Jim Gruhl and Painting

When one thinks of fine art they seldom associate it with a scientist’s mind. WRONG. This Friday, March 16, the Stone Dragon Studio (inside the Art Gallery on Stone and Speedway) Jim Gruhl’s exhibition “Endangered Cultures” will open. Proceeds from sales of Jim’s art will go to “Children’s Medical Research for the Shriners Children’s Hospitals.”

Jim Gruhl did occasional serious paintings beginning in 1967, and became more serious in the late 1980′s.  He has been listed as an artist in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World since 1990.  His art teachers have been Virginia Stonebarger, who was a student of Hans Hofmann, and Professor Alfred Quiroz of the University of Arizona.

Jim often paints in a Fauvist style, forcing every color of the rainbow into each painting, and the most important influences on his art have been Matisse, Picasso and John Neito.

San Xavier Mission by Jim Gruhl

He likes to use contrasting colors, and sometimes uses “outlined segmentation,” as a way to improve the “accessibility” of his paintings.  He pushes for easily understood paintings, with enough detail and interesting features to keep the viewer’s interest. More of his paintings can be seen at his facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Thunder-Canyon-Gallery/178340422218037

Portrait With Green by Jim Gruhl

Navajo Chief's Daughter by Jim Gruhl

Jim Gruhl has a doctorate of science from M.I.T., and has worked as a science adviser for three administrations and to Congress. His first job was to fix the navigation system of the APOLLO moon shot launch vehicles.

He has led research programs, and taught, at M.I.T. and Harvard Medical and School of Public Health. His specialty has been building and running policy models in the area of economics, energy, environmental effects, climate and foreign policy, to simulate different policy options and different possible future scenarios.

Exhibiiton opens Friday, March 16, 2012 at 11a.m. and runs through Saturday, April 28th.

ARTIST’S RECEPTION is Friday, March 16th from 4 p.m.- 8 p.m.  Open to the public.

Additional ARTIST’S RECEPTION for Jim and his special guests will be Friday, March 23rd from 5:30 p.m.- 7:00 p.m., featuring a musical performance by well-known local singer/songwriter Alisha Peru.

Studio Hours: Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, 11a.m.-4 p.m.

In addition, we are available by appointment with Steve at (520)405-5800.

Parking lot & entry through paved alley at east end of building.

Handicapped parking & entry from Stone Ave.

Stone Dragon Studio (inside ART Gallery)

1122 N. Stone Ave. (NE corner of Stone/Speedway)

Tucson, AZ 85705

(520)624-7099

holyjoestudio.com

Dirk Arnold's Wishbone

On Friday, March 2, at the Temple Gallery  Dirk Arnold’s new exhibition, Dirk Arnold: Endangered Architecture features Arnold’s framed shadowbox miniatures of Tucson’s historic building facades, many of which have disappeared as generic urban sprawl has encroached upon the city. The exhibition opens with an artist reception on Friday, March 2, 2012, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm, and runs through April 3.

Although trained as an architect, Arnold’s true love was constructing architectural models. Endangered Architecture was born of a happy communion between his training and the desire to preserve Tucson’s unique cultural heritage before it is lost to the chain stores and strip malls that are remaking the American city into a model of ubiquity and sameness.

Loft Cinema by Dirk Arnold

Arnold’s shadowboxes, such as the façade of the Tucson Warehouse & Transfer Co., transcend mere nostalgia. Architectural models, now themselves replaced by software, are the perfect, optimistic representation of the building-to-be, of the future.

Arnold’s shadow boxes capture that optimism, at the same time that they frame the architecture in a specific time. For Arnold, Tucson’s future is in highlighting and protecting the best of its past.  Arnold is also a local contributor to public art, recognized for his Tucson gateway neon saguaro. Dirk J. Arnold obtained a B.S. in Architecture from Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan. His professional background includes graphic design, technicalcommunication, and multimedia development.

