ArtFest™ of Henderson
2008 Featured Artists

Deborah Valiquet Myers - Poster Artist
Norm Johnson - Sculpture
Paige O'Hara - Oil Painting
Margot Smith - Jewelry
Richard Daniel - Oil Painting
Paul Counts - Glass Artist
Larry Richmond - Ceramic Artist
Patty Graves - Jewelry
Suzanne Spalding - Glass Artist
Olga Alexandrova - Watercolor
Roberto Marquez - Copper Artist
Charles Sherman - Sculptor
Nadia Heppell - Oil Painting
Teresa Testa - Porcelain Artist
Gavin Heath - Glass Artist
Carrie Zeller - Photography
KimmBerly Ioane - Raku Artist
Pam Reinke - Artistic Originals
Prince Duncan-Williams - Silk Artist
Michael Georege - Acrylic Sculptor
Laurel Barbieri - Oil Painting
Ho Baron - Sculpture

Deborah Valiquet-Myers
Mixed Media

My mixed-media paintings explore themes that develop through the building of layers. Each painting begins with a vision or concept that evolves almost with a life of its own. Successive layers refine and articulate the voice of the piece. Although contemporary in style, old world details and architecturally reminiscent fragments are interwoven in my paintings. A unique blend of old and new is enhanced by the use of heavy dimensional texture, iridescent highlights and metal leafs.

My materials include acrylic paints and inks; dimensional mediums; handmade papers; metallic powders; fabrics, fibers and threads; pastels and pen and ink. As layers are added, some details are obscured, some are sanded or scrubbed through and new ones appear. You can reach Deborah online at www.dvmfineart.com

Norm Johnson
Sculpture

Artist, Norm Johnson has a highly varied resume: Journalist, off-road racer, open-road racer, publicist, famous race founder and, who today has turned his focus towards his passion....ART.

Norm’s lost wax bronze sculptures of horses and cowboys have been said to be reminiscent of Frederic Remington’s great works. His new series titled SeaLife began in 2001 and continues to grow month-by-month. He presently has four bronzes on display with a number of unique pieces ready for casting at the foundry. Norm also has been commissioned to produce special one-of-a-kind Trophies and Whale Flukes.

Johnson also continues to compete on a regular basis in his Camaro Z28 in Open Road Race throughout Nevada. You can reach Norm Johnson online at www.sculpturesbynorm.com

Paige O’Hara
Oil Painting

As Disney’s animated heroine, Belle, in the critically acclaimed, Oscar-winning, animated film Beauty and the Beast, Paige O’Hara added a Disney classic to a career that has spanned Broadway, opera and concert stages as well as recordings. This was followed up in 1997 with the multi-million selling videos Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas and Belle’s Magical World.

And now you can find Ms. O’Hara living in Las Vegas. Belle gone bad? Not in the least. She and her husband moved to Las Vegas for Paige to special guest star in the Great Radio City Music Hall Spectacular with the Radio City Rockettes at the legendary Flamingo Hilton. She has also appeared as a special guest with Robert Goulet in his concert evening “The Man and His Music” at the Venetian.Paige is currently performing in “Menopause The Musical” at the Las Vegas Hilton. An avid runner and scuba diver, at home she relaxes with her second greatest passion - painting. The painting shown was inspired by the portraits of Leonardo de Vinci. www.paigeohara.net

Margot Smith
Jewelry

Margot Smith, is an independent designer of fine jewelry. She creates each of her jewelry pieces personally, by hand, using premium quality fresh water pearls, Swarovski Crystals, and Sterling Silver. Each Jewelry by Margot piece is created with great pride, expert craftsmanship and the highest quality materials. We hope you too will appreciate the ageless, keepsake jewelry designs of “the Afternoon Jewelry Collection.”

