Visit Sedona Arts Center this May and indulge in the creative wonders of featured artists Patricia Caldwell, Bill Cramer, Chikako Myers and Dennis Ott.
An opening reception will take place during the 1st Friday Gallery Tour, May 3, from 4 to 8 p.m., where you can meet and mingle with the artists, art lovers, and like-minded patrons! The exhibit will be showing through Tuesday, July 2, alongside works by over 100 local artists represented by the Arts Center.
Our spring selection of featured artists are a must see on your calendar of activities for May,” Gallery Director Cyndi Thau said. “From the well-executed Impressionistic Landscapes by oil painter Bill Cramer to the finely designed artistic quilts by Patricia Caldwell, to the Twisted Lid Series of ceramic ware by Sedona Arts Center’s very own Dennis Ott, complemented by the dichroic glass jewelry and metalwork of Chikako Myers, there’s something for everyone!”
May’s Featured Artists:
Growing up in southern California, Bill always had an interest in exploring nature and creating art. As an experienced rock climber, he spent much of his youth enjoying the more vertical places of the American west. This gave him a perspective of the world that few others would ever experience. He received a fine arts degree from California State University, Long Beach and later moved to Prescott, where Bill discovered the joys and challenges of landscape painting, his outdoor experiences providing much of the insight and inspiration expressed in his art.
The opportunity to experience and paint some of the most scenic places in America has contributed greatly to his artistic growth.
“Any landscape worth painting is more than the obvious visual elements. The push of an evening breeze, the feel of sun baked sandstone, the scent of sagebrush or the sound of a raven suddenly overhead are examples of the many unseen elements that inform my work. I’m satisfied when a painting is as rich as the landscape that inspired it. My goals are to keep exploring the Southwest’s wild places, search for new ideas and express what I find exciting about landscapes and about painting.”
Patricia Caldwell is an award-winning fiber artist designing her own patterns since the 1990’s. Nature has always been an inspiration to her work since the beginning so she often includes many natural elements. These can include various stones and dyes originating from nature.
Patricia dreams about her designs and puts them down on paper before she begins the process. Sometimes this works and other times she just lets it flow. She is learning that when she allows the inspiration to flow and she goes with it that her art speaks to her on a much deeper level.
Dennis Ott’s pottery career began many years ago after enrolling in his first pottery class at the Sedona Arts Center. Since then Dennis has taken numerous classes and workshops from many notable and inspirational ceramic artists.
Dennis is currently head of the ceramic department at the Sedona Arts Center, teaching beginning and intermediate pottery classes as well as workshops in alternative firings.
Dennis was honored with the Sedona Mayor’s Arts Award in Arts Education in 2017 and in 2018 was awarded the Governor’s Arts Award for an individual Arts Educator.
“Clay is my window that allows me to see the creativity that is within me,” says Dennis Ott, “I’ll start with an idea and make changes along the way as new possibilities occur. The end result is a captured moment of spontaneous creativity, with clay being the catalyst. Each piece represents its own moment and therefore is one of a kind.
While growing up in Kanagawa, Japan, Chikako Myers always admired artistic talent. She has only recently started discovering and exploring her own artistic abilities.
After finishing college, she received a degree in Elementary School Education and later became the manager of an English language school.
A year after meeting her husband, they moved from the Yokohama area to Sedona, Arizona, where since 1996 they have owned a fine art bronze foundry, Sedona Bronze. Chikako makes the molds of other artist’s sculptures and prepares the wax patterns for the lost wax process.
She has been working in her own studio since 2009 creating fused dichroic glass jewelry and metalwork. To this day Chikako continues to design and create beautiful pieces of dichroic and metal jewelry in a vibrant range of colors.
Sedona Arts Center is one of Northern Arizona’s most well-established cultural organizations and serves as the creative heart of Sedona.
Founded in 1958, the nonprofit organization is based at the Art Barn in Uptown and offers year-round classes, exhibitions, festivals, and cultural events that enhance the creative life of the Verde Valley.
The Center’s Fine Art Gallery, open daily from 10am to 5pm, promotes the original works of over 100 local artists and regularly offers special assistance for collectors and art buyers, offers private studio visits, and fosters hundreds of arts education opportunities each year.
For more information, call the Gallery at 928-282-3865, the Administrative offices at 928-282-3809 or visit us online at SedonaArtsCenter.org.
