A Nostalgic Look Back:El Presidio Gallery
Circa 1999


 

El Presidio Gallery has specialized in the finest American art for over 25 years. Hosting many of today's most accomplished artist, our Tucson and Ruidoso locations proudly offer traditional paintings and sculptures in all genres...

 

This website saw a number of redesigns over the years. The last interation of the site occurred around 2006 which is shown here.

As of 2019 both locations of the El Presidio Gallery, in Tucson AZ and Ruidoso, NM are now permanently closed. The new owners of this domain have chosen to show archived content from 1999 as a tribute to the gallery and the quality of their artists over the numerous years they were in business.

Enjoy the nostalgic trip back.

The El Presidio Historic District in Tucson Az.is home to the \city block of Old Town Artisans, a 150-year-old adobe building has six distinctive shops and galleries featuring fine art and craft from hundreds of local and regional artists. The El Presidio Gallery had been a main stay there since 1980.

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In the early 2000's the El Presidio Gallery had two galleries in Tucson, one on Skyline Drive and the other on E. Tanque Verde Drive, offering a board selection of paintings, sculpture and pottery. By 2005 there was the 6,000 square-foot gallery in 'Gallery Row at El Cortijo' in Tucson and a new 2,000 square-foot gallery in Ruidoso which offered a wide variety of subjects and styles, making El Presidio Gallery of interest to collectors of all levels. With its friendly staff and comfortable surroundings, El Presidio Gallery had established itself as a dynamic component of art in the Southwest.

 

 

 

In The Tradition of Excellence

Located at Santa Fe Square, 7000 East Tanque Verde Road, EL PRESIDIO GALLERY was one of Tucson's best-established galleries. The gallery presented the works of many of the most sought-after artists in the west. A wide variety of subjects, as well as artistic styles, made El Presidio's collection something of interest to novices and seasoned collectors alike.

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My take: I just loved the work of the artists that were shown at the El Presidio Gallery in Santa Fee. It was during one of their openings I met a woman who told me about a great online site that sold not only frames but also replacement lenses for womens glasses At the time I was surprised that one could get prescription replacement lenses from an online store. I had always gone to a brick and mortar store to get my prescription filled. Learning about Eyeglasses.com changed the way I bought replacement lenses for my glasses. Even though I can't visit the El Presidio Gallery to check up on the latest offerings from their stable of artists when I return to Tucson to visit friends, I am still ordering replacement lenses from Eyeglasses.com. And I still have my wonderful still life paintings by Sue Krzyston and striking pieces by Lawrence W. Lee, even though I no longer remember who recommended Eyeglasses.com to me so many years ago.

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Artists of the Southwest circa 1999


 

Eva Arenas
Santos Barbosa
Coleen Bobinac
Bonnie Casey
Barbara Bayla Cohen
DeLoyht-Arendt
Tom Haas
Sue Hertel
Mike King-Prime
Sue Krzyston
Lawrence W. Lee
Brenda Semanick
Tom Talbot
Fred Tuch
Peter VanDusen
Dinah Worman
Mary Wyant

 

El Presidio Gallery Presents:

 

EVA ARENAS

  

Eva Arenas was born in Denver, Colorado, and has spent most of her life in the Southwest United States; Albuquerque, Santa Fe, El Paso, Tucson & Sierra Vista. She studied at Portland Community College for 2 years, at the Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Arizona. In addition, Eva has studied in Spain and spent one summer in a creative art studies workshop in Lucca, Italy.

About her style of painting, Eva says "I have discovered that the watercolor medium offers the best means for interpreting the unique light and color of the region. Since 1974, I have worked primarily in watercolor in the studio, as well as on location. My paintings focus on the Southwestern landscape, often using the many species of cacti and other native plants as inspiration." She has had a number of solo and group exhibitions, and has won numerous awards. Her works can be found in collections throughout the United States.

Artist's Statement:

"On my many painting trips over the years, the sublime beauty of the Southwest has left strong impressions on me. I continue to strive to convey the sense of power and grandeur inherent in nature, which is balanced by the delicate and fragile environments within it."

