Author Archive: CJ Shane

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Butternut-Chard Autumn Soup

November 13, 2013 |

photo by C.J. Shane

Swiss chard is a wonderful green for our bio-region because it tolerates both heat and cold. It is not too late to sow chard seeds now, or transplant small plants. Chard’s leafy green leaves with colorful ribs of white, red, and golden yellow, often called “rainbow” chard, are attractive in stir-fry vegetable dishes and soups.  Chard is nutritious and delicious, too. As our Sonoran Desert nights become colder, we start thinking about hot soup. Here is a soup recipe with chard, butternut squash, and garbanzo beans.

Butternut-Chard Autumn Soup

1 medium butternut squash
3 cups raw, chopped chard
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon rosemary
6 -8 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 (14-15 ounce) cans of garbanzo (chickpea) beans

1. Prepare the butternut squash in advance. The easiest way is microwave a whole butternut squash, 4 minutes on one side, then 4 minutes on the other. Prick the squash’s skin before microwaving to allow steam to escape. Allow to cool. Peel the squash skin, cut in half and remove seeds and pulp. Then cut the remaining squash into bite size pieces.

2. Heat the olive oil in a soup pan. Add the chopped onion, oregano, and rosemary. Sauté on low for a few minutes until the onions become clear. Add garlic and cook for one additional minute.

3. Add the broth, chopped squash, and chickpeas. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add the chopped chard and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Sprinkle in salt and pepper to taste. Serve with homemade bread or cornbread.


From the Feminine Perspective

October 6, 2013 |

“Havana Housing” by Moira Geoffrion

The fall season at Davis Dominguez Gallery opened late September with a showcase of various artistic mediums, created by women and aptly titled Focus – Five Women Artists.

Co-owners Mike Dominguez and Candice Davis explain how the all-woman exhibit came about. “Mike teaches at the Learning Curve,” Davis says, “and this year he is giving a lecture series on women artists, Beyond Georgia and Frida. That gave us the idea.” Dominguez adds that his lectures are about “how women have not gotten the spotlight like male counterparts.”

Davis Dominguez Gallery presented its first woman-only exhibit, Women’s Work, thirty five years ago, only three years after the gallery first opened. “The status of women artists has been changing since then,” says Dominguez.

The artists in this show are “all are accomplished, professional, and forceful artists,” says Dominguez. The exhibit includes pieces by sculptor Julia Andres, painter Moira Geoffrion, fiber artist Claire Park, painter Barbara Penn, and lithographer Kathryn Polk.

“We usually feature painters and sculptors,” adds Davis, “but this year we also invited Kathryn Polk. Her work is exceptional and remarkable.”

“92,955,807.273 mi” by Kathryn Polk

Polk is known for her unusual process of working from dark to light when creating her lithographs. “Most lithographers go light to dark,” she explains.

Imagery in her work is “based on the perspective of the woman looking out on the world – she’s the non-indigenous woman, the character who is the homogenized version of all the women in my family.”

Polk’s work, 92,955,807.273 mi, (“the distance from the sun,” said Polk), is also called Icarus. “I always put women in traditional men’s roles. A lot of things are from the man’s eyes. As an artist I take liberties and reinvent things through a woman’s perspective.”

A connection to her mother explains why Barbara Penn paints on pellon instead of on paper or canvas. Pellon is a heavier fabric that adds firmness to lighter-weight fabrics. “My mother taught me to sew,” says Penn. “My big paintings are a connection to my mother.” Penn is showing work related to seniors and aging. “These are my first paintings after my mother’s death.” Penn also addresses the creative process in her work for the exhibit. “If you don’t have the element of play, and if everything is analytical, you can’t get anything going. In the end, it involves a kind of letting go and giving over to the creative.”

Painter Moire Geoffrion’s first series of paintings in the exhibit is based on her recent trip to Cuba. She describes Cuba as “very stimulating for me as an artist…the paintings reflect the visual experience that I had when I was there.” The only other experience she’s had similar to Cuba, says Geoffrion, was in India. Both cultures have “layers of diverse types of people, the extremely rich and poor, an ancient culture juxtaposed with the modern.” Geoffrion’s second series involves “the idea of the desert community. Everything is drawn from what I see in the desert near where I live.” Like the Cuba paintings, Geoffrion says she is expressing “the juxtaposition of layerings of culture in communities.”

