OWNER ARTISTS

Photo: Jake Polster-Sadlon

Photo: Jake Polster-Sadlon

Tim Kapustka •  Visual Artist , Graphic Designer *

timkapustka.com Instagram: @wdebalt

Tim Kapustka is an artist and graphic designer living in Durango, Colorado. The son of two teachers (science & 2nd grade), he has a solid grasp on 2nd grade science. Tim grew up on Michigan’s lower peninsula in the shadow of the original Vlasic pickle plant. He still has a thriving love affair with the city of Detroit, that city’s baseballers, the Tigers, and pickles.

By day, Tim runs Cabbage Creative, a graphic design firm and is a founding member of Studio & Gallery. When not at work Tim enjoys cultivating rust, pondering pinyons and junipers , and standing knee deep in the rivers and streams of Southwest Colorado.

He has above average peripheral vision.

You can find prints and miscellaneous artifacts from Tim in the his online shop.

 
Photo: Jake Polster-Sadlon

Photo: Jake Polster-Sadlon

Shawn Lotze • Visual Artist

shawnlotze.net Instagram: @s_lotze

Shawn has lived and worked in Durango since 2011. As a printmaker and sculptor, he is interested in all types of media and scale. Having received his BA in Sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2005, Shawn has continued to work in the arts or constructive fields, presently building custom garage doors for Adams Overhead door.

With a love of materials and a sense of humor, Shawn creates installations and sculptures that transform spaces, invite interaction, and reward close inspection. The mysterious difference between intended design and what objects accomplish once given form is Shawn’s driving force, complete disappointment and never ending delight. Wood and Steel are his favorite mediums but Shawn believes materials speak (mostly telling jokes) with specificity and bringing an idea into form may require any number of different mediums. Skilled with tools since childhood, Shawn’s earliest works include perforating his bedroom walls with a paddle bit and hammering the sidewalk to pieces because it cracked like a spider web if hit hard enough.

In experimental printmaking classes at VCU, Shawn was captured by the subtle depth embossed in prints after rolling inked materials and overlaid paper through an etching press. A natural complement to his sculpture, printmaking can combine any number of techniques and materials. Today, Shawn is still experimenting with an etching press, rolling, pushing, layering and subtracting from a colorful palette of inks to create monotypes depicting the world he sees, the worlds he would like to see and the people that may inhabit such places.

Photo: Jake Polster-Sadlon

Photo: Jake Polster-Sadlon

Lorna Meaden- Functional Potter, Ceramic Artist

lornameadenpottery.com Instagram: @lornameadenpottery

Lorna Meaden has lived in Durango off and on for almost 30 years. Having originally moved to town to go to Fort Lewis College, she has had many adventures in the local art scene along with intermittent moves to other places for education, artist residencies, and as much international travel as possible.

Everything Lorna makes is meant to be used. Her work is soda fired porcelain with repetitive patterns drawn on the surface. It begins with the consideration of function, and the goal is for the form and surface of the pots to be integrated. Making her work starts with a three-dimensional division of space, continues with drawing on the surface, and finishes with the addition of color. All of Lorna’s pots are fired in her wood/gas fueled soda kiln that she built here in town.

Source information for her pots can be motivated by something as simple as looking at the patterns in the stacked bricks of her kiln to complex forms in 18th century European manufactured silver. She is drawn to work that is rich in ornamentation, with lavish use of materials- both scarce in a culture of mass production. The work displays both practical and extravagant attributes.

Lorna is currently a full-time studio potter in Durango. She also travels regularly to teach workshops.

REPRESENTED ARTISTS

Crystal Hartman – Jeweler – Urbana, Ill.

Crystal Hartman explores interconnectivity through the lines and layers of the natural world. Her work utilizes experimental practices in painting, artist books, and the lost wax tradition to explore possibilities of harmonious living and advocate for the natural world offering contemporary mythologies in which non-human life reigns. Hartman grew up behind a jeweler’s bench at the mouth of a canyon in southwest Colorado and began carving wax, cutting stones, and forming metal as a child. After working as an apprentice with Stanton Englehart, she earned her BFA from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Recipient of a UROP grant for academic research on Femininity in Latin America, she cultivated a reverence for community and conversation. Hartman filmed professional and amateur skateboarding in Spain (2005-7), studied site specific craft in Thailand (2008), and founded/directed Durango Open Studio (2009-11). In 2011, the artist received the Merwin Altfeld Memorial Award for Storytelling in the Arts from the National Watercolor Association. Her artwork has been shown at the Center for Contemporary Arts Barcelona, Spain, the National Palace of Culture, Sofia Bulgaria, the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder CO, the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, Arvada CO, and the Denver International Airport, Denver CO USA among others. Her work can be found globally in arts and literary publications, on album covers through independent labels, and book covers from Oxford University Press, London, and A5 Publishing, Madrid. Her sculptural jewelry designs, carved of sustainably-harvested beeswax and ethically cast in fine metals, have been featured in Art Jewelry Magazine, and exhibited at locations such as the Lilstreet Art Gallery, Chicago IL, Kathleen Sommers, San Antonio TX, and through the Society of North American Goldsmiths. Hartman currently lives and works in Urbana, Illinois.