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SANTOS BARBOSA

  

Born and raised in McAllen, Texas, Santos' artistic talent was recognized as a child. Often, in elementary school, teachers would ask his assistance in decorating the class-room with drawings and posters. In the military he worked in cartography. Though Santos spent a short time at the Longstreet School of Art in Wichita, Kansas, he was largely self-taught. He has participated in a few workshops, but has been most strongly influenced by the works of Russell and Remington. Over the years, he has learned to use a distinct and impressionistic style to portray life in the old west. 

Santos has lived in Tucson, Arizona since 1966. He has been happily married since 1967, and has 2 children and a grandson. Working full-time for Pima County, he still finds time for hobbies; reading, hiking, horseback riding and traveling to and learning about old ghost and frontier towns. His interest in researching Southwest history shows up in his paintings depicting turn of the century Tucson and a rugged and now vanished way of life ... adobe villages, the desolation of the Cowboy, the life of the Indian and the arrival of the Conquistadores.

In the late 1960's Santos began to show his work at local malls, county fairs and banks. Before long, he began to exhibit his art throughout the Southwest. In 1975, Barbosa's "The Visitors" won "Best in Class" at the Pima County Fair and in 1985 he was named "Artist of the Year" by the Mountain Oyster Club. The "Rolling Cocinas" was awarded second place in the Phippen Western Art Show in 1988 and Santos won awards for mixed media/acrylic in 1992 and 1993 in that show.

Santos began his affiliation with the El Presidio Gallery in 1984 and his art is included in many collections worldwide. He looks forward to becoming a full-time painter upon his retirement.

Artist's Statement: My philosophy is based on my desire for others to enjoy how I depict history of long ago. I continue to be motivated by the untouched open ranges of the Southwest, and literature/poetry based on the Old West. I express the Old West by the use of vivid settings, such as open, endless skies and lavender mountain ranges. I feel extremely satisfied as an artist when people can look at my art and feel relaxed, and can feel what I am expressing. I want to take my viewers back into history, and show them the vivid rainy, and dry city, or country landscapes I see in my mind.

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COLEEN BOBINAC

  

Coleen started drawing and painting shortly after she started walking. Born in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1949, she was endowed with this creative gift. Though she studied the European Masters in 1967 through the University of Rome, she feared that she would not be able to support herself financially as a painter. Coleen went into art education, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in that field from California Sate University. After teaching art for a number of years, she started attending a watercolor workshop in Taos, New Mexico. From then on she was "hooked", on the visions and vistas of New Mexico and its architecture. While teaching in the daytime and painting at night, she had her first successful exhibition with the El Presidio Gallery in Tucson, Arizona.

Coleen Bobinac's work is included in many public and private collections, including KTSC Channel 8 in Pueblo, Colorado; The American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance; Coldwell Banker in Tucson and First American Savings and Loan in Tucson. She has participated in a number of individual and group exhibitions primarily in the Southwest United States.

Artist's Statement

"I feel that there is always 'room to grow' and I am constantly striving to improve all aspects of my personal style and technique. My favorite quotation is by George Bernard Shaw....."You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul". With that in mind, I look forward to every day spent in my studio.

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BONNIE CASEY


  

Impressionist painter Bonnie Casey has been an artist from her earliest years. Her exceptional abilities led to scholarship study at the Art Institute of Chicago, the city of her birth. She received additional instruction at the American Academy of Art, and with respected artist Joe Abbrescia. Bonnie pursued a (15) year teaching career at Abbrescia's Village Art School. Though she now devotes full- time to her own artwork from her home in the high desert country of Arizona, she still manages to fill the demand for workshops and demonstrations of her magical abilities. 
An artist who refreshingly experiences art as one genuinely interested in a painting for its own sake...one whose artistic energies freely apply broad strokes and flicks of rich hues modulating color over line to quickly reveal the essence of the subject. This vigorous modeling of form and light conveys a spontaneity, an enthusiasm, confidently executed by a well developed technique. Here is an artist who grandly experiences nature's subtle and vibrant combinations as she puts them to canvas. 

