Multiple media
Sandi Ciaramitaro, Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM, USA, watercolor, 14 x 19.
This story was featured in the October 2015 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art October 2015 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story
Sandi Ciaramitaro is a full-time fine artist working in multiple media and in multiple dimensions. The artist paints in both watercolors and oils, and both alla prima on location and in the studio. “My [plein-air] oils are fast and furious,” she says. “Out there I usually finish in about three hours. I like to go out to the desert just before sunrise or sunset, so I get the rim lighting that is like a crescendo.” In contrast, Ciaramitaro’s watercolor works, often depicting historic missions and barrios, consist of hundreds of layers of applied color, she says.
But it was a recent plein-air painting trip to First Mesa, a historic Walpi (Hopi) settlement in northwest Arizona, that prompted her to explore a new medium. Escorted through the village by a Native guide and introduced to the guide’s grandmother, Ciaramitaro was deeply moved to capture the experience in bronze. The result was two bas-relief sculptures, one depicting the Walpi village and the other depicting the Native grandmother; the latter incorporates traditional Native jewelry, handmade by a Navajo silversmith, that can be removed from the sculpture and worn by the collector. These are the first two pieces in the artist’s With Respect series. “Everything I do in the With Respect series is historically correct,” she says, meaning she takes no artistic license with her subjects. Ciaramitaro makes her debut at the Celebration of Fine Art in Scottsdale, AZ, in January 2016, and she is a regular participant in the annual Hidden in the Hills Studio Tours. —Laura Rintala
Ciaramitaro’s work can be found at www.sandic.me.
Featured in the October 2015 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art October 2015 print issue or digital download Or subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss a story!
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- Sandi Ciaramitaro, Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM, USA, watercolor, 14 x 19.
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- Sandi Ciaramitaro, Good Thoughts, Canyon de Chelly, bronze, 20 x 14 x 4.
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- Sandi Ciaramitaro, Jackalope Mercado, Santa Fe, NM, USA, mixed media, 14 x 20.
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- Sandi Ciaramitaro, Peaceful Little Ones, bronze, 4 feet high (also available 16 inches high).
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- Sandi Ciaramitaro, Untouched Slide Rock Sedona AZ USA, oil, 12 x 9.
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- Sandi Ciaramitaro, Garden of Eden – Santa Barbara Mission CA USA, watercolor, 20 x 14
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