This is a truly beautiful show that has been assembled. We have work by 24 Front Range artists in this juried show and wow, what a mix of work. The members who hang our gallery shows were very excited to see all of this art. 

We asked these artists four questions: 
1) In a short paragraph, tell us about yourself. 
2) What does making art mean to you? 
3) What has inspired you for this show?  
4) Where can we find your work: website, social media, local stores.

Below are their responses.

I have always been told that I have an "eye for photography". I purchased my first Canon DSLR in 2010 and have been studying digital photography on my own ever since, with the help of a few inspiring hands-on workshops.  My other passion is studying wildlife behavior. So naturally my "focus" is wildlife and nature photography.  A year ago, I moved to Colorado where I have begun to expand my focus to the majestic Rocky Mountains, fascinating wildlife and beautiful flora of this area.
 
I love being in Nature and capturing it's beauty so I can share my visual images with others.
 
 Flowing water in the high desert is not as plentiful as in other part of the country that I have lived in. Any chance I get, I capture its smoothing flow and am excited to shear my images in this show.
 
Here is where you can find my images:
 
    Website:         http://www.aboucherphoto.com
 
    Facebook:      Alan Boucher Photography
 
    Local Store:   Bella Art & Frame

​My grandmother was an artist with an appreciation for the environment. Growing up around her creative influences pushed me to pursue art at a young age. It started with just a pencil, then I continued with color throughout high school and graduated from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania with a BFA. I have been painting for about 10 years, focusing on landscapes and environmental awareness.
 
I like telling stories with a visual platform for the viewer to understand my interpretation of environmental issues. These statements will hopefully plant a seed to make people think more about their impact.
 
My love for the ocean. These two paintings are directed towards our acidic oceans bleaching coral reefs, our plastic problem and overall pollution to our lakes and rivers, which eventually lead to the ocean. We all live downstream!
 
BenBires.com
Facebook.com/BenBiresArtwork
 

"Sometimes I spend hours applying paint on a canvas before I feel Like I'm painting". Hedy DuCharme
 
Painting for me pure is relaxation and a challenge mentally and spiritually. My soul needs to create and express itself to be content and alive. It's a wonderful feeling to be totally absorbed in creating something from the mind and heart, even if it doesn't become a "best ever" creation.
 
My interest in art began in High School back in the 60's. It was the first time I was exposed to art: drawing, color, paints, clay, ink drawing, and learning to see.
 
I went on to study art and art history at Michigan State University and graduated with a BFA. I went on to teach art for 5 years. In high school and college I learned that I was most interested in painting. I love working and creating with color.
 
My favorite period of art is the Impressionists with their loose brushwork, textured paint, nature themes, natural light, and creating their own interpretation of a theme or scene.
 
For the past 10 years I have had much time to devote to painting more confidently, regularly, and with a more sincere passion then I previously had.
 
I was a docent at the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center for 13 years. I had the opportunity to be immersed in great art not just locally but in museums around the country on docent organized trips. The ongoing training in the docent program kept me engaged with art principles and theory on a regular basis, which kept me learning, and discussing art on a regular basis.
 
During this time I became more inspired to create my own work and appreciate the art of many local artists. I had to challenge myself to enter juried and non-juried shows to expand my abilities, to be challenged by new themes, and to become part of the local artists community. Traveling to the great museums in Europe has been a huge inspiration to see some of the greatest art, architecture and artists from all over the world.
 
Many of my paintings are created from photos I have taken around Colorado, New Mexico, Europe, from my garden and gardens I have visited.
 
 Submitting paintings for this "Water" themed show was a good challenge because water is such an important part of our everyday life, we can't live without it. And we enjoy water visually in the mountains—lakes, streams, waterfalls, ponds, and rain. We enjoy swimming in water, fishing, snorkeling in oceans, and walking a beach. There is life in water. We see reflections in water.
 
Water is many colors and no color making it a challenge to create on a 2-dimensional surface. I wanted to expand my use of using a sponge instead of a brush to create softer lines, layers of colors, and smooth edges, and more use of my hands than a paintbrush allows.
 
To see some of my paintings and current shows I'm exhibiting in I post them on my Facebook Page under Hedy DuCharme.
 
Locally I have exhibited at Cottonwood Center for the Arts, The former Colorado Springs Fine Art Center (docent show), Chapel of our Savior, Academy Art and Frame,, First Presbyterian Church, Discovery Church, The Bridge Gallery, and currently The Little Wine Barrel.
 
 
Contact information:
[email protected]

​I’ve had a love for photographing nature since childhood. While attending church camp in the summer, instead of coming home with pictures of new friends and fun times, the whole role of film would be filled with chipmunks and forested area. The passion has always been there, but it wasn’t until around 2005 that I decided to start sharing my work. There is beauty all around us, and I want to share God’s masterpieces with others.
 
 To me, making art means being able to share something unique with others. I want the viewer to feel that they are in the photograph ~ that they can feel the cold, or smell the flower, or touch the tree.
 
