Thursday, November 22, 2007 YOURHUB
UP CLOSE AND CREATIVE

Artists' Studios Give Art Tour a Homey Feel

PHOTOS BY BILL SOMMER, YOURHUB PHOTOGRAPHER

Above left: Maria Battista in her Mountain Shadows home/studio, shows off her marble sculpture "Ancient Mathematician." Top: Battista soldering with an oxypropane torch. Above: Working with a Chinese silver symbol called "Kanji."

Editors note: To find more information on artists, including Web site addresses, log on to ColoradoSprings.com, click on the Central YourHub neighborhood site and see Jeff Lane's story on the Pikes Peak Studio Tour. Or check http://www.pikespeakstudiotour. com/about.htm

By JEFF LANE
YOURHUB CONTRIBUTOR

Colorado Springs should be a hotbed for fine art sales, and someday we will be. We have some of the best artists in the country living alongside some of the most unforgettable scenery in the world. Many efforts have been made to jump start sales, and one that may be highly effective long-term is the Pikes Peak Studio Tour.

Most of the art could be sold anywhere for scandalously high prices. The quality is magnificent. Buy now at low, low prices from the artists themselves while you can. Or pay triple in Santa Fe, L.A., or New York.

One might expect to encounter some standalone buildings, but no. All of the studios were in the artists' homes. Are some or all of the studios/galleries open for potential buyers year round? Is the tour intended to be a temporary show? The organizers didn't respond to an e-mail request for answers to this question. It would be good for the artists to provide this information on the Web site.

The times for the tour should be included on next year's map. Also, it might be nice to have afternoon and evening overlapping so more people could enjoy the tour.

Maria Battista Studio

Maria Battista crafts jewel ry made of silver, gold and gemstones in her home studio. She also sculpts marble as evi denced by the more than 1,000 pounds of marble now sitting in her garage. The living area of her Mountain Shadows neighborhood home doubles as a gallery while her garage doubles as her studio/workshop.

Battista insists jewelry mak ing is just as valid an artform as anything else, but says it's decorative nature leads some to consider the artform inferior. She has been a silver and goldsmith for the past 15 years and takes pride in designing custom pieces that reflect each customer's personality.

She has a production line ranging from $50 to $300 and has gold and gemstone work priced in the $1,000s. She sells to multiple galleries on the front range including Commonwheel Artists in Manitou Springs and the Sangre De Cristo Art Center in Pueblo. Find her online at mariabattista@juno.com.

Chuck Mardosz Studio

Mardosz lives in a nice treelined neighborhood with mid sized houses North of Memorial Hospital. The approach is wellmarked from Union. Neat as a pin, the studio has a patio entrance and is very inviting. The art is mostly oil, watercolor, and charcoal/pencil, predominantly showcasing landscapes and people. Chuck shows his paintings at the Cottonwood Gallery and teaches at the Cottonwood Artists' School. He's in galleries in Ari zona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. These are highquality paintings that could grace any home or office. His work is masterful and well-designed with stunning composition, uninhibited strokes, luminous color, and beautiful lighting. Chuck is a leader in the Colorado Springs fine arts scene and is originally from Poland.

Realistic, decorative, sumptuous art never had it so good. Chuck's paintings are a bargain.

Mariya Zvonbovich

Mariya's work is in pastel, oil, and watercolor in a range of contemporary, impressionistic, and realistic decorative styles. Based on the work she showed, Mariya likes to take more chances than the average local artist, with more experimental styles, some of it with more of a design emphasis. High quality.

She teaches at Cottonwood and the Fine Arts Center. The price range is $200 to $3,200. Her studio is in the basement, with the home's living room and a front bedroom used for gallery space, which is not quite as inviting as a separate entrance. The approach is well-marked from Union.

Eye Object

Signs made finding this North End charmer easy. Eye Object is in a mid-sized Victorian in a spectacular neighbor hood. The entire lower floor of the house (as well as the cot tage in back) was dedicated to gallery space except for the kitchen, and it has a tightly structured, amazing, almost museum quality with thick rugs and attention to texture and detail in every nook.

