In the garage-turned-workshop off his 1920s Phoenix cottage, furniture designer Kevin Irvin makes the utilitarian beautiful, one cut at a time. Irvin’s hand-hewn cabinets, tables, benches, consoles and storage boxes are simple shapes with eye-catching design elements that elevate them from pure functionality to works of art.
Frank Ybarra’s smile is like a cozy flannel shirt: comfortable and unpretentious, he’s one of those people who feels familiar, like an old trusted friend.
Fifty-eight of the most talented Western American women artists will be luring collectors and art lovers from around the globe out Wickenburg way for seven weeks this spring. The 13th Annual “Cowgirl Up! Art from the Other Half of the West” is on view at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg through May 13, 2018. If you have never experienced this exhibit, you are missing one of Arizona’s art treasures.
Writer Amanda Christmann Photographer Scott Baxter [dropcap]D[/dropcap]r. Wayne Dyer once said, “Doing what you love
Long before cowboys and pioneers, Native Americans were the epitome of the spirit of the West. They first learned to cultivate crops from the dry, brittle desert floor, and it was their ways that allowed pioneers, miners and cowboys to survive in the rugged Southwest.
Every artist undergoes a conjuring of sorts: a nearly magical moment in which ideas are created from a palette of experiences, interpretation and inspiration. The artist chooses a medium then expresses that idea in a combination of color, texture and scale. For the lucky few, others connect through their creations, forming a bond through shared thoughts and emotions, and enjoyment of the work.
The brilliant blue feathers of a macaw, the glistening red eye of a tree frog and the individually nuanced threads of fur on a cougar cub—they’re all part of Kyle Cass’s ever-expanding body of work. The collection is especially impressive considering that the artist is just 15 years old. Throw in the fact that Cass is colorblind and it’s practically astounding.
If you live anywhere in Arizona, you know that Larry Fitzgerald is more than kind of a big deal, on and off the field. He’s dedicated his entire professional career to the Arizona Cardinals and his personal time to charitable causes. He’s breaking records and earning a reputation both as a football great and an all-around good guy.
Painter, printmaker, occasional mask-maker, and former ceramicist, Monica Aissa Martinez is a Phoenix-based artist who is of the region rather than merely inhabiting the region, her heritage reflected in subtle and not-so-subtle ways in her work.
Anthem resident Lanny Nelson, known affectionately as “Lan the Running Man,” has logged about 75,000 miles in his running shoes. Recently, he embarked on a new, more challenging journey: surviving prostate cancer. Lanny has chosen to share his battle, and his hope, with our Images Arizona family.