Water is a powerful force on different levels. Whether it's the vastness of an ocean, or the intense momentum of a waterfall, they can equally make one feel like they're a minute part of our universe.
 
You can find my work at Facebook.com/ANobleTouchPhotography
 

My love of Nature and being outdoors has been part of my life as far back as I can remember. Creating art in many forms has been the basis of my life starting with theatre when I built sets and directed others in High School and college. I created fiber-based crafts ranging from macramé plant hangers or unique wall pieces that included found objects and woven elements. Feathers have always been part of my art creations. Mandala style feather wall hangings evolved into my creating feather masks. Creating those masks still is very fun! Creating earrings, hairclips and pendants was a natural progression to ways to create artful accessories using feathers and found objects.


I have taken thousands of photographs on my hikes and in many gardens. About six years ago I started using my realistic nature and other photos to illustrate my books and journals. And more recently, I began to use my realistic photographs to create different types of decks of cards for children and adults.


Three years ago, I “fell down a rabbit hole of creativity” and began using my Nature photos to create abstract, kaleidoscopic and mandala style images by taking a little part of a Nature photo and playing with it in PhotoShop. Currently these can only be seen online. Original versions of my photographic Nature-based images can be seen in this show and express my love of Nature.


When I am in my studio or sitting at my computer, I get totally lost in the process and my imagination can run pretty wild thinking about how to take the images I captured and create something totally unique and fun or hone in a specific element found in a photograph, such as water. It uplifts my spirit to honor the beauty of the amazing places I get to hike and glorify Nature in various artful ways.


Working in my feather studio or on a computer or taking photos on my hikes always has my creative juices flowing. I am constantly looking for some new way to use the materials at hand to create a bit of awe and wonder when someone sees the finished art.


Nature is my most powerful inspiration. When hiking or passing a beautiful garden, I often stop to take in the amazingly beautiful natural creations that surround me. A driftwood stump or a rock formation or a bit of moss can be as enticing to my eye as a beautiful wildflower. The reflection of a mountain or rock formation or clouds in water can stop me in my tracks to look deeper into that fleeting image. Each one makes my heart sing and my spirit soar with joy when I take the time to really look at the beauty others pass by each day without noticing it.


The normal concept of a photograph is a translation or transformation of a scene onto a two-dimensional surface, and most photographers leave it at that. Back on my computer, I become immersed in the process of creating something new and visionary from what I saw to create a unique view and transform that image into an artistic composition.


Some of my photos get used as they were taken, or maybe have sections highlighted. Other times, the process of transformation starts when I notice some interesting element in a section of a Nature photograph. Then I will start to transform that photograph by modifying a section of the image in such a way that it becomes something totally new and uniquely changed from its original shape.


The idea of using my Nature photos for card decks for children came from seeing too many instances of how little respect people have for the natural world and can only hope that by showing how beautiful and fragile wildflowers can be starting with a card game that might inspire more kids to get out and search for them and find other reasons to respect their natural surroundings.


My books have very practical advice and have come from my own experiences and based on creating a more sustainable art festival and natural solutions for health. And I recently updated my tree squirrel book and created a new one about ground squirrels in which I express my love of squirrels and teach children a bit about them.


My journals are based on specific themes, but they are not just “blank books”. They have practical advice in the introductions and some photographs related to the journal’s subject. Each one has prompts for a person to fill in the blanks relating to that prompt and can be used to write down their thoughts and have pages to sketch on or color designs in some of the books.


All art involves an artist taking up some media and transforming it into a new form or image that comes from their vision and imagination. I try to transform what most people see as ordinary into something extraordinary with a unique way of seeing the world.


Often when hiking, I, Julia, stop to take some time to look at a bit of Nature. Sometimes it is a part of a tree; maybe a root, a stump or a burl. Looking towards the ground I may spy a uniquely shaped mushroom or flower that catches my eye. Sometimes moss growing on a tree or on a rock causes me to stop to look closer at a section of it. So I take a photograph.


Reflections seen in water have always captured my imagination. I am often surprised when I look at a photograph on the computer to see a reflection of clouds or shoreline plants that create a lovely addition to the landscape that I was seeking to capture.


I have a great respect for the pristine waters that flow down from mountains in rivers and creeks and form ponds and lakes I discover along hiking trails. It saddens me to see trash collecting in them and have never understood why if someone can carry in a heavier item, when it is empty, they can’t carry it back out . . . I am always careful to be sure the area I visit is not burdened with any items I bring in and pack them out myself. I have the hope when people view photos expressing the beauty of Nature, the might become a bit more aware how they can take actions to keep where they travel as pristine as when they arrived.