DETAILS of Exhibition:

Exhibition:   Dirk Arnold: Endangered Architecture

Location: T E M P L E  G A L L E R Y / 330 S. Scott Avenue/ Tucson, AZ 85701

Phone: (520) 625-7370

Dates:    March 2, 2012 – April 3, 2012

Reception:   Friday, March 2, 2012, 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Regular Hours: Monday–Friday, 10am–5pm & before Arizona Theatre Company performances on Sat. & Sun.

Poster for Raw Artist Event

Raw Artist Announcer at Event

Art was really happening at the first RAW ARTISTS’ Tucson showcase Thursday Night, February 23 held at Plush on 4^th Ave.  Overflow crowds were experienced that evening enjoying some of Tucson’s up and coming artists

RAW: Natural Born Artists is an independent arts organization that hand-selects and spotlights independent creatives in visual art, film, fashion, music, hair & makeup artistry, photography, models and performing . Another local event will be scheduled so “don’t miss it!” The arts are definitely alive and well in Tucson.

Tucson Artist Brian Carlton with his artwork

Crowd at Raw Tucson Event

The RAW season runs from February to October every year, hosting a multi-faceted arts event every month in 21 different cities nationwide. RAW currently hosts monthly showcases in: Hollywood, Los Angeles, Orange County, Santa Ana, Pomona, Riverside, Santa Monica, San Diego, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Denver, Chicago, Minneapolis, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Nashville, Austin, Phoenix, and Las Vegas.

One of Local Bands Performing at Event

RAW’s mission is to provide up-and-coming artists of all creative realms with the tools, resources and exposure needed to inspire and cultivate creativity so that they might be seen, heard and loved. RAW educates, connects and exposes emerging artists in 22 artistic communities nationwide through monthly showcase events.

RAW events are multi-faceted artistic showcases. Each event features a film screening, musical performance, fashion show, art gallery, performance art and a featured hairstylist and makeup artist. These artists are all local, hand-picked talent who have been chosen to feature at RAW.

Model at Raw Event

Local artists participating are: Visual Artists Marc Wilson, Ashley Collings, Samantha Violet, Alexis Martinez, Ben Lerman, Liora Kuttler, Chris Leon, Andrew Cooke, Brian Carlton, Calvin Mickle. Performing Arts: Jolie Roberson, Ben Lerman. Music: Boreas, Young Mothers & The Natives Are Restless featuring Danger James. Accessories: Jodi Brey, Fashion by Diana Lopez. Hair & Makeup:Amber Zabaleta. Models: Mindy Bailey & Tyeshia Harvey.

Art Crowd at Raw Event

Check out their website for more details about Raw events and IF you are an artist interested in participating in future Showcases you will find out information there.

www.RAWartists.org

Mother Abiah by George Penaloza

The exhibition features works by Debra Fritts, George Penaloza and Cheryl Tall. The Artist’s Reception will be this Saturday, February 4, 2012 from 6PM to 9PM.

George Penaloza gives voice to his creativity through ceramic sculpture that is inspired by fantasy movies and special effects design. His sculpture gives life to what exists within his heart and imagination.

Heads Above Water by Cheryl Tall

 

Cheryl Tall’s figurative sculptures focus on the relationships between people and their surroundings, especially their homes or workplaces. Her works are coil-built and are inspired by her personal experiences of travel and a study of mythology and primitive art.

 

Dream of Coyote Song by Debra Fritts

 

What I consider one of Tucson’s finest galleries, is now located in The Historic Depot at 410 N. Toole Avenue, # 120. Enter through the double green doors in the middle of the building.

Obsidian Gallery

410 N. Toole Avenue, #120

Tucson, Arizona 85701

T. 520-577-3598

F. 520-577-9018

info@obsidian-gallery.com

www.obsidian-gallery.com

Rainy Afternoon by Brian Carlton

A new exhibition, The Artists of Industria, is featuring the paintings and sculptures of Marc David Leviton and an introduction to fusion modeling by Brian Carlton. The show will also showcase the work of Industria’s resident artists. Opens Saturday, February 4th from 6pm – 10pm and will remain open by appointment until February 25th.

