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Flair Robinson is a self-taught mixed media mosaic and assemblage artist working primarily with ceramic tile, hand-cut glass, and recycled junk. She is first and foremost a colorist and is fascinated by the endless combinations of color. Flair is constantly seeking new, different, and exciting color variations like those found in early American folk art, vintage road signs, vintage ephemera and advertising from the 1940's and 1950's.
Flair is branching out in her work by creating art that serves no other purpose than to be just art, her past work has been primarily functional in nature. She continues to create painted and embellished pieces which express political and local humor, her work is in a constant state of evolution. Flair Robinson's studio is housed in the historic Stronghouse Studios building in the heart of downtown Telluride, Colorado.
Amy Levek consults in planning and to non-profit organizations and also pursues projects in photography and documentary film making. Her current work involves a variety of writing, documentary filmmaking and photographic projects. Her artistic interest led her to California for a year of study at The Brooks Institute of Photography and Santa Barbara City College, where she studied journalism and documentary filmmaking.
For many years Julie has explored the figure in her work. It has now become her primary format, her canvas. She chooses standing figures because she likes the vulnerability – physically fragile clay and emotionally fragile humans.
Julie started the current series of standing figures in 2004. Some are personal and address psychological issues. Some reflect the interdependency of man and nature. All address the human condition with a sense of humor and humility.
Julie lives in the mountains and spends much of her free time camping in wilderness areas. Her connection to and love of nature inspire many of the figures. The mystery of the natural world around us is ample information for her images and metaphors. In most pieces, Julie creates patterning and repeated imagery like a refrain or a mantra. This works as a meditation for her during the creative process. As an intuitive worker, this reinforcement of subject matter amplifies her connection.
Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer’s has authored thirteen books, one of which won the Colorado Independent Press Association Press Award, and another a finalist for the Colorado Book Award. Her acclaimed poetry has appeared in O Magazine, in back alleys, on A Prairie Home Companion and in her children’s lunch boxes. Her most recent collection is “The Less I Hold.” She served two terms as San Miguel County’s first poet laureate, and in her free time, she leads writing workshops, teaches poetry, and sings with an 8-woman a cappella group.
Favorite one-word mantra: Adjust.
Kris grew up in New Orleans under the influence of beautiful women with a penchant for great design - his mother and grandmother. His grandmother told him once, that all you need to be truly dressed is a clutch, red lipstick and a crisp white blouse. His family moved to Telluride when Kris was starting high school and his interest in fashion shifted to a deep appreciation of designs found in nature. He went to school for graphic design and embarked on a career as an art director for firms in Oregon and Colorado. For the past 20 years Kris has been the principal owner in a successful creative and marketing firm, Pool Creative. Not too very long ago, he embraced a new endeavor, melding his creative vision with years of experience in design, branding and marketing, to create his own personal line of jewelry. Shedding old ways, continuing to grow, emerging with a vibrant new coat, and wrapping his mind and self around this new venture. SERPENTINE.
Meredith grew up in New York City where she studied at the Art Student’s League and received a BFA from Parson’s School of Design. In 1988 she moved to Ridgway, Colorado with her husband, Jorge, and they ran the Ridgway Gallery which specialized in antique prints, maps and books about the exploration of the American West. They raised a son, Raoul, who is an artist living in NYC.
She continues to live and work in Ridgway, though she lived in Logroño, Spain, for seven months last year where she continued to work on Twelve Views of Lone Cone.
An avid adventurer, Sunny has found a home in the San Juan mountains, where climbing, skiing and dancing are complemented by a strong artist community. Versed in sculpture, set design and mural work, Sunny seeks to apply her love for aesthetics to functional pieces. She enjoys repurposing materials and strives to integrate art with natural and social landscapes in an environmentally respectful way.
Buff has been involved with theater in Telluride since 1998. He assisted Jim Prodger on The Fiddler on the Roof set then and has since been involved with about 75 shows in many aspects including acting , lighting , set construction , set design , producing ,technical director , director and costume design. The groups Buff has worked with include The Telluride Reperatory Theater, Angela Watkins Theater Department at the Telluride School District, The Actions Tour, Second Stage Productions, Mudd Butts, Telluride Theater, Jazz Festival , Blues and Brews Festival , Telluride Film Festival , SAFYPT , Telluride Aids Benefit , Mountain Film Festival , Rocky Mountain Playwright's festival , Telluride Playwright's Festival ,Palm Arts, and Telluride Dance Academy. He has studied Fine Art at R.I.S.D. , P.A.F.A. and UMA. Past mentors in Set Design were Jim Prodger, Kevin Locke, Mike Wingfield and The USHK.