Fiber artist Claire Campbell Park is showing her Reflections series. “The intent of this series is to support our awareness of the holiness of life – to be an acclamation of peace, hope and faith in a world where these are easily lost; without dismissing the realities and severity of our struggles. I deeply believe in beauty. Beauty needn’t be easy.” Her golden weavings, including Joy are “inspired by reflections on a ‘Book of Hours,’ and a fresco by Fra Angelico which express quiet joy and unwavering faith.”

Beauty is also a theme for sculptor Julia Andres. She creates patina on bronze sculptures of fruits and vegetables, cacti, agave hearts, and other edibles. “I think fruits and vegetables are so beautiful, especially their colors. I’m a cook, and my grandfather was a Kansas farmer. The food of all cultures is so important.” Andres also incorporates haiku from Jack Kerouac in other pieces, as well as honoring the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.

“Ode to Arizona Citrus” by Julia Andres

The works exhibit through Nov. 2 at 154 E. 6th St. For information, visit DavisDominguez.com or call 629-9759.

Artistic Commemorations for the Dearly Departed

September 30, 2013 |

“Party Girls Forever” by Carol Hegedus.
On exhibit at Tohono Chul Park.

Día de los Muertos, the Mexican holiday that honors the deceased, has inspired some very lively artworks currently on display through Nov. 10 at Tohono Chul’s Main Gallery, 7366 N. Paseo del Norte. During the Sept. 13 opening, art lovers had the very pleasurable experience of following Tohono Chul Park’s curving walkway through native desert flora to arrive at the art gallery just as the sun disappeared below the Tucson Mountains.

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a widely-observed holiday in Mexico that takes place annually on Nov. 1 and 2. Its origins are rooted in Aztec culture, and the observance has become an important part of Tucson’s culture.

Ben Johnson, Tohono Chul’s Curator of Exhibitions, explains the unique nature of the holiday and its art, saying, “I find that when we speak about death, we are actually speaking about life. In the ache of remembering departed friends and family, we are really feeling the beauty of their lives resonating in us deeply. I see this dichotomy in so many of the works in this exhibit. The poignancy and sweetness of life held together at once.”

This year’s exhibit, now in its tenth year, is noteworthy for its diverse range of mediums and interpretations of the holiday. Art includes paintings, prints, paper cuttings, sculptures of paper mâché and of recycled materials, ceramics, mosaics, artist’s books, beaded appliqués and quilts, window art and interactive shrines.

“I feel that the voices of these varied mediums and styles speak to the interesting space that exists between the individual and the larger human bond,” Johnson adds.

The iconic image from any Día de los Muertos celebration is the calavera or skull. Calaveras are in no short supply in the artwork, and despite their ubiquitous appearance, these skulls are as diverse and as engaging as the artwork itself.

The exhibit’s standouts are celebratory works such as the life-size paper mâché sculpture Catrina by Quetzally Hernandez Coronado, and Mel Dominguez’s piece Las Gitanas, a colorful and symbolic rendition of a Day of the Dead celebration in Tucson’s own Barrio Viejo. Carol Hegedus, in her tile mosaic Party Girls Forever, tells us of departed friends, “What normally stays with me is the memory of fun and play and the good times together.”

Beautiful pieces in the exhibit, among them Robyn Duenow’s finely wrought Momento and William Wiggins III’s Afterlife Paradise, offer a more serene view of what awaits us. Janet Windsor’s quilt, My Idea of Heaven, presents a personal view. “I cannot imagine a happier place to end up than at my sewing machine.”

Humor abounds in some pieces; among them Royce Davenport’s Crossing the Line (Meeting the Afterlife Head On). Recycled and discarded materials transform into a cocky motorist behind the wheel of his “ride” ready for a trip to the afterlife.

Life returning after death is seen in Jennie Norris’s painting The Offering. Sunflowers are in full bloom, and yet the calaveras are already present in the roots and creeping up stems. A small bird holding a seed waits patiently to offer another chance at life. Joan Binder’s large scale Community Ofrenda is invites visitors to write the names of dearly departed on cards and add them to the ofrenda (offering).

Two more serious works addressing cross-border migration include Alvaro Enciso’s Those Who Walked North #3 and Barbara Brandel’s collage painting, Small Paper Shrine that she created “in remembrance of the devastatingly dangerous and sad situation that is faced by border crossers and their families.”

“Untitled” by David Weaver

One especially compelling work is Untitled by David Weaver, created as a “layers and separations photographic process.” It depicts a top-hatted robber baron calavera with a cigar in his mouth. One wonders: Is that the American middle-class disappearing between those corporate teeth?

Johnson expounds on his view of the art: “The traditions inherent to Día de los Muertos are so rich and vivid, and the celebratory light that these observances shed on life and death are an inspiring force that I feel emanating from each of these works.”