My work can be found at:
Manitou Art Center in the First Amendment Gallery
www.commonwheel.com
http://julial-wright.pixels.com/
https://www.hierographicsbooksllc.com
My books are also on Amazon under the name of HieroGraphics Books.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/Fantafaces

​kj becker is a manitou springs-based artists with a unique set of skills and over 22 years of combined experience in the areas where there are deficiencies in the social system for the expressive arts and how we connect with marginalized populations, such as, military veterans, sexual assault survivors, and differently-abled folks. kj has been an artist all her life and received a bfa in studio art and psychology from the university of illinois in 2007 after 5 years of active duty in the air force as a mental health technician. kj went on to manage the arts of life in chicago and then worked for the va doing expressive art peer support. today KJ is a full-time professional artist. 
 
for kj, artmaking is all about the process. having physical disabilities and ptsd from her time in the air force, kj has found the physicality of artmaking is most beneficial compared to traditional therapies and medications that are commonly prescribed. 
 
"adored" is an artistic expression of kj falling in love with her partner in the summer of 2018.  contrary to previous works that were more about the physicality of the art piece, rather than concept, kj is just starting to explore what her "story" is, as she has felt invisible for decades. 
  
www.kjbeckerart.com
www.instagram.com/kjbeckerart
 
current residency at art111, the manitou art center, library 21c, and a solo show in april 2019 at goatpatch brewery

​As with all life-changing shifts, I did not come to art gracefully or willingly.  I received a channeled message in Jan. 2014 that I would be used as a conduit to create paintings that contained energetic messages designed to benefit humanity's evolution and that these messages would be embedded into the paint.  The messages themselves would draw the people to them that needed those frequencies.  My instruction was to "hold the brush and wait."  I experienced tremendous discomfort and frustration in this process.  It was 18 months before anything started to happen, before I felt any "click" while moving color on canvas or wood.  I disliked almost everything I painted during this time.  The one thing that made a difference, and that kept me squarely in the instruction, holding the brush while seemingly nothing occurred, was an earlier experience with receiving an internal intuitive message that also made no sense and was in direct opposition to my lifestyle, yet brought forth an outcome for me that consisted of success and happiness beyond my wildest dreams.  At some time early on in this extremely stuttery, cranky-producing painting process, some dragon shapes started to appear in the paint that I had not created myself.  They insisted on being seen and on being painted.  They are in charge of this energetic process and bring joy to these paintings and to me. 
 
The painting "Transformation:  The Fire/Water Dance" is a channel or portal for balance.  During the floods after the Waldo Canyon fire, I often thought about how what we perceive as an extreme negative event might just be the exact thing that brings about perfect balance.  The dance of fire and water in our particular geography is ancient and, I believe, directly impacts our consciousness, even if we are unaware of these effects.  Our fiery moments tend to consume us.  Our watery moments bring forth more fluidity in our moment to moment living.  We are integral to our landscapes and our landscapes continuously offer us their blessings, even when they come disguised as catastrophe. 
 
The dragons and I are eternally grateful for all opportunities to express, fulfill, and serve as conduits for any who are drawn to the energetic gifts of the galactic light art paintings.  
 
Paintings can be viewed at http://www.galacticlightart.com and at Movement Arts Community Studio, 525 E Fountain Blvd, Ste. 150, Co Spgs:  http://www.movementartscs.com.
 
 

​Like many people, I had to wait until I retired to begin exploring my artistic abilities. Luckily I was able to retire early, and after experimenting with many media, including clay, mixed media, alcohol ink, jewelry, etc., I found my true passion in fused glass. I enjoy experimenting, and particularly enjoy creating 3-D pieces in the kiln. This requires a number of firings at varying temperatures, all taking between 9-20 hours, with 4 or 5 hours of cool-down time. My inspiration comes from nature, including both the mountains and the sea, having lived near the beach in Florida for 12 years.  I have been working in fused glass for 14 years, I have three kilns, and have taken over every inch of available space in my house and garage for my studio! I’m looking forward to adding a fourth, larger kiln to my collection so that I can create taller and larger pieces.
 
Creating art is the most important thing I do. It makes me feel like I am contributing something of value, and it brings me much happiness, both in the process of creating and in the end result.
 
As stated above, the sea is a huge source of inspiration. All of the colors found at the sea shore are my favorites, and the beautiful colors of art glass lend themselves perfectly to this theme. I try capture the whimsy and movement of the sea, so I can remind people of how they feel when they are on the shore and in the water.
 
My work can be found on my Facebook page, LoLo’s Paloozas (www.facebook.com/LoLosPaloozas/), and is currently sold in the Strictly Guffey Gallery in Guffey, Colorado.  I exhibit at many other venues in the Colorado Springs area including the MAC, the Modbo, Cottonwood Center for the Arts, and others.

These works represent a technique I discovered quite on accident over a year ago but have only more recently started to create actual pieces. I use a variety of surface material and then combine water and tissue paper to create texture and color. I control the color and design for any piece. They are then finished using a high gloss urethane. The water adds a fluid and abstract nature to the works that changes the color, light and perspective for the viewer.
 
