These are the Featured Artists for the 2008 ArtFest of Scottsdale. Follow the links below to learn more about each artist. Remember, you can meet all these artists and hundreds more at the ArtFest of Scottsdale, November 22-23, 2008.
Paul Counts - Glass Artist
My affection for art blossomed into a love affair when I was introduced to the art of glassblowing in 1978. I was young, full of energy and still searching for my educational direction in college. One day I watched a glassblower work and this experience changed my world life.
The visual experience compares to viewing a ballet or musical performance. I become mesmerized as I watched the glassblower. The studio was ALIVE WITH ENERGY: the roar of the furnaces and gloryhole mingled with the music that filled the open atmosphere of the studio; fire raged from the furnaces casting bright flames creating dancing shadows on the walls. In the center of the studio stood the gloryhole, the reheating apparatus used to keep the glass in a working state of molten, honey-like consistency. The glass was gathered on the pipe and with masterful technique the artist brought it to life in the shape of a vase. He used centrifugal force and kept it round by spinning the pipe rapidly. Soon the form took shape. He went from one step to the next, reheating the form and constantly refining the shape. After it was completed the piece was placed into the oven to cool slowly until the next day. It was intense and intriguing to observe this experience.
“Artists know where they wish to be even if they have no sure idea how to get there. Art is understanding, art is the process of understanding. There is a desire of the artist to understand the world by way of art, the desire of the world to understand itself by means other than science, logic and news. In some ways, all attempts at understanding the world are all the same, each reducing and reorganizing experience to something manageable. But with art the operation is more mysterious.
Reach Paul Counts at his studio in San Marcos at 760-510-6659, or email: paulcounts1@netzero.com.
Tony Longo - Clay Artist
Tony Longo creates fairytale like sculptures in ceramics, wood and metal. Each whimsical character is one of a kind, hand made, and hand painted using brushes made from black bamboo and his pet dog, Saguaro’s, shed fur.
First the body’s are created on a potters wheel, then flattened changing their shapes, and stretching them so they will be thin and light. Then the figures are left to dry up to a leather hard consistency, and features such as feet, fins, eyes, nose, lips, teeth, and tongues are then added. At this time each piece is signed and given a name. Once dried, each work is painted with a transparent watercolor under glaze, and fired to give them a glass like appearance. After the second firing, some of the pieces are fired a 3rd, 4th or 5th, time layering the application with 24 K gold, Platinum, and iridescent luster colors. Each work comes with a sandblasted piece of driftwood customized for the collector that hangs from the wall or sits on the table.
Reach Tony online at www.amlongo.com
Erik Stewart - Jewelry Artist
My jewelry creations display strong geometrical lines, soft flowing surfaces, and highlight the ethereal beauty of choice gemstones. Their unique mountings generate surprising reflections of the gems and surfaces from unexpected angles. These selected designs are representative of my passion for sculptural jewelry inspired by my lifelong experiences.
I am a Graduate Gemologist certified by G.I.A. (Gemological Institute of America) and have over ten years of experience in the jewelry industry. I design using CAD/CAM software to enhance the precision of the fine workmanship. All of my designs are personally manufactured in-house with care and the highest level of quality.
My creative ideas stem from the creative images that emerge from my studies of music, fine art and architectural expression derived from my travels around the world. My strong affinity for geometry, elegance, and simplicity is a significant motif in all of my jewelry concepts.
You can reach Erik Stewart at his studio in Tempe, Arizona at 480-734-7805, or online at www.erikstewartjewelry.com