Margot takes enormous pride in creating her jewelry, and we hope that you will find something you like. She can also create custom orders. Just contact us if you have something special in mind like a Wedding or Cinderella ball that you would like to customize the color or add a special charm to! Reach Margot Smith at her studio in Scottsdale at 602-418-9133, or online at www.jewelrybymargot.com

Richard Daniel
Oil Painting

Inspired by the rural desert of my home in Joshua Tree, California, my paintings are abstract expressionistic in style. As in the desert, light plays against dark—shadow and juxtaposition create movement and depth, enhanced by the use of metallic paints and rich copper tones. In a self created style and method, I use air brush, dry brush and air hose to apply metallics, acrylics and solvents.

Abstract Expressionism incorporates many different styles emphasizing spontaneous personal expression—nonrepresentational and chiefly improvisational—the goal is subjective expression of the artist’s inner experiences. The goal is to make art that while abstract is also expressive or emotional in its effect.

My work is in a constant state of evolution—every step is not only an opportunity to learn more about my techniques and materials— but an act of self-realization. You can reach me at RDanielArt.com

Paul Counts
Glass Artist

“I have affection for art. I create with glass. Affection for art is a form of hope. Art wants life to be better than it is, not more virtuous: cleaner, dressier, more certain of its lines. The artist’s affection if for the life he alone sees, the life he wishes for and breathes into every corner of the world’s mess. The artist and his work face each other like smitten strangers. No one can get between them. What they have is common in everything in the world that is seen, felt, smelled, heard, imagined and thought.”

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.

Paul Counts has been an accomplished glass artist since completing his formal arts education in 1985. He received his B.A. in Glass/Ceramics from Cal State Fullerton University in 1983 followed by his M.A. in glass in 1985 from the same university. After graduating with his degrees from Cal State Fullerton, he worked as a production glass blower for several studios in California. For more information on Paul Counts, call his studio in San Marcos, CA at 760-510-6659 or email: paulcounts1@netzero.com

Larry Richmond
Ceramic Artist

My current ceramic work continues to show the influence of the Northern California Indian baskets and the time I spent working and teaching on the Hoopa Indian Reservation for the past twenty five years. Almost every culture has passed through a period of technological change from making woven baskets to pottery. The work that I am doing now explores that transition. Using contemporary interpretations of traditional basket shapes and designs, I am searching for a balance between woven materials and clay that is both natural and pleasing. Each of these mediums has a unique beauty that can hopefully be blended into something totally new and unexpected.

I currently maintain a pottery studio in Bellinghman, WA. You can reach me online at larryrichmondpottery.com.

Suzanne Spalding
Fused Glass Artist

I have been working with glass as my creative medium for over thirty years, beginning with stained glass, transitioning to lamp work beads, and finally, about thirteen years ago to glass fusing. For seven years I was a designer, and fabricator, with Maureen McGuire Design Associates, in Phoenix. While there I had the opportunity to design windows and sculpture for several Arizona churches.

With all these years of involvement with glass I have never been more excited with the medium than I am now. Through fusing I’m reminded of glasses’ true liquid nature, enjoying the transformation in the kiln, the mingling of color layers, and a newfound freedom of form.

Currently my larger pieces include wall pieces, platters, masks, tiles and lamps. I’m also in the process of designing and fabricating an altar window for Pearce Lutheran Church in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, combining fusing and traditional stained glass leading to create the larger window. Reach me at 480-607-1901.

Patty Graves
Jewelry

I have been a working artist since the mid 1970’s. After high school I became involved in our family business – a contemporary craft shop with a working jewelry studio. Although I took several design classes at a local community college, most of my skills were learned from my Father and Mother (who are both artists) at the shop. I have used a variety of materials over the years and my work has included not only jewelry but several small bronzes and a series of small sculptures using exotic hardwoods.

My jewelry is one of a kind and usually combines sterling silver and 14kt gold with a variety of precious and semi precious stones. I not only design and make all my own waxes, I invest, burn out, cast and finish all my pieces.

