Gallery

My pieces often reflect my lifetime love of nature. I find solace walking out in nature whether in Minnesota where I’d spent most of my life, or in the Arizona wilderness. I currently live in Arizona in the shadows of the Galiuro mountains where the views are breathtaking. 

Watercolor painting was a part of my life since childhood as a casual hobby and so when I received a wood burning tool a few years ago, merging the two mediums came naturally. I really enjoy working with the characteristics of wood in my art. Recently, I have been playing with incorporating the rich textures and colors of the local clay, sand and stones into my works. 

My vision is to create designs that inspire and captivate. I believe that art and design have the power to make a difference in the world, and I strive to use my talent to make a positive impact. 

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My latest series, Through the Fire was inspired by the dedication of our local firefighters. Wildfires burn thousands of acres across the state every year. Fires not only destroy properties and disrupt lives, but can be so very harmful to Arizona’s natural wildlife. From the direct effects of the flames and heat, to the destruction of habitat and vegetation, wildfires can have a significant negative impact to the wildlife that we all know and love in the Southwest. 

As my part to help support our local firefighters, 10% of each art sale from the Through the Fire Series will be donated to the Oracle Fire District.


www.joygrant.art 

763-232-3927

Tina Bolt is a textile artist living and working in the southwest. Her connection to fabric began at a young age. Growing up in a small town overseas she was surrounded by beautiful landscapes and intricate cloth pieces, similar to the life she has currently in Oracle, AZ. Witnessing individuals work with their hands and bring beauty into everyday personal and household items greatly influenced her and the work she produces.

A lot of Tina's work focuses on color theory as well as the human connection to pattern. You will see both themes play out in her pieces for the October show "Quilt as Memory".

A few of the pieces are part of her custom work. These are quilts (or throw blankets) ordered by individuals wanting to create an interpretation of a person or a place they love. They share stories and photos with Tina about the individual or person. From these snippets, Tina offers a color palette, and the individual chooses to have the quilt created from a specific pattern (sawtooth, Missouri star, etc.) or have the design be more intuitively formed. In the case of the quilt being an ode to a place/location Tina also offers an exact (or similar) replica of a photo or image of the place. You will see the quilt she made for her wedding, based on a farm she worked on.

Come and join us for Quilt as Memory. You will enjoy the versatility Tina offers through fabric - a mix of vintage fabrics, natural dyes, plant pounded, cyanotypes, quilt patches, and larger custom pieces. 


Karen Guss

I was born and grew up in Salt Lake City. I graduated from the University of Utah in Health Sciences and Art in 1966. My husband and I moved to Arizona in 1968. We loved Tucson and the climate and moved to Oracle in 1971. I have had a lifetime interest in art and tend to think of myself as a professional art student. I have taken classes through Tucson Museum of Art and The Drawing Studio. Both provide an inspiring community of artists and a rich environment of shared knowledge. I have always been a watercolorist. I love plein-air. Painting outside in the light of the Arizona desert is always inspiring and a challenge. When the weather is not conducive to outdoor painting I like doing still life studies in my studio. Flowers being a favorite subject. The watercolor medium provides great freedom and allows for a variety of expressive techniques. I like a representational approach to interpreting a subject but also enjoy the freedom to edit and focus where my interests take me.

Kevin Riggi – I grew interested in photography at 11 with loving the idea of using a medium that I could capture the true beauty of the world that I saw around me, especially when out in nature. Since then, I have learned that a whole new beauty can be created through what others can capture through a lens and manipulate later. I have always had great support from my family and have especially been inspired and awed by my grandma’s art. I’m so excited to be able to share in the show next to her!  


Karen Medley

Works of Art: 

I am primarily a Clay Artist with a variety of many other artistic endeavors; which include art installations, drawing, watercolor and photography. I design and fabricate clay objects for domestic use and hope to create vessels that are expressive, inviting, and useful. My whimsical art works in clay and art installations are made to provide me with a light hearted alternative to the sometimes serious nature of art.  My Art education career, to which I dedicated 30 years, has influenced every process, technique, decision in the development of my own personal work.


Biography

I was raised in Arizona in the small community of Sunnyslope, an individual neighborhood, which has since been absorbed by metro Phoenix. My current residence has been in Oracle, Arizona for 50 decades.

 

Education:

I received a Bachelor of Art in Secondary Education from Arizona State University. Continued Graduate studies in Visual Arts including course work at University of San Diego, Northern Arizona State and University of Arizona, Arizona State University, J.P. Getty Art Institute Art studies, Institute de Allende, San Miquel de Allende, Mexico, and Institute de Cuernavaca, Mexico.