Her subjects are common and diverse...her treatment of them is uniquely Bonnie. Her brush breathes life into her work, whether one of her charmingly soft adobes, a cowboy saddling up, or a desert cactus blooming through a late crystalline snowfall. Her zest for all things around her leap from her transformed canvas...and life is enhanced by her depiction...an extra dimension is added by seeing life through Bonnie Casey's eyes. 

Bonnie has received many prestigious awards. Her paintings are in collections in Europe as well as in the United States. She is represented by the El Presidio Gallery in Tucson.

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BARBARA BAYLA COHEN


 

BayLa Cohen was born in Brooklyn, New York in September, 1932. She started painting as a child and majored in art at Prospect Heights High School in Brooklyn, specializing in flower painting and textile design. BayLa, who also attended classes at the Brooklyn Museum, graduated with two National awards in painting and a full scholarship to the Fashion Institute of Technology and Design, New York, NY. 

While in college, BayLa majored in textile design and minored in Fine Art, concurrently freelancing as a designer creating originals for major New York textile firms. Moving on to advertising and fashion illustration, BayLa continued working as a freelance artist in greeting cards, murals, and fine art. 

BayLa, her husband, and their two children moved to California where BayLa helped found the Mission Viejo Artist and Craftmans Guild in 1965. After several years showing and selling her work, BayLa began her representation by three major Southern California fine art galleries, and exhibited and sold paintings with Artiste's De La Rue. Exhibiting at Laguna Beach Sawdust Festivals and Westwood California Artists Street Fair, BayLa won First Prize in mixed media.

Artist Statement: It was in 1992 I realized my true passion is watercolor, so much related to my beginnings as a textile designer. The brilliance - translucency - spontaneity - freedom - is compatible with my technique and style.

My husband and I relocated to Oro Valley, Arizona in March, 1995. The art and history and rare beauty of the Southwest has stimulated my imagination and I am inspired beyond my best expectations. I am thrilled with what surrounds me and feel the future will enable me to paint at my most creative. The best is waiting for me.

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DELOYHT-ARENDT


  

Mary DeLoyht-Arendt was born in Independence, Missouri, and has spent her life pursuing her love of art. She studied art at Columbia College, and received a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts from the University of Missouri. For eleven years Mary worked at Hallmark, then went on to illustrate children's books, which led to the pursuit of a career in fine art.
A long-time resident of Arizona, DeLoyht-Arendt is well known for her superb watercolor paintings. Often painting "en plein air", Mary will head into the hinterlands with her folding easel and satchel of painting supplies. Ever in search of the right play of sunlight on her chosen subject, Mary will paint it quickly before the light changes with the passing of time.

A juried member of N.W.S. (National Watercolor Society), as well as a member of P.A.P.A. (Plein Air Painters of America), Mary has received over 65 local and national awards. DeLoyht-Arendt's paintings are in many private and corporate
collections.

Artist Statement: "Painting for me is not so much recording a subject as it is discovering a subject. We see but we do not see. It's a journey beyond any preconceived limits. It's intriguing as well as a surprise as the painting develops before my very eyes. I don't enjoy painting over a very well defined and developed drawing although I can admire someone else's painting done this way. It's not a set plan for me because as I progress I want to make choices. This is, I think, much like an abstract painter. Therefore, I am drawing with the brush, not necessarily lines but areas and shapes."

"To paint, as in most endeavors, demands devotion, dedication and an understanding. It takes a sense of humor and the ability to laugh at oneself and to remember it isn't brain surgery. It takes patience and time. learn with each new painting. It takes skill and knowledge which I acquired by trying. This builds confidence, and boy, does that make a difference. Our minds play havoc with our accomplishments, so I start each painting with the attitude, this is going to be the best painting I ever did. I learned to experience the pleasure and the sensations I feel on location, and try to remember to give thanks for the opportunity and the skills I have to work with."

