Bubba's Back
at
Arts Prescott Gallery, and his works are more exquisite than ever!

About R.D. (Bubba) Shackelford

R.D. (Bubba) Shackelford was born in Durango, Colorado, but has lived most of his life in Prescott, Arizona. He developed a passion for southwestern jewelry from looking at classic Navajo pawn pieces. He got his start as a silversmith in an offhanded way—when he asked noted Arizona traders and jewelry makers Al and Jock Favour to make him a belt buckle and they told him to “make it yourself.” With the Favours as his early mentors, Bubba was further nurtured by Bill Ford, who provided encouragement and instruction in the fundamentals of the craft. Alex and Keith Horst later taught him to cut and polish stones. Bubba assumed the heritage of not only these fine craftsmen but of all the Hispanic and Native American jewelers who had gone before. Much of Bubba’s skill was developed through trial and error and his own experimentation with innovative techniques. His work with original silver casts, hand filing, and custom stamping, as well as his mastery in working with high-quality stones, has made him a local legend in Prescott and among those who appreciate and collect exceptional handmade silver jewelry.

Linne Thomas
Painter

            Linne has been an artist ever since she can remember.  Maybe even before she could spell the word!  As early as kindergarten others would identify her by saying,” She’s the artist".   She had the same art teacher from kindergarten through 8th grade who encouraged the budding artist and she attended the prestigious Art Institute of Chicago high school art program.

            Always a painter, Linne changed her medium in college to pursue a master's degree in welded sculpture from Northern Illinois University.  After creating monumental sculptures and finding that it was "hard to weld in apartments,"' not to mention that metal was "way too heavy" for a small woman to haul up flights of stairs in Chicago, she went back to her first love - painting.  Linne taught Junior High school art outside of Chicago for 14 years.  After a brief stint in advertising, and a position as a

freelance fashion photographer for the Palm Beach Daily News before going to graduate school, she returned to teaching.

            Linne is known for painting many recognizable local scenes in and around Prescott.  She loves landscapes and will be presenting a series of Skull Valley paintings to be exhibited in the front picture window of Arts Prescott Gallery in October.

             At Prescott College Linne taught art classes and for the past 7 years she has been teaching watercolor painting at Yavapai College.  She enjoys taking students to paint on location each semester - out in nature.  Linne works primarily in oils, sometimes in pastels, but for pure painting, she says that watercolor is the most exciting medium because it is the most unpredictable and "it wants to paint itself." It has a reputation of being more difficult to master than other forms of painting, and Linne expresses it is important to learn to master techniques with watercolor.  

             The artist moved to Prescott 22 years ago for the weather - the unique Southwestern landscape inspired her.  She loves the abundant sunshine and the vibrant colors, "so many varieties of green - at least 50 different shades of green - you KNOW that Chicago tends to be grey most of the time but our Southwestern sky is always changing.  Skies are meant to be painted in watercolor."

            She is a great admirer of Georgia O’Keefe and Maynard Dixons’s work. Pilgrimages to Abiquiu and Santa Fe expand her inspiration. She always travels with her watercolor paints.  Linne spent 2 months in the late 1970’s painting  (among other island activities) in Hawaii on the island of Maui and has returned 4 more times to paint beach scenes - people sitting, standing at waters' edge, floating in the ocean - all while sitting on the beach herself.

             Linne is a founding member of Arts Prescott Cooperative Gallery and says that an art cooperative is the best way to sell work and to meet people and tell them about your work. She is inspired by the other member artists and feels that helping get the Co-op started is one of the best things she's done.

             When not teaching or painting, Linne loves gardening, riding her bike and hanging out with friends - and to top it all off, she does most of her framing and matting.

Her web site is: www.LinneThomasArt.com and her facebook pages are Linne Thomas and Linne Thomas Art.

Arts Prescott Cooperative Gallery welcomes Four New Local Artists At Their 17th Anniversary party.

Arts Prescott Gallery, Whiskey Row's venerable artist cooperative enjoys and features the work of 24 member artists, all of whom live in the Prescott area. Paintings, sculptures, hand-crafted ceramics, basketry, leather, jewelry, hand-blown and fused glass, lampwork beads created with recycle glass and many others, in a wide price range, can be found in Prescott's Home Town Cooperative gallery.

The artists of the cooperative take their turn staffing the gallery as well as all other aspects of running, maintaining and managing the operation. They continually strive to improve their artwork, encourage up-and-coming area artists. The gallery invites Guest Arts to show their work each month as well as an annual fundraiser featuring a local non-profit organization with 100% of the money going to that organization.

When you walk into Arts Prescott you are greeted with a smile and
a true feeling that you are welcome to explore and touch the art.

After celebrating 17 years in business this month, Cooperative Gallery is excited to welcome four accomplished artists to our gallery. They all live and create their art in the Prescott area.

 Anne Marston is a fiber artist who weaves spins and dyes material to create structures as gorgeous and complex as any art form.  She is currently president of Mountain Spinners and Weavers Guild.  Anne’s background includes painting and bronze sculpting.

Karen Clarkson’s landscapes and portraits convey spiritual beauty through scenes and faces both past and present, and introduces her viewers to a world of ritual and ceremony.  Karen is a Choctaw tribal member and her work is recognized in the National Registry of Native American Artists. 

Mark and Jeanne Hines newest designs in glass are large multi-dimensional glass and metal clocks with enamel finishes.  They also create traditional and non-traditional vessels, forms and sculptures.  Their designs have been shown in Architectural Digest and are in collections worldwide. 