She is a Member of the Society of North American Goldsmiths

See much more from Crystal at crystalhartman.com and on Instagram at @crystalhartmanart

 

Miki Harder – Visual Artist – Durango, Colo.

Miki loves birds, especially ravens. She loves being outside and thinks Mother Nature has a great sense of humor. She’s a light-hearted illustrator, but her biology background is kind of a backseat driver loudly clearing its throat asking if every feather is In Place. On a good day, they take turns driving the easel.

When she’s not painting or sculpting or spying on birds, she’s hiking or messing around on the river. Winters find her teaching Nordic skiing, introducing folks to the joy that can be had with a pair of skinny skis on their feet. (she spies on birds in the winter too)

You can get more Miki at mikiharderart.com and on Instagram at @mikiharder

 

Dan Groth - Visual Artist – Durango, Colo.

Dan Groth creates visionary, dream-like tableaus of mystery and subtle humor which explore the contrast between microcosm and macrocosm, the passage of time, and inner narrative. The result is what could be an illustration of dream, or a very strange book. Dan explores the tension between the minute and the grand using small components to construct larger pieces of art, much like a small rock makes up one part of a massive boulder field. His repertoire encompasses pen-and-ink, watercolor, collage, print-making, and more. His recent excursions have leaned into the humorous side of things, as humor is a fine and illuminating outlet during turbulent times.

Dan was born and raised within the vicinity of Boulder/Longmont, CO, and went to Luther College in Decorah, IA, where he focused on archaeology and minored in art. After graduating with a B.A. In 1998, he touched down in Durango, CO—his off-and-on home for most of his years—with the notable exception of a 6-year stint in Portland, OR (2004-10). Though he came to focus more exclusively on visual expression, he continues to explore the creative path through, music, writing, and performance/acting, all of which mutually enrich his life's trajectory.

See more from the world of Dan at dangroth.com and on Instagram @dangrothart

 

Jenn Rawling -  Visual Artist – Durango, Colo.

Jenn Rawling is a full time studio artist who focuses on painting, printmaking, and songwriting. She completed a BFA at the University of Milwaukee. Jenn’s art and music are intuitively conceived, soft and harmony rich, inspired by a connection to land, love, weather, botanicals, and color. Much of her art illustrates a reverence for nature, attraction to desert wandering, kinship with plants, and a curiosity for mysticism. Her abstract work celebrates subconscious impulse, often including audio soundscapes to heighten an immersive experience. She is interested in painting the emotional landscape of music, losing a viewer in abstract shapes & colors, and infusing the imagination with creativity. Her current ambitions are to stay inspired, work hard, move slowly enough to see the details, & to evolve artistically & musically. 

More from Jenn at jennrawling.net and on Instagram @jennrawling

 

Colossal Sanders • Graphic Designer, Illustrator, Writer - N. Ferrisburgh, Vt.

Colossal Sanders, the alter-ego of David Holub, lives at the intersection of words and images, humor and heartbreak, reality and make-believe. His humorous, quirky, and whimsical illustrations adorn greeting cards, stickers and prints across North America. After a nomadic 20-year career teaching college writing and working at some of the nation’s largest and smallest publications, David now creates his work with 100 percent pure, all-natural delight from his in-house factory in N. Ferrisburgh, VT.

Find him at colossalsanders.com and on instagram @colossal_sanders

 

Annie Brooks • Visual Artist - Durango, Colo.

Annie Brooks is the founder of The Wells Makery, an illustration and design company which has been delivering logos, custom illustration and calligraphy for folks worldwide since 2014. Annie moved to Durango in 2008, and after spending hearty chunks of time as a singer/songwriter, a design teacher, a traveling photographer, and an ill-equipped babysitter, she decided to focus her time on illustration, which requires much less social graces, and much less pants. Artwork from The Wells Makery can be seen in places like HGTV, CNBC, Martha Stewart, Southern Weddings, Grace Ormonde, and, most proudly, her mother's refrigerator. 

Annie is inspired by her travels, and snippets of the Middle East, of Japan and of India show up in the majority of her pieces. Playfulness is central to her work, whether in subject matter, or in the unruly splashes of paint that she prefers to leave in her paintings. Her work celebrates tiny good things; soup-can telephones, rooftop beers, jumping on the bed without bumping your head on a popcorn ceiling. 

