ArtFest of Scottsdale

We'll be exhibitors at ArtFest of Scottsdale this weekend. http://www.888artfest.com/art-shows/arizona/artfest-of-scottsdale
Located at the beautiful Civic Center park in Old Town Scottsdale. Please stop by if you visit the show. We're right in front of the Civic Center building.

Hope to see you there!

Judy Mohr - Ceramic Artist

We were fortunate to be next to my favorite ceramic artist this weekend at Chris Bubany's Holiday Marketplace at Harlow Gardens. Judy Mohr,from Tucson creates amazing serving dishes, mugs, vases, bird feeders, Ikebana vessels and raku sculptures. Thank you for horsetrading with me Judy - I love to go home with some of your work!

One of Judy's whimsical horse sculptures - with genuine horsehair tail. These are some of her raku pieces.

The hanging pieces are bird feeders. I've had one up for two years now. The birds love it because it's so natural. A branch slides through holes in the feeder and they perch on it to access the feeder. A lot of fun to watch!

Judy doesn't have a website but you can find her work at the following galleries:

- In Tucson - Tohono Chul Park, Old Town Artisans

- In Tubac - Lilly's

- In Sedona - Esteban's, Zonies

- In Moab, UT - Hogan Trading Co.

Chris Bubany's Holiday Marketplace at Harlow Gardens

We enjoyed being a part of Chris Bubany's Holiday Marketplace at Harlow Gardens this past weekend! What a beautiful location at this 70 year old family business. We set up our tents among the nursery plants. Along with the visiting artists there are outdoor sculptures throughout the nursery. What a lovely location and very busy!

Chris Bubany and Sandy Ricker the show organizer. Sandy really took care of all of us and made sure the show ran smoothly. It was a pleasure to be part of it.

Some of Chris' beautiful colorful pottery! So many different designs displayed through the middle of the nursery. Please visit her website for more information http://www.chrisbubany.com/

Harlow Gardens is a destination for Tucson Gardeners - every inch is full of beautiful plants and gardening accents. If you're ever in Tucson please check them out http://www.harlowgardens.com/

Art For Sedona's Sake Artists

You've heard me talk about my friend John Wdowin of Natural Nook before. He creates beautiful organic wooden vases that hold water. We have a lot of show acquaintances but he has become a great friend over these last couple years. We have one of his vases that we bring to every show with us - it's great, being wood it can bounce around in our travels and not break but it is still elegant and gets compliments every where we go.

John doesn't have a website but you can contact him for his show schedule at naturalnook1@hotmail.com He lives in Mesa, AZ in the winter and does private showings. May - Oct can be found in NY state at shows. Please contact him for his east coast show schedule or for a private viewing.

Sumac vessel in foreground. I love how he sometimes keeps the bark on his pieces. You just have to see them in person to feel the warmth.

Turned burl vessel inlaid with Arizona Turquoise.

Birch Vessel inlaid with Arizona Turquoise.

Art For Sedona's Sake - Artists

We were just at our last show in Sedona for this year and I wanted to talk about some of the great people we meet. Chris Bendele and her sister Glow Ybarra of All A Glow Jewelry create beautiful beaded jewelry and are terrific neighbors! Please check out their website http://www.allaglowjewelry.com/

Greg Anderson, also a great neighbor creates beautiful mixed media, southwestern wall pieces. Greg has just started making gorgeous enameled copper jewelry. It's neat to see someone transitioning into a new media and so excited and inspired by it. I expect to see some amazing pieces next year when we're neighbors again. Greg doesn't have a website but you can reach him at artgreg@ymail.com for his show schedule.

Thom & MJ Stanley are our favorite show promoters. They really do care about the artists at their shows. Thom also has another passion - his eclectic newspaper - please visit this link to check it out http://www.sedonaexcentric.com/excentric/home.php

New Jewelry Creations

Mark has been very busy making some beautiful new 18k Arizona Amethyst, Opal, Gem Chrysocolla, Holly Agate and Bisbee Turquoise jewelry. Here are a few pieces. If we don't sell them this weekend they will be on our Website - hopefully next week.

18k Gold , Arizona Four Peaks Amethyst, Chrome Tourmaline and Australian Opal Pendant.

18k Gold Gem Chrysocolla, AZ Four Peaks Amethyst and Holly Agate Pendant.

18k Bisbee Turquoise Pendant.

18k Arizona Fire Agate and diamond ring.

18k Gem Chrysocolla and diamond ring.

Thanks for taking a look!

2009 Capitol Christmas Tree - Alpine, AZ

We are so thrilled and honored that the Capitol Christmas Tree is coming from Alpine, AZ this year. We know that we live in one of the most beautiful places in Arizona and now the whole country will hear about our home!

It's no surprise that the tree was selected from the Apache Sitgreaves Forest - it's the centennial of Aldo Leopold's arrival to our area. The tree is being called "The Aldo Leopold Centennial Tree." Aldo Leopold was a pioneer in the conservation of our natural resources. To find out more information about the Aldo Leopold Centennial, please visit the website: http://www.leopoldcelebration.org/ Apache Sitgreaves Forest Service Headquarters. Home of the Forest Rangers - stewards of our beautiful forest.

We experience all seasons in Alpine, summer is vibrant green due to the almost daily rain showers - which also create beautiful rainbows. At 8050' we are close to the clouds which settle on the mountain tops during the night. If you ever have chance to visit this relatively unknown gem - Alpine, AZ, please spend a couple days. It takes that long to absorb the natural beauty, abundant wildlife and friendliness of all of us that live here. Here's a link to our chamber website for lodging and other information http://www.alpinearizona.com/

We've been excitied about the tree for months. It's been hush hush about the exact location - but through reliable sources the tree is coming from just south of Alpine off Route 191 - between us and Hannigan's Meadow.

We're dissappointed that we'll be out of town at a craft show during the procession. The cutting ceremony is November 7th. For more information on the tree please see the following links. http://tinyurl.com/q8dtcv , http://capitolchristmastree2009.org/ and http://tinyurl.com/ll5bdo

If you'd like to see more images of Alpine please see click on the Alpine subject bar on the left side of our Blog. Hope you enjoy the pictures and the beautiful tree we've gifted our nation!