An Art Tour With Teeth

Colorado Springs should be a hotbed for fine art sales, and someday it 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, is the Pikes Peak Studio Tour.

http://pikespeakstudiotour.com/about.htm

Surprisingly, there are no studios in the downtown area in this event. For the most part, they're in central Colorado Springs neighborhoods and Manitou Springs. There were hoards of bicyclists taking the tour on November 11, a sunny, 67 degree Sunday afternoon. It's an incredibly gorgeous and relaxing bicycle tour that showcases the best Colorado Springs has to offer. Watch, next year it'll be snowing.

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.

The studios are listed in the order they were visited. Three additional studios in the tour didn't make the cut because of distance and time constraints. Some thought was given to subjectively ranking them, but then this volunteer reviewer would have to move to Tulsa. Under the witness protection program.

Chuck Mardosz Studio 1215 Bonfoy Avenue Colorado Springs, Colorado 80909
(719) 473-1964

This is a nice tree-lined neighborhood with mid-sized houses north of Memorial Hospital. The approach is well-marked 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 and also teaches there. He's in galleries in Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. These are high quality paintings that could grace any home or office. Masterfully artistic and very well designed with stunning composition, uninhibited strokes, luminous color, and beautiful lighting. Chuck, originally from Poland, is a leader in the Colorado Springs fine arts scene.

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

www.MardoszFineArt.com

Mariya Zvonkovich 1127 N. Logan Avenue Colorado Springs, Colorado 80909
(719) 593-7394

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 the Cottonwood and Fine Arts Center. The price range is $200-$3200. 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.

BlueCanyonArt.com

Eye Object 1612 N. Tejon Street Colorado Springs, CO 80907
(719) 201-1027

Signs made finding this North End charmer easy. Eye Object is in a mid-sized Victorian in a spectacular neighborhood. The entire lower floor of the house (as well as the cottage 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. An incredible amount of work, but the atmosphere isn't as homey and welcoming as some of the other studios. Eric Murphy http://www.coloradoimagesonline.com does artistic photos of landscapes and historic architecture. Jeremiah Houck www.JeremiahThePotter.com creates decorative stoneware, raku, and sculpture, some with real bite (the pottery has open slits with tiny teeth). Lori DiPasquale www.ArtfulTouchMassage.com does decorative 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 317 Crystal Hills Blvd. Manitou Springs, CO 80829
(719) 685-1828

Michael's studio may take some time to find even after you arrive in the area. The map incorrectly indicates a straight shot from the main road, but you have to turn onto different streets and curve around a lot. There were no posted signs on Manitou Avenue, and if you follow the map you never get there. 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 blue 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 3-d multi-panel acrylics with vivid, bright colors in a mildly surrealistic landscape style, and with a Southwestern and Colorado focus. 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 $6000.

www.MichaelBaum.com

Ken & Tina Riesterer Pottery 806 Midland Ave. Manitou Springs, CO 80829
(719) 685-1282

The Manitou Avenue intersection was well-marked. Betcha not many of the bicyclists made it up here. 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 the 24th of November. They have a Victorian in the hills above Manitou. Parking was tight, because there were lots of shoppers. 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 106 Lovers Lane Manitou Springs, CO 80829
(Directly behind Commonwheel Art Gallery at 102 Canon Ave.)
(719) 685-9313

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 (complete with corrugated metal siding) 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. There wasn't much art displayed on the walls compared to the other studios. Most of the work is landscape in a loose modern style. The atmosphere was friendly.

www.billiard-art.com

Robert and Linda Morlan Sculpture Studio (719) 685-1588

Closed. Robert was busy moving his studio across town. But check out the website:

www.sculptbronze.com

D eb Komitor Studios 741 Panorama Drive Colorado Springs, CO 80904
(719) 635-8456

The named major street (31st) on the map was not marked with a sign. But driving around near Garden of the Gods on a beautiful late fall afternoon isn't really a hardship. 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 landscapes, with some animal sculptures and ceramics. Prices range from $60 to $3000.

www.DebKomitor.com

Jane Roberts Studio 610 Pioneer Lane Colorado Springs, CO 80904
(719) 632-5912

The Roberts studio is a nice rancher with a stone façade. "Pregnancy Massage" is proclaimed on the front door. The interior wasn't clearly marked either, 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 kilnformed glass. Jewelry and the machinery and tools to create it are dominant. The jewelry on display was very individualistic and unusual. Natural shapes rule, like leaves and seeds. Natural colors, too.

www.DesignsOnYouByJane.com

In a tour like this, one might expect to encounter some stand-alone buildings, but all of the studios were in the artists' homes, and there's no mention of this on the web site. 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 a request for answers to this question.

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.

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.