Evergreen, CO, November 30-December 31
This story was featured in the December 2012 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Order the Southwest Art magazine December 2012 print edition here, or purchase the Southwest Art magazine December 2012 digital download here. Or simply subscribe to Southwest Art magazine and never miss a story!
When award-winning artist Dave Santillanes participated in the Grand Canyon Association’s Plein Air on the Rim show recently, he hiked to the bottom of the canyon to paint. On his journey down, he eyed a mule train coming up the canyon on its regular run. The scene of the riders set against a huge, abstract wall of rock inspired a painting he aptly titled MORNING MULE TRAIN. “This scene had everything I love to paint in a landscape—incredible light and atmosphere, huge vistas, abstract design, and an unobtrusive human element,” Santillanes says.
MORNING MULE TRAIN is one of the many artworks on display in the Miniature Masterpiece Show at Evergreen Fine Art Gallery, which opens with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday, November 30. The presentation features small paintings and sculptures by more than 50 established and up-and-coming artists, including Dan Beck, Wanda Choate, Carol Jenkins, Lindsey Bittner Graham, Judy Greenan, Pem Dunn, Jeff Legg, and Rodgers Naylor. “Just in time for Christmas, these new pieces of fine art will be perfect gifts for yourself or others,” says Doug Kacena, the gallery’s director of exhibitions. “The sizes are small but the quality is huge. It is a perfect opportunity to start a collection or to obtain a piece of world-class art at a minimum price.”
Earlier this year the gallery hosted the annual Oil Painters of America National Juried Exhibition, in which the Gold Medal was given to Canadian painter Xiao Song Jiang for a monumental piece featuring a weathered boat on a sandy beach. Jiang is another participant in the miniature show this year, and his painting, titled BELL, is sure to capture collectors’ attention. The painter says the inspiration for the piece stemmed from a recent trip to Venice. Jiang has visited the city many times, but on this occasion he purposely searched for what he calls a “truer” view of the city—away from the tourists, shops, and crowds. “This painting captures a much more serene side of Venice. The scaffolding and the freight boat give a sense of everyday life—a quiet private place to live that hasn’t been covered up by commercialization,” he says. “The cool spring air, with the faint sound of a bell in the early evening, caught my ear to take a closer look. The warm light reflecting against the houses extends all the way to the bell tower, giving greater depth.”
Often it doesn’t take a village or a city to grab an artist’s creative eye. For her painting CHARLES’ BENCH, on view in the miniature show, artist Susiehyer was captivated by a bench perched outside a shop in Manitou Springs, CO. While painting the scene, she learned that there was a story connected to her subject matter. “The shop owner told me that the bench was named in honor of this man Charles who had passed away but used to be a permanent figure on it, often just sitting and watching the world go by,” Susiehyer says. —Bonnie Gangelhoff
contact information
303.679.3610
www.evergreenfineart.com
Featured in the December 2012 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art magazine December 2012 digital download
Southwest Art magazine December 2012 print edition
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