​We love when we get to showcase art by Manitou Art Center artists. This show features potters Madalyn Kae and Robin Scappaticci, sculptor and figure artist Nancy Morse, and printmaker Ramona Lapsley. Together they will fill our gallery space with whimsical and colorful art to delight the eye and the imagination.

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Nancy Morse
I am a Colorado artist who is interested in many mediums. I love the abstract expression of clay and am fascinated by rhythm, repetition, and the movement of textures. I find the marriage of function, expression, and beauty to be very rewarding. I am passionate about portraiture and figurative work and study them in my sculpture, painting, and drawing. I have been studying the figure and portrait for almost thirty years, attending figure drawing groups whenever possible. Sometimes (not as many as one would hope) getting a drawing or painting that can be, in itself, a finished product, but often I use sketches to then work into sculptures. I am excited to have the opportunity with this show to pull all forms of my art together in one venue.
 
Recently, I have started spending more of my time on sculpture. Many years ago, I started a series of “Gargoyle Coat-hooks” inspired by my travels in Europe. I have once again returned to the image and function of these. I find humanity (in all forms) and therefore the representation of it in art beautiful and fascinating. And hope the viewing public can see that as well.
 
My work is expressive and indicative of the whimsy I see in the world around me. The creative process is like an expanded reality that is exciting, invigorating, and sometimes, in the most rewarding way, takes on a life of its own. For example, when a small unintended smudge or line in a drawing ends up being an important part of the finished piece.
 
Visitors are welcome at my studio in the Manitou Art Center backdoor studio and quite often my work can be found in shows there. My work can also be seen online at nancymorseart.com and at the Boulder Street Gallery at 206 North Tejon Street, in downtown Colorado Springs. 
https://www.boulderstreetgallery.com/


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​Madalyn Kae
I have had a lot of fun creating my “Fabulous Flock” for the “Whimsy” show. Each porcelain bird is individually handmade and between 18 and 23 inches tall. 
 
It is challenging to work with ceramic porcelain at such a large scale, especially when it involves body attachments such as wings and beaks. After much trial and error these fabulous creatures arrived, each with a distinctive personality!



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Ramona Lapsley
I have been an artist since I was 8. The love of drawing and the encouragement of friends and family have motivated me to continue to draw, print, paint, and teach art. I have been printmaking for the last twenty years. I am fortunate to have access to the press and studio at the Manitou Art Center.
 
Making art is putting a visual image reflecting thoughts, interests, and experiences on paper or in another media. Art is a way of bringing something important to light for others to see and enjoy. Sometimes words just can't convey what ideas I want to bring forth.
 
I have been working with images of fish and more recently birds. Colorado sport fish have been an interest for a really long time and more recently I have been depicting birds found in my neighborhood and at my feeders. There is a fun almost whimsical nature both in fish, and fishing, as well as bird communities.
 
My linoleum prints start as sketches in my sketchbook from ideas or photos I've taken. I draw on the linoleum block with a sharpie and then carve out the white spaces. Using a brayer I apply a layer of black oil based ink on the block and then place paper on top. The image is transferred to the paper by pressing it thought the printing press. Later, water-based inks and colors are hand painted on the print.
 
I like elements of design like the grid, square, pattern and contrast so I work those into my design. I have to like the image as a black and white print and then most likely add color to it. To the viewer, those same things are appealing. I also want people to see fish differently perhaps as well as birds. I want people to interact with the idea that you don't have to go far to experience nature. Fish can be spotted in the Ruxton creek across the street from the studio and birds are right outside my window. Both require observation and appreciation.
 
I really like my newest print of the two woodpeckers. Although I have them perched on trees, it is really funny to watch them try to hang on to tube bird feeders.
 
My work can be viewed at the Manitou Art Center Print studio as well as the gift gallery at the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center, the Sangre De Cristo Art Center, and the Lapis gallery in Denver on Tennyson.
 
https://www.csfineartscenter.org/visit/dining_shopping/gift-shop-and-gallery/
https://www.sdc-arts.org/visitor/shopping-dining
http://www.lapisarts.com/gallery.htm



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Robin Scappaticci
I grew up in the Hudson Valley in New York State. I took my first ceramics class in high school and fell in love with clay. I continued taking classes in college and ended up with a major and the idea of being a production potter, which did not work. After 25 years, I fell back in love after taking a summer class. 
 
I make pots for the joy of it. I love everything about it—working with the clay to form the piece, deciding what laces to use, thinking about and adding color, firing, and opening the kiln hoping for a successful outcome—even glazing has become enjoyable.
 
Making art is about joy. It has been many years since I have thought that I could make a living at it. It takes way too long for me to make a finished piece. It is something that I do for myself. I love going to the studio and working. It is time that is completely mine. I love it when people appreciate what I make.
 
I have used lace for about 10 years in in my work to create patterns and texture, and it makes a way to add color that works for me. Two years ago, I made a few flowers, and I had thought I would like to make more but never took the time. This show called “Whimsy” gave me the opportunity.
 
Water Flower was the first piece that I made for this show, where, for me, form and color came together.
 
My work is in 45 Degree at 2528 W Colorado Ave in Colorado Springs.    https://www.45degreegallery.com/

by Juanita Canzoneri

​I interviewed Helen Smithwick in her studio on the west side of Colorado Springs. Large windows looked out at Pikes Peak through bare spring tree branches from the homes across the street.
 
Helen is a botanical illustrator, which means she makes illustrations of plants and flowers. Animals have crept in from time to time, but that’s technically not botanical.
 
She received her certification in this through the School of Botanical Art and Illustration in Denver, graduating with honors in 2013. Helen attended this school because she always enjoyed art and never had any piece of paper to prove that she could do it. “It kind of seemed cool to have a little piece of paper,” she says.
 
She spent the first few years after receiving certification exhibiting her work in shows. It’s fun to get dressed up and go to an opening every so often, but that wanes after a bit. She applied to Commonwheel last February to “see if I could sell anything.”
 
“I’m enjoying Commonwheel,” Helen states. “I love the people. I’ve met the neatest people—different, eccentric, wonderful, kind. They’ve been just amazing. When I had to go to Australia for a family emergency, everyone just jumped up and pitched in to cover my shifts and help out.”
 
Helen has a lovely British accent, having grown up in the south of England, near Winchester. She met her husband, Bob, in West Africa while she was teaching in the British equivalent of Peace Corps. They were both in a tiny village on the coast of Ghana.
 
They moved to Colorado when they were first married and started a family.

​“I’ve drawn all my life. I was the kid sitting in the corner doodling around my notes. You’re told as a young person that art isn’t something to pursue, but I always did it on the side. My kids would laugh when they could come across a stack of my old drawings and exclaim that they didn’t know I would do this.”
 
“When I retired a very good friend of mine told me about the Botanical School and said it was exactly what I would need, so we started taking classes together. She dropped out but I continued. You get to a point where you’ve taken half the classes and you think, I might as well finish this. “
 
Most people achieve their certification in two or three years. Helen took three years.
 
The nice thing about botanical drawings is that your subjects are just outside the door. Helen prefers to work from live specimens, which means she sometimes must work very quickly, keeping the plants in the refrigerator. She’ll work 8-hour days on a drawing, taking 2-3 days to complete a piece to make sure the plant lasts. 

​This proves to be a problem in winter when the plants are dormant. She keeps a stash of dried plants in the corner of her studio, “but those get boring so I will work from photographs. I do not like doing that because I feel a photograph distorts. But I’ll do it because sometimes in the winter you want to work on something other than a dried specimen.”
 
Coming from England where you “just throw a seed in the ground and it grows” she hasn’t found gardening in Colorado to be one of her favorite things. Her husband prefers to garden. “Here, I discovered, you have to actually water things. I love to get my hands in the soil and mess around in it but, no, I’m not a very good gardener.” 

“People give me plants. I borrow them, I go out and find a lot of wild flowers.” It’s good to have friends who garden. “I’m shameless. One year my Shasta Daisies didn’t do well, and Bob and I were out walking and passed a house with beautiful daisies. I just went up and knocked on the front door and asked if they would mind if I took some of their plants to draw them. They said I could, so I did.”
 
Because of her School of Botanical Arts training Helen works in a variety of media—graphite, carbon dust, watercolor, pen and ink, watercolor pencil, colored pencil on Mylar. Her favorites are watercolor and watercolor pencil.

We asked the four artists in this gallery show several questions:
Tell us about why/how you got into art. 
What does making art mean to you?
What has inspired you for this show? 
Walk us through the your creative process.
What emotions/reactions/thoughts do you want your work to bring?
What is your favorite piece for sale at this event? 
Where can we find your work: website, social media, local stores.
 
​Here are their responses.

