by David James
Fused Glass Bowl by David Stitts
On Saturday, November 3rd from 9 AM to 3 PM, a wide variety of original art and craft work marks the Del Webb at Rancho Del Lago 8th Annual Art & Craft Festival. Numerous area artists and artisans offer their wares at the Del Webb at Rancho Del Lago clubhouse, 10264 S Blendu Way in Vail. I caught up with two inspiring locals who will be showing there and ask them about the development of their work.
Fused Glass Pendant by David Stitts
I visited David Stitts at his home studio in Del Webb to learn about his glasswork. He will be exhibiting new forms in stained glass that were still under wraps at the time of our talk, (hint, they may have to do with Christmas). David’s first class in glass work was a special 10th anniversary gift from his wife Emmy in Canton, Ohio. In the ensuing 22 years, he has taken classes and developed a studio practice covering glass blowing, lamp work, lapidary and silversmithing among others.
Cacti by Lynn Dottle
His current focus is on stained glass and fused glass. The stained glass work for sale at this show is done with copper foil solder, the same process used by Louis Comfort Tiffany. The fused glass work seen in these pages is done in a kiln. These pieces have a solidity and mass about them that is pleasant in form and scale, while featuring rich colors amidst an air of delicacy and the organic. They look good in a room and in your hands, with a feeling akin to coaxing out nature through abstraction.
Mixed Media Upcycled Box by Lynn Dottle
Del Webb resident Lynn Dottle, a Phoenix native and Southern Arizona resident since 1999 offers her work to the public for the first time. A working military wife, homemaker and mother, she has increasingly found more time for her art since retiring to Vail with her husband Mark. Admittedly a treasure hoarder, she developed an affection for things Americana, country, native Southwest and nostalgic at an early age and some of this lifelong trove is featured in her latest boxes. These pieces are suggestive of reliquaries. Familiar images are reprised here and they often seem of another place, another time. Scale, color, disparate and complementary images are roughed up with repeated sanding and layering of color and patinas that seal time into these pieces. She will also be showing her ceramic work, dishes and teapots along with her newest desert forms series developed in the studios of Romero House at the Tucson Museum of Art. In our talk, she stressed the importance of the artistic community she has found there as a member of the Romero House Potters. Her latest firings will be available. Whimsical cacti, prickly pear, barrel cactus, friendly saguaros with gilded or jeweled details make these pieces shine on their own or in a grouping. They are conceived with the heart and eye of an artist who has explored and conquered numerous mediums over the years. These pieces have a nice presence, they call one quietly, reflections on the desert.
Please join these and other artists by coming out for a fun time, a visual tactile feast. Love art, make art if you are so inclined, buy art if you can. Namaste
