Category: Visual Arts
Featured Artist: Don Fotine
By Tanya Canino This Nevadan artist has followed a long, “blessed” road Don Fotine is inspired each time his small artist’s brush lightly touches a canvas. “I‘m blessed,” says the artist, standing in his Minden, Nev. studio. “I feel my talent is God-given, straight from the Big Guy.” Primarily a representational artist, Fotine [...]
Mountain Master
By Jen Schmidt Resort illustrator James Niehues captures Tahoe’s great ski mountains. Early in his career, alpine resort and panoramic illustrator James Niehues found himself on the slopes of Alta during a project. Although he is a native Coloradoan, his still-developing skiing technique and five inches of fresh left him a little overwhelmed. “You’d [...]
Featured: Woodworker Malcolm Tibbetts
One end of the square-knot sculpture Martin’s Dream is primarily ebony; the other side, bird’s-eye maple. “There’s a mix of colors in the center of the knot,” says South Lake Tahoe artist Malcolm Tibbetts. “That’s where the strength is.” Tibbetts is a segmented wood turner. He cuts hundreds or thousands of small, perfectly angled wedges of wood—mainly dense hardwoods like mesquite, [...]
The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction Brings Big Bidders to Reno
Beyond the blinking slot machine lights at Reno’s Silver Legacy Resort Casino, a Maynard Dixon landscape sells for $750,000, while a carved statuette of Pocahontas by woodworker Samuel Anderson Robb goes for more than $64,000. This is the Coeur d’Alene Art Action, where Western art aficionados gather—many in Stetsons and boots—to spend millions on depictions [...]
Best Way to Light up the Night
Andrea Creo overcame her fear of fire by learning to swing flaming orbs suspended by string around her body. Founder of the Tahoe Fire Dancers, Creo first witnessed fire dancing, appropriately, at Burning Man, five years ago. Based on the traditional movements of the Maori poi performance in which balls, attached to a length of [...]
Featured: Sculptor June Towill Brown
The horse as a subject transcends all nationalities,” says Incline Village sculptor June Towill Brown. “Everyone loves and understands horses.” Brown captures the restless spirit of the animal—namely Arabian stallions, Friesians and, most recently, the Gypsy Vanner, a breed of draft horse originating in England—in her award-winning bronze sculptures. Yet, her passion for her subject [...]