Scott Harris is a multi discipline artist living and working in Telluride. Mainly focused on painting, Scott also works with mixed media, electronics, and other projects that give an avenue for open minded creativity. Scott studied Painting and Drawing at North Texas State, where he was exposed to various styles and concepts in art and artwork. After school, he worked for a few years as a scenic painter and set builder for TV and commercial work based out of Dallas, TX. Once relocated to Colorado, Scott continued with painting and developing a unique style of applying paint and presenting images. Scott spent many years in Carbondale, working on paintings, pottery, and finding a love of bicycles. He hosted and participated in art shows in Carbondale, and then Durango. These included group collabrative efforts as well as solo shows.
Sunday Morning is less an individual and more a vast embodiment of reflection of the infinite. Through sound, imagery, & vibration Sunday Morning’s value lies within the present subconscious associative relationship one’s mind instinctively projects into future experience based off of one’s past life unfoldings.
Goedele's pieces are inspired by the little things in life. They are sometimes anthropomorphic and other times whimsical or poetic. She is intrigued by the ideas of containing but being willing to give, of winking at functionality, of hovering in the space between pot and sculpture.
Form, texture and essence come together in a natural evolution of an exploration of the “pitcher” form.
She considers her work successful if it makes the viewer ponder, wonder and smile.
Kathleen plays with a wide variety of fibers, using experience and experimentation as a blueprint.
The paintings of Alicia Nogueira reflect her tropical upbringing, her love for color, motion, and living form. Master Gardner, green thumb and a lover of exotic plants and places and far flung cultures, coming to rest in Telluride Colorado was naturally the next step in her peripatetic life. She has lived in Telluride for 22 years, raising her daughter Olivia, and taking part in as many aspects of community life here, as one human can be expected to handle.
The fragility and paradoxical hardiness and tenacity of plant life is a theme that runs throughout her work, but that is only the starting point. Combining their undulating features in layers of silhouette, she creates rhythm and effects that vary from psychedelic to soothing depending on the pallet she chooses. For Alicia, painting is always discovering, and she invites viewers to share this discovery process with her.
Aaron Smith draws inspiration from many sources including art and architecture. Steel has been the main medium of his artistic life, but wood silver and stone have had their time in his hands. He has made the mountains his home since he was able to escape the high plains.
David learned his craft at two great art schools. The first was at Brigham Young University's Collage of Fine Art, especially under the tutelage of Trevor Southey, when he taught there during the 1970s. In the 80s and 90s David honed his craft on the mean streets of Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain and Greece, first as a portraitist, then as a painter of street scenes in watercolor. Though he admits that this is no way to make a fortune, "it's wonderful fun, and will always keep you in beer money if you've got the chops for it." Some say that David brings a European sensibility to his American street scenes. That could be an asset to much of what he finds here to paint in the States but not necessarily to what he finds in Telluride. To David, "Telluride Impressionism is all about Telluride. Let it reflect Telluride alone. No foreign allusions please."
Marissa Mattys is a performer who happily calls Telluride her home. Her healing arts career brought her to Telluride in 2010. Shortly thereafter, she started working with Telluride Theatre and has continued her theatrical pursuits with the company as an actor and dancer; starred in the short film; and danced in the music video. Her newest obsession is standup comedy.
Antonio Marra was born in san Giovanni in Fiore, Italy in 1944 and immigrated to Canada in 1951. He earned a B.A. Degree from the university of Windsor in 1967 and masters of fine arts degree in sculpture from Michigan state university in 1969. A year's study followed at the Academia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy. In 1972 he established a studio in New York City and had his first one-person show at the forum gallery /NYC in 1975.
An exhibition of his work sponsored by the province of Ontario traveled to several provincial museums in 1976-77. The following year he received a major Canada council arts grant for his contribution to Canadian art and was chosen to represent Canada in an exhibition for international sculpture conference held in Toronto. His sculpture is included in both private and public collections in Canada and the United States. In 2006 he relocated his home and studio in Ridgway, Colorado.