​I’ve been painting all my adult life and as a child I loved to draw, much to the consternation of teachers who found it hard to get me to concentrate on lessons. From a coal mining town in Pennsylvania my parents moved us to Manhattan, New York City when I was sixteen. I attended the Art Students’ League in New York for four years and my first professional art exhibit took place at the prestigious Salmagundi Club where I was one of the first women artists elected to membership. After moving to Colorado in 1983 I continued to study with artists whose work I admired while having representation in galleries in Santa Fe, Taos and Colorado. My work began to earn awards at national exhibits, and I was inducted into the Master Circle in the International Association of Pastel Societies.
 
My work, whether in oils or pastels is my pathway to exploration and expression of the environment as I experience it. It has been my passion for most of my life and continues to be so. This exhibit in oils includes some of my tree series paintings which has preoccupied me for some years as well as abstractions which are more recent works. Although the tree series may be considered referential, I feel they are close to abstractions in that I take great liberties with nature in composition, color and visual interpretation. Expression through vibrant color combinations intrigues me and is present in all my paintings, no matter the genre.
 
My hope is to engage the viewer, if just for a moment, and communicate the sense of excitement and connectivity I felt in its creation.

​While working as a health care professional for many years, I have had many affairs with different arts and crafts. I was always on the lookout for the one that would captivate and challenge me—my one true love that would balance out my very left-brained, non-creative profession.
 
I’ve found all this and more with glass, and along with my newly empty nest, I’m experiencing a Renaissance.
My current body of work includes small glass mosaic pieces (light switch covers) and fused glass work utilizing recycled glass (tempered glass shelving and automobile glass). I love the green aspect of using “glass with a past”. They take on a life and Renaissance of their own.
 
Each piece is individually designed in my Colorado studio with special attention to color, flow, and functionality.
Whether I’m working on a mosaic piece, or trusting the kiln gods with a fused glass creation, I am learning to appreciate the magic and alchemy that transform a simple material into a glorious piece of art.
 
I enjoyed being part of the Recycled Art show that Commonwheel had a year ago. So, when the opportunity arose to get into another show I jumped at it. This is a beautiful gallery, all the artists I met were welcoming and professional.
 
My favorite work right now is the fused glass. All the objects are made from recycled glass, some of which I pull from dumpsters while on walks around my neighborhood, some of which magically appears on my front porch as my neighbors all know what I do. The green pieces are from the rear window of a car. I use so much of that glass that I now go to a junk yard in Denver with a sledge hammer when I need to replenish my stock. Other types of glass I use are shower doors and glass shelving. All of this glass would end up in a landfill if I hadn't "rescued" it. We, as a society, simply throw too much stuff away.
 
I hope viewers of my work will be surprised and delighted to see what can be made from glass that is typically thought of as trash.
 
My website: IndigoMesaGlassworks.com
My facebook: Indigo Mesa Glassworks
I am a member of Shadow Mountain Gallery (also an artist-owned gallery) in Evergreen, Colorado.

​I have always been interested in art, in elementary school I was the kid who was drawing instead of doing my work. I flirted with becoming a commercial artist or graphic designer, but being a musician won. My initial medium was drawing, either pencil or pen and ink, but once I got the opportunity to use a potters’ wheel I was instantly in love with clay. I have been a hobby potter for nearly thirty years, it’s an obsession. 
 
Creativity is my drug of choice, whether it’s making music or making art. Art is my solace, my therapy, my expression of living in the moment.
 
I have been exploring clay saggar firing for the past couple of years. I’m intrigued by the element of chance of atmospheric firings. There is no possibility of duplication, there’s no way to plan how the gasses in the kiln will color the clay. I love that spontaneity and randomness. It’s an artistic expression of Carpe Diem. Every time I open the kiln it’s like Christmas.
 
I have been intrigued by bottles for many years and have been trying to perfect the form. I was inspired many years ago by a poster in our community studio of wood fired bottles. When I discovered the saggar firing technique it was a perfect combination. The "saggar" is pot made of clay that the piece to be fired sits inside of. I wrap old guitar strings around the piece to create dark lines. Then inside that saggar I put various combustible materials that will create chemical gasses that will color the piece. Some of the materials I will put in the saggar are wood chips, horse manure, plant food, coffee grounds, salt, all sorts of things. A big part of the fun is playing mad scientist, throwing various things in the saggar to see what they do. One happy accident was when the guitar string melted onto the piece, I loved the look and now I try to make that happen. The saggar is then put into the kiln and fired to about 1700 degrees.
 
I want people to see beauty, to see spontaneity. To enjoy the moment that was captured by the clay when they look at my work.
 
My favorite piece for this show is this bottle (see below). I love it. The form is beautiful, the colors have depth and variety. This is a perfect coming together of chance and skill.
 
My facebook page is the best place: https://www.facebook.com/PotteryByJosie/
I am also on Instagram as fiddlequick.
I am a member of the Aurora Potters’ Guild, my work can be found at their bi annual sale.

​I have always been an artist, but when I started college, I did not think it a viable major; yet took a painting or drawing course every semester. I had switched majors three times, until as a sophomore my art professor asked what in the world I was doing – and that for heavens sake I should be majoring in art, and not only that, they needed me! It’s pretty seductive to feel needed, and that’s where I was happiest, so I switched majors one last time.
 
Making art is not only a way of expressing my world–but also being part of the creative force. One of my colleagues talks about being a Maker, which is profound, yet so basic!
 
The original concept for this exhibit focused on a variety of media and abstraction, hence, “Eclectic Expressions.” Despite advice from professionals and gallerists to stay with a single theme, there was always a new path to explore and more than one tempting choice to make. I often consider Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken.” And I wonder. . . Yet, life is exciting, and thus should be one’s work. It’s not just a journey – but real trip!
 
I start with my sketchbook, in plein air, and/or photos, or sometimes with memories so distant they can only be rendered as abstraction, i.e., Sand and Sea. At times research is needed: i.e., dragonflies don’t pose.
 
I want the person looking at my work to find Connection. The viewer brings his/her own story to a work of art.
 
My favorite piece of work for this show is RED. Aside from the universal emotion of the color red, and the universal symbolism of the spiral, it was just plain fun to focus on mixing so many varieties of a single color - which is essentially the only thing I needed to think about during the painting process.
 
My artwork can be found at Commonwheel Artists Co-op, Manitou Springs CO; BLUECANYONART, and  SOUTHWINDS Gallery, Monument CO

Interview by Juanita Canzoneri

I interviewed Frank and Ginny Maiolo, our March Artists of the Month, in their home studio.

Frank and Ginny named their studio Monument Moon because they live in Monument, Colorado and Ginny has been enamored by the moon all her life.

Frank and Jenny are jewelers. They design and create jewelry from silver or copper with gemstones and precious semi-precious stones. They make rings, earrings, bracelets, pendants, sometimes dog tags.

Most of their work is done with hot connections using solder and flux. They use an acetylene air torch for silver soldering. They have been rock hounds their entire lives and have a large collection of stones in their studio.

Ginny and Frank retired from corporate America seven years ago and decided to have fun with the rest of their lives. They had both been managers for software development groups at FedEx. One of the women worked for Ginny made jewelry and Ginny asked if this woman would give her a class.

She came home from the class and left all of her class instructions on the table and went shopping. When she came back home Frank had already made two pair of earrings.

They had no idea they wanted to work in metal. Frank read through the instructions Ginny had left behind and decided it looked like fun. Being a little more familiar with tools he helped with those. “I was afraid of the torch,” Ginny confessed. “it was a little still a little unnerving at times, but Frank is really good with the torch.”
I asked the question I typically ask silversmiths: how many hammers do you have? They start counting and come up with 17. They’d have more but the hammers they like are really expensive. Then I point out a large hammer under the table, giving a final count of 18.

They use a rolling mill as much as hammers for texture and have another tool with a texture attachment.

​I asked Frank how he came to start his line of Camino jewelry. In 2015 they decided to would do the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain, a 500-mile-walk through Spain on the Santiago de Compostela.

After they got home, they realized most of the commemorative jewelry they had seen on the trip was made in China. So, Frank came up with a couple designs for pendants, rings, earrings, and bracelets and has been selling those now for a couple of years through our Monument Moon site, Etsy, and Amazon handmade. The pieces can also be found in Camino Marketplace on Facebook.
​
Frank and Ginny started their business while in their sixties and it's flourishing. “So often we think it's too late. I'm retired and there’s nothing more I can do,” Ginny says. “But it's never too late! When I retired Frank got me this card and I framed it and put it in my studio. ‘There will come a time when you think everything is finished, but that will be the beginning.’ And it's so true. this has changed our entire life.”

