Art
and nature enthusiasts can enjoy the best of both worlds this summer
during the third annual Artists’ Studios Tour. This self-guided
driving tour provides a delightful look at northern Idaho’s
mountain scenery while following a route of artists’ home studios.
Held the weekends of July 22-24 and July 29-31, the tour allows the
public to go behind the scenes into the private home studios of artists
who don’t usually show their works being created. Best of all,
tours are free. The patron decides which artists they want to visit
by viewing a user-friendly brochure map. Favorites are circled on
the map, and each art enthusiast plans a custom tour route.
The Artists’ Studio Tour is the brainchild of Teddi Garner,
the tour coordinator, and Eileen Marcotte, an artist on the tour.
“We both had experience with open studios in California, hers
in Santa Cruz, mine in Long Beach. We pooled our past experiences
together over lunch one day and the tour was created,” Garner
said. “It’s been an incredible time in my life to help
bring the artistic process to light for the public. The tour is such
a unique opportunity for visitors and locals to see the extraordinary
quality, talent and diversity of art created in our community.”
At Studio by the Lake in Hope, overlooking Lake Pend Oreille, the
studio showcases breathtaking watercolors by Barbara Janusz. Often
of large scale, they portray nature, from impressionistic waterfalls
to floral renderings. This studio is open Friday through Sunday during
summer. Janene Grende, well-known for her award-winning wildlife paintings
in realism, has expanded her repertoire to watercolor on silk, a vibrant
combination that exploits the brilliant color she loves so well.
Other artists in the familiar realm of oil, acrylic and watercolor
include: Bob Bissett of Naples who shines in all three mediums; Barbara
Field of Garfield Bay, who specializes in large-scale water media
landscapes; and Shirley Scofield, who captures nostalgic old barns
in oils. There are many more, some featured with fellow artists and
craftsman at Naples Gallery, owned by Suzanne and Jim Lublin; and
Clark’s Creations Gallery in Clark Fork owned by Catherine Clark
and Daryl Sampey. Both galleries are open daily and will have participating
artisans demonstrating during the tour.
Sculptors on the tour represent many mediums. Beautiful fused glass
items are the forte of Cassandra Tauber, who melds found glass with
metal to create stunning sculptural and functional pieces. Mark Kubiak
of Dover works with wood, stone, clay and bronze, creating avant-garde
pieces at home in either modern or traditional surroundings. Mary
Day creates incredible equine portrayals in bronze, while Gabe Gabel’s
bronze sculptures of horses and Native Americans are magical in their
anatomical perfection. She earns praise from horsemen and fellow artists
for her historical renditions of Native Americans, from facial features
to exquisitely detailed hair, feathers and ornaments. Idaho Granite
Works Studio specializes in one-of-a kind stone creations from their
unique family quarry.
Woodworking in its many forms will be shown in several venues. Wood
n’ Wings Studio in Sandpoint features Larry Book’s popular
carved wooden bird and fish wall hangings and tables, as well as Ardella
Book’s country furnishings of Idaho’s wildlife. David
Baranski creates fine art wood furniture along with natural stone
sculptures at his Hope studio overlooking the lake. Rick and Eileen
Marcotte share a Naples studio showing Rick’s fine art woodworking
designs and Eileen’s gourd creations that she combines with
fiber weavings (another talent!) for dazzling one-of-a-kind art pieces.
This studio is open Friday through Sunday during the summer. Fiber
stars again, when Linda Corson uses wool from her own sheep to create
beautiful blankets, scarves, shawls and rugs.
Photography as Art by Susan Beard, Chris Guibert and Curtis Kitchen,
finds this trio using non-traditional techniques with mediums from
canvas to watercolor enhancing to create their artistry.
It’s a rare opportunity to see fine arts and crafts created
before your eyes. For those who can’t go on the tour in July,
they can still take advantage of the studios that are open by appointment
for the treat of a lifetime.
Map brochures
are available at the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce visitor
center, in tourist rack displays and at many local businesses. Call
the Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce at 1-800-800-2106, or look up arttourdrive.org
for complete information. |
