Arizona’s Lanning Gallery to show “Bill Colligen ~ Zen Vessels?

Tuesday, 27 January 2009 19:45

SEDONA, AZ - The singular art pieces created by Arizona artist Bill Colligen give new meaning to “going green.”  Gourds are Colligen’s canvas and patience is as important a tool for him as the mediums he uses to transform simple gourds into exquisite works of art.  In “Bill Colligen: Mastery” at Sedona, Arizona’s Lanning Gallery, the artist’s work will be celebrated at a reception Friday evening, February 6^th, from 5-8 pm. 

For the artist gourds provide a unique canvas on which to perfectly express his creative vision.  After studying for a career in art at the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University, Colligen chose instead to work in landscape design, specializing in small Zen gardens, while studying to be a Master Gardener.  But he still “felt the need to express something deep within on a more personal level.”  That is when his seemingly disparate callings came together:  Discovering the gourd’s potential as a canvas became for Colligen a perfect union of art and nature.

Colligen begins with a hard-shell gourd, engraving designs into the shell with a pyrographic pen before applying a variety of metallic and verdigris patinas on its surface.  “I use many different metal leaf applications including composition, copper, chemically enhanced, hand-colored and 22 ct. gold,” he says.  Gem stones are often inlaid and areas the artist calls 'faux burlwood' are actually a dye application made directly onto the gourd’s surface. Reed, bamboo and a variety of metal and stone handles embellish the lids.

Colligen calls his pieces “Zen Vessels” and for anyone who has inspected the hundreds of meticulously applied dots of paint that make up an element of each gourd’s design, it is easy to understand the focused intensity this gifted artist brings to each of his distinctive works of art.  Numerous awards have been bestowed on Colligen’s pieces including 1^st Place at the Santa Fe Plaza Arts Festival ‘04, ’05 and ’06; Best of Show at the Sedona Arts Festival ’06; and, Best in Category at the Indian Wells (CA) Arts Festival ’06 and ’07.  “My intent is to create an experience which impacts the collector with a sense of tranquility, beauty and balance,” Colligen says. 

For further information, visit or call:  Lanning Gallery, Hozho Center, 431 Hwy 179, Sedona, AZ.  928-282-6865 or www.lanninggallery.com Open daily: 10-5:30 Mon-Sat, 11-5 Sun.