Growing up in Telluride, the local arts scene has been a bright thread woven through Jos’ education and career. A graduate of Smith College, Jos received her Master’s Degree in Music Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She spent several years in New York as a singer specializing in 20th Century American Song repertoire and under the tutelage of esteemed voice teacher, Irene Gubrud. Locally she has worked with the Mudd Butt Mystery Theater Troupe and taught at Mountain Sprouts Preschool, work which lead to her specialization in early childhood music education. She is delighted to have returned home where she lives on Wright’s Mesa with her husband Ken and two young sons, Forest and Ingram.
Because of Adam’s patience and attention to detail, he is able to produce stunning portraits that capture the true character and personalities of his subjects. His painstaking dedication to accuracy makes Adam’s portraits, landscape and equestrian drawings standout.
Betsy Chaffin is a mixed media artist who lives and works in Spring Island, South Carolina and Snowmass Village Colorado. She had studied with some of the country’s leading artists including Jane Hammond, Enrique Martinez Celaya, Roberto Juarez and James Surls. She was a Resident at the American Academy in Rome and the Anderson Ranch Arts Center. Her work is infused with memory, reflection and experiences.
Sasha is the Artistic Director of Telluride Theatre, a year round company dedicated to amazing performance. She moved to Telluride from New York City, where she worked for the iconic Performance Space 122 and was a founding member of CuriousNoise Theatre and a company actor with Red Metal Mailbox. She founded SquidShow Theatre in the summer of 2007 and in 2011, SquidShow merged with the Telluride Repertory Theatre creating a new company Telluride Theatre. She is a writer, director and sometimes performer
Beau Staley, owner of Dolce, started his career in the jewelry industry during a high school internship. During his summer breaks from high school and college, Beau worked for Nagalle Designs, Inc., an inlay jewelry manufacturing design house. After graduation from college, Beau started his own company importing and wholesaling colored gemstones from around the world. Beau brought these experiences together in 2001 to open Dolce in Telluride.
Melissa Harris enjoys passing her time making stuff. Finding new lives for items tossed away by others brings her giddy delight. Needles, thread, glue, grommets, paint and plaster. She loves the challenge of sewing for the Telluride Theatre, gets up and performs on stage every once in awhile, and obsessively tinkers with anything she can make with her hands.
Colorado native and photographer Sarah Schwab joins the Stronghouse crew to contribute her energy and enthusiasm to this year’s space. She is anxious to begin constructing a transcendent experience between you and one previously unremarkable dirt parking lot.
Lyndia Peralta is a choreographer and dancer. Lyndia is native to the Telluride area, and works with Telluride Theater and Sheridan Opera House Young People’s Theater.
Kathy is an artist working in fiber arts, metal, and mixed media mosaics. Kathy’s art work is seen around town in various stores, special art shows, in homes, on people and as part of BONE Construction projects. She is a well-loved teacher of fiber arts and has taught many local and visiting artists batik and silk dying.
Olivia will be providing period music, singing and playing ukulele. At seventeen she has been a lifetime Telluride resident.
Judy Kohin works in a variety of media, including watercolor, encaustic, sculpture and mixed-media. In 2005 she published a book of cartoons, “Four Seasons With the Telluride Valley Cows,” chronicling 20 years of Telluride through her weekly cartoon strip. From 2008-2012 she worked with Reel Thing Productions on Bag It and Uranium Drive-In, fulfilling a number of roles including producer, grant writer and 2nd camera. When not in her studio you’ll find her outside, or at the Ah Haa School where she has worked on and off since 1991.
Lauren Metzger is an artist who paints the emotional landscape through figures and portraits. She is also a graphic designer, paints pet portraits and is a burlesque dancer.
Simon & Garfunkel. Hall & Oates. Salt N Pepa. Claybrook & Tom. These two local musicians, Claybrook Penn of Lily Von Shtupp & Tom Nading of The Great Funktier, joined forces in 2014 to record Claybrook’s debut solo album, Fossil.
Growing up in rural Vermont, Ryan developed a deep love for wild places at a very early age. Ryan has been privileged to have the beautiful San Juan Mountains for his backyard for the last ten years and it’s in their jagged peaks and wildflower meadows that he is most at home.
His photography has been featured in National Geographic Adventure, Outside, Sierra Club, Backpacker, the Arizona Tourism Department and a variety of other publications.
Thayer’s art is inspired by nature in the Colorado Rocky Mountains where she lives, designing and fabricating glass art, illustrating and painting since 1975. As a working artist she’s engaged primarily in commissioned projects: big and small, both residential and commercial, developing works for clients with their preferred level of input and involvement. Commissions welcome.