Career:

Visual Arts instructor for the Mammoth-San Manuel School District

at the Secondary level including the Elementary program.

Adjunct Instructor at Central Arizona College, Aravaipa campus, including courses taught: Pottery, drawing, watercolor, and Mixed Crafts.

Solo Artist show at Rancho Linda Vista 1998, participant and volunteer since 1991 with Oracle Artist Studio tours, Tohono O’ Chul Gallery 2009, GLOW, a nighttime event, 2008-2023, On Site Sculpture, Triangle L Ranch, Oracle, Az., Solo Art Installation, Triangle L Ranch, Adobe Barn Gallery, Oracle, Az., Oracle Patio Café, TART, Toole Ave., Art on the street, Oct. 2013, Sculptural Resource Center, SCULPTURE FESTIVAL, 2014 thru 2018

Art Work currently on Display: Clay sculpture at The Back Alley Chiropractic office, Oro Valley; Clay work and Watercolor paintings at the Back to Back Chiropractic office, Catalina; Triangle L Ranch Sculpture Path and Gift shop, Oracle, Arizona, Sculpture at Lavender in the Oaks & gift shop 

Contact Info:

Home and Personal studio located in Oracle, Arizona adjacent to Coronado National Forest

E-mail: rjkamedley@q.com

Phone: hm. 520-896-2173 


https://www.facebook.com/pg/wheremyartisastudio/about/

https://www.facebook.com/wheremyartisastudio/?modal=admin_todo_tour



Sheila Miles

Sheila Miles was raised in Indiana and has lived in Provincetown, Massachusetts, New York City, throughout Montana (for 26 years), and Santa Fe (14 years) before moving to Oracle in 2020.

 

She has been a figurative painter for over 50 years and exhibited in over 100 one-person shows and 300 exhibitions. In addition to this show, she has a One-person show of 35 paintings at 1ART, 1 E. Broadway Boulevard, Tucson from September 29-December 7, 2023.

 

Over 200 of her works are included in such public collections as the Tucson Medical Center, New Mexico Arts in Public Places, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Yellowstone Art Museum and Missoula Art Museum.

 

Her work has been purchased twice by the State of New Mexico for the Artist in Public Places Program and in 1999 she received the Gottlieb Foundation grant.

 

She has gallery representation by Art Spirit Gallery, Coeur D’Alene, Idaho and Hat Ranch Gallery, Santa Fe, NM. 

 

With a Masters in Painting and Drawing she has taught in colleges, private schools, and for the Montana Arts Council in one-room schools on the prairie and Indian Reservations and throughout Montana. 

 

For ten years she was Chair of Visual Arts at a private school in Santa Fe. 
In 2017 she was a guest artist in Florence, Italy for five weeks. 

 

In addition to her painting practice and extensive exhibition schedule, she offers private workshops and accepts commissions from client’s photos.

 

Her resume and work can be viewed on her website:

http://artistmiles.com and she posts daily at https://www.facebook.com/sheila.miles.7


Jill Caid


Our journey began 40 years ago when we met in Tucson. Love, friendship, trust, and respect came quickly. 


After living in Tucson for almost 20 years, we moved to Oracle and began our artistic passions-Jim in photography and drawing and Jill in watercolor, pastels, and pen & ink.


We traveled together to workshops and showed our art at joint venues. In the summer of 2022, we collaborated, producing photogravure with mixed media. 

 

Jim passed in September 2022 following a valiant battle with cancer.    


Linda Tabler



Lewis Schnellmann



Luminous Nature

Artwork by Linda Tabler and Lewis Schnellmann

Friday, January 27 through February 26, 2023

Linda Tabler -- Linda is a fine arts photographer and painter. She works mainly in oils as well as a variety of photo processes, including but not limited to photograms, hand coloring, photo encaustic, infrared, color reversals, silver, and Cibachrome prints.

She was born in Omaha, Nebraska. At age 8 she received private drawing and painting lessons from Fran Day, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska.

She holds degrees in Early Childhood Education (BA) and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA).

She studied photography under Cal Kowal at the Art Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cal worked with Jerry Uelsmann and was an integral part in her interest in alternative photographic processes. She was mentored by sculpturer, photographer, printmaker, and one of the first laser artists, Edward Perry.

She taught kindergarten creating art consortiums and galleries for children and also worked as a studio photographer. 

Linda’s photography has won numerous awards including a Kodak Kinsa award; she is a member of ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers). Her work is in private collections throughout the U.S. and has been shown in many solo and group exhibitions. Linda moved from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Oracle, Arizona in 2011.

Lewis Schnellmann -- Lewis Schnellmann is a multi-disciplined artist working in several mediums including painting, sculpture and printmaking.