On display will be major works by Marc David Leviton M.F.A. Studio, Sculpture
Life casting, kinetics, installation, foundry, fabrication, and found object construction emphasis
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

The Artists of Industria exhibit also features the introduction of Tucson artist Brian Carlton’s fusion modeling technique. Brian’s style is born out of realism, but has recently taken a turn into the realm of abstraction. His latest work  is a form of abstract realism he developed in the vein of such artists as Chuck Close, where shape, structure, and realism is apparent from a distance, but close examination reveals roughly executed regions of color in total open form.  In this technique, the illusion of form is constructed by the forced fusion of fluid colors directly on the canvas. He calls it fusion modeling.

Night Lights by Brian Carlton

Brian Carlton grew up in the Tucson. He is an acrylic painter and an advocate for the arts in the community. Brian is the Vice President of Industria Studios, A Non-Profit 501(c) (3) Corporation dedicated to the promotion of fine art to the Tucson community. His art is sold in local galleries and nationally on fineartamerica.com.

James Hetfield by Brian Carlton

Industria Studios is a working professional studio and education center. The mission of Industria Studios is to be a dynamic and innovative place for the community to experience the creative processes of fine art and to provide a challenging environment for individuals interested in art as an intellectual and transformative pursuit.

Industria Studios offers many opportunities for persons of all ages to learn from and work directly with producing and exhibiting artists of various media, including sculpture, life casting, metal, clay, painting, and photography.

The Industria Gallery is an extension of the Industria Studio programs and provides additional opportunities for students and artists to participate in professionally curated shows.

Industria Studios. 1441 E. 17th St.  520-235-0797.

Website: http://www.industriastudios.org/#home

500,000 volts of electricity PHOTO by Alexandra Wasko

Visitors to Tucson’s historic Valley of the Moon this SATURDAY, February 4,  will get two special treats. A chance to witness a woman, Electrice, laughing at 500,000 volts of electricity going through her body and a chance to work on an art project featuring Jaguars.

LIGHTNING STORM ON THE MOON

The Electrical storm event was originally to happen December 3 but because of the rain and cold was postponed to this weekend.

This is the link to the article I wrote about it in December.

http://tucsoncitizen.com/art/2011/11/28/shocking-electrical-experience-at-valley-of-the-moon-december-3/

Electrice, stands atop a monster Tesla Coil seemingly unprotected while huge electrical discharges of over 500,000 volts leap from her very fingertips from 6:30PM till 8:30PM.    She lights lamps by touch and sends scorching sparks skyward from the electrical chain of power!

Performances start at 6:30PM and 7:30PM.  Protected from these voltages by a metal screen Faraday cage enclosure, you can sit on top of the coil and be entirely enveloped in an evanescent effluvium of ethereal electrical emanation with absolutely no discomfort whatsoever.

Admission to the event is free, but for only $5 you can take a turn in the Faraday Cage!  The Tesla Coil, invented in 1891 by Nikola Tesla, is a high frequency transformer which steps normal house current up to a half-million volts.  At such high voltages, the electricity leaps from its conductors into the air in the form of sparks several feet long.

Bring the whole for family for both of these amazing and electrifying events of art and adventure on February 4th at Valley of the Moon.

( The Jaguar project) SEWING SPOTS TOGETHER

Sewing Spots Together Project

Use your creative energy to contribute to a local social art project, Sewing Spots Together: a migrating, recycled, mixed-media, social & environmental art project featuring the jaguar & the fantastic biodiversity around us from 3:00PM till 5:00PM.

This broad-ranging community art-piece will grow as looooooong as we make it & then be displayed throughout Arizona and beyond. All are welcome to contribute to the artwork, and admission is free.  Sewing Spots Together was initiated by the Tucson office of Defenders of Wildlife and local artist and educator, Stephanie Bowman, and serves to support Arizona’s native, wildcat as it stretches and roams from the Sonoran Desert to the Amazon Rain Forest and beyond.