On the actual day of the dead, Nov. 1, Tohono Chul Park hosts a Park After Dark event, 5 p.m.-8 p.m., which will include music by Rafael Moreno and Descarga, calavera face painting, Mexican food and drink, in addition to the artwork showing in Tohono Chul’s Main Gallery. Admission to the event is $10 for the general public, $5 for members and free for children under 13-years-old.

Tohono Chul is located at 7366 N. Paseo del Norte and its galleries are open daily from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is $10, adults; $5, students with ID & active military; $8, seniors (62+); $3 children 5-12. For further details, visit TohonoChulPark.org or call (520) 742-6455.

Blue Moon Community Garden

September 29, 2013 |

Blue Moon Community Garden.
photo: Gina Chorover

Blue Moon Community Garden is a jewel among gardens. It is an award-winning garden, is completely accessible to disabled gardeners, it boasts a water harvesting system, and it is located next to Tucson House, a high rise apartment building for low-income, handicapped, and elderly residents.

Situated at 1501 N. Oracle Rd., near the Oracle and Drachman intersection, Blue Moon exists in a “food desert,” miles from grocery stores. The garden can provide neighborhood gardeners with high quality fruits and vegetables that would otherwise be unavailable to them.

The garden is unique because it has cement block raised beds, “table” beds, and the traditional ground-level beds, according to Blue Moon coordinator Dorothy Weichbrod.

“The table beds are made for the wheel-chair bound. Beds are raised for varying degrees of disability,” she adds. “The beds have a special width that makes it possible to reach into the middle of the bed. The centers of the beds are deep where root plants can be grown, and around the border is for plants with shallower roots like lettuce.”

Everyone in the neighborhood is welcomed to have a plot at Blue Moon, but most of the plots are currently being used by residents of Tucson House. Water harvesting is one of the features at Blue Moon. There is a 15,000 gallon water cistern on site, from which the beds are irrigated.

Weichbrod says that the fee for a bed, including irrigation, is set according to income. Currently the fee schedule is $6, $12 or $18 each month. “The $6 and $12 plots are funded by scholarships raised by the Community Gardens of Tucson’s Board (of Directors).” CGT provides scholarships to low-income gardeners who apply for all of Tucson’s community gardens.

Blue Moon Community Garden developed as part of the City of Tucson’s Oracle Area Revitalization, according to Gina Chorover, a lead urban planner for the City and also chair of the Community Gardens of Tucson. The area was identified as a food desert, says Chorover, by the Drachman Institute at the University of Arizona.

At that time, “the nearest grocery store was several miles away and a large percentage of people in the area did not have access to a vehicle. Bus service also stopped early on weekdays, preventing people from easily getting to the grocery store.”

Project funding for the garden came from a grant, a University of Arizona Landscape Architecture studio class developed the concept, and Norris Design of Tucson designed the garden which opened in March 2012.

Chorover says the garden has won two awards already. “The first is from the Arizona Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects for the design, and a second award is from the State Housing office. And I just heard we have won a third award from another housing agency.” She adds, “The garden has been a wonderful success in terms of the participation by the Tucson House residents. We would like more participation from the surrounding neighborhood.”

The garden’s coordinator, Dorothy Weichbrod, also has a plot. “I’m in transition now. I have tomatoes, okra, basil, oregano, jalapeno, and eggplant. But I’m emptying the bed, and I’m planning to plant beets, onions, garlic, Swiss chard, spinach, and sweet potatoes. I’m producing food for my use and to share. My garden plot keeps me in organic food, and it brings my food bill down. I enjoy gardening.”

What does Blue Moon Community Garden need now?  “Volunteers” is Weichbrod’s answer. “We just had a group of 16 engineering students from the University of Arizona, a group called Engineers without Borders, who weeded the garden. They worked hard!

“The difference between our garden and others is that we have landscaping and an orchard. The participants have limitations. We don’t have the manpower to take care of landscaping. We still need composting done.” Helping the disabled gardeners is always welcome at Blue Moon Community Garden.

“My main job as I see it,” Weichbrod adds, “is to build community with the people we have, to communicate with each other, to have a newsletter. We welcome everyone.”

To learn more about Tucson’s community gardens, visit CommunityGardensofTucson.org.

 

 

Eggplant Curry

September 28, 2013 |

“Raga” Indian eggplants
photo: CJ Shane

Eggplant is our featured veggie for October!

This lovely plant with its gray-green leaves and lavender blossoms comes in several varieties that produce eggplants in different shapes and colors. The most familiar are the large deep purple varieties known as aubergine in Europe. There’s also the Japanese elongated purple variety, Indian reddish-purple eggplants, and white eggplants that range in size from an egg to a tennis ball.

