Silver City's Red Dot Art Weekends Begin with Receptions

Studios and galleries continue to be open, Monday, Oct. 12 and next weekend, Oct. 17 and 18.

Photos and Article by Shirin McArthur

The Silver City Art Association has expanded its Red Dot event to cover two weekends of gallery shows, receptions, open studios, demonstrations and special events. Many galleries kicked off the first weekend with receptions on Saturday, October 10.

Seedboat Gallery hosted a reception for Mimi Peterson and Alice Austin, whose collaborative book art was on display along with the work of Patty Hammarstedt. Peterson, a painter, explained that Austin and Hammarstedt began their collaborative book art efforts when they worked together in book conservation.

Book art is not the same as altered books, which take existing books and make art out of them. Book art is, in essence, paper-based sculpture, such as folding paper to create a book without the use of adhesives.

At Lois Duffy Art, guest Master Woodworker Robert Winston had several pieces of furniture on display, including a complete dining room set. Originally from Pennsylvania, Winston began working with eastern woods but now works with local walnut and mesquite.

When determining the shape of his furniture, he looks for patterns in the wood that guide him, explaining that this allows the soul of the tree to be manifest in the finished product. Rocking chairs are his â€œsignatureâ€ pieces and the joins between the pieces of wood are so strong that the wood itself would break before the joins.

Leyba & Ingalls also hosted a reception for gallery artists, including Patricia Gawle, a ceramic artist who has been renting studio space in Silver City for the past two and a half months. She initially discovered Silver City on a drive through New Mexico, and returned this year for a month to participate in the Clay Festival.

Gawle, who is based in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, found her time in Silver City to be so productive that she extended her stay for another six weeks. During her time here (partially to escape the intense summer heat in Mexico), she also traveled to Sedona, Flagstaff and Santa Fe for inspiration.

Making ceramics in Puerto Vallarta is a very different experience from Silver City. Rather than purchasing silky-smooth prepared clay from a manufacturer, Gawle digs it out of the earth near her home and processes it on a concrete pad in her yard. Processing involves breaking the dried clay into small pieces, then sieving out the grass, weeds and pebbles. She must then mix that clay with sand from the river that has also been cleaned. That clay mixture must then be â€œwedged,â€ or kneaded, to create uniform, usable clay.

Diane Kleiss moved to Silver City two years ago to continue her artistic work with beeswax. She loves the texture and layering of the encaustic process, which she is demonstrating at The Cliffs Studio during Red Dot weekends and by appointment.

Red Dot Art Weekends are an excellent opportunity to visit various artists' studios, see demonstrations, and discover more about their work processes. Click here for a schedule of events and maps for the fifty participating galleries and studios in and around the Silver City area.