Inside the local gallery
Colorfest Gallery Walk returns this Friday

Brandon Donahue, of Open shutter Gallery, sifts through some of the “Spirit of the West” artwork that will be on display at the gallery during the Gallery Walk this Friday./Photo by David Halterman

by Jules Masterjohn

Fall is definitely upon us. The cool nights and yellowing trees signal the changing season. A more subtle shift is taking place inside local galleries as preparations are under way for the tour de fall, the annual Colorfest Gallery Walk. Art venues in the downtown area will be keeping their doors open unusually late on Friday, offering visitors hearty receptions featuring finger food, wine, music, demonstrations, and of course, creative expressions by artists new to Durango galleries as well as new work by artists familiar to us.

At Ellis West Gallery, in its new location at 822 Main Ave., Vermont-based glass artist Randi Solin will be available to talk with gallery goers about her glass forming process. A well-known artist on the East Coast, Solin’s hand-blown glass vessels are held in the permanent collection of the White House. They are beautiful, multicolored and layered forms – some weighing up to 30 pounds – that reference their function as vessels yet hold their own as sculptural objects.

Local artist Krista Harris introduces us to her latest paintings, which might vibrate right off the gallery’s walls. Harris, an accomplished artist, has shown consistently at the gallery for four years, and her newest work is as delightfully surprising as each new body of work she has previously unveiled. In the most recent explorations, her oil paints have been left behind and she has taken up using acrylics on canvas, board and paper.

Harris writes in her artist statement, “This body of work is reflective of my move to modernism. It is the direction that has been intriguing me, coaxing me, pulling and finally pushed me forward the last few years…and is about feeling rather than just seeing.” A significant departure, to be sure, for acrylic paint allows an artist to work faster and make compositional changes more easily.

The new work is almost nonrepresentational: that is, there is very little recognizable imagery present. She continues, “In this nonobject language, I sense an intimacy between the viewer and the artist, beyond shape or color or texture, and into a private and powerful visual narrative.” Bold, saturated colors flirt with her gestural brushwork, making viewing from the distance as satisfying as a close-up encounter. This is playful and serious painting by an artist who continues to explore and astound me with her ever-evolving work.

Down the avenue at Sorrell Sky Gallery, New Mexico jeweler Kia Gallagher will be present to share her long-held fascination with stones. She writes, “My rock story begins with simple cardboard shoeboxes. I collected specimens of pink quartz, chips of blue and green turquoise, ancient shell and fern fossils and big lovely sheets of mica (my favorite).” Gallagher uses primarily natural stones such as turquoise and coral, mixing colors and combining different shapes in her sterling silver jewelry designs.

Across the street in the Main Mall, Image Counts Gallery is introducing the work of Cortez photographer John Mumaw. A surveyor by trade, this profession allows the photographer access to places one might not readily venture. Gallery owner Eileen Baumgardt finds Mumaw’s mostly landscape photography “quite an unusual perspective on the land.”

Heading south to the corner of 7th and Main where Karyn Gabaldon Fine Art is located, one will find another artist whose work has been aided by an outdoor lifestyle. Kathleen Laskey relocated to Silverton after 17 years of travel as a professional rock climber and instructor. During those years, she spent her spare time writing haiku poetry and began an interest in Asian imagery. “Not being very good at writing haiku, I’ve tried to visually capture the cadence and purity found in haiku,” she wrote.

Laskey’s mixed-media collages, using acrylic paint and digital images, call forth tranquility and a sense of peacefulness.

Up on Second Avenue near 8th Street at Open Shutter Gallery, the “Spirit of the West” group exhibit presents works by nationally known photographers, some of whom live in our area and will be present at the gallery during Friday’s gallery walk. The exhibit has been organized in conjunction with the Durango Cowboy Gathering. The walls of the gallery are sure to be full with icons of cowboy culture and Western life by nine photographers.

Well-known regional photographer Lou Swenson’s work will hang along with Claude Steelman’s fresh-out-of-the-developer black and white images of horses. Artists Jenny & Greg Gummersall offer two collaborative works that merge photography and painting. Wyoming photographer Adam Jahiel presents timeless portrayals of roundups and cowboy camps. Denver-area photographer Thomas Carr’s photos layer images from historical negatives with his own shots creating a multidimensional effect. Brandon Donahue, gallery manager commented, “Group shows are great for comparing different artists side-by-side. This show has a nice variety of cowboy images from different perspectives.”

For yet another dose of iconography on Friday night, take a hike further east to St. Mark’s Church located at the corner of Third Avenue and 9th Street, to view the second annual exhibit, “ICON: Visual Expressions of the Sacred.” Quite an interesting and eclectic exhibit that fills the meeting hall, the sacred is conjured up from many sources of inspiration, from religion and faith, to found objects and the natural world. ICON is on display through Sept. 30. •

Colorfest Gallery Walk is held at galleries throughout downtown Durango on Fri., Sept. 21 from 5-9 p.m. Other downtown galleries participating in Friday night’s Colorfest Gallery Walk are Angels & Lights Stained Glass Gallery, Durango Arts Center, The Earthen Vessel, Lime Berry, Rain Dance Gallery, and Toh-Atin Gallery.

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