I grew up in an artistic family and have always been drawn to creating, designing and working with color and pigments. My father was an interior designer and I learned much of the foundation of my knowledge in textiles and design from him when I was growing up. I later attended Denver University where I studied Interior Design and the Instituto Allende in Mexico where I studied the fine arts and sculpture. As an adult I studied French Interior Design and French Culinary Arts in Paris.
 
I have lived in the Cascade area now for over 35 years permanently. These last 5 years I have enjoyed studying and experimenting with many different mediums, creating my own, directly from plant-based pigment. I photograph natural color from food, flowers and birds. And study light. The only element that creates color. I cook. And eat. And enjoy life, from a different perspective these days. And always creating. And designing.
 
You can see more of my design work by visiting my website at: DeramusDesigns.houzz.com     linkedin.com

​I grew up in an artistic family: my dad worked in wood and my mom painted. I earned my bachelor’s degree in art (painting emphasis) in 1980 at the University of Southern Colorado, where I studied with Lew Tilley, Robert Wands, Ed Sajbel and Orlin Helgoe. I’ve been a working artist ever since and have combined that with my love of writing to work as a graphic designer and as a journalist with various publications.
 
For me, a day without being creative is a wasted day. I am excited and inspired by nature, other artists’ work and simply walking down a street and being observant.
 
I love the patterns I see in nature. I manipulated photos I took at Monument Valley Park to make them abstract and then, for the first time, had my photos printed on metal. I think it’s especially appropriate and effective for this subject matter.
 
I mostly show at the Manitou Art Center and Academy Art & Frame Co., but in March, I will also have a solo exhibit in Colorado Springs City Hall. Also see: rhondashouseofcreativity.shutterfly.com.
 

​As a child I was always making stuff with no concern about whether or not it was art. I simply enjoyed it. Born and raised in central California, I attended Fresno State College (BA Degree and General Secondary Teaching Credential), followed by graduate work at the University of California at Berkeley (MA Degree with Specialty in painting). Further studies were undertaken at the University of California at Los Angeles, the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, and overseas at the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg, Austria.
 
Before moving to Colorado Springs in 1995, I spent 29 years as an art teacher with the Department of Defense Dependents Schools in Germany and Belgium. Extensive travel, including photo safaris to East Africa and scuba diving trips to the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Hawaii have been rich sources of inspiration for my art, which has appeared in local, national, and international shows.
 
Here in Colorado, I was a studio artist at the Manitou Art Center for 4 years, a member of the Commonwheel Artists Co-op for 10 years, and taught ceramics part-time for 12 years at Pikes Peak Community College. Now I enjoy working in my own studio at home.
 
Art, in whatever form it might take, is something that I must do, and I’ll keep doing it as long as I’m able.
 
Fifteen of the most exciting years of my life were spent as a scuba diver, exploring the undersea world in such faraway places as the Mediterranean, The Caribbean, and the Red Sea, as well as the Indian Ocean and the Hawaiian Pacific. It was like entering another world of coral reefs teeming with life beneath the surface of the water, and with an underwater camera was able to capture some of it on film.
 
Now that I no longer dive, I can relive those fabulous adventures by scanning a few of the many slides I’ve collected. Each has a story to tell. These old photos can be reworked and improved by enlarging, cropping, repositioning, and enhancing in various ways. The possibilities are endless. My goal is that these pictures have artistic value and are more than just snapshots. For me, a clay artist, this is an exciting new creative adventure into another medium that I’m happy to share with you, the viewer. I hope you enjoy these pictures.
 
My ceramic work and photos can be seen by appointment at my home studio in Colorado Springs. I can be contacted by phone at 719/592-0984 or online at [email protected]. Also, I have a few ceramic pieces in Commonwheel’s online store at www.commonwheel.com.

​I recently moved from Delaware to Colorado Springs to pursue my photography career. I got my first DSLR camera when I was 18 and have loved taking photos since. My junior year of college I officially declared my major as photography and dove in head first. Landscape, nature, and wildlife photography have always been my "jam" as I like to say. I have been taking small steps to further my career since moving to Colorado and I could not be more excited to see what the future holds. 
 
To me, making art means I get to show the world the way I see and feel it. One of my favorite things about photography is that no one else sees the world exactly like I do or feels exactly what I felt in the moment that I create a photograph. It is fulfilling and profound to create something that makes you happy no matter how simple, or complex, it may be. 
 
Being from Delaware I grew up surrounded by water - ponds, lakes, the bay, and the ocean. It has been a common subject of my photography since I first started out 8 years ago. There is a huge draw to water for me, whether its capturing a reflection on a still lake, or the rushing waters of a river. 
 
