The Art Box

Several years ago, in a galaxy far, far away Steve on his way to a State Historic Preservation Office meeting happened upon Don painting an incredible cat on a traffic control box at the corner of Decatur and Vegas Avenues. It has taken me this long to finally drag the recording equipment to Don’s studio at the Domsky Glass Gallery in downtown Las Vegas. We could have talked for hours. In this unique interview Don painted with music playing in the background right in his gallery studio. Talk about fun!
You can find out more about Don from his website: https://www.donmichaeljr.com/

It took a while to sync schedules but we finally were able to connect with Los Angeles based artist Marisa Futernick. Last in our series of Majorie Barrick - Modern Desert Markings exhibition artists, Linda and I totally enjoyed our chat with Marisa. It is full of discussions on conceptual art, creativity, her wide range of art, London flats, what is Americaness, and Frozen Enchiladas...... and oh yeah, we also touched on eating Taco Bowls in Trump Tower.
Click here for Marisa's Modern Desert Markings piece.
Her book: "13 Presidents" can be purchased using this link.
 

What does one do between podcasts guests? Linda and I just started recording and talking about her and Ron's uninvited house guest. Silly yes, but we can say we recorded an episode less than 10 minutes. If you have a name for their guest please feel free to send it to us at: artboxvv@gmail.com

Listen in as Linda and Steve dropped by much beloved and award winning artist Floyd Johnson's studio to chat about creating his latest "Best in Show" art piece "Billy the Kid" for the November-December 2023 "Lucky 13" exhibition. Yes, there is a good story! We love you Floyd.
 

We think one can define Denis Feehan as an unbound bundle of literary and musical energy. This is an episode that no one will want to end, Denis a Mesquite based author, actor, director, professor, poet and musician graces us with his infectious attitute talking about his art and of course his upcoming holiday special "Rocking and Singing Christmas" on December 2 at the Mesquite Theatre (150 North Yucca Street) with performamces at 3 and 7 pm. You can purchase tickets by clicking here.
Denis also invited others to join the writers group "Write on St. George" and you can click here to lean more.  
We also discussed a poem by Joyce Kilmer and we thought it fitting to include below.
Trees
BY JOYCE KILMER
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
 
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
 
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
 
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
 
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
 
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Paul Atkinson is a self-taught American artist working in the photographic medium.  His work celebrates not only the natural landscape, but also explores the human landscape from a detached examination of what is left behind.  He employs the assumed truthfulness of the camera to present a reality that frequently transcends the limits of human visual perception, through both night photography and by including light from the near-infrared spectrum.
While he pursued a “safe” career in engineering, he never forgot his passion for art; and with his retirement, he plans to work full-time indulging that passion.  Through his art, and this residency, he hopes to share with others the beauty and wonder of the night sky, while promoting awareness of the growing threat of light pollution.
Atkinson’s work has been exhibited nationally in numerous juried shows, and resides in private and institutional collections.  He is an advocate for dark night skies with the International Dark-Sky Association.  He resides in Raleigh, North Carolina.  His work may be seen at www.patkinsonphoto.com.
 

Meet our friend Jesus Baeza Jr, creator of business, smoothies and heart.

Linda and I happily release our friend Diana Lee Rose first episode of her Opportunivore podcast. Diana's first guest is Victoria Hafen an inspirational nutrition and weight loss coach for the Mesquite Recreation Center. Besides eating and exercise, Victoria touches on sleeping and social media habits as they pertain to healthy living. Diana and Victoria hit the ball out of the park on this first podcast.

Linda and Steve were honored to host Las Vegas artist and College of Southern Nevada art professor Mark Brandvik at our Mesquite Works STEAM Center studio. 
Mark graduated from UNLV with a BFA in 1996, then from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a MFA in 1998. In his artist statement he writes: “The figure/ground and palette of most the architectural landscape works reflect my take on the elusiveness and temporality of the dreamlike cityscape of Las Vegas and the Western landscape.“ Place, he says, is an important component of his practice. Born and raised in Las Vegas, he often includes identifiable elements of the city in his work. The building in Morocco II is the El Morocco, a motel and café that once occupied a spot between the Peppermill Restaurant and La Concha on the Las Vegas Strip. Designed by the architect Paul Revere Williams, it opened in 1964 and was demolished in 2008.
A new art installation created for the grounds of the Overton Community Center is largely complete. Las Vegas artist Mark Brandvik has spent the last couple of weeks on site completing the final assembly of the sculpture.
Called “Earth Rise,” the sculpture portrays a “dynamite blast” of rock which also doubles as a dynamic rocket exhaust plume. At the top of the 17-foot-tall sculpture appears a representation of a Saturn 5 rocket blasting off.
Brandvik’s work was the finalist selected for the space in a project called “Gateway to Double Negative.” It is the result of $231,000 in public funding that was set aside by the Clark County Commissioners in 2016 for a public artwork at the location.
The project called for artists to create an piece that would interpret and point toward the famous “Double Negative” earth artwork completed in 1969 by Michael Heizer.
Heizer’s work is located in a remote spot on the east edge of the Mormon Mesa and is accessed by passing through the Moapa Valley.
 

Jane Tolar creates baskets inspired by Gullah sweetgrass and Native American pine needle baskets, both ancient traditions of coiled and stitched natural materials.  Jane uses pine needles and grasses, the coils bound with thread or cord.
Jane urges you to touch her art, saying “I would like everyone to pick up a basket, then feel its textures and inhale its scent. I want people to look at my work and see thread and straw brought together by my love of the materials and my excitement to create something beautiful and useful. Every piece is a lesson in something to me: shape and color to start, to pattern and texture, then the bringing of it all together into a finished piece.”
Steve met Jane in the mid-80's playing adult ice hockey in Easton, Maryland. It is through Face Book we rekindled a friendship with Steve's wife Gwen falling in love with Jane's beautiful baskets.