The first eggplants introduced to North America were the white varieties which lead to the name “egg” plant. Eggplants are tropical vegetables that thrive in the heat if they are helped with mulch and a weekly deep soaking. The plants are heavy producers that go until the first frost.

Eggplant Curry

¼ c. canola oil
1 tsp. mustard seeds
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 Tbls. minced garlic
1 onion sliced
3-4 cups of eggplant chopped into bite-sized chunks
1 serrano chili (remove seeds)
1 tsp coriander
1 can (14-15 oz) diced tomatoes
¼ cup water
¼ tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. black pepper

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add mustard seeds and cumin until mustard seeds pop. Add sliced onions and minced garlic. Stir occasionally until onions are clear and begin to brown. Add eggplant and fry until skin begins to soften. Add chopped chili, coriander, diced tomatoes, water, garam masala, salt and pepper. Turn heat to medium low and cook until eggplant is soft and sauce thickens. Serve over rice.

GD2 Garden & Okra

September 6, 2013 |

Doug Merkle, volunteer irrigation monitor for GD2, and LaRae Barnes, GD2 garden coordinator.
photo: C.J. Shane

The word “garden” usually brings up thoughts of vegetables and flowers. Now another word associated with “garden” that is gaining traction is “community.” Tucson has a very active community garden scene organized by Community Gardens of Tucson. In coming months, we’ll visit community gardens around the city and take a look at what’s currently growing and being harvested.

My first visit was to the GD2 Community Garden in Tucson’s mid-town Garden District, bound by Grant Road, Swan Road, Speedway Boulevard and Alvernon Way. The GD2 garden is on Bell Street near Pima Street and Swan Road. A few gardeners were already tending their plots when I showed up, awaiting the arrival of Pima County Extension Master Gardener Giulio Grecchi. This gave me the chance to chat with the gardeners and to learn more about what they were doing.

Brad Holland, who donated the land for the garden, spoke about the evolution of the plot. “Originally I was planning on building my dream house, but the economic crash of 2008 changed all that,” Holland said. “I pondered what might be the highest and best use for the lot.” He decided on a garden so he contacted Community Gardens of Tucson to get started. How about the name “GD2”? Holland grinned and said, “Garden District’s Garden!”

Congresswoman Gabby Giffords lived across the street from GD2 garden and her office was located at Pima/Swan Roads at the time of the January 8, 2011 shootings in Tucson in which six people were killed and 13 others, including Giffords, were wounded. Holland reminded me of the shrines for victims that arose at Giffords’ office, at University Medical Center and at the scene of the shootings. “The material items at the shrines, such as cards and gifts, were archived,” Holland said. “All the plant material from flowers was brought to GD2 garden and composted to become part of GD2’s soil.”

Holland, a retired prosecutor with the Pima County District Attorney’s office and self-described “lounge act” (he’s a jazz musician), is convinced that GD2 has had a role in dropping the neighborhood crime rate. “There are so many more people now walking their dogs and kids riding bikes. There are more eyes and ears on the street,” he said. Holland’s next project is to introduce chickens to GD2.

LaRae Barnes recently became the new coordinator of GD2 garden. She showed off her burgundy-colored okra and  waxed poetic about how delicious the butternut squash has been this year. “Actually, every vegetable we’ve grown has just blown away any store-bought veggie,” she said. “Onions were probably the all-time favorite. I can’t even describe the subtlety of flavor and how it changed depending on which day you picked it.”

Barnes credits the garden for helping her recover from a concussion that led to painful nerve damage. In an article that she wrote for Community Gardens of Tucson’s newsletter, Barnes said, “Almost everything about the garden was good for me. It gave me a reason to get up in the morning after suffering through another tortuous night… my plants needed me.”

The word “community” came up when Barnes talked about GD2. She said, “I feel like our modern society has so many things that isolate people. Being that we are social beings, I think we are all a little bit starved for good old-fashioned conversation.” She has found good conversation at GD2.

Community is also a key aspect for Doug Merkle, who recently became the volunteer irrigation meter monitor for GD2. Merkle was active in building GD2 and digging plots. Then Merkel said, “I found I’m not a natural gardener. But the more I came, and the more I saw people, I began to see the community aspect. We started eating the food, and that’s when another piece of the puzzle fell into place. The variety and taste of the food is so much better than from the grocery store.”

Community is important for Mark Fleming and Lisa Ealy who have a garden at their home and also a plot in GD2. “We wanted to meet people in the neighborhood and be more sociable,” Fleming said.