Website: www.amyshortphoto.com
Instagram: @ amyshortphoto
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amyshortphoto
Gallery: Colorado Creative Co-Op in Old Colorado City

I've been drawing and painting as long as I can remember! I was the "artistic" kid in my family, even in elementary school. I majored in graphic design in college and worked in that field for 20 years. Although I took some painting classes in college, I'm mostly self-taught. Throughout my teens and adult years, even when working full time as a commercial art, I continued to paint - always in watercolors. I started showing and selling my work in local and regional art festivals about 15 years ago. I feel that my artwork enjoyed a significant "growth spurt" in quantity and quality a few years ago when I was able to devote more time to painting.
 
To me, making art is one way that I interpret the world that I experience, and one way that I "archive" an experience in a tangible form. Art is a recording of my experience and an invitation for the viewer to share that experience.
 
I was inspired to start painting water scenes because, frankly, it was a challenge, and I like to take on painting "challenges" especially when others comment "oh, that's SO hard to paint!". I'm especially drawn to interpret and portray local water scenes in my paintings, because water is so precious and so scarce here. I painted the 'Blue Mesa Reservoir" scenes from photos I took there on a cold, very windy day. The rocks and whitecaps made me feel like I was at the ocean, and I tried to capture that feeling.
 
I belong to the Mountain Artists in Woodland Park, the Pikes Peak Watercolor Society, and the Western Colorado Watercolor Society. My work can be viewed on the Mountain Artists website, and in various exhibits that they sponsor in Woodland Park, including the Mountain Arts Festival. 

A 1998 graduate from the Colorado Institute of Art, I found my love for photography at an early age through the appreciation of geometric angles and in 2013 evolved to underwater photography...
 
Underwater photography should take you to another realm, a world that people can experience through my imagery. 
 
Challenged by the unpredictable element of water and weightless gravity, the outcome produces some of the most visually unique images - human forms unlike any found on land, free flowing of fabric, no worry hair and an unearthed world that is created.
I am Underwater Conceptual Photographer 
 
I have always had a love for the water from the sound to touch to even the smell. When I see underwater imagery there is a kind of purity and freedom. By putting people into an environment that human life is not generally pictured, a whole new world of imagination can be created. There is such natural beauty within the source of water. We are surrounded by water internally and externally and combining the two shows the strength that water is composed of and how it truly is a source of life. Water can be interpreted in many ways, it is up to the audience to decide what they see and how it moves them. I love the unpredictability of the outcome, both for myself, the subject and the audience.
 
https://www.facebook.com/visionart.photography
https://www.instagram.com/visionartphoto/
http://www.visionartphotography.com

​I was motivated to take my photography further upon moving to this beautiful state of CO from the Midwest. I am a self-taught photographer and have been taking photos professionally for 7 years now but photographing as a non-professional for years & years prior. I work full time in corporate America but photography is my passion and the pastime in which I lose all sense of my surroundings and time. I can completely submerge myself into the act of photographing and love to spend a day doing nothing but shooting.
 
Making my art is an opportunity to capture, with a lens, & share the extreme beauty I see in this world, painted all around me. My hope is to inspire others in some way or to give others the chance to see something they may not ever have the opportunity to see with their own two eyes.
 
My inspiration for this show was the amazing beauty of Grand Exuma Island in the Bahamas. I saw water in colors I had never seen before and every where I turned were spectacular landscapes and amazing sea life.
 
You can find my work in the Commonwheel Co-op Gallery in Manitou Springs, in the Colorado Creative Co-op in Old Colorado City, and online at http://tinarodholm.zenfolio.com. You can also follow me on Instagram @hisbeautifulcanvas and on Facebook at "His Beautiful Canvas"

​My art is in photography, from shooting to processing, framing and printing. I can't call it a career since I did that in the electronics field, and am retired. My quest is to take decent pictures and process them with an intent to capture the beauty or other fascination that was observed at the moment each was taken. I am highlighting the third dimension by distorting the print in various ways. I have been at this now for six years.
 
My great pleasure is in seeing the printed image “come to life” as I do my work. Sometimes the added value is amazing, other times perhaps marginal, but I am inspired after working with each one to continue making them “better”. It means a lot to me when others can see and enjoy my finished work.
 
I keep looking for opportunities to display my pictures and since I have some that fit into the category of “Water in the High Desert” there was no hesitation to enter. I was pleased to have two accepted. In fact, those two were a new design I just began, using a 5”X7” Shadow Box frame to display a couple of my 3-dimensional ideas. It allows me to use a distance gradient on the print (it is slanted back toward the rear of the picture) as well as a form of embossing the surface to further emphasize that phenomenon.
 
I have a lot of pictures on Fine Art America, but you won't see any 3-D on the website since that part of the process takes place on the print. [email protected] I have entered my work previously at Commonwheel for the “Autumn Colors” event, at Tri-Lakes Monochrome Photography gallery and at the Academy Art and Frame Gallery where one photo placed second and another got honorable mention in their Miniatures event.
 
To promote my work further, I have rented a hallway room at Cottonwood Center for the Arts for the months of March and May and will also have work on display at Boulder Street Gallery and Framing during the month of April, 2019. I registered my photo business as Richard's Photo Craft in Colorado, working in my home. Contact me at [email protected].

