Catch a glimpse of how art is created, and meet and talk with artists about their work, during the 12th annual Moab Artists Studio Tour on Saturday, Sept. 5, and Sunday, Sept. 6.
Seventeen area artists will open up their home studios to the public on both days from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“I really like sharing my place with people and sharing all my art in that venue,” said Serena Supplee, who co-founded the studio tour 12 years ago with another Moab artist, Wendy Newman.
Supplee’s colorful cards and calendars depict the Colorado Plateau and are popular throughout western Colorado, northern Arizona and Utah. In 2014, Supplee was community artist in the park at Arches and Canyonlands national parks, and Natural Bridges and Hovenweep national monuments.
Seeing the actual space where artists create is a large part of the appeal of studio tours.
“There are a lot of great artists in Moab,” Supplee said. “The tour is awesome. You get to see the artists in their environment. You can get ideas about how to change your own environment to get more creative.”
In Supplee’s home, studio tour-goers will see not only her paintings, but also sculptures and the drawings she makes from which her paintings are based. In college art classes, she was taught to work off photographs taken in the field. She said she eventually gave away the camera and instead creates drawings that she brings back into the studio.
Other Moab artists who have opened up their home studios include Helen Becker, who works with pastel, oil and charcoal; pastel artist JC Borders; woodcarver Nick Eason; Kathy Grossman, who works in pastels; Sarah Hamingson, who creates pastel landscapes; fabric artist Eleanor Inskip; oil and watercolorist Tim Morse; Kristi Peterson, who works in cement, glass and mosaic; oil, pastel and pencil artist Sandi Snead; oil painter Phil Wagner; and Jacci Weller, who works with acrylic.
“Most of the artists will be working or have a work in progress, if possible,” Weller said.
Weller, who enjoys painting colorful native flower and canyon country scenes, will be the guest artist at Gallery Moab during the month of October. She also shows her work at an Arizona gallery.
Two Castle Valley artists will also welcome visitors Saturday and Sunday: Yrma Van Der Steenstraeten, who paints, photographs and creates jewelry, and ceramicist Tricia Olgivy.
The studio tour includes a stop by Gallery Moab at 87 N. Main St., where three artists – Karen Chatham, Page Holland and Robin Straub – will be present to talk about their works on display. Collectively, their pieces include watercolor, pastel, alcohol ink, acrylic and oil paintings, plus photography and lead castings.
While Hamingson also has artwork currently on exhibit at Gallery Moab, she said she’ll be in her home studio during the tour with an easel set up with a work-in-progress. Hamingson specializes in pastel paintings of red-rock formations, extreme weather and big clouds.
“It’s fun to see a mix of friends made from past tours (who tour year after year) and new people,” said Hamingson.
Visitors can pick and choose or visit all of the artists over the two-day tour.
12th annual event returns on Sept. 5-6
“There are a lot of great artists in Moab … The tour is awesome. You get to see the artists in their environment. You can get ideas about how to change your own environment to get more creative.”
When: Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 5 and 6, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days
Where: Various locations throughout Moab and Castle Valley
Information: 435-259-7645; www.moabstudiotour.com
The tour is free, and maps to each working studio are available at www.moabstudiotour.com, Gallery Moab, or the Moab Information Center, which is located at the corner of Main and Center streets.
