ARTIST BIOS and SLIDE SHOWS

Allan Cox - [Slide Show]

was the Founder of the Unicorn Gallery and studio, Dumont,N.J., 1960 and graduated from Syracuse University in Fine arts and creative writing. He worked in the studios in Manhattan on E. Broadway and on Grand & Greene Sts and was the Monuments Restorer for City of New York, Department off Parks and the Restoration Advisor for Mayor's Office, City of New York; the Municipal Arts Society. With the Art Commission for the City of New York he acted as advisor and supervisor for the Adopt a Monument program. In 1993 he received the W. Allison & Elizabeth Stubbs Davis Award from Municipal Arts Society. In 1996 he retired as Chief Monuments Restorer, City of New York continuing with the Studio in Cold Spring, N.Y.; field and in-house restoration for Tallix Foundry; Beacon, N.Y. Polich Art Works; Rock Tavern, N.Y. Foundry work: Enlarging, chasing, mold making, patina; Nawkaw Corporation Masonry color specialist working Northeast U.S., commercial and residential projects. He moved to Silver City, N.M. and has his studio on Chihuaua Hill.

Miriam Davis

titles her acrylic collages "Works on Paper." Her dream-like works are at once sensual and contemplative, and each piece incorporates both recognizable and abstract elements. By layering paint and images, she brings a rich dimensionality to her work. Miriam is also widely known and respected for her ceramic sculptures. Her representational work is also allegorical and consists primarily of figurative works that are bisqued, fired to cone 5, and then richly painted with oils. Miriam works from her studio in Sacramento, California, where she also teaches classes in ceramic sculpture. Her works have been featured in numerous juried shows as well as the John Natsoulas Gallery in Davis, California; and the Michael Himovitz Gallery in Sacramento, California.

Laurel Hansen - [Slide Show]

My work deals with layers of reality. Fusing myth and dream with everyday life. Ideas of past, present and future are combined. Everything from angels to appliances. Dreams and their layers of information, meta-culture and myth inhaabit my work. I'm inspired by utilitarian objects and art from other cultures - simple and complex products of invention. Every drawing is a Birth of Worlds. Transitional space interests; water, smokey rooms, air, light, objects, creatures and people that dissolve and appear. I'm constantly faced with the apparent inconsistancies of space and color, strange happenings in every day places. I don't think myths, stories, ancient civilizations, and primitive culture are so far away. The information seeps through past, present, and future, leeking in sending messages like postcards . . . messages, auspicious and divine, full of humor.

Kirsten Hardenbrook - [Slide Show]

lives and paints in Silver City New Mexico.

Gina Heiden

Sarah Hylton - [Slide Show]

I come from a creative family that encouraged me to pursue my artistic talents. I have no formal training though I glean much from those who do. I have used a variety of mediums throughtout the years. These disciplines include multimedia sculpture, lost wax casting and painting. I have always found solace in and received inspiration from the arts. It is through the creative process that I take my psycho spiritual experiences and transform them into meaningful expression. All of my art comes from a desire to connect with the unconscious. It is metaphorical, symbolic and highly personal. I do not come to a canvas with a preconceived notion of what I am going to paint. I let my attraction to color be my entry point. There is a free form period that I play with until something interesting to me begins to emerge. When this happens, I stay with the images; the shapes and the textures until the painting feels resolved. There are often many hidden paintings or layers to my finished canvas. This process is the essence of my work.

Gary Lund

is respected as a painter and sculptor, but many people are unaware that he is an accomplished artist in several other mediums. Gary has also designed the film, characters, storyboards or backgrounds for such notable theatrical films as "The Point", by Harry Nilsson, an Emmy Award©-winning ABC Movie of the Week in 1970; "Peace at Last" by John Lennon and Jason Leen; and "The Legend of John Henry", which received an Academy Award© nomination in 1973 for Best Short Subject, Animated. In 1989, he was honored with the Benjamin Franklin Award for Excellence for his design and illustration of the book "LIFE: Before, During and After" and his illustrations have been featured in such leading publications as Rolling Stone Magazine and the Los Angeles Times. Gary works from his studio in Silver City, New Mexico, and holds the Bachelor of Arts degree from Chouinard Art Institute, which was later merged with the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music to become the California Arts Institute in Valencia, California.

Beth Augusta Menczer

regards her ceramic works as "three dimensional paintings" and she is continually evolving her fascination, appreciation, and technique with clay as an art form. Her ability to create exquisite sculptures incorporating humor and whimsy as well as an uncanny realism combined with her use of found objects, metal, glass, feathers and other materials has helped to make her one of our most beloved and collected artists. In the 1970's, Beth refined her forms and techniques while serving for three years in the Artist-in-Residence program funded jointly by the National Endowment for the Arts and the New Mexico Arts Division. During her tenure as a Resident she taught Navajo, Zuni, and Apache artisans as well as students at the New Mexico School for the Blind. Beth works from her studio in Glenwood, New Mexico, and holds the degree of Bachelor of Arts from the College of Ceramics at Alfred University in Alfred, New York. Her works have been featured at the Presden Gallery and Marcus Gallery, both in Santa Fe, New Mexico; in Southwest Art and Santa Fean magazines; and can also be found in public and private collections in the United States, Europe, and Israel.

Michael Metcalf

is a Full Professor, Art Discipline Director for Sculpture/Foundations, and Chair of the Expressive Arts Department at Western New Mexico University (www.wnnmu.edu), in Silver City, New Mexico. Michael's work is impressive and ranges from minimalist, aboriginal, cast bronze sculptures to dynamic, finely finished, cast bronze sculptures to his most recent works in stone, metal, and wood incorporating his patented "splining" process that reconnects or "joins" pieces of broken stone with steel cables. Michael works from his studio in Silver City, New Mexico, and holds the degrees of Master of Fine Arts from the University of Pennsylvania and Bachelor of Science from Skidmore College. His works have been featured in many prestigious juried group, two-person, solo, and museum exhibitions.

Turid Pedersen

is one of the nation's most respected still-life artists. After emigrating to the United States from Norway in 1971, and soon afterward settling near the Mimbres Valley in southern New Mexico, she was inspired to begin including images of Mimbreno artifacts in her own work. A traditionally trained artist in the style of the Flemish masters and the Spanish baroque artists, she remains exceptional in her ability to capture the precision and vitality of these artifacts in a way that echoes the skill and complexity of the original artists. In recognition of her talent, Turid was invited by the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma to appear as their Featured Artist in 1997. Since 1996, she has taught at the Scottsdale Artists School in Scottsdale, Arizona. Turid works from her studio in Silver City, New Mexico, and holds the degrees of Master of Arts (MAT) and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Oslo in Oslo, Norway. Her work is widely collected and can be found in numerous private and corporate collections in the United States and Europe.

Maureen Brusa Zappellini