"Someone onc
e wrote this about sailing and I have applied it to painting and to myself - "When all else fails, think twice, speak once, hang loose, adjust, don't panic! You will be amazed at how much fun you are having."

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TOM HAAS


 

Born in 1952 in Saginaw, Michigan, Tom Haas moved to Scottsdale, Arizona in 1960. As a young artist Tom grew to love the west with its awesome colors and dramatic contours. He and his wife Vicki live in Phoenix, their studio/gallery on 2 acres with a panoramic view of the valley. 

Painter of "life, land and light", Haas' art ranges from representational to nonobjective using many mediums; oil, acrylic, gouache watercolor, ink, marker and prismacolor. Taught by internationally-known artists at the Scottsdale Artists' School, Tom had the opportunity to meet and paint with distinguished members of the National Academy of Western Art and the Cowboy Artists of America. Apprenticing with designer David Stevens, Tom has been a student and artist since 1964. 
Tom has earned Best of Show and the Mayor's Award at the South Mountain Festival of the Arts, and many first place ribbons in oil painting and drawing since 1985. Haas' painting "Rim Country Wranglers" won the 1995 George Phippen Memorial Foundation Award for museum quality. One-man exhibits of his paintings have been held at the Arizona State Capitol, Heritage Square, Arizona State University's Gammage Center and Tom Haas Studio. 

The El Presidio Gallery in Tucson represents Haas. Collectors include Colorado Rockies owner, Shea Homes, Western Reserve Club, Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, Bank of America, the Mesa Hilton Pavilion, Cader Farms, Little Mountain Lodge, Hensley & Company Beer, Tanner Companies, American Color Corporation and the First Interstate Bank Historical Museum.

Artist Statement: I like to give people a feeling of detail from a distance and let them see the "process" of painting up close. People have said that I create a "sense of place" in my landscapes and that I "capture the character" of animals I paint. I paint light on form whether the challenge is a portrait or a landscape. In teaching, I always go back to the basics of color, composition and value. I believe that continuous growth is an important part of an artist's career and I paint almost every day, plein-aire as much as possible.

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SUE HERTEL

  

Sue Hertel was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in December, 1948. Educated at Marquette University, Glendale Community College, and Scottsdale Artist's School, Sue has also participated in workshops presented by artists Adrian Hanson, Mary DeLoyht-Arendt, Valoy Eaton, Joe Abbresscia, Gregg Kreutz, Joseph Mendez, Sally Strand, Lew Lehrman, and James Asher.

Sue, with her husband and two sons, moved to Arizona in 1972. They have a remote cabin on a ranch in northern Arizona where they spend as much time as possible. After suffering a life-threatening stroke in 1989, Sue spent a year in a wheelchair. Sue credits her art with helping to pull her through this very difficult time. After surgery, Sue has recovered to almost normal.

Sue has participated in many exhibits where she has won awards ranging from Honorable Mention to Judge's Choice. Her paintings are found in a number of private and corporate collections.

Artist Statement: I paint with watercolor, oil, pastel and charcoal. In communicating my response to a certain image, I feel a need to express it within a particular medium. Using watercolor, my style is loose and watery, yet I want the painting to be realistic. I feel the beauty of watercolor is the use of transparent washes. I use many layers of washes and an intermingling of colors on the paper. I have been attracted to the various colors in stuccoed walls, arches and shadows. You will find that most compositions will have arches or a path leading to another building or patio. I hope the viewer will want to roam around the painting.

 

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MIKE KING-PRIME


  

Mike King-Prime was born in Argentina of English parents in 1940. He studied at the Buenos Aires Academy of Fine Arts and travelled extensively through South America. He moved to London in 1960, where he continued his studies at the Chelsea Fine Arts School. From 1961 to 1963 Mike hitchhiked through Europe and North America, sketching and painting. From 1963 to 1965 he lived and worked in Barcelona, then returned to London to work in painting, illustration and graphic design. He devoted full-time to painting from 1969 to 1971, when he moved to Australia to work in animation as a background painter for Hanna-Barbera. He continued to paint part-time until he was commissioned to return to South America to sketch and paint in 1974. Then back to Australia for animation and to the Philippines and Hong Kong until he moved to Scottsdale, Arizona in 1991.