I prefer to use specific terms to describe the style of my work. My life has been touched by the art and people of many cultures and I believe all of these experiences have influenced me and brought my work to its current level. I consider my pieces to have a sculptural nature. I strive to create in my jewelry balance, both visually and physically without using traditional symmetry.
Collectors often say they are drawn to the “movement” in my pieces and I consider that a most complimentary description of their essence. Reach me at my Scottsdale studio at 480-946-0067.

Olga Alexandrova
Watercolor

Olga expresses herself using different media such as oil, pastel, and water colors. Combinations of these different techniques allow her to most easily express her feelings.  Although she does not like to label things, one aspect of her style ranges from surrealism to expressionism.  She uses watercolors to express her vision of the fragility and beauty of an emotional world, its colors and eternal motion.
Our emotional world overflows with reflections coming from real life.  That might be the motion of a wind, the beauty and movement of dance, the recollection of an historical legend or the silhouette of an old tree, all reflected as living creatures in the artist’s mind.  As soon as she begins transferring these images to watercolor paper they gain a degree of independence from her ...they develop a life of their own like images on photographic paper  process… So, what you see as a painting is a joint effort, a long lasting discussion between her and reflections by the world, expressed in lines and colors. Reach Olga online at olgacolors.com

Roberto Marquez
Copper Artist

Roberto Marquez is a copper artisan who creates custom waterfalls, fountains, and tiki torches. Each art piece is handmade, hand cut, torched and hammered from copper sheets and tubing by Roberto at his studio in Tucson, Arizona. The real artistry comes in his ability to create a balanced fountain with cascading waterfalls that sound enticing and keep the water flowing evenly within the fountain.

Whether you choose a large out door waterfall or desktop fountain you will enjoy the look and sound for many years.
Roberto grew up in San Carlos, Mexico, near the Sea of Cortez which inspired him to create the trickling waters, cactus, and lily motifs. Roberto holds both dual citizenship in Mexico and the United States where he has been making handmade copper fountains for over eight years. Reach Roberto at his studio in Tucson, Arizona at 520-331-4127, or handmadecopperfountains.com.

Charles Sherman
Sculpture

California sculptor Charles Sherman was born in 1947 in Atlantic City, NJ. Charles studied art at UCLA and has had various mentors as an artist and student. He has traveled and visited museums of America and Europe, and studied the lives and techniques of the twentieth-century and old masters. He has intensively studied the art, religion, mythologies, and sacred texts of ancient cultures. Charles is currently interested in developing personal and inner growth and the creative process.

INFINITY RINGS are inspired by a strip that is a continuum of planes invented by German mathematician, A. F. Moebius, in the nineteenth century. These strips are joined into rings that have no beginning and no end; the bottom side becomes the topside and the inside becomes the outside. If you follow your finger around any one plane or edge of a ring you will complete the circle and end where you started.
After exploring the process and bouncing back after many failures, Charles Sherman developed a method of building hollow twisted ceramic rings. The rings are especially innovative and unique because hollow ceramic rings tend to collapse upon building or firing.

Charles Sherman’s artistic vision is about exploring the creative process and digging deeper into the personal unknown.  For Sherman, this is where art and inner growth lie. Art and beauty are then, by-products of the creative process. Visit www.charlesshermanart.com

Nadia Heppell
Oil Painting

Nadia Heppell is originally from Siberia, Russia, near the border of Mongolia and China. Nadia prefers the warmth and sunshine she has found in Las Vegas. Her use of bold colors reflects this.
Nadia considers herself a professional artist. Nadia says being an artist is “not her favorite thing. But you don’t have a choice it is a part of you.” Nadia’s oils have become commercially popular. Her subjects include her favorite faces and eyes, and coy fish. Nadia resists replicating her popular works. Everything she creates is an original. Nadia’s bright impressionist oils have begun to receive acclaim. “I know when what I paint is good. People respond”, Nadia says. Besides Nadia’s oils, and pen and inks she also paints on glass. “It is what I do to relax after work on my art,” she says. “It is fun.” Reach Nadia online at www.nadiasgallery.com.

