Monumental Horses “Indoor, Outdoor, Next Door” Take Center Stage in Sedona AZ

Written by Mandy Wegener Friday, 07 January 2011 23:17

SEDONA, AZ -   June’s “1^st Friday Gallery Tour” event in Sedona will feature a special joint celebration at Lanning Gallery and Turquoise Tortoise Gallery right in the heart of the Gallery District, a reception that is planned to spill outdoors, indoors and next door as the sister galleries welcome three artists to town. On June 5^th, from 5-8 p.m., visitors will have the rare pleasure to meet Dixie Jewett who welds the monumental horses that are so eye-catching outside Hozho Center.   Jewett is a rare breed of artist; once an Alaskan bush pilot she combines her mechanical skills of building and welding with an impeccable eye for artistic detail and the conformation of horses.   

Myriad found objects are joined into Jewett’s magnificent steeds; with a strong steel framework she welds everything from auto parts to farm equipment, washing machine parts to steel bumpers into horses that can measure twelve feet high.   The joy of Jewett’s horses is not only how realistic and alive with character each one is, but also how much fun it is to identify and relate to all the little bits.

Inside Lanning Gallery artist Jonathan Howard will also be on hand to greet visitors and answer questions about his paintings of urban scenes. Howard is an emerging artist with a singular style of existentialist surrealism that is capturing serious attention.   His canvases are acrylic based, often with subtly layered elements of collage.   “Cities, towns, and buildings are a telling extension [of ourselves], perhaps a portrait of humanity,” Howard has said.  “You can see the good, bad, hopes, dreams, nightmares and ambitions of mankind through examining our urban footprint on the planet.”  

Next door, at Turquoise Tortoise Gallery, artist William Spencer III, who is new to the gallery, will showcase his bright, warm and compelling paintings that combine organic tendrils and abstracted shapes with representational elements from cacti to horsemen.   Most of the artist’s work is produced in acrylic, oil and resin silkscreen on plaster and panel.   For Spencer, the meaning of each piece arises as much from within those who collect his works as from his own subconscious.

“Indoor, Outdoor, Next Door” promises to be a very special show!   For information:   Lanning Gallery, 928-282-6865 or www.lanninggallery.com or Turquoise Tortoise Gallery, 928-282-2262 or www.turqtortsedona.com .   Hozho Center, 431 State Route 179, Sedona, AZ.   Open daily: 10-6:00 Mon-Sat, 11-5 Sun.