They’ve always been interested in art. Ginny paints and they've always been an advocate of the Arts. They travel the world going to Art Museums and so it's always been an interest. “I thought I would stick with painting,” Ginny says, “but I wasn't that good at it. I enjoy it, and it's fun, and I still do it. But jewelry just resonated with both of us it was just so completely us, using the things that we've always loved. Having been in the corporate world all of our professional careers this was something where we just reinvented ourselves.”

Frank has an MBA project management, undergraduate business information. Ginny has an undergrad in psychology which has helped her deal with group dynamics. She taught in the corporate world as well as managed and comments, “you'd be surprised how often we use that in the world of artists. Group dynamics are pretty similar no matter what group you're in.”

But Commonwheel has been a freeing experience for them both. They had rigid corporate standards in software development, which is something that really turns software developers off because they want to have their own thing. Now they can do anything they want and can experiment, and play, and don't have to worry about it.

For the newly retired or those who want to expand their creative life the recommend taking classes anywhere you can find them.
“Explore,” says Ginny “I never thought I would get into jewelry making. I enjoyed it, I love buying it, but I would always look at it and think well I could make that. And then I started making jewelry and it's a lot harder than I thought. Explore. Play. Don’t be too ready to say you can't do something.”

Whatever you learn will often carry over into other areas. Looking at the different types of art that Commonwheel carries and that they do you will find they all draw on the same art concepts: the rule of threes, asymmetry, and so on. Everyone has creativity whether it's in music, writing, art, even thinking—which basically starts at all.

Ginny and Frank have two completely different design methods. Ginny has a basket of ideas in her space. When there were wildfires near their home a few years ago, this basket is one of the things their daughter took to keep safe. The basket contains her ideas, drawings, names, etc. “I keep it by me at night when Frank's watching TV and jot down ideas. I have a basketful of paper and pencils and I'm designing,” Ginny says. 

Frank says he designs at the bench. He doesn't do any drawings. He just sits down with his raw materials and it grows. Usually he's picked a stone out of their collection first and does a lot of designing in his head.
Franks calls is designs simplistic elegance and Ginny says she gets way too into a piece and has to figure out where to stop. So, she ends up with some designs that she can't finish without showing it to Frank and say “now what do I do?”

But they do definitely help each other with the design and with the technical aspects. “I'm so afraid I'm going to melt something” says Ginny about fusing. “I don't want it to melt and Frank is so totally comfortable with that torch. He  knows it intimately.”

In addition to Commonwheel Artists Co-op and our Labor Day Festival the Maiolo’s sell at Front Range Open Studios. This will be their seventh year. There are currently 16 artists in Monument that are part of the weekend event in September.

Interview by Juanita Canzoneri. Photographs by Juanita Canzoneri and Teri Rowan.

Jon joined Commonwheel as a jeweler in 2018 and has made himself indispensable to our Jury/Display committee. I went to his home/studio to interview him for this article.
 
He is our Artist of the Month for February 2019. All his work is on sale at 10% off through the month.
 
 
So, what is it that you do?
I'm a silversmith.
 
And how did you get into that?
I've often admired I've long admired Southwestern jewelry and wanted to learn some of those basic techniques. But I didn't want to try and duplicate the designs that the Indians used, I wanted to do my own designs.  So I took a couple classes of some of the basic techniques. That was about 25 years ago and I've been kind of self-taught since then.
 
What did you do before you took up silversmithing?
Lots—small animal veterinarian for 20 years, then my wife and I owned a bird feeding store which gradually transitioned into a bookstore.
 
Birders?
Yeah, I’m a birder. We sold that and the next thing was a B&B with some rental cabins here in Manitou. I most recently we had the kitchen store then the economy changed, and we retired from that.
 
Now I have more time to spend on my silversmithing.

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:
hlouducharme@comcast.net

​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 koehnart75@yahoo.com. 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. richardrisely@pixels.com 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 rrisely@aim.com.

 
Lance writes, I was first attracted to ceramics because of the joy I saw in the making. I delighted in the knowledge gained from the past through the discovery of vessels or shards. I enjoy problem solving and seeking answers to complex questions of which the creation of ceramic objects lends itself.  I begin my creative process with the rhythmic wedging of stoneware clay as I contemplate the series of forms to come. Through a blend of concentration and relaxation I find harmony in the forming, decorating and the finishing of each piece. My wheel thrown forms are carved, dried, bisque fired, glazed and finally glaze fired in a Raku kiln or high-fire kiln.  In the process of creating my decorative vessels, I seek traditional form upon which I may draw a line or create line with a variety of methods. The intention is to provoke a tactile and visual intimacy and allow for contemplation. The concepts start with my heart and are created with my hands; passing to the viewer, this concept hopefully passes from their hands to their heart.

History:
I have been an artist potter for over 40 years now.  My primary means of forming is throwing on the potter’s wheel.   I received my BFA in Ceramics at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas under Piero Fenci and my MA and MFA in ceramics at the University of Dallas under Dan Hammett.  My first semester in clay was in the Spring of 1978 which was primarily hand building.  In the summer, I became friends with the graduate students and they taught me the basics of throwing on a wheel.  When the Fall class started, my instructor asked if anyone wanted to learn to throw.  He asked if I wanted to try and I said sure.  I hopped on the wheel and proceeded to throw a cylinder to his astonishment.  I then told him about learning from the graduate students.
 
Both of my ceramics instructors were graduates of Alfred University in New York under Val Cushing and not only taught me a love of the material but also much of the more technical aspects of clay, glaze and firing.  They also inspired me to continue my knowledge of ceramics through collaboration, workshops, reading and of course now, the internet.
 
After graduate school, I moved to Carlsbad, California and opened a studio gallery and worked part time for a production potter.  I moved on to Seattle, Washington and taught classes at Seattle Central Community College and Seward Park Arts Studio.  The art fair scene was quite strong in Washington state and I participated and many art fairs.  After 10 years in Seattle, I decided to move back to Texas and made a stopover in Colorado Springs, but never left.  I found Down to Earth Pottery and worked for them as a production potter for a year or so.  Art fairs at the time were quite strong in Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico and I attended many an art fair for a number of years.  I applied to become a member of Commonwheel Artists Coop in 2006.  In 2007 I became a ceramics instructor at Pikes Peak Community College and after quickly growing the department, I was offered a permanent position as a faculty member and the head of the department, a position I still hold to this day.  In 2009 I set up a studio at Cottonwood Center for the Arts and remain there to this day.  Occasionally, I offer private lessons in my studio to beginning and advanced students.
 
Aside from the art fairs, I began marketing my ceramic objects online in 1995.  A few years ago, I quit the art fairs entirely and focused on online sales.   I sell through Etsy, Handmade at Amazon, and through the Artful Home.  A number of other sales come from my studio, social media and networking.
 
 
My work can be found online at:
 
Lance Timco on Artful Home
Timco Art Pottery on Etsy
Timco Art Pottery on Handmade at Amazon
Timco Art Pottery on Squareup Market
 
Colorado galleries that carry my work:
 
Commonwheel Artists Co-op
102 Cañon Avenue
Manitou Springs, CO 80829
(719) 685-1008
commonwheel.com
 
Spirits in the Wind Gallery
1211 Washington Ave.
Golden, CO  80401
(303) 279-1192
spiritsinthewindgallery.com
 
Rock Run Gallery
95 South Main Street
Buena Vista, CO  81211
(719) 221-9398
rockrungallery.com
 
 
Timco Art Pottery on social media:
 
https://www.facebook.com/timco.art.pottery/
Instagram  @timcoartpottery
https://www.pinterest.com/TimcoArtPottery/Youtube
Google+
Tumber
​

​Juanita Canzoneri
Commonwheel Artists Co-op curator for Fiber = Art
 
When I proposed the concept for this show to Liz Kettle and Susan Haldeman at Textiles West I was thrilled that they were as excited about the idea as I was.  Liz’s “stitch meditation” series was part of the  inspire for this event.
 
I’ve been working in fiber since childhood. I was raised by a mother who knits and sews and that modeled for me the beauty and utilitarianism of the art form. I worked in the theater costume shop in college and set up my own sewing room once out of college, designing my own wardrobe.
 
I started working in glass mosaics in 2001 and put fiber to the side.
 
But in the past decade the non-functional uses for fiber work have become more important to me than making things to be worn on the body. I started with working in alternative fibers, such as video tape and audio cassette tape. Since they were too stiff to be comfortably worn I started yarn bombing with them and created a few larger installation pieces—the first of which is still on my gate.
 
My pieces for this show incorporate collaged Styrofoam and ping pong balls and covered them in decorative crochet. I’ve taken groupings of these and assembled them into mobiles—a new art form for me!
 
I hope you enjoy seeing the work we’ve assembled for this show as much as we have enjoyed putting it together. The range of talents and fiber art styles we’ve drawn is astounding.
 