Teresa Testa
Porcelain Artist

Testa, who specializes in elegant porcelain sculptures, sits as the vice president of the Clay Guild, an organization who educates the public about the ceramic arts. She also has worked as an art specialist at Robert Lake Elementary in Las Vegas since 1987.

“Teaching plays an important role in everyday life,” said Testa. “I’m impassioned in what I do and I teach from my heart. It’s rewarding see the expressions on my student’s faces when they create a beautiful piece of artwork.”

Testa’s signature, yet unique, pieces are hand-crafted out of the finest quality porcelain and features delicate edges, a variety of textures and beautiful colored glazes. Her art is a personal interpretation of the graceful beauty of nature and has been displayed at many galleries, juried shows and exhibitions in Nevada, California and Arizona. She has also been highlighted in many publications like Design & Architecture Magazine and Las Vegas Home & Design. She may be reached at her studio in Las Vegas at 702 302-7194 or her website at www.windancerstudio.com.

Gavin Heath
Glass Artist

Gavin Heath was born in Cape Town, South Africa on October 23, 1961. Gavin was exposed to a variety of cultures and experiences courtesy of eclectic and progressive parents.

California became home for Heath in 1987. Ironically, Heath found himself for the first time willingly pursuing formal education.

Glass blowing began at Palomar College in San Diego from 1987 to 1990. Development and refinement of existing skills was undertaken at Seattle’s famed Pilchuck Glass School in ‘’89. Heath completed formal pursuit of art education in ‘92 while blowing glass at California State University at Fullerton.

Heath now resides in California with his daughters Czara, Zoe and son Brandon.

He enjoys excellent representation in galleries throughout the United States. International representation includes Japan, Korea, Germany, Canada, and quite recently, a new South Africa gallery.

You can reach Gavin Heath at his Laguna, California studio at 949-497-3449, or online at artglass.tv.

Carrie Zeller
Photography

Warm, honest, revealing, these characteristics describe both Carrie and her work. Most of us look at life through a lens that is crafted by our life experiences. Carrie looks at us through the lens of her camera and captures moments that can be treasured for a lifetime. Whether following your child as they run along the beach, or trailing after a family of elephants in Africa, Carrie’s ability to capture life with her camera is as natural as the surroundings.

Carrie has been featured in Popular Photography & Imaging Magazine. She prefers wildlife as the backdrop for her photography, which is evidenced in her portfolio of work form her tavels in Africa. Due to this experience, Carrie hopes that her work will inspire others to appreciate the importance of protecting the future of these magnificent creatures.

Reach Carrie online at www.zellerphotography.com

KimmBerly Ioane
Raku

I am an Arizona Raku artist. My many years of experience have allowed me to develop a unique style for my work, some with Oriental designs incorporated into them.
Raku is an ancient Japanese process for the firing of clay. Raku is unique because it is the only method for the firing of clay where the piece is removed from the kiln when the glaze has become molten, roughly 1800 degrees. The piece is then placed into a hole or barrel full of a combustible material, such as leaves, sawdust or paper. The piece is then allowed to burn for a few seconds before being covered. This causes the fire to be smothered and the smoke to be drawn into the glaze and clay, forming the unique black clay body and spectacular colors of Raku. Combined with a hand-made piece and the uncontrolled firing of Raku, you can see how every piece is truly guaranteed of being “One of a Kind”.
Creating anything with my hands and using imagination is what inspires me to create my artwork. Sitting outdoors and “inspiring” scenery help spur my creativity. My artwork began in high school, where I fell in love with clay. I took ceramics classes in college as well. The reaction from and interaction with customers is what most intrigues me about art festivals. I am best known for my Raku pottery, platters and wall pieces of womenʼs faces.
At ArtFest™ of Henderson KimmBerlyʼs booth is 220S, on the west side of Water Street, in front of the Convention Center. For more information about KimmBerly Ioane and my Raku artwork reach me at my studio in Lake Havasu City, Arizona at (928) 486-3264.