Scott Holderness is displaying his multi-colored functional pottery which includes a variety of plates, bowls, pitchers and mugs.  He lived in Alaska and Montana before arriving in Prescott in 2002.  His adventure in pottery began shortly thereafter.  Scott enjoys mountain biking when not in his studio creating new work. 

Melody McConaughy, member of Arts Prescott Gallery is participating in the Landfill Art Project. Her recycled art piece, shown here, was one of the pieces selected.

Landfillart is an international effort encompassing one-thousand-forty-one (1,041) artists to claim a piece of rusted metal garbage and create fine art.

The 1,041 pieces of rusted metal are actually old automobile hub caps from the 1930’s through the 1970’s.  Each hub cap, after being cleaned and primed, is affectionately called a “metal canvas.”  Although most “metal canvases” have been transformed by the artist using oil or acrylic paint, some have been weaved on, glued or screwed or welded to, or made into fine sculpture.

I have found that the fine artists I have worked with on this project do not even flinch when looking at this white round disc of metal canvas.  And why should they.  Artists from the beginning of time have used cave walls (Lascaux, France and Altamira, Spain,) walls of pyramids (Egyptians,) animal skins (American Indians,) etc… as their canvas.  In addition, as a gallery owner for over thirty years, I maintain that artists, generally speaking, are more ecologically in touch and environmentally aware.  Perhaps that is the reason forty-one artists readily accepted the challenge and embraced the project.

Although the project is in its infancy (I hope to have it completed by 2012,) it will evolve from a simple idea of taking forty-one old rusted hub caps and creating forty-one pieces of great art.  The second phase has already started with the acquisition of one thousand additional (1000) rusted hub caps which will be turned into cleaned and primed “metal canvases.  The project will continue with finding one thousand (1000) talented artists who believe in this project.

The third phase will involve publishing a book on the project showcasing all one thousand forty one (1,041) completed “metal canvases.”

The fourth and final phase will involve choosing 200 metal canvases that adequately represent the project and create a traveling show. The book and traveling show will publically portray the global art community's effort to positively impact the environment through repurposing previous metal waste into great landfillart.

To find out more go to:

http://www.landfillart.org/index-3.html

EQUINE PHOTOGRAPHER JODY MILLER TO BE ‘UP FRONT’

AT ARTS PRESCOTT GALLERY DURING FRONTIER DAYS®

June 18, 2010, Prescott, AZ – Western photographer, Jody Miller of MillersReflections, will be the featured artist on display in the Arts Prescott Gallery window from June 25 through July 8, just in time for the annual fanfare associated with the 123rd World’s Oldest Rodeo®, Prescott Frontier Days®. Arts Prescott Gallery, located at 134 S. Montezuma Street on historic Whiskey Row in downtown Prescott, Arizona, hosts 24 artists, with Jody Miller as the one professional Western Photographer.

“Somehow it seems so appropriate that with all the events associated with the World’s Oldest Rodeo®, my photography featuring horses and cowboys will be front and center in the gallery’s window,” stated Miller. “I’m so excited and happy about the timing in being selected from among the other gallery artists to appear up front. I’m sure that many visitors and residents who have not seen my work will be downtown enjoying the festivities and may now get a chance to do just that.” she added.

“Bring Em Home USA” and “Boots ‘N Beer,” are two of Miller’s pieces scheduled to be on display in the large front gallery window. In addition to the photography that will be on display, Jody Miller will also have available matted, gallery wrapped and mounted photography, and in a variety of sizes, from 8”x 10” to 36” x 48.” Custom sizing, mounting and framing arrangements for certain images can be made as well. Prices range from $40 to $1,200. Other collectible pieces of Jody Miller’s horse photography also includes note cards and small photo collection books.

Like so many Arizona photographers, Jody came here to leave the rat race behind, to encounter the visual thrill of long views, and to capture her subject in the incomparable desert light. Alongside her day job, she set herself up as a commercial portraitist and art photographer, doing business as MillersReflections. Her images have been published in Horse and Rider, Western Horseman, The Horse Connection, the 2004 Ruger Sportswear Catalog, and Today's Horse.

ABOUT JODY MILLER

Miller has won awards from the Prescott Fine Arts Association and the Phippen Museum, where her work appeared in the Emerging Photographic Talent of the West exhibit. Jody supports the community with ongoing donations of services and artwork to Horses with H.E.A.R.T., the Soroptimists, Habitat for Humanity, and Future for KIDS.

Before becoming an Arizonan, Jody's love of horses led her to spend a number of years on a working horse ranch in the California desert. She says, "I have loved horses ever since I was a teenager. They are majestic, powerful, glorious animals that love to perform and show off their beauty. I enjoy the challenge of capturing that special connection people have with their animals."

Visit http://www.millersreflections.com to see more of Ms. Miller’s work.

For more information: Jody Miller

Telephone: 928-533-1951

Email: jody@millersreflections.com

www.millersreflections.com

Michelle Johnson
www.laughingcloudstudio.com

Nature by Design: New Directions in Fiber and Jewelry
A National Juried Biennial Exhibition
April 9th - May 5th, 2010
Larson Gallery, YVCC
Corner of 16th Ave. and Nob Hill Blvd.
Yakima, WA
www.larsongallery.org
Piece juried into show - "Summer Goddess Ensemble"

Tempe Festival of the Arts
March 26-28th
www.tempefestivalofthearts.com

St. George Art Festival
St. George, Utah
April 2nd and 3rd
www.sgcity.org/artfestival