The Dhital family – who are a part of the GD2 community – include: (left to right), Shushil, Savon, Gita Dhital.
photo: C.J. Shane

Part of the GD2 community is a refugee family who came here from Bhutan, the Dhitals. They grow flowers and vegetables on their plot. Meg Johnson, who produces the Garden District email newsletter, said that two other plots are gardened by a group of disabled adults. There’s lot of diversity at GD2.

When Master Gardener Grecchi arrived, he gave a presentation on transitioning from summer to fall gardens this month.

“In summer we eat fruits and flowers, and in winter, we eat roots, leaves and shoots.” Grecchi said. Winter crops for Tucson include Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, chard, kale, lettuce, radish, spinach, turnips, garbanzos (chick peas), lentils and more. We can begin planting seeds in September for many fall crops. Grecchi reminded us to organically fertilize our gardens (compost and manure), and to use mulch to hold in moisture and keep plants warm in winter. Grecchi suggested pulling out summer plants that are no longer producing well and replace them with winter veggies.

To learn more about our community gardens, visit CommunityGardensofTucson.org.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Our featured veggie for September is okra, an easy-to-grow plant that loves heat, is drought-tolerant and will produce abundantly until frost. Okra is a staple of Southern cooking, especially Cajun gumbo and is also popular in Arab cuisine. Of course, the best dish of all is Southern-fried okra. Think crunchy and delicious, not slimy!

Southern Fried Okra
Serves 2

1 cup okra, sliced in 1/4 inch pieces (about 10 pods)
1 egg, beaten (optional)
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Okra Blossom
photo: C.J. Shane

1. In a small bowl, soak okra in buttermilk (and optional egg) for 5 to 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, salt and pepper.
3. Remove okra from buttermilk with slotted spoon, dredge okra in the cornmeal/flour mixture, and turn gently until all pieces are coated. Avoid clumping.
4. Sift a few pieces at a time in your hand to allow the loose extra coating to fall off and to avoid clumping, then set aside in another bowl.
5. Into a large heated skillet, pour oil to a depth of about 1/4 inch, medium-high heat.
6. When the oil gets hot enough to sizzle a wet piece of cornmeal, carefully drop a few pieces of okra at a time into the skillet.
7. Repeat until the skillet bottom is covered with a layer of okra no more than 1 inch deep.
8. When okra pieces are browned on one side, gently turn okra to other side with a spatula.
9. Don’t stir or turn again until second side is browned.
10. Drain on paper towels.

Thanks to Terry Dyke, Austin cook and gardener, for the basis of this recipe.

 

A Place To Learn, Collaborate & Create

August 31, 2013 |

Steven Bowtie creates sparks at Xerocraft Hackerspace.
photo: Jeremy Briddle

Do you like to tinker and make new things?  Or maybe you wish you were that person, but you don’t know where to start?  Try Xerocraft Hackerspace.  The non-profit celebrates its grand opening on Saturday, Sept. 7 in new, expanded quarters at 101 W. 6th St. at the old Steinfeld warehouse.

So what’s a hackerspace? Jeremy Briddle, Xerocraft’s treasurer says, “I always describe a hackerspace as being like a glorified tool shop where anyone can come in and build the things they see in their minds. It’s a collaborative space where inventors, artists, engineers, tinkerers and makers can collaborate and share information.”

“It’s a community resource that gives people a space, tools and skills to make anything they can imagine with our current level of technology,” adds Josh Banno, former Xerocraft president.

Current Xerocraft president Connor Barickman says, “There’s a stigma round the term ‘hacker’ which we are doing our best to kick. A hack is to use something in a creative way far from its original intended purpose.”

Briddle reviews options at Xerocraft: “For metal working we do welding, molten metal casting, milling, lathing. For wood working we mill and lathe. We also have a computer-controlled laser cutter that can cut out thin pieces of wood or acrylic sheeting. We have three 3D printers which allow us to turn 3D files on the computer into tangible objects.”

Xerocraft also offers weekly workshops. Most popular, according to Barickman, are introductions to welding, woodworking and 3D printing. “This is a place for beginners to come and get their feet wet.”

Briddle adds, “We ask that anyone who comes in regularly pay the $40 monthly membership. From people who attend the workshops we ask for a $5 donation. However, we do not turn anyone away if they don’t pay.” There are several “Open Hacks” weekly where he says, “Anyone can get a tour, ask questions and use tools.”