Mike plans to paint for the rest of his life, and he and Ev seem to have settled down in Arizona. Mike has won numerous awards and his work is in collections worldwide.


Artist's observations: I am a painter-an artist. Other people are surgeons, politicians, actors, carpenters or bank clerks. Artists are not strange, driven people-they are ordinary folk. Hollywood portrays them as "odd" for box office reasons, obviously. I have to paint-wanting to is not enough-one has to "have to". If I have an obsession, it is directly related to conservation and the ecology. I don't want my subject matter destroyed! Why water colour and ink?--Why not? It is immediate; the margin of error is minimal; it's a great challenge. Slapping oils or acrylics on a canvas and changing things as you go along is relatively easy and one gets obsessed with options, one has so many. With water colours and inks there are no options: it is immediate or it is "dead"! Why Arizona? Awesome landscapes! That's my thing, has been my whole life. As a kid growing up I went to the movies, we all did (in the 50's)-the old three reelers. Two out of three were westerns shot on location, invariably in Northern Arizona. Painting is fun; painting is having a good time. If it ain't fun and you're not having a good time, don't do it!

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SUE KRZYSTON


   

When Sue Krzyston grew tired of the cold winters in Wisconsin and came to Arizona twenty-some years ago, she immediately discovered a deep attachment to Indian and Southwestern artifacts. She collected these bits and pieces of our past and present for several years before deciding to try her hand at painting. What better subject matter for her paintings than the very pots, blankets and baskets she had grown to love?

In a short time, Sue had made several sales to friends. With this encouragement, she entered the prestigious George Phippen Western Art Museum Show in Prescott, Arizona. Her first entry wasn't a winner, but by 1988 she took the Silver Medal in oil painting, and in 1991, the Gold Medal. Sue left the furniture sales business to devote her time to painting. Though she often paints for 8 hours every day, "I still love it so much that it feels like a hobby," she says.

Sue and her husband, Mike, had a true whirlwind courtship. After their first meeting in 1969, they were engaged four weeks later, and married within six months. Both Sue and Mike enjoy dancing and music, and Mike is an accomplished musician himself. They have their home on the top of a hill in the Valley of the Sun. "From my studio I can look out and see the lights of Phoenix, even though we're in the city, we're surrounded by desert. We often see roadrunners, rabbits, and coyotes in our yard. And we've even had a whole family of foxes drop by for a visit!" Though they love the desert, they frequently travel to Europe to relax and be tourists, and they escaped the August heat on a visit to Alaska one summer.

Sue's works have become famous for the way they bring life to inanimate objects. "I do it by using lots of contrasts, contrast between light and shadow, between the hard surfaces of the pottery or wine glass and the fuzziness of a blanket or the textures of a basket. There's also the contrast between the dark, cool background colors I favor, and the warmer colors I choose for the objects in the foreground of my paintings." Hard as it may be to believe, Sue continues to study and hone her painting skills through classes and workshops.

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LAWRENCE W. LEE


   

Click an image to see it displayed at larger size.

Lawrence W. Lee is an "almost" native of Arizona, having lived in or near Tucson since he was eight years old. His outlook and reputation have spread far beyond southern Arizona, though. His distinctive paintings have achieved world-wide renown, as evidenced by his recent show at Tourmetz in Paris, France, and his exhibition at the International Art Exposition, Gifu, Japan. His works reside in major corporate collections such as IBM, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Atlas Steel, and the Mayo Clinic. In addition, his paintings are valued assets in over 500 private collections in the United States, Japan, and Europe.

Lawrence lives near Patagonia, Arizona. He and his wife, artist Mary Wyant, have found that they enjoy small-town life--but they enjoy leaving it behind, too, when they travel the three dirt-road miles to their own private domain. There, Lawrence and Mary paint in their spacious studios, and Lawrence takes time occasionally to dash off a book ("The Mirror", published by Harbinger House), or visit with his three grandchildren, or create another interesting site for the World Wide Web.