We set out to surround Valentines Day and the idea of “love” with a show that will encompass the whole month of February. We put out an open call to artists to submit images of their art that finished the phrase “Love and . . .” and had over a dozen artists respond. Their work is as varied as their answers to the 3 questions we recently posed to them:

1. What prompted the art you submitted for this gallery show? What was your inspiration?
 
2. How long have you been working with the type of art you submitted?
 
3. Tell us a little about yourself.
 
 
Cheryl Lafon
1. What prompted the art you submitted for this gallery show? What was your inspiration?
“Love and finding the perfect partner” is my painting of two sea otters from the Carmel area of California.
I also submitted a painting of owls. They are all babies and best friends. “Love and your best friends.” This was painted with a batik method of watercolor on rice paper. 
 
2. How long have you been working with the type of art you submitted? 10 years

3. Tell us a little about yourself. I'm a retired from 20 plus years in Newspaper Marketing in three newspapers all over the West. I started in sculpture but turned to watercolor. I love the medium. 

Susan Tormoen
1. The inspiration for my painting was a photo I took of my 5-year-old grandson and his best friends at his birthday party.
2. I have been doing pastels for many years but seldom do people.
3. I am an 82-year-old artist that works in pastel and oil primarily. I also do some tapestry weaving. 

Molly Harris
1.  My inspiration was a long-term love interest and the understanding of myself and others that I have derived/am deriving from the experience.

2.  I have been making oil paintings on wood panels for about ten years, and I have been making drawings on antique music paper for about 7 years.
 
3.  I am a self-taught artist, native to Colorado Springs.  I love exploring different artistic styles and different mediums, which seem non-cohesive at the outset, but will eventually coalesce into a cohesive body of work.  Sometimes it takes years for the pieces to fit themselves into place. 

Abraham Eisenstein                    
hear we go, from out of the blue, as deep as a metaphorical mirror, hello to you
                         ...scents of inspiration, vintage two 'n' too!
paint with words, left to right, love of 'rite, soft and tight, 'rythmatic of script sculpture
                                      the big picture plus...
                          in the oddest place, in the artist place
tonight, turning 'rite up yore alley in left field, oceanic mountainous clouds
                                                         the roof of you're cellar
 
 
from thirty-four into approximately seventy... thirty six years in a wilderness of golden would essence 'n' petrified woulds,
pondering the deeper significance of invisible by day in sight of night...
 
 
...retired after 19 years at CMHS, 2005
taught seniors psychology, sociology, gradually becoming psychosocial movement of hearty heady
grew up in NYC, came thru Ellis Island at the age of one, 1949
MA applied Economics, QC ... finished doctorate course work at SUNY at Stony Brook in theoretical Economics
hitched from London to Jerusalem, nine weeks
receiving teaching assistantships at both institutions
ten years of in tense karate training, 3 national team kata awards, junior instructor
invited to train in Japan, JKA for a summer
Columbia University for graduate work, a year of Sports Psychology, NLP
taught at NY Institute of Technology, Queensboro CC, George Washington HS (math)
Colorado ...
 
thank you, dream well
 
 
Suzi Reaves
Suzi’s work is described as “Love and Health and Beauty”
1.  I was prompted to enter this gallery show because I create porcelain essential oil necklaces, which celebrate the heart and love.  They are worn with love of self because they have a purpose.   The necklaces are infused with thieves oil to promote good health, well-being and self-care. The necklaces are given with love to show affection for the recipient.  They are beautiful and have the bonus of keeping the wearer feeling well.  Whether giving the essential oil necklace as a gift or gifting it to yourself, you are showing love and joy.  
 
2.  I have been a ceramic artist since my first pottery class in 1973.  Clay hooked me and I won’t let go.  It is a sensuous media and brings me joy to work with it. I create my pieces by hand, fire it in a kiln then decorate each piece, making each ceramic creation a work of love.  
 
3.  I studied ceramics the first time I went to college in the 70’s.  I had a minor degree in art and have always worked in it.  I married, had a family and needed something to give us health insurance and to work towards a retirement so I joined the U.S. Navy in 1990.  Fast forward twenty-three years and I had earned a retirement.  My family was grown and I was a disabled veteran, though not enough to keep me from doing art.  I took my G.I. Bill and went back to college, this time earning my Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in ceramics.  I have been happily creating with clay since.  

Julia Wright
1.    My Love of Nature and seeing how disrespectful people have become when caring for the environment in recent years, the quote about who this planet belongs to has been posted around my home for a long time. The photograph I took of a man holding his child pointing off into the distance/future sitting on the grass became something to play with digitally and place them in a more nature filled setting. This image then seemed to be the perfect illustration for that quote.
 