Lauren Pring adds that WTF (Women/Trans/Femme) Open Hack Night will be every Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.  Pring, the WTF Night Coordinator explains that “the WTF Open Hack will create a space where women and transgender folks can feel empowered. Workshops and skills shares will be offered by and for women.”

Victoria Hermosilla working at Xerocraft Hackerspace.
photo: Jeremy Briddle

Community is an important aspect of Xerocraft.  “The folks are Xerocraft are like family now,” says Banno. “With each new member, we have a new friend and a chance to learn something new.”  Community involvement also includes education. This summer, Xerocraft participated in FAIR for Education, where, according to Alex Barton, “We showed kids, parents and teachers using a 3D printer, live 3D scanning demonstrations and several micro controller projects.”

Tucson’s Xerocraft is part of the national growth in “hackerspaces.” There are hackerspaces and “makerfaires” cropping up all over the country, explains Xerocrafter David Lyttle.

The grand opening on Sept. 7, starting at noon, includes a workshop, project demos, body and mural painting, BBQ, DJs and dance party, robots, and lasers.  It’s a “typical Xerocraft extravaganza,” says Banno.

Get more details at Facebook.com/Xerocraft or Xerocraft.org.

 

 

Exploring Face & Form

August 18, 2013 |

“Circus” by Carolyn Gibbs shows at The Drawing Studio’s “Go Figure” exhibit.

The Drawing Studio’s (TDS) fall season begins this month with an opening reception for Go Figure: On Being Human—Face and Form, an exhibit of portraits and figurative artwork by TDS associates. The reception is being held Saturday, Sept. 7 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the gallery’s downtown locale, 33 S. 6th Ave.

According to Rebecca Olson, the exhibit’s committee chair, “Our goal with this exhibit is to promote our ongoing life drawing sessions at TDS, and the practice of life drawing generally. TDS offers four life sessions per week, five in the fall and winter months. And it is an important benefit for our associates to be able to show figurative work that can be difficult to place in galleries.”

“The public loves this show,” says Katrina Lasko, TDS Exhibit Director, “and especially the members love it. For many, this may be the first time they have exhibited their work in a gallery. I think it is always an exciting exhibit. The theme changes each year. We have found at least in the past year our figurative and plein air exhibits are the most popular.”

Olson adds, “Go Figure includes a wide range of media and prices. In addition to drawings there are monoprints, collographs, encaustic, sculpture, watercolors and paintings in acrylic and oil, including a larger-than-life likeness of Johnny Depp.” Forty three artists submitted 83 works of art into the juried show and 67 pieces were accepted.

Katrina Lasko is showing two paintings. “Happy New Year is acrylic. I do work in oil, too. My narrative paintings are meant to function on several levels. Usually, the first level is tongue-in-cheek or rather sarcastic, and often hinted at with the title. Then, as one goes deeper, other connotations may occur to the viewer. In this painting, I am thinking of disappointments, a renewal that does or does not happen to my dismay, a general overwhelming sadness. The blues…..”

Carolyn Gibbs says of her oil painting, Circus, “I got very tight in painting portraits, and I wanted to take a looser, fresher approach. So I decided to let the paint and the shapes go where they will. I followed the shapes and created a red oil painting of a circus.”

Of her painting Actor, Christine Dawdy says, “The subject is a stuntwoman from Trail Dust Town and she’s very expressive. I called it ‘Actor’ as a working title. I studied with David Park at UC Berkeley in the late 50s. He was one of the Bay Area Realists. He was a great influence. I think people are important. I look at portraits and figure painting by the old masters, the Impressionists, etcetera, and think they are still very much alive.”

“Carla” by Rebecca Olson shows at The Drawing Studio in the “Go Figure” September exhibit.

What’s coming up next at The Drawing Studio? Lasko says, “After Go Figure in October we’ll have plein air show with interpretations of the Santa Rita Mountains and the proposed Rosemont mine. This exhibit will call attention to the area, the beautiful mountains and the fact that the mine may be happening there. This exhibit is called Seeing the Santa Ritas. These will be artworks about protecting our cultural natural heritage.”

A second exhibit in October  is Monothon 2013. “We’ll have two days of workshops on monoprinting on Sept. 28 and 29. Students donate one monoprint to TDS as part of an October fundraiser exhibition,” Lasko adds.

Go Figure is on view from Sept. 7 through Sept. 28. In addition to the opening reception on Sept. 7, the gallery will be open Saturday, Sept. 14, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., during 2nd Saturdays Downtown. Regular hours are Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. For more information, visit TheDrawingStudio.org or call 620-0947.