Eric Murphy does artistic photos of landscapes and historic architecture. Jeremiah Houck creates decorative stoneware, raku, and sculpture, some with real bite. Lori DiPasquale does hand painted panels, screens, and furnishings, some of which are antique. She also does venetian plaster, oil and encaustics. Prices start at $35, which is a steal.

Michael Baum Art

Michael's studio may take some time to find even after you arrive in the area. If you drive far enough up into the neighborhood, eventually you see a sign to the house.

It's a split level with friendly pine trees and spruce and is in an area with nice views of the city. The main gallery space is in the living room, with the studio in the basement.

The house has a very welcoming atmosphere completely lacking in pretension. Michael is the guy who's done lots of 3D multi-panel acrylics with vivid, bright colors in a mildly surrealistic landscape style. Some of these were hung but were not for sale. His current work delves into realistic decorative landscapes and some figures in oils and acrylics, with some charcoal drawings. A sprinkling of photography adds nuance. This is extremely high-quality work with a sophisticated design emphasis. Prices from $50 to $6,000.

Ken & Tina Riesterer Pottery

It was easy to lose track of Ken and Tina after Filthy Wilma's closed, but their studio is at the Green Horse Gallery at 729 Manitou Avenue. They're having a gala opening on Saturday, November 24.

They have a Victorian in the hills above Manitou. They have stacks of oil paintings leaning against the walls and ceramics displayed in front of the house.

Their warm, welcoming house always smells like oil paint. The entire ground floor, including the sunroom in the back of the house is cluttered with gorgeous paintings. They do simple domestic figures in common but rewarding scenes, lots of landscapes, naturalistic nudes, and collaborative work with Ken throwing pottery and Tina creating the art. Styles range from loose impressionistic to modern and realistic. One of the more interesting areas is the kitchen, where the entire countertop is done in tile with that famous Ken-and-Tina stylistic flair.

Kay Beaubien Studio

COURTESY OF ARTISTS' STUDIO TOUR A piece by participating artist Kay Beaubien entitled "Magpie II"

The signs marked the studio well, so it was easy to find. Kay has the most limited parking of all the studios visited; there's only room for a few cars off Lovers Lane. Some Briargate visitors probably didn't even get out of their Yukons.

A stream runs between the ancient mining-style building and the street. You cross a red bridge to get to the studio. Very cool.

Kay was demonstrating monotype printing using water - based gouache inks and a big old hand press and had racks of prints drying on display for incredibly low prices. Most of the work is landscape in a loose modern style.

Deb Komitor Studios

Komitor Studios is a large, open split level with an expansive deck facing south. The front stairs were roped off and a sign pointed to a purple door on the lower level. The display and studio space is in a low-ceilinged basement area, which results in less than optimal lighting and viewing.

Deb currently is doing low-fire painted clay wall relief pieces with a somewhat surrealistic look. Other work is highly influenced by the impressionists.

Great stuff included the fun and thoughtful red-outlined crow paintings with exquisite painterly freedom. Most of the work is artistically liberated, well-designed, professional, and quickly but carefully executed. The gallery space was dominated by mystical land scapes, with some animal sculptures and ceramics. Prices range from $60 to $3,000.

Jane RobertsStudio

The Roberts studio is a nice rancher with a stone facade. "Pregnancy Massage" is proclaimed on the front door. The interior wasn't clearly marked with room doors open and lit but off-limits.

The body castings hanging on their wall are way cool — the ultimate in super-realistic nudes cast with copper content so they oxidize, resulting in an artistic aged look.

Petra Bigger provided hats and other work in natural fibers, plus some kiln-formed glass. The jewelry on display was very individualistic and unusual. Natural shapes rule, like leaves and seeds.

While there were a few organizational problems, those were minor annoyances for such a tremendous event. Accessibility to nationally-known artists at this personal level is pure pleasure. We sincerely appreciate the opportunity to tour their studios and look forward to next year. A big thank you to the organizers and supporters of this event.

YourHub Community Journalist Scott
Prater contributed to this story.