It was almost two decades ago when local artist Susan Kliewer first said she wished she had more time to paint with her friends Betty Carr, Jan Sitts and others. So she decided that on Wednesdays she would gather local artist friends to inspire, create and laugh together. Now 18 years later — and on Wednesdays, they’re still laughing and painting every week in Sedona.
“I’ve always loved the West and the original American art form that is known as ‘Western art,’” she stated.
Kliewer is one of the Southwest’s most acclaimed contemporary sculptors. A painter since the age of 10, Kliewer turned to sculpting in 1987, after working in an art casting foundry for 10 years. Kliewer primarily sculpts in oil-based clay, which is then cast in bronze, but she also loves to paint in oils, both in the studio and en plein air.
When she first wanted to sculpt, she didn’t know how to build an armature or how to even get started. That’s when she turned to Sedona Arts Center in Uptown where she took a class instructed by Ken Ottinger on bronze sculpture. After just a few years, she turned to teaching as well.
To this day Kliewer shares her knowledge and skills.
“I love the enthusiasm of my students, and teaching helps me constantly revisit the principles of creating a beautiful piece,” Kliewer stated.
She will be teaching a sculpting workshop at the Arts Center, “Sculpting a Character Bust,” in May. Her bronzes can be seen at the Arts Center gallery, Mountain Trails Gallery in Tlaquepaque; Mountain Trails Gallery in Santa Fe, N.M., Park City, Utah and Jackson Hole, Wyo., as well as Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson.
This passion for the arts is what drives her weekly artist gatherings — as well as her love of interesting conversations covering everything from art to politics to food, travel, galleries and more. Plus, they critique each other’s work, which everyone in the group finds immensely helpful.
Painting with Kliewer on Wednesdays is another local artist, Betty Carr. Carr was born and raised in Santa Cruz, Calif., and developed a love of art from visiting museums. For 23 years she taught art in public schools and did sculpture in her spare time. In 1980, she married landscape painter Howard Carr and they have devoted their lives to painting.
She was also influenced by Sedona Arts Center over the years.
“I’ve developed my painting and teaching career as an artist thanks to the Arts Center,” Carr said. “Everything from planning lessons, exciting art events, the Sedona Plein Air Festival, Loving Bowls, and fantastic people at the Arts Center keeps me inspired.”
Carr will be participating in the 14th annual Sedona Plein Air Festival Saturday, Oct. 13, through Saturday, Oct. 20, and teaching a workshop, “Sedona Fall Colors” next year. Her workshops emphasize the “how-to’s” in capturing light using expressive, impressionistic and painterly brushwork in both watercolor and oils for creating beautiful paintings.
As a master in the American Impressionist Society, Carr’s painting style is considered impressionistic with a focus in capturing light in unique situations from dramatic to subtle. She loves gathering with other artists to discuss art history and common ideals based on what makes great art.
Sound compositional aspects of great design, unique techniques and application in sculpting and painting and the creation of atmospheric qualities in light through painting are just a sampling of what comes to mind,” Carr stated.
Carr’s work can be seen at the Sedona Art Center; Mountain Trails Gallery, Sedona; Mountain Trails Gallery, Santa Fe, N.M.; Mountain Trails Gallery, Jackson, Wyo.; Madaras Gallery, Tucson; and Judith Hale Gallery, Solvang, Calif.
Joining in the gatherings off and on is Jan Sitts, who met Kliewer in 1986 and soon after began painting together. For the last 28 years, she has worked in contemporary style, using a variety of textures from paper to stencils within layers of acrylic. After teaching for 17 years in Colorado, she moved to Arizona, where she continues to teach at Sedona Arts Center as well as out of state. “I love helping my students learn new and unique approaches to creativity,” she said.
Sitts is teaching her workshop, “Texture — Color — Feeling” at the Arts Center in November and her work can be seen at the Arts Center’s Gallery and the Vue Gallery in Sedona.
These wonderful local artists that paint together, share together their inspiration, humor, skills, and art together. Each are teachers who love to share what they do. They may not have a name for their group, but they are committed to painting together in the years to come. And their dedication to the arts and teaching is what drives them to continue instructing at Sedona Arts Center — one of Northern Arizona’s most well-established cultural organizations that has served as the creative heart of Sedona since 1958.
Find out more about the artists at SedonaArtsCenter.org and SedonaPleinAirFestival.org.
Arts & Culture, written this week by Kelli Klymenko, artist, photographer and marketing director of the Sedona Arts Center, appears in The Scene.