He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and graduated with degrees in Fine Arts (MFA) and Mathematics (BA) from the University of Missouri.

He was an associate professor of art at Radford College (VA), Missouri Western College (MO), and Century College (MN).

He continued post-graduate work at the University of Minnesota where he worked with Malcolm Meyers on printmaking. He also spent several years with Peter Busa as a friend and mentor.

Lewis has work in private and public collections throughout the U.S. and has been in many exhibitions in the U.S. and Europe including the Williamsburg Gallery of Contemporary Art, the Virginia Mint Museum, the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, the Museum of Contemporary Art

Winston-Salem, the Virginia Museum of Art, and the Minnesota Art Institute Friends Gallery.

He moved to Oracle, Arizona in 2002 where he has his studio.


David Jaffrey

Arnold Nelson

Between Line & Color

Artwork by David Jaffrey and Arnold Nelson

Wednesday, January 4 through January 21, 2023

David Jaffrey -- In 1975, I was invited to Oracle’s Rancho Linda Vista for dinner with my acupuncture patient Ann Woodin, and her artist, UA professor of art husband Andy Rush. Shortly afterward, I moved here with my sons and began a new life in a dynamic, continuously evolving arts community while commuting to a busy medical clinic at U A College of Medicine in Tucson, followed by 40 years of private practice.

Deeply inspired and mentored by resident artists, Andy Rush, Jim Davis, Bruce McGrew, and others, I soon began working in landscape watercolor and drawing. During my time at RLV, I have followed a variety of interests: acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, 25 years of community theater (SPATs), 15 years of aikido training (ASU), 11 years playing double bass in a community orchestra (SASO), and throughout the whole span, a fascination with the practice of drawing, painting, some sculpture, and experiments with different materials. Although watercolor has been my main medium, this exhibit, “Between Line & Color” includes results of recent ventures into non-objective and abstract images with acrylics and mixed media, exploring interior and exterior ideas often drawn from my various activities.

Arnold Nelson -- In 1970 my wife and I, along with two young daughters, visited an old friend living on Rancho Linda Vista. Nearing the end of a residency in internal medicine, I made an impulsive decision to move to Arizona and pursue more training at the U of A and to live on RLV. We were able to do these two things and have been living in Oracle since 1971. Later I took a second residency in psychiatry and have been practicing that specialty since 1980, both in Oracle and mainly in Tucson.

 

I started drawing in 1986 and have been doing that steadily since that time. My drawings follow a tradition of "spontaneous drawing" popular amongst artists since the 1930s. The idea is to make marks that look interesting without any particular organizing thought. Our mind is drawn to patterns that start to emerge in the drawings. 

 

When I see that happening, I deliberately break the pattern, such that the finished drawing has no overall unity of idea, but hopefully is pleasing and intriguing to the eye. If you can "dance through" the drawing, then I believe it is successful. I look for composition, juxtaposition of density and space, essentially esthetic issues.

 

I hope everyone can take pleasure in viewing them. I have come to see Oracle and the Ranch as my home. I love the desert and the people I have met here and hope to "keep on keeping on." 

 


Angels and Others

Artwork by Pat Dolan and Christopher Lucic

Friday, December 2, 2022

Reception 4-6 pm

Exhibit runs until December 20, 2022

Art Coordinators

Rachel Opinsky

Rachel Opinsky, an Arizona native moved to Oracle with her husband Michael in 2005 after retiring from the teaching profession in Tempe. 

Holding a Master of Elementary Education degree and an undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Education, she taught both preschool and elementary education. She also mentored and taught College of Education undergraduate students.

Rachel is an active member of two auxiliary boards with the Oracle Fire District. She is a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) member and Co-chairs the Oracle Firewise Board. 

A former and founding Oracle Piano Society board member, Rachel has played an integral role in the organization since its inception.

Rachel enjoys outdoor activities such as gardening, river rafting, camping, and hiking and is a watercolorist. 

Diane Clark

Diane Clark is an Oracle resident and digital artist. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies and serves as Co-chair of the Board of Directors at Oracle Piano Society. Since joining the board in 2022, Diane has helped advance the utilization and promotion of the gallery space at the Oracle Center for the Arts showcasing the works of local artists as well as those further afield. 

Diane has an extensive background in graphic design, art direction, writing, editing, marketing communications, and digital art production. In retirement, she is an avid gardener, herbalist, animal advocate and volunteer.

ADA Accessibility:

If you require ADA accommodations, to participate in or attend one of our programs, please fill out the form below:

ADA ACCOMMODATION FORM

Please contact ADA Coordinator, Bridget Cook at bridgetoc@oraclepianosociety.org if you have ADA related questions.