Changing Coats by George Ehnat

If you enjoy truly “original” contemporary artwork, you will appreciate the work of George Ehnat. He is presently exhibiting at Dinnerware Contemporary Art Gallery now celebrating their 30^th year. The opening reception was held Saturday September 12. George Ehnat was one of the original founders of Dinnerware in 1979 when it started as a Co-op Gallery.

Ehnat’s new exhibition offers some of his latest creations. An artist for over 45 years, his body of work speaks for itself.  Bronze, stone, marble, wood, are his favorite mediums. He gets his inspirations from the streams of consciousness reflected in everyday life experiences like people, art, news, etc. Below are a few of his signature pieces. (more…)

By Charles Spillar
David Voisard is probably one of the most prolific artists around. For over twenty years, before moving to Arizona in early 2002, he created hand carved winery doors, custom furniture, custom signage, meditation buildings, presentation artwork of wine collections for auction at Christies, Sotheby’s and the Napa Valley Wine Auction from his studio in Calistoga, CA.

David got into art from somewhat the back door. As a ski instructor one winter in Lake Tahoe, with no snow on the mountain, he needed a job to pay the bills and got a job in a wood working shop. He fell in love with wood and pursued this passion for years until one of his patrons in 1999 overheard him talk about his desire to work with metal. She commissioned a $10,000 project and this allowed him to buy the welding equipment he needed to pursue his new passion.

He quickly began sculpting in steel, copper, aluminum and bronze. His work has been exhibited in museum shows, on magazine covers and in private collections internationally. His primary goal with his metal work is to use recycled materials whenever possible and add a touch of happiness with the end product.

His series of metal dogs grace many a happy home and all are made from recycled materials. He creates great metal cats also. (more…)

This blog was going to be called “For Art’s Sake,” paying tribute to the “Art for Art’s Sake,” or “l’art pour l’art,” notion and battlecry that decrees art is not required to do anything but simply exist.

But when I ran this title by Charlie Spillar, art blog contributor and now administrator of this blog, he made that “eh” sound people emit when they really hate your new haircut.

So the blog is named Artistic Tucson.

Contributors will include:

• Charlie Spillar: He’s the guy who was honored for finding homes for the Magic Carpet Golf statues. He’s also the creator of many wacky pieces, some larger than life, and a fellow Gemini. The latter makes him automatically cool. His head is always flowing with ideas and his definition of ART is very broad, so be ready for some funky stuff.

• David Aguirre: Director downtown’s Dinnerware Artspace, Aguirre has a good eye for art and sense of humor. He recently held an entire exhibit that focused on chickens. It even had a live chicken at the reception (where I believe chicken was also served much to the consternation of the guest of honor).

• Ben McNitt: This artistic fellow has a palette full of talent and knowledge about the local art scene. He’s a longtime writer and artist who specializes in woodworking and has close ties with the local arts group WAMO.

Check back soon for their premiere post.

Do you want to add to the Artistic Tucson blog? E-mail site Ryngmaster Ryn Garguinski at rynski@tucsoncitizen.com