See these and other wonders at Valley of the Moon, 2544 East Allen Road, a non-profit historic fantasy fairyland garden park dedicated to the idea that Kindness to All is the Golden Key to Happiness. Built by George Legler in the 1920′s for spiritual relaxation, it continues as an all volunteer national historic district dedicated to preserving the historic sculptures, and a philosophy that Kindness to All is the Golden Key to Happiness.

For more information call 520-323-1331, visit http://tucsonvalleyofthemoon.com/, or on their facebook page.

NUNCA, Untitled 2011 Spray Paint on DC 3 Aircraft

THE BONEYARD PROJECT: RETURN TRIP  opens on Saturday, January 28^th.

Conceived in 2011 by Eric Firestone and organized by Firestone with curators Carlo McCormick, Lesley Oliver and Med Sobio, the exhibit resurrects disused airplanes from America’s military history through the creative intervention of contemporary artists. Each of the artists included in the exhibit has utilized airplanes and aircraft parts found among the airplane graveyards located in the Arizona desert, known throughout the region as “boneyards.”

SPY TIGER by Andrew Scholutz 2012

Artists have transformed entire aircraft, nose cones, wings and cockpits into a stunning array of works that celebrate the glorious  history of the aeronautic industry as well as cutting edge contemporary, street and graffiti art. For the graffiti artist, Retna, an abandoned DC3 comes to life through the use of his own dramatic visual language that transforms the metal giant into a living canvas. With a nod to the airplane graffiti and ‘nose art’ that became popular in WWI and WWII, the project offers a vision of the wonder of air travel as seen through the eyes of some of the most prominent and acclaimed artists working today.

RETNA, Warning Shot, 2011 Ink & Spray Paint on DC 3

THE BONEYARD PROJECT: RETURN TRIP includes works from more than 30 artists including 3 DC Super 3 airplanes painted by graffiti artists How & Nosm, Nunca and Retna; a C97 cockpit by Saner; and C45 aircraft reinvented by Faile and Andrew Schoultz. New nose cones and works on various aircraft elements have been created by BAST, Colin Chilag, Crash, Daze, Daniel Martin Diaz, Tristan Eaton, TRUSTOCORP, Jameson Ellis, Ron English, Faile, Erik Foss, Luster Kaboom, Mark Kostabi, Lisa Lebofsky, Alex Markwith, Walter Robinson, Hector Ruiz, Randy Slack, Ryan Wallace and Eric White. Still other works, exhibited in the first iteration of the Boneyard Project in the exhibit, Nose Job (summer, 2011 at Eric Firestone Gallery in East Hampton, NY) will be on view with works by Aiko, Dan Colen, Peter Dayton, Shepard Fairey, Futura, How and Nosm, Juan James, Tara McPherson, Richard Prince, Lee Quinones, Saner, Kenny Scharf, Shelter Serra and JJ Veronis.

The PIMA AIR & SPACE MUSEUM is the largest non-government funded aviation museum in the United States, and one of the largest in the world. It maintains a collection of more than 300 aircraft and spacecraft from around the globe and more than 125,000 artifacts.

The museum is located at 6000 East Valencia Road in Tucson, Arizona and is open to the public from 9:00am – 5:00pm daily. T: 520-574-0462

THE BONEYARD PROJECT: RETURN TRIP

Exhibit opens  Saturday, January 28th with a reception from 6:00pm to 11:00pm.

There is a $5.00 entrance fee.

The exhibition is on view through the end of May, 2012

For further information please visit

 www.ericfirestonegallery.com

or contact us by email at info@theboneyardprojects.com

This unique space located on the west side of  6^th Ave. between Congress and Pennington is now in need of some professional artwork for its many walls. I personally feel it offers great exposure to local artists in a very friendly environment. They expect to have music on occasions and have great rooms for meetings and get-togethers.  It is a very large space and extremely comfortable with sofas and easy chairs as well as the regular tables and chairs.

