How did you get interested in art?
Already at the age of five I considered myself to be a “serious artist.” At that time I did not accept critique willingly. Through the years I learned, however, that it was less important what people thought of my art but how it affected them.

What does making art mean to you?
Art is my life. Without it I would be just a hollow shell.
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Where do you get inspiration?
Inspiration can come from anywhere: a word spoken, a song, a beautiful landscape or human being I see, something I read or experience.
 
You are a figurative sculptor and also a painter. Which media do you enjoy the most?
I enjoy all art forms equally. I will pick the medium according to which one would illustrate best what I want to express. When I feel playful I may paint one of my colorful “Western Romance” pictures. I would paint a landscape when I marvel at the beauty surrounding me, or I may turn to sculpture to express my spiritual needs or just to revel in the grace of the human form.

Tell us about your creative process. Walk us through the steps to create one of your works.
Throughout my long life as an artist I have used many medias. In my younger years I used more conventional ones, such as oil painting for landscapes and portraits or bronze for sculpture. For several years I was enthralled by stone lithography. To this day I use Conté crayon when working with live models or ink-pen for very quick sketches on the road.
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In my forties I discovered the immediacy and lightheartedness of watercolor, which lead to reverse glass painting and in turn to the liquid watercolors I now employ for my “Western Romance” pictures.
 

I never liked using sticky modeling clay to model the originals for my bronzes. A modeling compound called DAS came to my rescue. It adheres marvelously to metal or any other support and once dried, it can be chiseled, carved and sanded. But…that was then.
 
About twenty years ago and inspired by the work of Hungarian sculptor Kovacs Margit, the terracotta sculpture of the Toltecs, as well as the famous Chinese Warriors, I turned to terracotta and so far I haven’t looked back. I love the dry tactility of red sculpting clay, the challenge of sculpting the human figure without the crutch of metal supports, the mystery and anticipation of the firing as well as the fact that each piece is an original.

​What is the visual effect or emotion you look for capturing in your compositions?
Visual effects are secondary to my creative process. I strive to recreate what moves me: express the love I feel for the subject; in other words, to share the wonder I feel.
 
Is there an artist that you admire or follow?
During my formative years I leaned heavily on the philosophies of Wassily Kandinsky, Pablo Picasso, Henry Matisse and Auguste Rodin. Now I pretty much choose my own way, my own challenges.
 
What is your proudest achievement?
I do count the 30 feet long by 8 feet tall “Three Sisters” steel and terracotta sculpture at the Saint Francis Medical Center as the most important piece of my life. Not only because of the sheer size of it or the fact that it may well be the only freestanding terracotta relief in existence; it means much more to me than that. The selfless love and charity of the Sisters of Saint Francis (founders of Saint Francis Hospital) and the Sisters of Charity (founders of Penrose) that it documents, opened up my eyes and heart to my own spiritual needs. It led me to the Benedictine Sisters of Benet Hill who are helping me to fill a void that I didn’t even know existed.

Marica's larger-than-life outdoor terracotta and steel relief “Three Sisters” panels are displayed at the entrance of the new Saint Francis Medical Center in Colorado Springs. To learn more about each panel, her visions and concepts, visit her blog at http://earthandfire-marica.blogspot.com/2008
 
What is/are your favorite(s) piece(s) for sale at Commonwheel? And why?
At Commonwheel I am primarily showing my figurative terracotta sculpture (and my Saint and Angels wall pieces). I hand-build those with outdoor-quality clay which is fired at high temperatures for maximum vitrification and durability. Each is a one-of-a-kind original piece of art. All pieces are signed and dated. As a secondary medium I also show some reverse-glass paintings. I love all my pieces. They all have stories and I hope that each will have special meaning to whoever acquires one.
 

What’s next for you?
The future’s not mine to see! I hope for many more years of the challenge, the exploration and the wonder of art.
 
Visit the shop and receive 10% off all Marica’s creations through the whole month of June.
You can find her work online also at our online shop. Follow her on Pinterest (pinterest.com/MaricaHefti) or Facebook (facebook.com/MaricaHefti). She also wrote a book available in Amazon (Marica-Hefti/e/B00JXRM5IQ)

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by Leti Wesolowski, contributor
 
“The Artful Garden” is a joint art show between Caron O’Neil and Ace McCasland, two local artists passionate about creating art with the most unusual things. Their theme this time is: living plants. Discover beautiful artful ideas to decorate your home and garden and get ready to enjoy Spring!
 
“The garden is a sacred place where you can lose yourself and find yourself at the same time,” says Ace McCasland. “Reconnect. Rediscover. Breathe. Plunge your hands into the soil, feel the earth... Listen closely, your garden has secrets to share.”
 
Ace delves into many different forms of artistic expression, including being a well accomplished metalsmith (www.studiolunaverde.com), a mixed media artist, and an avid gardener. (Ace describes herself as a true cactus hugger who brakes for wildflowers!) When asked what ‘Art’ means to her, she replied: “Art is expression, exploration. Art can make loud, passionate, political statements, or gentle whispers from a quiet soul. The act of making art uses one's whole body: the hands manipulate, the head resolves, the heart gestures, the shoulders shrug, the soul sighs. Art keeps me constantly investigating, exploring, learning, striving, wondering, discovering, breathing, losing myself, then finding myself again... art is life is art.”
 
After a promise of challenging herself and pushing her personal limits to create something out of her comfort zone (i.e.: not using fire and metal) she found concrete as the primary material to begin exploring, together with plants and patina.
 
“I've often wanted to integrate living plants into my work, which isn't always practical, but with the increasing popularity and availability of tillandsias, or air plants, I saw a way to use them in small sculptures,” Ace says. “It also gave me an opportunity to explore the metaphor of plants emerging from cracks in concrete, thriving despite adverse conditions, always reaching for the light. Contrasting the hardness of concrete with the soft textures of the plants is quite satisfying.”
 
