Moab Happenings Archive
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Gallery HAPPENINGS October 2018


Gallery Moab
Serena Supplee at Gallery Moab
by Deborah McDermott

Chin To The Wind by Serena SuppleeGallery Moab is again pleased to showcase the work of Serena Supplee. For the month of October, her Canyonlands-inspired watercolor and oil paintings will grace the Guest Artist wall. Serena Supplee is an artist who has “tuned in” to the spirit of the rocks, sky, and trees. Her paintings are not only colorful and animated, but they also depict specific places on the Colorado Plateau that are imaginatively conceived and painted with a “passionate palette.”

Serena has roamed extensively over the Colorado Plateau since 1980, sometimes by 4 WD, and other times by her boat on the Colorado, Green, or San Juan Rivers. She worked for many years as a river guide, so she knows the landscape from top to bottom. “I love to peruse the great outdoors, to see what catches my eye, a spot that “speaks to me,” then sit quietly and Serena Supplee draw with a pencil. By spending time concentrating on the scene before me, drawing the place imprints changing shadows and colors in my mind. I choose to work from my sketches rather than photos to give my imagination more reign. My paintings are my eye, not the camera’s eye.”

Serena has a new book in publication. Grand Canyon Calling features pencil sketches and comments adjacent to her large oil paintings. But the word “sketches” seems an understatement for some of more detailed drawings that are reproduced in the book. These observational drawings, many including grid lines, are the solid framework for her painted compositions, allowing Serena to improvise color and form.

In March of this year Serena’s art was exhibited at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, where she earned an art degree at Northern Arizona University before moving to Moab. And not too long ago the St. George Art Museum mounted a one-woman exhibit of thirty of Serena’s night paintings, titled “Starry Night.” Serena’s artwork may be most recognized from the more than 100 images she has published as notecards since 1983, and wall Rockin' All Around by Serena Suppleecalendars since 2008. She has a new selection of 14"x18” affordable prints as well as large giclée reproductions for sale on her website. Giclée prints (Archival Pigment Print) will last a 120 years before showing any signs of color shifting. They are printed using state of the art Fine Art Printers. Serena’s new book can also be ordered through her website, serenasupplee.com

Gallery Moab will host a reception for Serena Supplee during ArtWalk on Saturday, October 13 from 5-8 pm. The gallery is located at 87 North Main Street. Join us in celebrating this colorful and accomplished artist.

On Saturday, September 8, between 5 and 8 pm, Gallery Moab will host a reception for Cynthia Sampson during Moab’s September ArtWalk. Viewers of all ages will enjoy Cynthia’s colorful, animal-themed paintings.
Gallery Moab, located at 87 North Main Street, is open daily from 12-9 pm. Work by gallery artists can been seen at gallerymoab.com and on Facebook or call 435-355-0024.


Ladies of the Canyon
3 Women Artists at Dead Horse Point State Park


The Bighorn Gallery at Dead Horse Point State Park is exhibiting original paintings by three women artists entitled “Ladies of the Canyon.” The exhibit is a collection of plein air oil paintings by Carolyn Dailey, pastels by Sonya Johnson and watercolors by Barbara Klema, and is on display from September 7th through October 31st, 2018. An opening reception will be held in the Bighorn Gallery on Saturday, September 8th from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Tom Klema will be playing original songs on acoustic guitar during the reception and refreshments will be served.Carolyn Dailey

Carolyn Dailey grew up in the east but came to college in Boulder, CO to be near the mountains. Taking art classes while working on her degrees in psychology, Carolyn left a career in educational research to become a fulltime artist in 1987. Her primary training using oils in the plein air tradition was by workshop study at the Fechin Institute of Taos, NM with Mark Daily, Michael Lynch and Ned Jacobs. Carolyn lived in Durango, CO and Moab, UT before moving to Guatemala in 1990 for 16 years. Carolyn has participated in numerous one woman and group shows in the USA and Guatemala, including a one woman show at the National Ixchel Museum in Guatemala City in 1999. She moved back to the states to Crestone, CO in 2006 and then to Moab in 2010 where she enjoys painting outdoors in the spectacular canyon country, as well as the greater Southwest. She frequently wins top awards at regional juried art shows.

Sonya JohnsonSonya Johnson is a pastel painter living in Durango, CO. Despite a lifelong interest in art, her path as an artist was anything but direct. While attending the University of Arizona, she took two art classes that gave her a foundation with drawing skills and exposed her to color, but she is otherwise primarily self-taught. Later, while attending podiatry school in San Francisco, she did commissioned scientific illustrations for journal articles and presentations. Since 2011, landscapes have been her preferred subject, and, specifically,the canyon country of the Colorado Plateau. Preferring to paint on location when possible, she will sometimes hike several miles with her gear to paint. She has had work accepted into numerous juried shows and has won several awards, including a Best in Show. Her work in the Bighorn Gallery show is a combination of plein air and studio works, many based from images taken on backpacking and hiking trips.

Barbara Tobin KlemaDuring the last 40 years of working as a professional artist, Barbara Tobin Klema has been the former owner of two art galleries and one teaching studio. She has worked with botanical illustration and graphic design, taught watercolor, drawing, and design in many venues as well as at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. Barbara has had paintings shown in the prestigious Rocky Mountain National Watercolor Society Exhibit and the very competitive Colorado Open. The current exhibit at Dead Horse Point reflects her appreciation of the canyons of southwest Utah. Barbara loves living and working in these dramatic and beautiful southwest landscapes.

During the exhibit, both framed and unframed original paintings and cards are available for purchase. Dead Horse Point State Park is located nine miles north of Moab on US 191 and then 23 miles south on SR 313. The Visitor Center is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m and the Bighorn Gallery is downstairs. Park admission is $10. For more information, contact the park at 435-259-2614.


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