 

​Heather Cotterman
 
I have always been in love with fiber and color, in all forms. Throughout my artistic career I have experimented with fiber in many forms. My journey began in the quilting world making a blanket for my oldest child before she was born, 17 years ago. I soon began to play with fabric and thread like they were paints. Once we moved to Colorado I explored patterned pen and ink drawing and started on my journey of converting my drawings into fiber art pieces. Once in Colorado I had time to pursue my fiber arts business through raising a fiber flock that includes angora goats, angora rabbit, and sheep. In addition to my art quilts I spend time hand-dying my hand-spun art yarn, weaving, and making silk sculptures. 
 
My pieces often come from images from my dreams. I have yet to be able to fully capture what I see in my dreams, which provides many opportunities to capture my imagination. Both "Bridge of Dreams" and "Daphne" are sketches that came about, in the middle the night, after waking from a dream. Very rarely do I have an intent when I begin to sketch. It’s almost like my subconscious is drawing. As I am working and sometimes not till I’m finished, meaning begins to take form. My hope is that working in this manner gives my work a sense of organic mysticism and spirituality that can speak to many on an individual sense. 
 
“Daphne” is a perfect example of the evolutionary qualities of my artistic process. 

​Rhonda Denney
 
I have always been interested in art. During high school and college I attended art classes, but my degree and business career was in something totally different. I used art as a way to relax, but my career took me away from it. It was my husband who encouraged me to get back to it.
 
I started in fiber art around 2004 or so. Essentially, I started creating my art using fabrics and stitching. Then I discovered that using pigments opened my creative potential to a new dimension. Every time I create a piece I experiment more and learn more. I call my technique “Pigment Patchwork”.
 
I love the challenge of capturing the spirit of my subjects in my artwork. As I work on a project each piece seems to take on a life of its own, developing through the entire process.
 
I love watching people look at my work, seeing them examine the piece to try to determine what exactly it is; a photograph, a painting? Then, when they realize that it consists of fabric with stitching it requires a closer look and the need for a tactile confirmation becomes stronger.
 
I love experimenting with pigments on fabric. In this series, called “The Eyes Have It”, my work zooms in to get a closer look at my subjects, including their eyes. For this piece I wanted the texture to come through as well.
 
This piece was created using my Pigment Patchwork technique. Once I decided on my subject matter, using photographs as inspiration, I sketched the chameleon onto a large piece of silk noil fabric. Using water-soluble pigments I created the texture of his skin. Once completed, I chose the background fabric and mounted him onto it. Using a sewing machine, I added stitching for dimension on my sandwiched structure, using mono-filament threads so the colors would show through. The finished product was then mounted onto a wood panel.
 
I love catching people’s attention with the detail and reality of my pieces. I want them to come closer to see the detail.
 
My artist web site is: www.RhondaDenney.com. I also have items including limited edition prints and notecards of my work at my home studio and the following Galleries:
                Strictly Guffey, Guffey, CO
                3rd Street Gallery, Westcliffe, CO

​​M. Lynette Holmes
 
My fascination with and love of fabric began in my childhood. It was very exciting to choose fabric for my school clothes from the catalogs. I remember the smell of the paint as my mother stenciled on tablecloths. Occasionally, I would get a peek at the Japanese doll wrapped in tissue taken out of a special drawer and wonder about the mystique surrounding it. This was the beginning of my interest in making cloth, dyeing cloth, Asian art and working as a fiber artist.
 
I have been weaving and dyeing cloth for many years and presently concentrating on art quilts using surface design.
 
Art for me is problem solving, challenging, and at the same time joyful!
 
In this show, all of my works use collage, layering of fabrics, and to different degrees, hand-stitching. The stitching process helped me focus during a time of transition when time and access to materials and my sewing machine were scarce. In “Under the Sun” a forest is hand-stitched onto three layers of silk cloth. The hand stitching in the three smallest pieces manipulates the cloth creating texture and movement. The colors contribute to a universal theme of flowing water and is calming.
 
My favorite piece is “Voyage” because I like the variety of processes I used. It is dynamic with strong color and movement. I like the spiraling and color transition from dark to light. It expresses my thought that each person is on her/his own adventure in life whether purposeful or unknown.
 
The process for Voyage :
I began by machine-stitching fabrics arranged by color onto a base fabric. I started with an abstract design and did hand stitching to define some forms. Fabric paint was brushed on in areas where fabric shapes were too sharp. Large sheer fabrics were fused to create movement. Smaller forms were painted with paint sticks onto sheers, then fused and machine sewn. In this instance, the original abstract design disappeared and another vision took its place. From this point on, I viewed it as a whole piece and determined what needed to be added or changed. I painted a large circular line which completes the spiraling. Then, I tweaked it by adding shapes, fabrics, stamping and painting. I machine stitched the whole cloth and added a binding to finish.
 
Contact me at holmeslyn1@gmail.com
Home phone 710-696-8336
Cell phone 904-557-1187

​Page Jones
 
I'm originally from Texas. Both of my grandmothers had a love for the fiber arts (though they were geared more towards clothing and stuffed animals), so I became interested, too. I was drawn towards simple embroidery because it was easy to reproduce my pencil sketches in thread. I have been sewing since I was about 8 years old. I was never terribly proficient at it, but I always found joy in stitching on cloth. I started seriously doing embroidery on canvas in 2012. I had just graduated college, and I needed a creative outlet while transitioning from a student to the real world. Ever since, I have been honing my craft. My primary medium is fabric and stitching on canvas, though I dabble in nupastel on canvas as well. I focus on mostly natural and scientific themes.
 
Making art for me is creating a moment of time away from the regular rhythm of life. MY aim is to make a piece that will draw the viewer into a brief period of time where they can just follow the lines and feel the tone of the piece instead of the regular buzz of everything around them.
 
I am primarily a fiber artist, so entering the show was an opportunity to further demonstrate to the community an often overlooked medium. There aren't many fiber art shows out there that focus on non-functional fiber art, and it’s an honor to be a part of one.
 
I derive my inspiration from science and nature, and crinoids is an example of both. I was in the Houston Museum of Natural Science when I saw this massive, beautiful Crinoid fossil on the wall. I felt an instant desire to capture it in embroidery. When I was able to afford the largest canvas I could fit in my car, I got to work. I started with a base layer of natural earth paints to capture the feeling of the rock. I then chose a glittering gold thread so the piece would pop. The embroidery took me around a month and a half, finding time between work and other obligations. I sewed the whole thing free hand, staring at the picture of the fossil, then trying to imitate the ancient creature on canvas. When I was finished, the piece was massive and I was full of pin pricks from my needle, but well worth it.
 
I want the viewer to see the subject as intimately as I did. Whether it is the feeling of seeing a magpie for the first time, or the awe of seeing a towering fossil, I want to convey that same fascinations and wonder.
 
My favorite piece is “Crinoids”. When you spend so much time on one piece, you have many memories associated with its creation. I have many good memories stored in that piece.
 
I have some smaller embroidered pieces in Piazza Navona, 12 Ruxton Ave, Manitou Springs, CO 80829
I created a series of nebulae for sale at KJS Comics in the Citadel Mall, 750 Citadel Dr E #1116, Colorado Springs, CO 80909
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I have a few pieces available in a stairway gallery at Curves, 108 W Midland Ave, Woodland Park, CO 80863
I'm on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stitchedartbypagejones/
I have a website: https://page-jones.squarespace.com/
I'm open to commissioned pieces, so contact me through my website or Facebook page listed above if you are interested.

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​Stephanie Lyon
 
My interest in Fiber art and craft began as a child. My grandmother was a Hungarian immigrant working as a garment maker in a textile factory in NYC. The beauty and precision of her work fascinated me even as a child. In my teens and twenties I sewed clothing and home goods more as a practical matter than artistic pursuit. And tried my hand at other fiber arts of the time such as macramé. I pursued a career as a computer software engineer so no surprise I found the order and logic of weaving especially interesting.
 
In the early 1990s a workshop with Lore Kadden Lindenfeld (an early female industrial textile designer) confirmed weaving as my true fiber connection. I work almost exclusively on multi-harness floor or table looms. My favorite projects have been weaving with non-traditional materials, creation of dimensional pieces, and garments.
 
My current obsession is woven shibori also known as crimp cloth. It is a fun and fascinating process that produces a fabric with dimension that goes further than texture. I am not sure where it will take me.
 
“A weaver maps out the universe, travels back in time and journeys into the future...”, Gabriel George
in A Salish Weaver
 
Making art is my opportunity to turn off the analysis and connect to the creative part of my brain. Seeing the joy it can bring to others is the icing on the cake.
 
