I saw the pamphlet for the Yuma Foothills ArtsTrail. It looked like it might be a fun thing to do. I asked Nancie Pagett if she would like to go with me. She did, and we had a blast! We were shocked that there were so many artists that lived so close to each other out here in the Foothills area of Yuma . The separate art studios several of them have set up on their property were pretty amazing. Most stops on the tour had additional local artists displaying their work on the property. There were 12 stops on the map inside the pamphlet. I just realized though that we missed a 13th stop since it was NOT included on the map. That’s OK, because the wind really kicked up as we were leaving our last stop, and time was about up for the day. Here’s snippets of our day’s adventures.
Some art wasn’t my taste, but when I saw this jewelry, I was drawn to it immediately. The red coral necklace (Mediterranean Red Branch coral) was almost identical to the one my mom had. I had a much smaller, white/pink coral necklace when I was a kid. We got them in Italy. Both ended up breaking–I think the string they were originally strung on just deteriorated. I guess I should have kept all the loose coral and had them restrung. Made me think of my mom at this early stop.
Artist Lynette Weise displayed incredible colored pencil, pen & ink and alcohol ink artwork. Her pen & ink drawings of well-known universities were spectacular! She has done over 45 images of Pacific NW Universities! Below is some watercolor and colored pencil artwork. I believe it was Lynette who had cool round bulb Christmas ornaments using the alcohol ink media. I bought one with blues. I plan to invite Lynette as my guest to our Yuma home next season to have a private class party.
Mark Wall had gorgeous art pieces using beeswax and tree sap on blocks of wood! Pictures do not do them justice. Check out his full gallery here. The texture in the pieces is what really drew me in –along of course with the colors. Being in Yuma, the collection of green fields were perfect at representing the agriculture of the area. But I couldn’t help being drawn to the water/waves group.
Listen to Mark explain his process. https://youtube.com/shorts/nUzBzefeRQA
This artist, Kathleen Conlon, was a retired math teacher! We really enjoyed talking with her.
Next was a stop with some amazing Doodle Art by artist Diane Piro. This reminded me of an art lesson/assignment where I had my students doodle within the outlines of a single object or an entire scene. I demonstrated my dolphin for my students. Nowadays there are lots of adult coloring books that incorporate this type of design art. Diane does a class for doodle art. I loved her “Ladies’ Hat” collection. She also does an alcohol ink/pen & ink class. I signed up to be notified of both.
Artist Chuck Warner:
Chuck’s pet portraits were incredible. And he only charges you IF you like the end result. I bought refrigerator magnet and signed up for his class. Chuck holds 4-hr classes on this process. I signed up to attend one.
Sally Rose had the following example of Art Journaling using mixed media. Here she is using an old Reader’s Digest novel collection. What an awesome idea to be creative and no worries about space or storage space! She said she just bought an old atlas to be able to create on larger pages. LOVE this!
Stained Glass:
Barb Thorvilson – Alcohol ink, acrylic and resin artist
Nancie and I had no idea what to expect for this studio tour, but we were blown away of the variety and quality of so many of the local artists. Nancie and I both plan to attend again next year. I will also watch for other events by the Mountain Shadows Art Association of Yuma. They have a Facebook page to follow.