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BRENDA SEMANICK


 

Born in Trier, Germany in December, 1956, Brenda has resided in Tucson, Arizona since 1973. She graduated from the University of Arizona with majors in History and Fine Art. Since 1989, Brenda has shown her paintings in many exhibits throughout the Southwest United States. Her work has been highlighted in articles in Art Life, Tucson Home & Garden, and the New York Times. Her paintings are in the permanent collections of the Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson Airport Authority, the National Bank of Arizona, and in private collections throughout the United States. Brenda was chosen as the designated artist for the annual Arizona Chamber Music Festival poster for 1994/1995, was in the Top 200, National Arts for the Parks, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and will participate in "Women Artists of the West" at the Tucson Museum of Art in March, 1996. 

Artist Statement: I paint in series from subjects of interest in my environment. That environment being the West, I have concentrated on the diverse landscape and cacti indigenous to the Sonoran desert, and the architecture of Tucson's historic barrios.

My paintings of florals and cacti are executed in oil, acrylic and watercolor. They are large and focus on color, composition and negative space. Color is the emphasis with reflective color, complements and cool/warm combinations. The flowers are so large they become grandiose icons of the desert's beauty. The petals are soft and sensual and bursting with color. 

I am drawn to paint buildings to evoke a special character or mood. Buildings, like people, have a visual history that one can "read". It was this fascination that led to the Tucson Barrio Historico series. The buildings speak with history from the faded letters on the facade of old markets to the cracking stucco walls. The series is painted with the full play of a morning dance of light and shadow from overhangs, leaves and telephone wires that create their own shape and beauty on the barrio walls. I have completed over 40 paintings of buildings in the barrios of Tucson and I am continually surprised at how many people do not know these buildings are in Tucson. All of my paintings of the barrio are executed in watercolor. The medium lends itself well in depicting the strong light and shadow at play on adobe walls.

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TOM TALBOT


 

  
 

Tom Talbot hails from Broken Bow, Nebraska, born there on November 26, 1936. When a child, Tom painted murals on almost any wall he could find, and many are still there today. He took an art correspondence course, a gift from his father, when he was a teenager, and left Nebraska in the mid-50's to study at the American Academy of Art in Chicago.

It was studying with Bill Mosby that influenced Talbot's love of color, his use of it coming from the real world but greatly heightened in his painting. Mostly Talbot creates scenes from composite memories of his frequent and varied travels. Often someone will view one of these paintings and swear they had been there, though the scene was created by Talbot in his mind's eye. This feeling of familiarity pleases Tom as he conveys the idea in his paintings-that they can be anywhere or everywhere, a place in one's life, one's memory.

Tom and his wife, Ginger, both Nebraskans, enjoy extensive travel, spending time on both coasts of the United States, and frequently visiting Mexico and various locations in Europe and Asia. They have lived in the Southwest since 1969, currently in Prescott, where they enjoy the climate and relaxed lifestyle. The sense of freedom they find here would make it difficult for them to leave.

Talbot has presented his works in one-man or group shows throughout the southwest and midwest United States and as far away as Mexico and Japan.

Collectors include the First Interstate Bank, Phippen Museum of Western Art, Omaha National Bank, Museum of New Mexico, as well as private collectors throughout the United States, Mexico, Japan, France, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, England and Canada.

Talbots' personal philosophy about his work: "For me, art is a celebration of life. As such, my aim is to, through my paintings, carry on a dialogue with the person viewing it. I paint to enable the viewer to "superimpose" his or her experience, sensitivity and emotion using my work as a touchstone. A painting can serve much as a visual "mantra", and I would hope that mine do. If a painting approaches the realm of 'art,' it should embellish more than the walls!"

 

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FRED TUCH


 

   

 


Born in North Hollywood, California, Fred Tuch studied art at Otis Art Institute, The Art Center, Allied Arts, and Chouinard Art School. 