You can view more of Annie’s work and learn more about The Wells Makery at thewellsmakery.com or on Instagram at @thewellsmakery. 

Jon Bailey • Artist - Durango, Colo.

Jonathan S. Bailey has been living and creating art and music in Durango since 1999. Dedicated to making tiny revolutions, Bailey follows the lines of time with as much human powered travel as possible. Inspired by nature's patterns and the ecology that makes up the natural world, the artist's work acts as a reflection of these
observations. Some of Bailey's educational endeavours/work include the study of fine arts at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, Eagle Scout rank in the B.S.A. Troop 380 out of Akron, Ohio, the Art of Bicycle Maintenance and bicycle recycling at Durango Cyclery, the teachings of ecological design by Tony Brown at The ECOSA institute in Prescott, Arizona, bassist in The Academic Challenge Team out of San Francisco/Portland, and a film director/editor at Recon Films in Los Angeles, California. Durango, Colorado projects consist of percussionist/musician of The Salt Fire Circus, Suitcase, the play “In Bloom”, a member of 20moons Dance Theater, creative director of the 2009 single speed world championships, co-founder and creative director of the Silverton Whiteout, curator at the Center for Southwest Studies for the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic 50 year exhibit at Fort Lewis College, and as much creative travel between here and there.

More from JB on instagram @jonathansbailey

Clint Reid • Visual Artist - Mancos, Colo.

Clint is a designer, illustrator, screen printer, educator, worrier and a lister-of-things. He is represented by Studio & (Durango, CO), Artisans of Mancos (Mancos, CO) and is a Paradigm Gallery Artist (Philadelphia, PA). Clint has a BFA in Graphic Design (2005), and received the State Superintendent's Award for Arts Excellence for Oklahoma Visual Art Educator (2020). He currently operates Unlucky Press, a small, eco-conscious, independent screen print shop, with his wife Amy and their kids.

You can view more of Clint’s work at TillmanProject.com or on Instagram at @clintbot0001

Juanita Nelson • Visual Artist - Cedar Hill, NM

Juanita is a local artist working mostly in pastel. She loves to paint everything from portraits to landscapes. She has traveled and worked in many parts of the world but the colors and people of the Southwest continue to intrigue her. As a medium, pastel has sparked Juanita’s creative spirit and she loves to share that inspiration. “We all interpret the world in our own way. Painting allows me to filter my interpretation through a sense of shadow and light, color and form. There’s so much beauty around us that it is a never-ending source of inspiration.”

Juanita is a signature member of both the Pastel Society of New Mexico and the Arizona Pastel Artist Association and is a member of the Pastel Society of Colorado. She regularly has her work in shows and has won awards and acclaim both nationally and internationally.

Juanita does commissioned work and will happily talk your ear off about art if asked. She loves growing herbs, talking with her cats as they explain their world, and reading science fiction. In her spare time she still practices as a community midwife and clinical herbalist.

You can see more of her work on Facebook and Instagram and at her website: www.juanitanelsonartist.com

Allysia Edwards • Jeweler - Durango, Colo.

Allysia Edwards grew up in the dramatic, beautiful landscapes of the Southwest, raised in a home filled with eye-catching Native American jewelry, rugs, and pottery. These various artifacts provided the aesthetic backdrop that has inspired her since, and the culture she was surrounded by is evident in her love of nature, her everyday style, and her creations. Jewelry in particular was a passion of hers from her earliest memories, and although the interest has been lifelong, it was only in recent years that Allysia had the opportunity to actively pursue the craft.

Deanna Jacobson in San Diego, CA was the first teacher Allysia worked with in 2014, when she started taking various classes in Silversmithing and Lapidary. Jacobson became a sort of mentor as well as a friend outside of class, encouraging her to work in the studio and creating pieces together. Perhaps the most important lesson learned from the experience was that it’s never too late in life to start something new, as Edwards was initially unsure about the undertaking of a new, time-consuming venture in her late 30s. Always up for an adventure, she persisted, fell in love with the craft, and noticed, as the process began to feel more organic, that many elements of it came naturally to her. Eventually she found her own unique style which she describes as Southwestern with an Art Deco twist.

In June of 2019, Allysia left San Diego and returned to her hometown of Durango, CO to take care of her grandfather. Shortly after his passing, the pandemic hit, and Allysia was unsure where her life would take her. This was the catalyst to her decision to try and turn making jewelry into a career rather than a hobby. Five years later, she has a well-established business of her own, right back where it all began, amongst the mountains and canyons of Colorado.

You can view more of Allysia’s work at allysiabrookedesigns.com or on Instagram at @allysiabrooke