While a majority of my weaving is functional, “Pig in the Orchard” is my second pictorial weaving. I chose boundweave structure because it has a rather folk arty look with repeating design motifs. And this structure is done using a regular floor or table loom. I created the first wall hanging as a birthday gift for my husband who had become quite interested in the revival of the American hard cider industry. While the gift was very well received, some important orchard details were declared missing. In particular, a pig. I decided to do this second piece and incorporate some techniques that are not standard for boundweave. In the future, I expect there might be an orchard at night weaving.
 
Designing motifs for boundweave is very much a colored pencil on graph paper process. Each motif is designed around the target number of threads per inch and whether the motif should rise from the sides to the center or fall from the sides to the center. The photo included shows how some trees have upswing on the branches and others have downswing. Each row of boundweave requires multiple passes of the shuttles—in this piece 6—to insert the color that corresponds to each shaft for that row. Going back to the graph paper, each square represents color being woven at a particular row and thread (column). Once the design is completed on paper, the weaving begins from the bottom of the piece to the top. The design is used as a reference and changes are made on the fly as needed. Pictorial boundweave is slow progress but gives the weaver control over the placement of the design motifs while making efficient use of the multi shaft loom.
 
Getting the pig into the picture required some nonstandard manipulations to break the repeating motif of trees and insert a single pig. (The pigs get to eat any fallen fruit while keeping the soil in good condition.) Balancing the scale of the pig with the trees and getting sufficient detail was a bit of a challenge. Luckily, folk art allows one to relax the rules to achieve the proper whimsical result.
 
In general, I love to create weavings that perplex the viewer due to their perceived complexity … which is not necessarily their actual complexity.
 
While I am in the process of setting up an online selling venue at Etsy, it is not complete
yet. I am on Instagram at @xweaverwarped.

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​Mary Madison
 
I’ve always been interested in making art, reading and writing. I was fortunate that my family though dirt poor, encouraged me at every turn. When we planted our vegetable garden, I was allowed to grow gladiolas. My dad painted a bedroom wall pink so I could draw flowers on it. My grandmother bought me a set of encyclopedias from a traveling salesman paying pennies weekly. One aunt taught me crocheting while another set up a space just for me to use her sewing machine and my granddad taught me fine stitching by repairing his work clothes. He was a coal miner. His work clothes were torn and well work overalls. So making art isn’t so much what I do, it’s really a large part of who I am.
 
Though much of my energy has been focused on weaving, I also spend a lot of time quilting and eco dyeing. I encountered references about indigo while researching a book I was writing at the time about slave weavers and how they carded fiber, spun, dyed and wove a wide range of household items for plantation owners. I did not know before this that indigo still grows wild in some parts of the south. I am very protective of two indigo plants I’ve been nurturing along, whispering to them that snow isn’t really that bad!
 
The two pieces in the show are a reflection of two dyeing approaches. Though very different, the fiber reactive piece and the indigo dyed piece both speak to my trying to capture a sense of time and how I think of movement between dimensions as timeless and endless. The Evolution depiction, while moving up from water’s depth towards the surface, is still earth-bound. The Portal depiction feels less tied to earths grasp. When people view these pieces I would like for them to acknowledge, as I try to, things past without clinging or lamenting, and be hopeful and unafraid for things to come.
 
My latest efforts have been tied to gardening and figuring out how and where I’m going to plant a hemp crop (the fiber bast species, not the marijuana one) to make yarn using a blending of my alpaca fleece.
 
I’ve recently decided to be more proactive in sharing my work and have a website: MaryMadisonDesigns.com, where I’ve posted pictures of my work and other photographs. I also have a WordPress blog, though seriously not current, where you can read about my writing experience. It is titled Plantation Slave Weavers Remember.
 

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Andrea Schumacher
 
I have been doing art since I was a teen. I majored in art at University of Wisconsin, Madison, where I started doing printmaking, painting, and drawing. I moved to Chicago in 1986 to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I enrolled in a post-baccalaureate program, a one-year program that gave me the equivalent of a B.F.A degree. After a few more years I decided to pursue my MFA in printmaking at SAIC. I remained in Chicago until 2016. I showed in and around Chicago and had a variety of jobs. In 2004 I started working at Columbia College Chicago. I started in a tech position for the Art and Design Department. After a year I started managing the printmaking facility. I also taught a variety of printmaking courses at Columbia. So I have been a practicing artist and art educator for quite a while.
 
Art is an opening into another world, like a book. When I view art I get a chance to experience another point of view, to decode whatever visual system the artist might employ to communicate a message. Art is also like a time capsule to a particular time, society, and location. Making art is a chance to communicate my perspective, my history, my background and experience. My interests are quite varied, and my work reflects that. My work is quite diaristic, it is a record of my interests, obsessions, and problems. My best pieces are ones that communicate something personal but that also transcends my life and connects to larger issues.
 
I have been working with fabric for a few years (since 2015-2016). My sister was an avid quilter and she inspired me to make a few quilts. I made a t-shirt quilt and that led to me to consider using textiles in a more artistic and less functional way. I use recycled functional textiles and some new fabrics. I find that textiles have a lot of potential meaning and history. At times I am simply inspired by the color and tactile nature of material. It became quite evident to me that fabric was a great medium to make works about gender roles and my own personal history as a woman.
 
My sources of inspiration are quite varied. I am drawn to the fashion of the 60’s quite a bit. I am often inspired by theatrical wardrobe because I feel that these pieces of clothing help to convey elements of the character’s emotion and history. Much of my work uses items like buttons, buckles, zippers that convey a sense of containment. There are so many aspects of a garment that function to contain and constrain a body and that is a metaphor for female constraints.
 
The inspiration for “100 Sad Stories” was my Mother. She is very caught up in regret and anger for her life with my Father and her own upbringing. I feel her most significant legacy to me is sadness and regret. So I set out to create an item that could be considered a family heirloom, such as a quilt. This quilt however, would represent poverty and sadness. I wanted to make the most meager and threadbare blanket I could think of. I used a worn piece of wool with visible holes that was about the size of a person. I used a thin but delicate piece as the quilt top and quilted them together using spare buttons. There was no plan or attempt at measuring the quilting, so it is quite off kilter. The finished result was too pretty so I sewed a latticework of lines to connect the buttons and cut out the remaining fabric of the quilt top. The sewn lines look somewhat scar-like and the piece became quite spare but also overworked at the same time. I was not sure about how to display the finished piece and I decided to create an oversized hanger to hang the work.
 
Fabric and home furnishings represent comfort and security of the ideal home. A blanket can be luxurious and comforting. A hand-made quilt represents history, connection and love. Fabric is also the sports pennant, the politically incorrect t-shirt, the scorched work shirt, the physical embodiment of the domestic discord, the realm of women’s work. Each piece of fabric brings to mind narratives, associations, characters, eras. I have found that working with fabric to be conducive to my wide-ranging interests. 
 
For the most part, I have chosen to stretch my pieces and present them as paintings. The composition of my pieces is restrained and minimal. There is physical and conceptual tension in my work. I refer to restraint and a desire for release through the use of closures such as zippers, buttons, lacing, garters and belts. The closures link elements that are discordant; the winter of wool to the spring of a striped t-shirt, the purity of good-girl gingham tied up with the bad girl glitz of lamé. 
 
I just hope that they understand the message I am conveying. I hope that they can enter the piece and connect with it visually and conceptually.
 
I have a deep personal connection to “100 Sad Stories”. The other piece in the show “No Real Closure” is a bit more humorous. I created a very superficial and shallow closure in this piece and it reminded me of the lack of closure we often experience in life. It makes a reference to a somewhat hackneyed psychological term. Sometimes no matter how much we examine an experience we can never comprehend its true implications.
 
My personal website is: aschumacher.online. There is a variety of work, drawings, painting, and prints from many decades.

Kathy Sullivan
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I started making felted animals about five years ago. I had been doing small crocheted animals but decided to give this technique a try. I was surprised at the flexibility of this medium. I could make just about any kind of little animal, either very realistic or more fanciful. I have always enjoyed making little people and animals. It is sort of like bringing a children's book to life. I had a small puppet theater in the 80's which also satisfied this desire to make little 3-D people and animals. They are a nice way to express my love of costume and character creation.

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​Rob Watt
 
I've doing art for a long time. I graduated from CC as an Art Studio Major 40 years ago. I got into fibers by accident, through Tom Lundberg of CSU. I used to do landscapes, pen and ink and watercolor. I transferred my skills to embroidery, I like the color and detail I can get. I've been doing embroidery for about 30 years. 
 
I feel fulfilled when I'm working on something; I'm doing something worthwhile and enjoyable. 
 
I'm continuing to be inspired by everything I come across. 
 
After I come up with a design, I transfer it to Dupioni silk. I use DMC embroidery thread and do straight stitching first, and then couching-stitches perpendicular - on top of the other stitches. That's when I can get variation in color and tone and add detail. 
 
I hope people enjoy my work. It's gratifying when people really connect to a piece. 
 