Tuch's extensive career in the motion picture film industry spans more than forty years, from scenic artist to production illustrator, art director and production designer. Fred's work on many notable films and television earned him Emmy and Academy Award nominations for Art Direction. 

In 1965, Fred took a sabbatical to paint in Spain. Sponsored by the Cultural Minister, exhibits in Malaga, Torremolinos, and Madrid were met with acclaim. The Franco government purchased two paintings which hang in the Royal Palace in Madrid. 

In 1991, at the first invitational art show held in conjunction with the Pendleton (Oregon) Roundup, Fred was honored by the organizing committee which purchased a painting as their first collection piece. Fred's work was featured in the book "Cowboys and Indians," published in France and authored by a foremost journalist for Paris Match magazine. 

Shows in California have earned numerous awards for Tuch, who was named "Artist of the Year" by a Southern California gallery. Well known collectors, including Mickey Rourke and France's foremost entertainer, Johnny Hallyday, have commissioned Tuch to create murals and paintings for their homes.

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PETER VAN DUSEN


   

Peter Van Dusen is an artist who, more than most of us, understands the environment around him. He was born in Syracuse, New York, November 27, 1929, and educated in New York State, Maine, Florida, Oregon, and Michigan. He received his doctorate in Physical Geography from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

While teaching ecology­p;related courses, he conducted environmental research studies in water resources, land use planning, and site design. More important to art might be his teaching in environmental graphics, cartography (mapping), and scientific illustration. His years in teaching, illustrating, and consulting sharpened his perception of the land and taught him to look closely at the relationship between people and their environment.

Van Dusen's transition from scientist to artist was based on an overwhelming need to express and share his love for the rich variety of the country's land and people. He now resides in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife, Mary, a retired tennis professional and now an active first grade teacher in the Paradise Valley School District. Their daughter, Kristin, with a fine-arts education, is coming into her own as a fine artist and works with Dad on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Van Dusen contends that an artist's growth occurs, in large part, from working with a variety of subjects, and resists the professional artist's pressure to constantly pigeon-hole his subjects. When asked what his favorite painting subject is, he responds, "Everything. Time and place always change; why choose one over the other? Painting is my favorite, my life now, and I find great enjoyment in exercising that skill in any place and at any time."

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DINAH WORMAN


   
Click an image to see it displayed at larger size.

Dinah Worman began drawing at the age of four when she was confined to indoor convalescence resulting from an automobile accident. Art has been a part of her life since that time. Worman studied at Colorado State University and the University of Oklahoma. She painted for three years in Europe and returned to Denver to receive her Bachelor of Arts degree from Metropolitan State College.

After working several years as a commercial illustrator, designer, and silkscreener, Dinah co-founded MetaFox, a publisher of fine art serigraphs. Using pastel as her primary medium, she translates some of her favorite paintings into serigraphs. "Pastels are pure pigment. Nothing is there to dull as it dries or to crack as it ages. For me, this elusive, difficult medium is perfect for capturing the natural light of the landscape".

Dinah has exhibited her work throughout the Rocky Mountain region in many group and one-man shows and has won top honors in regional and national competitions. Her paintings are displayed in galleries throughout Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico and Arizona, as well as in private and public collections. Though she has spent most of her life in Colorado, Dinah plans a move in the near future to northern New Mexico where she often paints, and finds the lifestyle well suited to her.

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MARY WYANT


   

Mary Wyant lives with her husband Lawrence W. Lee in a secluded area near Patagonia, Arizona. After teaching at the University of Arizona for several years, she decided to become a painter and hasn't looked back.

Mary's vibrant colors and western subject matter have made her paintings extremely popular. Her artist's eye always finds a new way of seeing, and the new perspective grabs the viewer's attention as cool water does on a desert summer day.

She has participated in major exhibitions at the Mountain Oyster Club annual exhibition, the Tucson Museum of Art, Gallery 13 in New York City. Valley National Bank, Del Webb, Honeywell, and AT&T are some of the corporate collections that proudly display her works.

 

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