Pam Reinke
Artistic Originals

I am a teacher and an artist,
by degree and by nature.
I am a spiritual being learning
from human experiences.
I am a believer in the power
of the written word,
to empower, heal and inspire.
I am a journal keeper committed to
recording my celebrations,
my struggles, my loves and losses.
I am a traveler, my destination
being self-knowledge.
I am a poet of interpreted silences
A simple voice of common words.
I am an artist and this is my something
called PEACE.

Pam Reinke is an artist and writer. She can be reached at her studio in Lake Havasu City at (928) 854-4643, or online at www.piperrainpress.com.

Prince Duncan-Williams
Silk Art

Silk art creation is a complicated process in which a blended silk and rayon thread is arranged by hand and glued in rows. The rows of thread work around in a spiral and, every so often, change direction, creating facets and patterns. These contrasting flows of colorful thread enhance the texture and mood of each dazzling image. There is no stitching involved; every piece is done entirely by hand, making each an original. Depending on the size, a single creation requires between 60 to over 480 hours of labor. Silk Mosaic Art by Prince Duncan-Williams

Duncan-Williams’ work has been displayed in galleries such as the Venetian Hotel’s Getman Gallery, the Fashion Show Mall (Getman Gallery), the Time Gallery, and The Edge Contemporary. He travels to fine art shows across the nation, where his silk art creations have garnered numerous awards. His work continues to be admired and acquired by collectors from around the world.

You can reach Prince Duncan-Williams at his studio in Henderson, Nevada at (714) 336-3543, or online at www.royalartisticcreations.com.

Michael George
Acrylic Sculptor

Michael George has been an acrylic sculptor for 17 years. He sculpts from original clay pieces that he casts. He also layers acrylic to create interesting planes of color and light. His use of space and color in his sculpture is very contemporary.

Michael’s work is available in galleries world wide and at select fine art festivals. You can reach him at the Michael George Gallery and Studio at (480) 998-2022.

Laurel Barbieri
Oil Painting

"It is the tranquility and wonderment I found in nature as a child that continues to fuel my passion for both my art, and my life." - Laurel Barbieri
Enlarge Image
Laurel Barbieri - - Laurel Barbieri Fine Art

Laurel grew up in the Olympic National Rain Forest, remotely located in the Northwest corner of the State Washington. Born the eighth child of 13, her humble family relied primarily on the land, hunting for venison, bear, and greens.

Laurel spent most of her childhood exploring the woods surrounding the families home. Her early recollections are of a natural environment serving as her private sanctuary and playground.

Laurel`s combined passion for the outdoors, texture, and color deliver a bold and distinctive style. Often described as a "spiritual connection between nature, art." For more information visit www.laurelbarbieri.com.

Ho Baron
Sculpture

The imagery of Ho's sculpture has its roots in the ancients, like the Hindu and the Mayan. Representational and figurative, the work is a product of extensive travel, a thousand ink drawings, free expression, immense deliberation, imaginative clay play and labor.

Ho's images are primitive, naive or brut, yet primal, they are fluid and sophisticated . They are excessive and complex, tribal and surreal, cosmic and baroque. They are intuitive translations of a fluid-like imagery, an impulsive mental flow that unfolds in an arduous sculptural process and evolves from a lump of clay into a humanoid of bronze, cast stone and sometimes resin. In idea and execution, the work rivals the greatest surreal interpretations of the human form, condition and psyche. It lends itself to scenario, beyond monsters or gargoyles, to other beings, and the images are odd, timeless and seem to come from all the world.

For more information about Ho Baron, visit www.hobaron.com.