I belonged to a co-op in Denver; SPARK Gallery. Their website is: www.sparkgallery.com
 

​All in-store sales of Sabine’s work are 10% off this month.
 
 
Tell us a little about yourself.
 
My interest in art was stirred by my art teacher in Germany who introduced us to many art forms, let us experiment with different mediums, and took our class to visit art museums. But it was not until the early 90s that my focus changed from admiring other artists work to getting actively involved in the creative process. When I took a stained glass class I knew that this is what I wanted to do. I find the process of making a stained glass piece deeply satisfying, and seeing how the light enhances the colors and textures of the finished artwork is always exciting to me.
 
How long have you been part of Commonwheel?
 
9 years
 
What does making art mean to you?
 
Working with glass makes me happy and gives me inner peace. I strive to combine form, texture and color into a harmonious piece of artwork that will transform and brighten the surrounding space. Nobody said it better than Louis Comfort Tiffany: “Color is to the eye what music is to the ear”.
 
What are you currently working on?
 
Currently I am finishing up some nature pieces and am starting to create smaller suncatchers as well as fused glass jewelry for our upcoming Holiday Market.
 
Tell us about your process—walk us through the steps of your flowing creativity to achieve one of your works.
 
My process starts with drawing a design followed by the selection of glass. This is the creative and most crucial part and applies to large windows as well as to my smaller table art and suncatchers. After that it is mostly craft: cutting, grinding, foiling, soldering, reinforcing and applying patina. Most of my pieces are done using the copper foil technique which was made popular by Louis Comfort Tiffany as it allows for more intricate designs than the traditional lead came.
 
What reaction do you want of the public looking at your artwork?
 
Adding a stained glass art piece to a room will transform the mood of the space and I hope that my composition of color, texture and movement will brighten the viewer’s spirits.
 
What is your favorite piece recent work? And why?
 
I like them all.

​Where can we find your work?
 
Only at Commonwheel Artists Co-op.

We had 27 artists submit almost 100 items for the jury for this show and accepted 60 works from 21 artists. All these artists were asked to tell us a little about themselves and their work.
 
Here are their responses.
 
Courtney Bobo
 
I am 19 and a senior at the University of Northern Colorado, and I’m studying Graphic Design. I’m graduating this December and I’m so excited about it! I’ve been an artist for as long as I can remember. I really enjoyed writing fictional stories when I was 5 or 6 years old, and I liked to illustrate my made-up stories with detailed drawings of my characters. From there stemmed my interest in drawing, and after placing 2nd in an art contest when I was in 2nd grade, I knew this was something I was passionate about. Up until the age of 16, my main media I worked in was pencil; I enjoy drawing photorealistic drawings of people and occasionally landscape sceneries. For my 16th birthday, I received a camera as a birthday present, and that opened a door to a whole new world. Photography very rapidly became my primary media. I love photographing nature, from landscapes to close-ups of flowers to shots of wild animals. To this day, photography is still my favorite and best-developed media to work in; however, since coming to college, I have discovered I really enjoy acrylic painting as well, and also like to paint sceneries and objects.
 
My photographs often reflect my love for the outdoors; I love hiking, camping, kayaking, anything out in the mountains. I have to time the weather, lighting, and location right in order to catch a good photograph, but it is well worth the tedious efforts. Autumn and winter have proven to be the most opportune times for me to photograph; the colors of the trees in the autumn, the snow, and the frequently cloudy skies create the perfect photo environment.
 
The particular piece being featured in the “Autumn Glory” exhibit is a photo I took in October a few years ago. I was driving back through Independence Pass from a trip to the mountains for a couple days, which consisted of mostly photography opportunities for me. I saw this specific spot in the distance and immediately had to stop; the pop of the yellow aspen trees amongst the dark pine trees was captivating to me. Additionally, a storm was starting to form above the mountains, and the clouds were creating the perfect lighting. Yellow is one of my favorite colors, so this piece is a favorite of mine because of the splash of bright yellow among the earth tones.
 
To see more of my work, please visit my website: www.courtneybobo.com

Lorraine Capps
 
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.
 
In order to create a fused glass piece, you must start by designing the piece flat, and you must fuse it at a high temperature, between 1400 and 1480 degrees, depending on the effect you are hoping to achieve. If the first firing is successful and does not need additional work and another firing, the piece is cleaned, and dried. Many times there is cold working that must be done after the first firing, which smooths out sharp edges and points. Another firing, called a fire polish, is often necessary to remove any cold working marks left on the glass. The piece can then either be slumped into a bowl form or draped over a mold to make a vertical, 3D piece, as with Glimmering Aspens, the piece I created for “Autumn Glory“. The temperatures of these other firings are much lower than the original, full fuse.
 
I am only exhibiting one piece in this exhibit, so this is my favorite! This is one of my Aspen Grove series that I designed, and I enjoy making variations on this theme.
 
I have always loved Commonwheel Co-op and have been a customer for many years! It is the quintessential retail art gallery, and I have always wanted to enter one of their exhibits. Additionally, I love the theme as trees in general, and aspens in particular, are my favorite things in nature, and autumn is my favorite season of the year!
 
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.

Leah Dedrickson

I fell in love with fused glass art about 10 years ago when I saw someone wearing a dichroic pendant and took a class to learn to make my own. I love the beauty of art glass and the infinite combinations and reactions that can be achieved. I love that the melting glass changes form and defines itself. The anticipation of opening the kiln to see the new creations is really exciting. 
 
My fused glass landscapes are created over several days in multiple kiln firings by melting layers and pieces of sheet glass between 1200-1500 degrees. First, the basic layers are built and completely melted to form the base, then, painterly details are added with smaller pieces, grains of glass and glass powders. When all the layers are complete, the glass is cut with a wet saw to make nice edges that allow the light in to the glass. Finally, I paint lithograph style details and fire one last time to polish the cut edges and cure the paint. Glass must be heated and cooled slowly. The entire process takes about a week to complete a picture.
 
My favorite piece accepted in the event is Maple Blaze. The piece incorporated several experimental processes and turned out stunning with so much depth, complimentary color and interest. It is a very deliberate, happy accident.

My favorite subjects in glass landscape are trees and Autumn truly is a glorious time with so much inspiration. 

My work can be seen online at https://www.facebook.com/TigerLilyStudio/

Maggie Elligott
 
As an elementary art teacher, my students and their sense of wonder in the world constantly motivate me.  The beauty of our Colorado landscape and wildlife inspire my mixed media paintings and my love of nature as a gardener, skier, mountain biker, and hiker is reflected on my canvas.  I create whimsical imagery and form in my aspen tree paintings that combine my formal training as a botanical illustrator and collage work using trail maps found on my travels.  The assortment of materials I use transport you to my outdoor playground of colorful whimsy and realism and offer a moment of peace to consider our paths. 
 
maggieelligottfineart.webs.com
Instagram:  Maggieelligott   

Sheila Fuller
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I was given an Olympus OM-10 by my father that I carried in my backpack through the Sierras, Olympics and Cascades long before the luxuries of digital cameras came along.  In the 90’s I made my home in the Rockies and attended The Art Institute of Colorado to study Interior Design.  I prefer to work in one click, one frame.  I see my camera as meditation, an opportunity for peace and stillness.  Rather than layering or stacking frames I chooses to step into the stillness offered in the silence created within my camera lens. 

I try to “work” every day.   But calling is work makes me giggle.  Quite simply, for me, my camera is meditation.  Working is spending time with the sky, the birds, and the flowers.  It may mean I am on my patio with snowflakes or hummingbirds.  If I am lucky it means my husband is my driver and I am wandering our beautiful country with our camping gear looking for a peaceful spot to wake up in.  Because my work process involves being in the right place, at the right time—hopefully with the right light.  My “work” is helping learn patience.  Without it I would have lost focus long ago.
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The Story (above) is my personal favorite in this show because it is my story, it is the story of all of us.  It is why I take the photos I take. It is The Story I attempt to tell with each photo.  It is what I wrote when I first opened my site to sell my art - Life is a cycle. We plant seeds then nurture them as they struggle to find the sun and bloom. It is the purpose of all living things to reach into the earth and find the power to bloom again and again.  I don’t pose photographs, I capture them.  She is, in my mind, the perfect capture of The Story – and she tells it beautifully exactly where she fell. 
 
I love Commonwheel.  I can’t image many places it would make me happier to see my pieces hang.  It really is that simple.
 