 

Time, Space & Texture

August 6, 2013 |

Luke Parsons’ Landscape and Panoramic Photography Inspires Awe
His work is on display through August 25 at Petroglyphs Gallery

Grand Canyon Storm Clouds
photo: Luke Parsons

At first glance, Luke Parsons seems to be a man living three different lives. He’s a full-time doctoral student in geosciences at the University of Arizona studying climate change modeling. In summers, you can find him leading wilderness courses for National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). Year round, Parsons creates stunning art photographs. Yet a closer look reveals that for Parsons, everything is connected.

Parsons, a native of northern Arizona who moved with his family to New Mexico when he was nine-years-old, explains how his fascination with geosciences and art photography began – on family hiking trips.

“My parents started taking me backpacking at an early age in the canyon lands and mountains of Arizona and Utah. When we moved to Albuquerque, my middle school had a required photography rotation. This is where I found out I loved working in the darkroom. As I matured and participated in more outdoor trips in high school, I began to re-discover my fascination with the towering, layered Navajo Sandstone and the rippling sand dunes from my childhood backpacking trips. I was also taking geology classes, and I started making the connection between those sand dunes and the cross-bedded sandstone in the cliff walls.”

“Photographing these features,” Parsons says, “started off as a study in texture (and still is), but it took years for me to start meditating on the ‘time’ aspect that ties all of it together.  When I’m in the back country, the wide-open landscapes remind me of how small and short-lived we are compared to the planet.  I want to convey this sense of time and place to a viewer of my work. We fit into a larger continuing process of creation and erosion all around us.”

He pauses and adds, “I think I’m trying to capture longer than 100 years of time, trying to get people to see processes going on around them all the time. “

Although he works both in color and black and white, Parsons creates especially spectacular panoramic black and white landscapes. His dramatic Grand Canyon and Storm Clouds draws our attention to the passage of time in the canyon rocks which contrast dramatically with ephemeral clouds overhead.  The same sense of time is found in Echo Canyon Towers in southeastern Arizona’s Chiricahua National Monument. Here rock formations give witness to those geological processes that long outlive human activities.

Parsons’ geology class eventually led to the study of climate change.

“In college, I started studying the history of climate and carbon on our planet, and I realized there was a whole world of study completely unknown to me that was related to the atmosphere and its effects on climate and life here on Earth.  I started a research project examining the link between the strength of ocean circulation and changes in climate in North America. While teaching AP Environmental Science after college, I realized that I needed to know more about the climate system in order to be able to better communicate about climate change to both my students and the general public.”

Parsons is especially interested in helping policy makers develop better public policy using up-to-date information about the effects of climate change. His current research involves evaluating how accurate the climate change models are.  Areas of public policy that he considers relevant include agriculture, water resources, energy resources, public safety and national security.

“I hope I can play a part in having a real impact on policy and people’s lives by studying and teaching about the variability of rainfall, drought and climate.” He and his colleagues have developed an explanation of climate models which can be viewed at https://sites.google.com/site/azclimatemodeling/home.

So how are we doing?  How well do current models predict temperature and precipitation?

“Overall, the climate change models do a pretty good job,” Parsons says, “but it has to be an average. The models are large-scale. They can’t represent small areas like just Arizona.”

What’s the connection between his photography and his climate change research?

Parsons explains: “I worry that the wild and open places are being forgotten. I hope my photography encourages the viewer to connect with and appreciate her surroundings. I want the viewer to ponder time, the back country, or even the cacti growing up around the buildings here in Tucson. Without a connection to the outdoors and the environment, what reason does a person have to advocate for their preservation? I hope to start forming or help strengthen this connection.”

He adds, “The study of climate and the art of outdoor landscape photography are both related to close observation of the world around us. The planet has been changing for billions of years and will go on changing long after we are gone, but just as we are too busy to often notice the erosion of a stream in the Catalinas, I think we are ignoring human-induced global warming.  I hope to deepen our knowledge and raise awareness about the changing planet both in my photography and in my research.”

Luke Parsons is leading an outdoor wilderness course for NOLS this month. His photography is currently on display through August 25 at Petroglyphs Gallery, 228 S. Park Ave., in the Lost Barrio. You can see more of his work at LukeParsonsPhoto.wordpress.com.

Echo Canyon Towers
photo by Luke Parsons

Etherton Gallery’s “Unpacked” Exhibit

August 6, 2013 |

Tehuantepec, Mexico, 1985
©Alex Webb/Magnum Photos, courtesy Etherton Gallery

Summer in Tucson can be pretty brutal. But staying in town has its rewards for those of us tough enough to stick it out. One of the biggest rewards available to us through August 30 is Etherton Gallery’s  Unpacked: The Art Fair at Home exhibit.

