Sedona News – Take a deep breath: Spring is here! Rowe Fine Art Gallery kicks off the season of rebirth with In Blossom, a show highlighting fresh work from the gallery’s award-winning painters. In Blossom begins on March 4 and runs through the end of the month. The show features the latest wildlife and landscape artwork from Julie T. Chapman, Dane Chinnock, Kim Diment, Jen Farnsworth, Lynn Heil, John Rasberry and Amy Ringholz.
When Julie T. Chapman’s newest acrylic, pastel, charcoal and oil on panel recently arrived at the gallery, everyone gasped when they looked into the eyes of the bobcat depicted in Don’t Blink #2. “Bobcats, while wary, can be seen occasionally in the wild, especially in Arizona. I’ve recently been fascinated by the gestures of an active young bobcat springing, leaping, and flinging about,” says Julie. “This is another in that series; the title’s admonition is left ambiguous for you, the viewer, to interpret.”
Wyoming-based artist Amy Ringholz is having a similar love affair – with the red fox. Stop by the gallery in March to see A Rare Beauty, her newest graphite-and-acrylic on panel. “The fox’s bold orange color palette, the huge tail, the quick movement, the bright whites of its face and chest, are all gorgeous qualities,” says Amy. “I tried to show the quick, fresh movement of the fox against the contrasting white snow. This piece feels really alive to me, which is always my goal.”
Amy will also debut In the Doghouse, her ink-and-oil on canvas. “The expression of ‘being in the doghouse’ brings some light and humor to my work,” Amy says. “In my oils, I find lots of abstract ‘mini paintings’ within, which add to the longevity of interest in the image. The color palette moves your eye around the painting.”
Speaking of color, Jen Farnsworth’s latest rainbow-hued painting, Hey Ma!, will make everyone smile. The subject matter? Sedona’s unofficial mascot: the javelina. “Love ‘em or love to complain about them, the comical family-oriented peccaries are everywhere,” laughs Jen. “Although babies are around all year, in the spring there seems to be more of them – all talking up a storm! I had to capture the familiar scene of a baby javelina telling stories to mom.”
For art lovers tight on space or those just starting their collection, Michigan artist Kim Diment will reveal three acrylic-on-canvas miniature paintings, each four inches square. The first, Gila Woodpecker, features a bird that should be familiar to anyone living in Arizona. “I would quite often see these guys hanging around the big cactuses,” says Kim. “We would be hiking and a bird would just erupt out of a saguaro. It would be a Gila woodpecker. The one I painted is a male. I think it is so cool that they make holes in cactus for their nests. We have yellow-shafted flickers in Michigan that look and act much like the Gila woodpeckers, but they make their nests in trees instead of cactuses.”
Kim’s second miniature, Roadrunner, also features a familiar, albeit elusive, face. “Being a bird and strange-animal enthusiast, I was totally geeked to see my first roadrunner in Arizona,” says Kim. “After all, I was a big fan of the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote Saturday morning cartoons. The roadrunner’s cool shape and slight green iridescence on its dark feathers make them a fun bird to paint. I do plan on painting a bigger rendition of this guy, so stay tuned.”
And Kim’s third piece, Sedona Cardinal, puts our colorful bird in the spotlight. Kim says cardinals in her native Michigan provide a much-needed burst of color in the gray months of winter, but cardinals in Arizona really leave her breathless. “I found it amazing the cardinals in the Southwest could be a brighter, more brilliant red than cardinals in Michigan,” she says. “For this miniature, I mixed in more reddish-orange hues, especially in the shoulders, to achieve that brilliance. The Sedona cardinal sits in front of a gray background, representing Arizona’s drought. I guess a bright red cardinal against a gray background, whether because of the season or lack of rain, always brings happiness.”
Dane Chinnock, Lynn Heil and John Rasberry will also have works in this show. Dane recently unveiled Idiosyncrasy (oil with palette knife on board), a starkly beautiful scene of Red Rock Crossing in the winter, while Lynn’s Land of Spires oil on linen board will make you feel like you’re on a trail in Sedona’s backcountry. If the drama of Monument Valley holds a special place in your heart, don’t miss John’s oil-on-linen-board Where Stones Meet the Sky.
See all of these paintings and more in March at Rowe Fine Art Gallery.
Rowe Fine Art Gallery represents traditional and contemporary southwestern artists. The gallery, located under the bell tower in Patio de las Campanas at Tlaquepaque Arts & Shopping Village, is open Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, call 928-282-8877, visit rowegallery.com, or find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.