She also experimented with different types of outdoor “wall” art that explore patina as a surface embellishment slowly changing over time as a result of exposure to the elements.

​“I created a few assemblage pieces from recycled cedar fence paneling and found objects, all tough enough to handle being outside, where certain parts may spin in the wind, bells will jangle, rust will develop and trickle, but you may be tempted to hang them inside as well.”
 
Ace is particularly excited about her concrete and patina panels, a series of intriguing squares with inserted deeply oxidized metal bits and found objects that will continue to oxidize and drip and change over time. “I've always been drawn to how rust can drip and oxidize concrete, creating an abstract painting that may take years to develop.”

For more explorations and fantastic designs, follow Ace on Facebook www.facebook.com/studiolunaverde and Instagram www.instagram.com/studiolunaverde
 
 
 
Our second artist, Caron O’Neil, uses found objects and discarded materials to create fun art expressions with the hope to enhance one's garden naturally, and at the same time help protect the environment and improve our overall health.
 
Her strongest interests and influence have always been Old World cultures, ethnic art and the connection to Earth and its protection. A Colorado native, Caron spent her teen years in Montana but returned to Colorado to become the first female park ranger in Colorado Springs for thirty years. Now retired, she focuses on her passion to create art and take care of her garden. “All my life I’ve loved playing in the dirt and growing things. Buying a house with a big open dirt backyard was a dream come true… Growing my own food is so gratifying and therapeutic to me,” she says.
 
One of Caron’s favorite concepts explored for this show is the Kokedama balls.  Kokedama is a Japanese word that translates from “koke” meaning moss and “dama” meaning ball. Sometimes called the “Poor Man’s Bonsai,” the art of binding plants into green moss balls dates back centuries to the Edo era in Japan between 1603 and 1868. Suspending these distinctive moss balls from strings and displaying them in large groups is called “String Gardens,” makes an adorable decoration for any home. Caron loves these moss orbs because very few people have ever seen them and “the concept of hanging a plant in a moss ball in the air fascinates me.”

​​Another new idea Caron explored for this show is Bug boxes.  These boxes are meant to attract and create suitable habitats for beneficial bugs such as bees, ladybugs and butterflies, to help contribute to the health of plants in the garden naturally. Worm towers are another form of Earth friendly art pieces, employing leftover food waste and composting worms (red wigglers) to sustainably improve the soil in the garden without artificial chemicals.

​Caron wanted to express peace and harmony with nature with her interpretation of indoor Zen Gardens for the home. She has collected a variety of found objects with a Buddhist theme and artfully rearranged them into different containers with small pebbles. These gardens come with dried decorative cuttings but they can be substituted with fresh stems or flowers by filling with water the slate stone container (hidden beneath the pebbles) that houses a metal ‘flower frog’ in it to keep the stems upright. Each Zen garden is assembled lightly so as to be rearranged into different ways and with different plants of your choice.

​Other pieces in the show are just fun assemblages made with salvaged objects meant to bring visual joy to any garden. “Being an artist is a way of life,” Caron says. “It’s in one’s DNA. I can’t imagine not being creative in some way that brings joy to yourself and others. Knowing that someone wants what you’ve created to bring happiness to their lives is so gratifying. What’s better than that?”
 
Find more of Caron’s fun creations at Commonwheel Artist Co-op.

Ace and Caron have created an amazing body of work for “The Artful Garden” to build awareness of easy garden improvement ideas and to spread joy and creativity to your garden and living spaces. Join us for the opening reception May 19th at our Creekside Gallery from 5 to 8pm. Come, meet the artists and enjoy their artistic offerings perfect for Spring time! “The Artful Garden” will be on display and for sale until June 12th.
 
 
 
Did you enjoy this post? Leave as a comment and let us know! We’d love to hear from you!
 
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By Leti Wesolowski, contributor
 
Teri started studying photography in 1993. Since then she has won awards and worn many hats: dark room technician, studio photographer, tutor in digital art, gallery director and curator. At an early age, Teri studied dance and she was fascinated with the beauty that could be created so easily and the emotions that could be expressed in utter silence. She has always been naturally drawn to figurative images and human body abstractions.
 
Her digital art compositions start with one of her photographs as her canvas; a long process of digital manipulation takes place until the desired result is achieved. Currently, Teri has two series in production available at Commonwheel Artist Co-op: one is about the metamorphosis of a woman’s body and the other is a fantasy landscape featuring images of the burn scars left by the Hayman and Black Forest Fires of Colorado.                                                                             

Is there a photographer that you admire?
Most recently I have become a fan of the photography of Kristy Mitchell.

Long time favorites are Lee Miller (a fashion photographer turned war photojournalist), Richard Avedon, and Annie Leibowitz. Art that influences me is not necessarily photographic though, or even visual. I’ve been a longtime fan of Terri Windling’s playful fantasy watercolors, as well as her poetry. Neil Gaiman and Charles de Lint are writers whose words fill my mind with strange and wondrous images.
 
What is your proudest achievement?
My proudest achievement had nothing to do with prizes or publications, but when I was offered a space in an arts community to develop a photography gallery. I took the opportunity and ran with it. I did everything from the curating and advertising to mopping the floors. I loved it, often sleeping there. It was intense and supremely gratifying experience.
 
What is your favorite piece or your best seller? What is the story behind it?
My favorite piece is probably, “Metamorphosis”. It is the second piece I created in a series by the same name. It involves a woman metamorphosing into other natural elements. She sprouts wings and scales, in this one, gazing up at an infinite star speckled sky. The inspiration in this series was actually myself, as a 50+ year old woman whose body was undergoing rapid changes, some expected, some not.