On a recent hot summer morning, I sat down with gallery founder and director Terry Etherton in the coolness of his downtown gallery and talked with him about his new exhibit. He explained how Unpacked came about.

“This has been an unusual year for us. We participated in four art fairs in four months. We had to prepare for each art fair in a different way and for a different audience. We had to pack and unpack a lot, and finally we had everything back here in Tucson. We just decided to recreate portions of each of the art fairs into one exhibit in Tucson.”

That means the Unpacked exhibit includes some of the best of the best. A few of the top photographers included in the exhibit are Aaron Siskind, Danny Lyon, Ansel Adams, Manuel Álvarez Bravo and Alex Webb, among others. We also see the work of several Arizona artists, among them Bailey Doogan, David Emitt Adams, Mayme Kratz and Nick Georgiou.

When I asked Etherton if he had a favorite work in the Unpacked exhibit, he paused, clearly having difficulty naming just one or two works. Finally we went to stand before Alex Webb’s Tehuantepec, Mexico, 1985.

The photo shows a group of young boys playing in a Mexican plaza with a cathedral towering in the background. Etherton points out the striking composition of repetitive vertical and horizontal lines, and of the color blue.

“If that shirt were yellow instead of blue,” Etherton said, “it wouldn’t work at all.” Perhaps most arresting is the frozen moment in time caught by the photographer.

“Look at the ball spinning on the boy’s fingers,” Etherton said, “and there on the far left, Webb has captured a basketball just as it passes through the net.”

An entire wall is devoted to Webb’s work in the Unpacked exhibit. Take your time and look closely. There are secrets to be discovered in Webb’s photos. His Istanbul, Turkey, 2001 at first glance appears to be a casual photo of a street scene. Then you realize you are seeing multiple levels of reality in this photo. Taken from inside a barber shop, we see the street outside the shop both directly and also through reflections. People are scurrying by, and shop signs that can be read normally are reversed in reflections. Intriguingly, there’s the image of man, one of those hurrying by on the street, whose reflection was caught at just the right instant in a small mirror on the barber’s work table. That kind of compositional complexity and sheer beauty indicate a real master at work. Webb’s photos are in the interface between photojournalism and fine art.

As we move away, Etherton casually gestured to another Webb photo, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 1986. “Multiple layers here, too” he said. Indeed.

Alex Webb was the single artist shown by Etherton at Paris Photo Los Angeles art fair. Paris Photo, one of Europe’s premier art fairs, is based in Paris, France. This year Paris Photo opened a second fair in Los Angeles.

“Paris Photo is very selective.” Etherton said, “We were very pleased to be invited.” He adds, “To this day Los Angeles hasn’t had a high quality art fair, and I think Paris Photo was trying to fill that gap. They largely succeeded.” Paris Photo Los Angeles was the last of the four art fairs in four months for Etherton Gallery. The first was Classic Photographs, also in Los Angeles.

Second was the Palm Springs Art Fair in California.  Etherton took paintings and sculptures to Palm Springs as well as photographs.

“Of the twelve artists we showed,” he said, “ten were from Tucson.” He added, “I wanted to say at this fair, ‘Look how great our artists are!’”

One of the Tucson artists included in the Unpacked exhibit is Nick Georgiou. This took us to Etherton’s other favorite piece in the exhibit, Georgiou’s Wig-O-Rama, a wall sculpture created in honor of Congress Street’s long-standing wig shop by the same name. Georgiou, a New York City transplant to Tucson since 2009, creates unique two and three-dimensional sculptures of hand-stitched recycled books and newspapers. Georgiou’s art was on the cover of the Zocalo, and he was profiled in “Print to Artifact” in the October 2012 issue.

The third art fair for Etherton Gallery in four months was the prestigious AIPAD (Association of International Photography Art Dealers) in the Park Avenue Armory in New York City. Etherton showed a solid selection of work by photographers represented by Etherton Gallery. Then it was back to LA for the Paris Photo exhibit.

Etherton speculated about where he’ll go next. Back to Miami?  To Chicago? That’s not decided yet. What is important is that right now here in Tucson, we have a chance to see a really superior collection in the Unpacked exhibit. Brave the heat, and don’t miss an important art event for the Old Pueblo.

Etherton Gallery, 135 S. 6th Ave., opened in Tucson in 1981 are is considered one of the top ten photography galleries in the United States. Unpacked:The Art Fair at Home is on exhibit through August 30. Learn more at EthertonGallery.com.

 

 

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