My work has been shown locally at TwentyOne8, Colorado Springs Annual Fine Arts Exhibition, and Gallery 132.  I was also a featured artist in the 2018 Fusion Garden Art Show in Palm Springs.  You can follow me on Facebook at Sheila Fuller Photography on Instagram at SheilaFullerPhotography or visit my website: http://sheilafullerphotography.com


Ellen Hinson

What is art?  To me, art is beauty, though beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  As a child I enjoyed coloring, cutting out paper dolls and clothes, reading, putting puzzles together (still do).  I loved looking at pretty pictures.  Maybe I was born with this love of putting things together, of seeing a swan in a lake and painting its likeness to the best of my ability, of making a story come alive in MY eyes, through painting.  Or maybe I just inherited it from my Mother who started painting after I left home, or my Father who was a carpenter and loved making beautiful things.  Even though I didn’t know it as a child, I’ve always been interested in art.  I am a realist artist, oils being my choice of medium.  I love the Old Masters and their proven methods of traditional painting skills and I continuously strive to learn and practice these skills.
 
I love plein air painting – portraying the beauty of the landscapes and wildlife as I see it; striving to make the viewer feel the water flowing, see the flowers blowing in the wind, feel the snow falling, feel the energy of the animals romping in the fields or the birds flying.  I also love painting in my studio using my own photos as reference material.  The painting, Elk in the Water, is a combination of my imagination for the background and a photo of the elk.  I drew the elk first, making sure I had its features correct.  Then, using acrylic paints, I partially painted the elk, so I would not cover up the drawing as I painted the background.  As the background is not as detailed as the elk, I didn’t draw it in but just started painting the sky. Then the mountains and background trees.  Then came the small island on the right side, water, and left bottom land, painting around the elk.  Next came the island trees (trunks only) on the right and bottom left.  Leaves then completed the trees.  Right now, I am still working on this painting.  The elk has to be completed and refined and the elk’s legs need some splashing water around them.  Then I will put the painting away for maybe a week or so.  At that time, I will decide if I am happy with it, or if it needs more work.  As acrylic dries as you use it, I will be able to spray this painting with an acrylic conservation varnish to preserve the painting from dust and light.  Then comes a most important decision, the frame.  I must use a frame that will enhance the painting, not detract from it.  The color must agree with the colors used in the painting.  Voila! A new piece of art.
 
My favorite piece for this Autumn Glory Show is, Elk in the Aspens.  I used my favorite medium, oils, because it flows easily.  I had fun doing it and I think it turned out great.  It portrays my love of the beauty of this country, its fauna and its wildlife.

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I love to show my work and I happened to have on hand a few paintings that fit the theme of this show.
 
My work can be found on my website:  www.yessy.com/artbyellen
Fine Art America  (Ellen E Hinson)
Alignable
World Artist Directory
Art Majeur
AERA (Association Embracing Realist Art
Twitter


Arin Holocek
 
Since I was young I've been interested in art, and because my mother is an artist, there were always materials available for making art.  I've drawn, painted, collaged, and sewn since early grade school.  I began oil painting seriously only recently, in January 2016, first taking lessons with Erin Gillespie at Bemis School of Art, then painting with her weekly in my home from April 2017 until present.  Oil painting captivates me because it allows for such freedom of expression in both color and stroke.
 
Subject choice is both emotional and intended to challenge me to grow as a painter.  In the painting of pumpkins, I was excited to capture a magical day with my kids at the pumpkin patch, as well as to paint the pumpkins and aged wheelbarrow - two subjects I had not painted before.  Each painting starts with a sketch, either in graphite or charcoal, followed by a wash of oil paint thinned with mineral spirits.  Once the wash is dry, thicker layers of paint are put down, with highlights being added last to make the painting sparkle.
 
While I love the vibrant and voluminous pumpkins, the painting of grain harvest in Afghanistan is my favorite for several reasons.  The idea for painting the Afghanistan countryside came when I heard a former military service woman on the radio talk about how meaningful the rural parts of war-torn Middle Eastern countries are to many soldiers since they spend months and years in these areas getting to know the people and landscapes, areas not widely featured in media coverage of the wars.  I grew up on a farm in the high desert of Northern California, a rural region with a landscape that is very meaningful to me, so I can relate to a little-known landscape holding such personal import.  In addition, my father grew and harvested grain himself, so the light coming through the partially harvested grain evokes especially fond memories, and this particular painting features interesting rock formations not unlike those found in my own home region.  I also loved the idea of painting a scene of peace in a region most commonly associated with political turmoil and war.
 
Fall is my favorite season and provides such inspiration in terms of colors and light.
 
I do not yet have a website, but some of my paintings can be found on my personal facebook page, Arin Holecek.  Other works have been displayed at Carnelian Coffee, Ute Pass and Fountain libraries, Cottonwood Center for the Arts, and here at Commonwheel Artists Co-Op.

Cristina Manos
 
I started painting when I was 10 years old. My mother was painting on slate at the time as a hobby and was self-taught. She allowed me to explore with her paint set and I did my first few landscapes on cloth. After producing them, my family saw I had a talent for art. My medium of choice is oil on canvas. I love the rich, smooth texture of oil paints and the ability to blend colors easily. High school and college seemed to fly by, and it was after college when I really started to explore different styles of painting in my free time. I always had an interest in metaphysical and other worldly themes and became highly impressed when I discovered Salvador Dali. Thus, in my twenties, I experimented with the depth of my mind and imagination. It had become tradition for me give away my paintings to friends and family. I moved to Tucson, Arizona at the end of 1999 and became involved with the artist community there. Tucson was home to so many talented artists who represented a variety of mediums; it was there that I felt comfortable experimenting with various styles and themes within my work. For the most part, I still painted for joy and not with the idea I would ever sell my artwork, but eventually I was commissioned a few times and sold pieces in auctions where the proceeds went to charities. As time passed, I really fell in love with painting trees. My style moved away from the psychedelic and more so into painting landscapes and trees. I also found joy in turning photographs into paintings, as to capture elements of emotion and real memories transferred onto canvas. I moved to Colorado Springs in April 2018 and am continuing my journey as an artist. I am excited to share this next chapter of my growth with my new community here in Colorado. It has been an honor to meet some of the local artists here and become involved with the talented artist community in the area. 
 
My process with painting involves uncovering the layers of my mind. Painting is an emotional process for me. I find peace in the strokes and each layer speaks to me in way that are hard to put into words. In the case of doing a landscape or a tree, such as Curly Tree, the background goes on first. I find skies to be wondrous and soothing. The background for Curly tree is simple. A blend of shades of orange and yellow creates a golden tone often sought out in early dawn or dusk by photographers for its glowing effect. This sky needs no clouds, as the color inspires the autumn feeling of a new season arriving. The floor of the background is done in soft grass for this piece. Once the background is on the canvas, it's all tree from there. I personally love trees. For me, they bare symbolism of rooted growth. Curly tree is strong, it's rooted, and it's fun! The outline of the tree goes on first, with its strong trunk and beautiful curvaceous branches, and then the branches are filled in with several shades of brown for the textured effect of the bark. After the browns are put in, it's time for the finishing touches. Abstract leaves provide the fall colors and little fallen tree branches and fallen leaves provide the final layer for the floor covering. 
 
Curly Tree is my favorite accepted piece for this event because it's fun, glowing, and all over the place - like the artist! 
 
I was inspired to apply for “Autumn Glory” for a few reasons. One reason is that I love trees. Once I heard about the theme for the show I felt like I'd be right at home creating and submitting my work for a theme I already enjoy. I also love the Autumn season and the colors it boasts. Painting with autumn shades is a pleasure. Additionally, I really like the vibe at Commonwheel and I like the artwork being displayed there, as well as the layout of the store. Manitou Springs is a great place for local talent to showcase their work, and places like Commonwheel, that have character, are a joy to be involved with. 
 
Website is at www.Cristina-Manos-Art.com and I have a Facebook page at Cristina Manos Art. 
 

Denise Noble
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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 I was an adult that it really developed. There is beauty all around us, and I want to share God’s masterpieces .
 
My artistic process is simple. Whether I’m headed to the Colorado mountains or out of state, my camera is always with me. I shoot scenes that speak to my heart and take several shots, bracketing them at various angles. It’s amazing how different a photo can look with a slightly different viewpoint. Additionally, I do my best to capture how the scene truly looks and use very little Photoshop, if any, to modify my pieces. My motto is Have Camera, Will Travel.
 
Easter Frost is my favorite piece accepted for this event. That Easter morning was bitterly cold, and everything had a heavy frost attached. The area was so serene and peaceful. Though my hands were frozen, I wanted to capture this majestic scene for those who wouldn’t see it in person. It was too beautiful not to share.
 
My family and friends are a wonderful support system who continually inspire me. Having said that, I am drawn to photographing trees. Their symbolism of strength, stability and perseverance is always inspirational.
 
I am just beginning to show my work publicly. You can find me at A Noble Touch Photography on Facebook. Thank you for attending this show and supporting local artists.

