Scottsdale, AZ
Legacy Gallery, December 6-31
Laura Robb, Taos Wildflowers, oil, 12 x 14.
This story was featured in the December 2018 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art December 2018 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
As holiday festivities kick into high gear this month, ’tis also the season for Legacy Gallery’s 18th annual Holiday Small Works Show at its Scottsdale, AZ, location. Beginning on Thursday, December 6, that’s where western art devotees can find more than 200 paintings and sculptures by acclaimed artists like Greg Beecham, C. Michael Dudash, George Hallmark, David Mann, Jason Rich, and many more. Measuring just 12 by 16 inches or smaller, these petite gems offer viewers an intimate peek at their favorite western subjects and genres. The gallery hosts an artists’ reception and sale by draw from 7 to 9 p.m. on opening night. Complete with carolers and a potential visit from a certain jolly, white-bearded holiday icon, it all adds up to a lively and festive evening.
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- George Hallmark, Mañana Nevosa (Snowy Morning), oil, 16 x 12.
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- Glenn Dean, Desert Wrangler, oil, 9 x 12.
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- Scott Christensen, Miller Lake, oil, 8 x 10.
A major lure of the show—aside from the prominent artists who take part—is the size of the works up for sale. Small fine-art creations can beautifully accent the serious connoisseur’s collection, but they also offer first-time collectors an opportunity to purchase original, one-of-a-kind pieces at less extravagant price points. That doesn’t mean, however, that small works are any less engaging than their more sizable counterparts. Taos, NM, artist Laura Robb works in a variety of sizes, but she appreciates the intimate connection she can make with viewers on a modestly sized canvas. “Smaller pieces invite the viewer to come closer and see all of the strokes and nuances, which are a big part of what I find exciting about the painting process,” explains Robb. “At arm’s length, you can appreciate the piece as a whole, but you also experience a little bit of the zone I was in as I was working.”
Robb’s 12-by-14-inch still life for the show, entitled TAOS WILDFLOWERS, embodies all of the qualities the artist seeks to capture in her work: “beauty, light, harmony, and grace,” she says. The subject of her painting, of course, is a bright throng of sunflowers the artist found thriving along a roadside in Taos. “Even this year, with very little rain, they managed to put on a spectacular display!” says Robb. “I enjoy taking fairly ordinary objects and arranging them in a way that conveys a purely visual communication—creating something that becomes more than the sum of its parts.”
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- Carrie Ballantyne, Daydreaming, oil, 8 x 10.
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- David Mann, Blue Horizon, oil, 12 x 16.
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- Jason Rich, Evening Light on the O6, oil, 8 x 15.
Like Robb, Wyoming artist Carrie Ballantyne is no stranger to working small, though it’s not something she tackles often. “But this time of year, it’s kind of fun,” she adds. The figurative painter brings DAYDREAMING to the show, an 8-by-10-inch scene featuring a young, feather-capped cowboy cradling his barn cat and clearly captivated by something beyond the picture plane. The artist also brings a bust portrait of a young cowboy in Conté and charcoal. “This is what I do,” Ballantyne says of her western-themed works. “It’s because of the world I live in. I think it’s important to portray what we know, and this is my world.” The artist, whose models are generally friends and neighbors from her own community, describes her process as meticulous and detailed. Thus, she says, “It can be difficult to capture moods and gestures on a tiny level, so I see small works as little jewels.”
After opening night, available works remain on view and for sale through the end of the month. —Kim Agricola
contact information
480.945.1113
www.legacygallery.com
This story was featured in the December 2018 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art December 2018 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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