Mike Dominguez is nothing if not optimistic. As the owner of Tucson’s largest fine arts gallery and indefatigable proponent of the creative professions, what he says is worth noting.

“I’m seeing pent up demand,” he says. “The arts market is poised for recovery.”

Mike Dominguez in front of Opportunity Target by Alfred Quiroz

Let’s hope so because the past year has been as hard on artists as on any segment of the community.

To get a sense of the current trend I stopped by several galleries recently to ask how things are going.

At the Paloma Art Gallery on the Northwest side at 4747 E. Sunrise Dr., owner Sylvia Buchanan noted she’s gotten to know her business a lot better – because she’s taken all the jobs including owner, employee, accountant, framer, janitor and odd job specialist. “We have a good customer following,” she says, “and it’s not so much that traffic has been down as the dollar amount of the sales has declined.”

Paloma Art Gallery

She’s adjusted her price point to more affordable items – pieces below $100 are in, decors items in the $35 range move most rapidly – and she’s found that artists “are much more flexible in terms of payments plans and coming down somewhat on prices.”

Over on the Westside, Gertrude Wait, treasurer of Desert Artisans’ Gallery, 6536 E. Tanque Verde Rd., noted that “while sales are down, we will get through it. Before the downturn our customers were typically ready to spend about $500 for a painting, but now that’s down to about $150.”

Desert Artisans' Gallery

The Artisans’ Gallery is a co-op established 18 years ago owned and operated by 30 local artists. They opened a new show earlier this month and plan a sidewalk sale July 18 where prices will be cut by up to 75 percent.

Jewelry by Margaret Shirer at Desert Artisans' Gallery

One complaint I heard was of the occasional “customer” who insistently tries to bargain down the price figuring he or she can gain from others pain. Folks, artists have to earn living, too. It is a livelihood, not a yard sale.

The older galleries that have built up a customer base over the years are better situated to weather the storm. I was told of several start-up galleries that have gone under and that a tsunami of closures has hit Scottsdale where rents are typically much higher than in Tucson.

Dominguez believes “there will be fewer galleries” in the 2009-2010 season, but he sees a turnaround.

Murray Dessner's Cascade (l), Josh Goldberg's Antiphon (c), and Tom Murphy's Figure Fragment (r) at the David Dominguez Gallery

Last year at the Davis Dominguez Gallery, 154 E. 6^th St., small paintings show only 25 pieces sold all summer, he says. “So far this year we’ve already sold 25 pieces and most of the summer is still ahead.”

“We’re at the trough of the wave right now,” Dominguez says, “but I’m feeling the pent up demand and we’re ready to ride the wave back up to the top.”

Note: Contact me at benmcnitt@gmail.com to suggest a topic for a future blog.

Stepping into Tom Philabaum’s glassblowing gallery for the first time was a bit like transiting from a two dimensional monochrome world into a joyously colorful realm of elegant and sensuous shapes, vivid imagination given form in glass sculpture glowing with light.

“It’s overwhelming,” I said.

 “That’s my intention,” Philabaum replied.

Tom Philabaum

Starting from scratch in 1975 when he arrived in Tucson from Chicago, Philabaum has created with his wife Dabney a creative treasure – glassblowing studio for himself and his nine current employees, gallery for artists across the country, and a national reputation for beauty and excellence.

Five years after arriving here, Tom and Dabney sat down and sketched out a 5-to-10 year plan for themselves. They wanted a studio and gallery, respect in their field, representation both nationally and internationally, travel and to make a living at it all sufficient to support their family.

They’ve succeeded wonderfully.

Tucson Airport installation - Another Way to Fly

Travel provides much of the inspiration for his work – Mexico especially where they spent 10 Christmases with their two children in various parts of the country. Iceland, Philabaum says, “is a huge influence – out there in the Arctic circle, the northern lights, the swirling stars.”

In 2001 they started the Sonoran Glass Art Academy, a non-profit where, the web site notes, “glass artists, students and enthusiasts can come together and share knowledge through craftsmanship.”

“I enjoy glass because it is the best teacher I’ve ever had,” Philabaum says. “It is opaque and translucent, strong and weak, flexible and rigid. It makes color come alive. You have to know science and art, properties of annealing, physics of glass, how to engineer equipment and tools to execute a treatment. It’s teamwork and planning. It’s an all consuming life of its own.”

In the process he’s become a citizen of the world, a quality he believes should be a goal in life, “to interact peacefully and learn from the cultures of the world.”

Here at home, he’s well known for his support of the creative community, frequently providing pieces for art auctions.

He’s been hit by the economic downturn – the furnaces were shut off for two months, he cut back on the number of the employees. “When things get bad,” he says, “you work harder. I’m prosperous in terms of what I’ve achieved, what Tucson has given me. My goal has never been to get rich, it has always been to live a rich life.”

The Philabaum Glass Studio and Gallery is located at 711 S. 6^th Ave.

Note: Let me know of local artists you’d like to see profiled on this blog – benmcnitt@gmail.com

So, I often wonder, and never seem to learn, that you can’t force creativity. I sometimes find myself in my studio wandering from thing to thing and never actually getting much of anything done. Granted, my studio is a nightmare of materials which I sometimes am able to spin into artwork (Rumpelstiltskin reference). I find that I need to surround myself with the things that intrigue me, and speak at some level to me. I suppose this is the creative muse at work? I seem to work best under deadline – for example an art show deadline, or entry deadline. But I also seem to store up creative impulses to be released at some point. For example, after I left the Fox in April of 2008 I experienced a burst of productivity which I assume I had been ignoring due to my work load. I created over 50 works of art in a short (6-month) period.

This blog presents another creative deadline to address on a regular basis. While the  output is slightly different, there is the issue of summoning the muse to inspire work. Is this a creative luxury? In researching other creative types, it appears that a mixture of discipline and creative talent must be brought to bear in order to create. This seems to apply to writers, musicians and artists everywhere. I suppose one way to combat potential “creative block” is to be flexible enough to move from thing to thing and to not wait until a deadline is looming. I also find that the ability to walk away when something is not working and to return later is a wonderful luxury.

I am reminded of the 1999 Albert Brooks film “The Muse” where Sharon Stone is the embodiment of an artistic muse who is supposed to inspire his screenwriter character and only ands up driving him crazy. Luckily, I believe many of us creative types have an invisible, or at least cheaper muse to feed. Perhaps our muses are just a different personification of conscience, or intuition which due to genetics, or just luck, get our attention on a regular basis.