Jun Kaneko executes his sculptures on a monumental scale, but not because he thinks bigger is better. “I’m interested in the technical challenge,” he offers when asked why he creates 10-foot-tall, vividly glazed, featureless heads; rounded 13-foot abstract forms he calls dangos, Japanese for dumplings;...
Over the past three decades, Tim Cherry has won widespread acclaim for his Art Nouveau-inspired, limited-edition bronze animal sculptures. His works are in collections ranging from the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to the Briscoe Western Art Museum in Dallas, Texas,...
Phyllis Shafer joyfully defies expectations with her plein-air paintings. For starters, she forswears the easily portable format most landscape painters rely on when working outdoors. Instead, the artist, who lives in South Lake Tahoe, California, may lug canvases as large as 4 feet wide into...
Mosaic artist Marlea Taylor began her fine-art career in printmaking. But frustrated with the limits of working on paper, she decided to delve into mosaics, using tiles and repurposed broken pottery and plates. She hasn’t looked back since. “I’m a retired teacher and taught kindergarten through...
Jamie Burnes creates his art through encounters with environmental detritus. The found objects he uses in his sculptures reveal themselves as tree trunks, petrified wood, stones, and other natural materials. It’s the happenstance of life put into form. “My work is very process-oriented,” Burnes says. “I’m...
Through her work with animal rescues and sanctuaries, cleaning cages and transporting injured wild animals to urgent care, Allison Leigh Smith translates her intimate knowledge about each animal into a personal portrait. Her paintings contain more than just the animal. They reference subjective experiences with...
Spoken through the language of color, Roger Hayden Johnson applies a meditative sheen on his paintings of small rowboats. Devoid of figures or movement, the imagery rivets the mind. Johnson likens his repetitive use of small, often broken, and crudely repaired boats to Chinese scholar’s rocks...
Jennifer Johnson’s vintage poster paintings embody the deep-seated relationship Americans have with their national parks. As a child, Johnson grew up visiting, exploring, and camping in all of the national parks with her father, a plant pathologist for the National Forest Service. Her attachment to...
In his studio, Steven Handelman oversees the design and creation of wrought ironworks. Each piece is handmade by skilled craftsmen and fashioned one at a time. His vast array of lighting fixtures stem from historic designs updated to current standards. Handelman started his business directly out...
Textile artist Melissa Cody integrates contemporary themes with traditional Diné (Navajo) tapestry designs. A fourth-generation weaver raised on the reservation in Northern Arizona, Cody works within the parameters of the handed-down techniques she grew up practicing. She then adds her voice, incorporating symbols and text...