Susan Randolph

I am a runner. About three years ago, my running obsession came to a halt because of health reasons. I needed a new obsession and outlet. My friend and fellow artist, Eric Fetsch, invited me to one of his watercolor workshops. I knew how to draw and sketch but didn’t know how to put color onto my drawings, plus I was intrigued by the magic and beauty of watercolors. I took my first watercolor workshop and was hooked. After several more workshops with Eric, I set out to learn as much as I could about the properties of watercolor, color theory, and composition. I was a woman on a mission to become an artist. Painting nearly every day and putting miles on the brush for the last three years has helped me hone my technical skills and artistic ability. I am primarily a self-taught artist who has also done several workshops with fellow artist’s Randy Hale, and Sterling Edwards. I started out painting still life’s and landscapes, transitioned to a more funkified realism style, and now am obsessed with total abstract expressionism. The artists who inspire me are Franz Kline, Mark Rothko, Willem, de Kooning, Kandinsky, and Georgia O’Keefe. I enjoy creating art that leaves lots of room for the viewer’s imagination and interpretation. I primarily work in transparent watercolor on paper and acrylic on canvas. 

I believe art should be fun and my goal is to convey a sense of fun and playfulness in my work. Negative painting is a key element in highly stylized and abstract art. It is incorporated into nearly all of my paintings. It’s fun to paint the space around an object instead of the object itself, then create multiple layers, adding depth to the piece. It’s almost like solving a puzzle. I also use a limited palette of color and ground most of my work in soft neutrals and put pure color near my center of interest. I try to create a variety of soft edges so that your eye can move through the painting and hard edges where I want your eye to linger a bit.

My favorite piece for this show is Changes. I wanted to show aspen leaves differently. This piece was done on Fabriano Artistico cold pressed watercolor paper with several washes of transparent watercolor. Then, I negatively painted the leaves. To make the transparent watercolors more vibrant, I negatively painted several layers of opaque gouache. Once the piece was dry, I mounted it onto 2” board and finished it with several coats of varnish to protect it. Changes was a fun piece to do and a different way to showcase the beauty of Colorado’s aspen leaves.

First, Fall is one of my favorite times of year. I love the cool crisp air and the change in colors of the landscape, especially in the High Country. I am an emerging artist and would like to share my art and hopefully brighten someone’s day with my artwork.

You can find my work at www.susanrandolph.com <http://www.susanrandolph.com/> and Susan Randolph Fine Art on Facebook and Instagram. I am the November guest artist at Boulder Street Gallery on Tejon Street. My work was also accepted into the Parker Art and Music Festival, the Pikes Peak Studio Tour, and The Fine Art and Craft Market in Monument.

Barbara Rilling 

My life has involved wearing many hats: wife, mother, science and math teacher, naturalist, traveler, and now painter.  Taking up watercolor painting after retiring has been rather life changing.  Finally, I'm exercising the right side of my brain! And it feels so good.  Being a longtime Coloradan, my inspiration comes from my local surroundings and travels.  I immensely enjoy the challenge of plein air painting as well as translating photos into watercolor art back in my studio. I can be reached via email: barbrm@msn.com
 

Madalyn Rilling
 
I’m a major bibliophile. I read books, I teach books, and I write books. I’ve even worked as a mender of books. Loving books first led me to love the process of printing. The reproducible page is such a compelling and rich medium. That said, I love bold and wild art of any medium, and love throwing myself into a new process.
 
Carving a linocut is a quiet but savage procedure. The lines are sketched, and the plan is transferred, but all can change with the twist of a wrist. I love the visible movement of the carving in linocut. 
 
My favorite piece for this show? That's a tough choice! The aspen trees were particularly fun. The colors of the aspen in Colorado are so changeable and vibrant. I had a good time mixing the ink for these prints. But, most of all, I love the faint lines of wind in Wind. 
 
The tree is a great theme. There is something so appealing about making art of something so fundamental.
 
You can follow me on twitter: @mj_rilling. 
 

Richard Risley

First of all, I am a pretty old guy that continues on living after already living a full and rewarding life.  When I entered into this new domain, I decided to improve on my hobby in photography.  I take pictures of things I like, especially if they include natural beauty - (in my opinion).  To me, the flat print of my pictures does not represent all the "beauty" of the scene.  To overcome this, I have been developing my own technique to restore the feeling of presence to the print.  I call it Photo Craft, since it combines two disciplines.


This has been my passion now for 4 years and has evolved through many stages.  The process today has four basic steps:  1) Take a photograph (or select one from my files), 2) Photoshop process the image into a JPEG file, 3) Print the image, and 4) Add crafting.  Framing considerations are kept in mind throughout.

The "craft" part of the process consists of poking, bending, stretching and manipulating the physical print in places that alter the appearance of the photograph.  When these distortions to the paper print are made correctly, the picture has a new dimension and is more interesting to view.

My favorite picture for the Autumn call was the only one that was accepted - Independence Pass Gold.  It was taken after a visit to the Maroon Bells, and on the return drive we stopped for this photo-op.  At the base of Independence Pass in autumn, you look back to see a wide panorama of hills and mountains with nuggets of golden aspen groves.  Lake Creek, which feeds into the Arkansas River, also adds to the view, and the picture lends itself nicely to my craft technique.

I was inspired to enter my work because of the opportunity to have it viewed in the art community.  I love crafting the photo prints and seeing them come to life.  Needless to say, I have a house full of "bent up" pictures now but am doing my best work today.  

I have photographs on my Fine Art America website:   http://richard-risely.pixels.com/      and have a few on ETSY under RichardsPhotoCraft.  Of course, the craftwork doesn't show on a computer screen, which is like a flat print.

At this time, photos that include my craft work are only available from me.  I will be on wall space At Cottonwood Center for the Arts next year in March and May, and at Boulder Street Gallery in April, and hope to more active with Commonwheel.

Rebecca Schlarbaum
 
I have been doing batik since I was an art education major in college. But it wasn't in a fibers course. Rather it was a workshop in a non-western art history class. It was only set up for a week, but I was there every chance I could get. Now, I use every space I can get, including my classroom at Patrick Henry Elementary where I'm blessed to have a full-time art teaching job. The need for that space has been especially true ever since my son was born 2 1/2 years ago and my studio became his nursery. But the joy he brings to our world is more inspiring than any other masterpiece I've encountered!  
 
Batik is a fairly involved process. I like to summarize for those who want a quick answer that it's "glorified tie-dye". But that's a simplified answer by far. I start with muslin and either brush on or use a tjaunting tool to drip on hot wax to any areas I want to keep white. The whole cloth then goes into the lightest color needed for my design, e.g. yellow. Then.... wait: lots of dry time is involved. I usually have many designs going on at once because I can only complete one step in a day. The next day, I isolate the parts I want to keep (yellow) and then choose the next darkest color to dye. At the end of all the many days of dyeing, the whole cloth is sealed in wax, crumpled, and placed in black or dark brown dye to achieve a crackle effect throughout the piece. That's my favorite part!  Then, all the wax is removed (not as fun). But it's so worth it to see my artwork come out from the obscurity of the wax! Every time there's something that happened that wasn't entirely intentional or clear to me during the days and layers of the process. It always stretches me since I'm more naturally an artist who would rather be 100% in control. Even so, batik is my medium of choice without hesitation.
 
Who doesn't love Autumn? And especially in Colorado? I've been inspired since my very first hike out here 10 years ago!  Last year I made Path of Reflection as an extension study of my smaller piece, Aspens in Autumn that was done a few years ago.  This show was a perfect fit for these pieces. I am elated to have the perfect opportunity to display it with other artists who have been encaptured by this magnificent season! 
 
On Facebook I can be found at Gestalt33


Rhonda Van Pelt
 
I don't remember when I wasn't interested in creating and looking at art. Both of my parents were creative (my dad with woodworking, my mom with painting) and so it seemed natural to take art all four years of high school and then major in it in college. I have worked in just about every medium there is (except glass), but currently I take photos; sometimes I print them on fabric and create a quilted, embellished wall hanging around them. Since I'm very, very busy, photography works well for me - I can socialize with friends and take photos as we hike. Multi-tasking!
 
Basically, my process is to carry a camera nearly everywhere I go. I make sure that I observe as much as possible around me, whether I'm in the mountains, at the seashore or in a city. I look up, look down and look back - there's so much more to life than what is right in front of us.
 
Delicate Dance is the one that was accepted, and I do think it was one of the best I submitted. It illustrates one of the things I most enjoy about being an artist - finding something remarkable that other people might dismiss as ordinary, if they see it at all.
 
Autumn is glorious, and Colorado's autumns are among the best. It's as if nature gives us those warm colors to ease us into monochromatic winter.
 
I post photos on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/rhonda.vanpelt) and this site: rhondashouseofcreativity.shutterfly.com, but I haven't had time to update it lately. I also show work at Academy Art and Frame and at the Manitou Art Center.