The other images were inspired by Shawn Gallaway's song "I Choose Love" that I have listened to for many years. The idea of the choice between Love or Fear; or Peace and War; Sunshine or a Storm; Laughter or Tears . . . the answer to all those questions is "I Choose Love." The pairing of dragonflies or black swans or a Squirrel with its hand on its heart inside a heart illustrates that choice for me.
 
2.   I have been taking photos on my hikes or in gardens for most of my adult life. Started using them in wall art about 2 years ago and in my books for about 5 years. Sometimes I use them as they naturally appear, other times I play with them more in Photoshop to give them a more abstract or painted look.
 
3.   I have had a respect and love of the natural world all of my life and became involved in the arts when I worked behind the scenes in theater in High School. In College I started working with fibers and going to art festivals and selling in galleries. I am mostly known for my feather masks and jewelry pieces. I began writing books about 5 years ago and they needed illustrations. Most of them are illustrated with my photographs, some I do find elsewhere. The photographic digital art was an easy progression to another level of art to play in with my Nature photos. Using them as they appear naturally works sometimes, but I "fell down a rabbit hole of creativity" and began to manipulate them in a graphic program in ways to add interest. Some feel like you are looking through a kaleidoscope or at a mandala, others are purely abstractions and all invite you to look deeper to find fantastic forms or creatures within each picture. The ones in this show have some manipulation to gain the effect of the focus creature offering love in some form or another to each other or the viewer.
 
 
 
Shirley Paterson
For me, the theme “Love and…” immediately brought to mind—fabric!  Fabric presents endless possibilities of color, pattern, texture, as well as cultural connections and family, personal and emotional ties.  Fabric communicates, even without words. 
 
I have been sewing for nearly 50 years, beginning with outdoor equipment kits and homemaking items.  I am a past president of Piecing Partners Quilt Guild in Colorado Springs, and have participated in a number of shows through the years.  I gravitate toward simple fabric combinations, in hopes of taking advantage of the materials to create something both pleasing and useful.
 
I grew up in Boulder, and graduated from Colorado College (1972).   I worked in a clinical psychology office for many years, while my husband owned a construction company. We have two grown daughters and two grandsons, and have lived on Colorado Springs’ west side for over four decades.   
 
I find the activity of designing and creating sewn items to be stimulating and calming at the same time – also addictive!  Thanks for the opportunity to share some of my creations with you.

​
Ben Bires
1. Being new to Colorado, I wanted to show my gratitude for our surrounding scenery here at the Front Range. Taking walks through these open spaces in nature is my inspiration. I fell in love with the contrast between the bold colors of the red rocks clashing against Colorado’s blue skies.

​2. Within the last year, I have found an appreciation for the versatility of acrylics.
 
I began painting with oils almost a decade ago and for many years, I used watercolors to capture my traveling experiences into landscape paintings. This approach involves a gel medium retarder that slows down the drying process allowing me to treat parts of the painting like oils.
 
3. I grew up in a small town in Western Pennsylvania and spent most of my childhood exploring the outdoors. I attended Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania and graduated with a BFA in 2014. Three years prior, while in college, a collaborative camping trip with the Art and Geology Departments changed everything for me when we drove across the country in a van to South Dakota’s Badlands National Park. Traveling out West a total of four times since visiting the Badlands convinced me to move before my roots became too deep. During the summer of 2016, halfway in my twenties, I left home with my other half, Liv, and moved to Colorado Springs. After the first month of getting settled, we found our first dog to adopt, Fin. They make my life a whole lot better. I enjoy listening to music with a good beer and great company. You might see me at the dog park or at a local pub.
 
 
 
Dalton Martin
1.  The photographs that I entered were part of the final project in the Photography II course at CSU-Pueblo.  Students were required to enter 3 juried exhibitions, so when I found the information on "Love and....", I thought it would be a great way to show individual work.  Art is all around us, but we pass by it every day without noticing because we don't stop, look up, look around, or take the time to appreciate the details and creations around us.

​2.  This is my second semester college course in photography, so I am new to this art form.
 
3.  I was born in San Diego, California, and moved to Pueblo in 2000 at the age of five.  I live with my parents and two dogs, and family is very important to me.  I have always enjoyed drawing and have the dream to work in the animation industry.  I am pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from CSU-Pueblo and enjoy learning and experiencing the various art forms.  My favorite art form is drawing, but I have also enjoyed the courses in painting and ceramics.  I also enjoy movies, Gundam models, Anime, and Marvel comics.
 
 
 
 
Laura Miller Maddox
Love and Reflection (digital photography on canvas)
 
My are is a meditation presented within a 2-dimensional space. Each digital image I create embodies a unique energy guided through the camera’s lens. “Love and Reflection” evokes memories of a lived past transcending time and space. I believe such memories become treasures of the heart.