The new artwork will be selected by their art committee for upcoming shows. Interested artists should contact Kate Preble at BREWD  (A coffee lounge) Email: brewdtucson@gmail.com. Phone: 520-623-2336. ADDRESS: 39 North 6^th Ave., Tucson, AZ 85701.

Visitors to Valley of the Moon

Bring the whole family for an afternoon of storytelling at historic Valley of the Moon’s storytelling event on January 7^th from 2PM till 7PM.  Visitors will listen to some favorite childhood stories of Gabe Zimmerman and Christina Taylor-Green while taking a tour of Tucson’s only historic fairyland dedicated to spreading a message of Kindness.  Admission is free.

This Event is part of the larger BEYOND:Commemorate*Celebrate*Commit Event designed to commemorate and celebrate loved ones injured and lost on January 8th. Our community will come together on January 7th to remember what happened, acknowledge how it changed us and commit to building a stronger community by engaging in activities that are good for the mind, body and spirit!

Bring a gently used book to donate to Make Way For Books, which promotes early literacy, especially in limited-resource areas in Tucson and southern Arizona providing children (birth through age 5) the opportunity to fall in love with books and reading. MWFB envisions a community in which all children enter kindergarten with the necessary early literacy skills to be successful in school and throughout life.

There will be a box on site for people to drop off stories for Stories That Soar offering children an open invitation to write about anything they choose.  Transforming words and ideas into high quality artistic expression, Stories that Soar tap into the wellspring of children’s imagination, inspiring creativity, promoting active literacy, and building engaged communities through the empowerment of children from kindergarten through high school.

Ben’s Bells will have a booth with ‘be kind’ stickers, tattoos and kindness contracts to sign. When people sign a kindness contract they get to paint their name on a tile that will be part of our “Tucsonans Commit to Kindness” mural.

Valley of the Moon is a non-profit historic fantasy fairyland garden park dedicated to the idea that Kindness to All is the Golden Key to Happiness. Built by George Legler in the 1920′s for spiritual relaxation, it continues as an all volunteer organization dedicated to preserving the historic sculptures, and a philosophy that Happiness is Given and Not Sold.

Valley of the Moon is located at 2544 East Allen Road.  For more information visit www.beyond-tucson.org, or call Valley of the Moon at 323-1331, or find Valley of the Moon on Facebook.

Harrison Still after Chemo treatment.

ARTZ  Gallery and Gifts is a new mid-town gallery that opened recently. The owners and gallery artists are now doing a lot more than just selling fine art and local made crafts. They are helping to save a young man’s life suffering from Ewing’s Sarcoma of the Mandible (jaw), a rare form of bone cancer.

The gallery owner and local artist, Chris Leon, and a number of gallery artists are donating all or part of their arts sales to help the young man afford the necessary cancer treatments. They have set up an account for the 7-year-old, Harrison Still, through Chase Bank.  Prescriptions and hospital treatments for the child are overwhelming the family. He has two younger brothers.  Future fundraisers will be planned as they are looking for companies and individuals interested in helping this young man overcome this serious illness.

Harrison Still before Chemo treatment

The new gallery offers a fine art selection by local artists as well as some unique craft items that will make great Christmas gifts.  Artz is also a part of the Tucson 1st Saturday Art scene. Following are a few photos of the art on exhibition presently.

Original Painting at Artz

Enhanced Photo at Artz Gallery

Original Rodeo Paintings at Artz

In addition to the gallery the artist owner conducts art workshops for children. Details of the workshops can be found at the gallery or by phone. With all the schools cutting back on their art programs this is a good opportunity for parents to help their child experience art.

Artz Gallery & Gifts

5315 E. Broadway Blvd,  Suite 102

Tucson AZ. 85711

520.777.4047

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/ArtzGalleryGifts