolor paintings that explore vintage treasure hunting, wood salvaging, and nature observations in an often-remarked emotional, humorous and creative way.
She utilizes found vintage frames in her body of work titled: Vintage Mini’s. Susan’s frame gathering bins quickly outgrew her studio space, and in order to continue collecting, Susan knew she had to encompass the frames into her artwork. Watercolor paintings are assembled inside those vintage frames, resulting in a “picture within a picture” effect that is captivating as well as original.
The thread of vintage that runs throughout Susan’s art draws the viewer in for a second look. Her art bridges that old versus new dynamic, and becomes a symbiotic connection where there cannot be one without the other. It is art that is meant to leave you happy.
Beth Oldfield and Mary Modaff
An artistic collaboration between sisters, Beth Oldfield and Mary Modaff of Tucson.
Using the repurposed local mesquite scraps as “canvas”, Beth creates drawings of Sonoran desert birds and images – a fitting combination! Beth begins by imagining which Sonoran desert fauna or flora would best occupy the space defined by the wood grain patterns, burls, and irregular edges of the mesquite “canvases”.
Mary takes her sister’s art and handcrafts repurposed, local mesquite easels and frames. She uses exotic wenge wood for the frame splines. Rusted metal scrap takes on a new role as matting for the earthy components of the compositions. Turquoise from local mines adds the final Arizona touch.
Beth also creates clothespin angel decorations. The clothespins are
handcrafted from Germany and she embellishes the one-of-a-kind angels with
tchotzkies representing the Southwest. Postage stamps, beads, fabric, add to
the characters’ character!
Diane West
Diane has experimented with numerous art forms over the years but gourds have become her main focus due to the challenge they offer. Starting with a dried hard-shelled gourd you must envision your goal for the finished piece—then comes the process of determining the best way to get there using a variety of products and techniques.
The challenge and the reward of using “Nature’s Gift—the gourd” to create a mask, figure, bowl, or other piece of art keeps the artist engrossed in her passion for gourd art. She also teaches fundamental gourd art classes for beginners. “I love to see my students’ enthusiasm as they develop their techniques and love for gourds.”
Watch this space for new artist introductions.