Robin Scappaticci started out in college as a computer science major but took an art elective and fell in love. She graduated with a BA in studio art with a focus in ceramics planning to be a production potter. However, after a few years working in a co-op studio in Lynn, MA, long hours, no money, and many other reasons, she lost her love for clay.​

About ten years ago, she was reintroduced to clay when a friend invited her to take a Summer class, taught by Rui Hagen. Today she is creating functional work, whether wheel-thrown or hand-built, and she is using lace to create texture. “Lace, with its delicate quality and the many different patterns, gives me (the texture that I always loved). I like the idea of taking something old and creating something new from it,” she explains. Robin’s favorite pieces on this show are her cups. Her true joy comes after they are finished, when “I am able to hold them, warmed with something inside,” she says. Find more of her artwork at 45degreegallery.com in Old Colorado City.

​Deb Crowley took a wheel throwing class about five years ago and has loved working with clay since then. Her primary inspiration are shapes and colors found in nature—an aqua summer sky, the green Spring foliage, the vibrant oranges of sunsets, the curves found on the creek behind her house.
 
For this show, each work is unique with its own flaws and qualities, not perfectly symmetrical. “I love the way porcelain...finds its own shape and flow in the firings,” she says. Her pieces are glazed on the inside, making her work functional but raw on the outside, exposing the natural color and feel of the porcelain, a texture she calls “naked.” Her favorite pieces with this technique are the little wish cups, colorful and bright on the inside and nude on the outside. They are all unique and can be used as rice cups, espresso glass, toothpick holder, etc.

Artist Brenda Hadnagy has been making art since she was a little girl. In third grade, she decided to be an Art teacher, so she did! She got her BFA from the University of Utah and taught Art for many years. She took her first pottery class at 16 and it was instant love. Ever since, she has worked in many formats from sculpture to everyday tableware, trying to bring an intimacy and emotional connection through her art to her viewers. She loves to experiment with different techniques and glazes. “I find carving into clay and creating a tactile third dimension to my work to be very satisfying. I like to tell a story about how I am feeling through my work,” she explains.
 
Her work for this show includes a few functional pieces carved using scrafitto technique, creating a bold look in black and white, as well as a trio of sculptural pieces called the “Yoga” figures, where she experimented with playful poses to make you smile. Find more of Brenda’s work at commonwheel.com

Note: Scraffito is a decorative pottery technique created by scratching through a surface to reveal a layer of contrasting color underneath.

​When the artists of “Women in Clay” approached Colorado oil painter Jean Cuchiaro to paint flowers as a colorful backdrop to their clay creations, she felt honored by their challenge. “I've always had a creative spirit, eager to come up with or try different methods of communicating my appreciation and wonder about all the colors, patterns and characters in my surroundings,” she explains. An avid gardener, Jean loves to paint flowers as well as landscapes, farm animals, birds and wildlife.
 
Her paintings for this show represent all the wonder and delight to be found in and around a Summer garden in Colorado, with colors that vibrate in the sunlight through transparent petals and leaves, such as “Pink Dahlia” (Oil, 24”x36”) “Morning Glories” (Oil, 36”x24”) and “Pink Poppy” (Oil, 20”x30”).

​by Leti Wesolowski, contributor
 
“Flowers from My Garden”
Artist’s Reception: Friday, April 21, 5-8 pm
April 21—May 15
 
“Flowers from My Garden” is a joint show between Susan Fowler and Isaac Takakuwa opening April 21st in our Creekside Gallery. Our Artists’ Reception is from 5 to 8pm. This show will be on display and for sale through May 15th.
 
Susan Fowler is primarily a landscape artist inspired by the beautiful Colorado scenery, as well as daily observations of animals in nature, still life or florals. For “Flowers from My Garden” she is showing portraits of flowers blooming in her garden.
 
Isaac Takakuwa is a pottery artist exploring new ceramic shapes with his trademark floral motifs. Isaac seeks to convey the beauty of the form through imagery and color. Isaac is a Commonwheel Co-op member.
 
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A little bit about our guest artist, Susan Fowler.
 

Susan Fowler is an impressionist oil painter who moved to Colorado Springs in 2008 looking for a place to get inspired and fulfill her lifelong dream of painting full-time. She learned drawing, composition and design in the traditional manner at Briarcliff College and Florida International University, both in FL. However, at the time she had to choose between work and career, so she was not able to devote herself to what she felt was her true calling. Now many decades later, Susan is totally dedicated to her art and she is focused on visually recording subjects of Nature that are important to her. “It is a way to see deeply what captures my interest” she explains.

Susan’s body of work is a “visual legacy” of her personal life experiences. To paraphrase her:
 
“An artist sees, feels and experiences
all sorts of things. When something touches
the heart, an artist feels compelled to record, interpret and give personal power to that observation.
Only then is the soul quieted.”
 
Susan’s floral collections will be showing at Commonwheel Artist Co-op Creekside gallery in Manitou Springs, CO until May 15th. To find more of her work visit her website at www.susanfowlerartist.com or follow her on Facebook (Western Light Studio) and Instagram ( @SusanFowlerFineArt).
 
 
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